Varzob Riverside

Around a half-hour drive (30km) north of Dushanbe, the rocky-sided Varzob Valley is dotted with riverside chaikhanas, upmarket dachas and various small pensions and dining options. It attracts crowds of city dwellers on summer weekends, though a victim of its own success, the place can feel rather too crowded to get the full sense of nature that was its original raison d'être.