Khoja Obi Garm

Khoja Obi Garm sits at around eighteen hundred metres in the hills north of Dushanbe, where hot mineral water and steam come out of the mountain, and a large sanatorium was built around them in the Soviet period to treat joint and skin conditions. The steam is radon-bearing and treatment is administered under medical supervision rather than as casual bathing. The setting is alpine and cool compared with the capital.

What you actually see

• The steam treatment - the radon-bearing vapour the sanatorium is built around.
• The mineral springs - hot water rising from the mountain.
• The Soviet complex - the sanatorium buildings and their treatment halls.
• The mountain setting - cool high ground above the Varzob valley.

When to go

May to October is the most comfortable for the road. The sanatorium operates year round. Booking is needed for treatment courses.

Honest expectations

This is a medical facility rather than a leisure spa and treatment is prescribed and supervised. The buildings are dated Soviet-era construction. Radon exposure is the basis of the treatment and anyone uneasy about that should not go.

Nearby

Varzob Gorge is south, and Dushanbe is beyond it.