We say now goodbye to the mules and continue exploring the Fan Mountains by bike. Given our restricted time budget, our goal is to reach another famous lake of the region, the biggest one, Iskanderkul, named after Alexander --- the Great of course --- in 2 (short) days.
Here is the map of these 4 days .

Day 5: Long descent from Alaudin Lake to Zeravshan-2 below Iskanderkul
The day starts with a short but stony descent and a difficult river crossing just before reaching the Alplager (for which we are lucky to get some help). From there, we follow the river on a globally rather nice road until we pass through impressive gorges with reddish walls and finally reach the first village (Margusor) in the afternoon. There we pass through a series of short rain showers and follow now a quite populated valley until we reach a village called Zeravshan-1, a former industrial site, now more or less abandoned which leaves us with a strange impression. Here we get back on our main road M34, also here brandnew, and after a few kilometers more, we reach Zeravshan-2, even more abandoned, and where we have some difficulties to find a convenient camp site almost in the dark.

Day 6: Climb to Iskanderkul and a rainy afternoon
Today, we climb up the gravel road following the Iskanderdarya to Iskanderkul. As almost everywhere, there is a narrow green stripe with popular trees all along the river which from time to time, around some village, enlarges to wider green areas with apple and apricot trees. The villages are also full of kids, immediately gathering around our bikes, very interested in my GPS, and all catch a little brother or sister and immediately pose for a photo, and sometimes they ask to take the camera themselves.
For “one of the most touristy places in the Fan Mountains", Iskanderkul is a terribly quiet place. Only at the somewhat run-down tourist camp from the soviet times, we detect some kind of activity. It’s Sunday, and a few people from Dushanbe are here for the weekend. As it starts pouring before they finish their meal, we are offered to improve our meal with roast goat --- not bad. We spend the evening in the cafeteria, the only clients are some groups of cyclists, all on the road for several months at least … a pleasant and enriching evening.

Day 7: From Iskanderkul to Saritag, mainly walking
The “Belgian girls” (on the way from Belgium to Vietnam via Chengdu, Guilin …) have indicated us a nice homestay in Saritag, the village in the valley above the lake. The road up there is extremely stony and steep, and we prefer leaving our bikes at the president’s datcha on the lake shore and walk up to Saritag. It’s much greener up here; indeed, we are only at 2400m and water is plentiful. Except for a group of crazy alpinists from Siberia with huge backpacks, it is a very quiet place. We also meet again Sue, an English girl travelling back from Asia for a new job in Holland, we have already met at Alaudin.

Day 8: Short early morning exploration of the Arkh Valley, and the long descent to Takfon on the main road
This is our last day in the Fan Mountains. I get up early for an excursion in the Arkh Valley leading to the Kaznok Pass. Promised, at 8, I’ll turn around … and Monique waits at the tourist camp down at the lake. With an hour more, I could reach a better viewpoint, somewhat closer to the Kaznok Pass and the snow covered peaks … but anyway, it is a beautiful morning walk (almost no photos, the light conditions are very bad, too much contrast). It is a long way down to the main road: there is a steep 200m climb to leave Iskanderkul, and the road is bad enough to be obliged to drive rather slowly, even downhill. We expect a thunderstorm during most of the descent but never get more than a few drops. It is late when we reach the main road, we have just enough time for the few kilometers to Takfon where we quit the main road leading to the tunnel ... and to chat with some cyclists coming down from the Anzob Pass.