Lake Sarez

In February 1911 an earthquake brought a mountainside down into the Murghab valley, burying the village of Usoi and damming the river behind a natural barrier about five hundred and sixty metres high - the tallest natural dam in the world - and the water backed up into a lake around seventy-five kilometres long. Lake Sarez sits at about three thousand two hundred and sixty metres inside the Tajik National Park, which is inscribed by UNESCO. Access needs permits and an organised trip; there is no road and no settlement.

Highlights

• The Usoi dam - a natural barrier about 560 metres high left by the 1911 landslide.
• The lake - around seventy-five kilometres of water held behind it at 3260 metres.
• The buried village - Usoi, the settlement destroyed by the original landslide.
• The Pamir setting - high mountain country inside the inscribed national park.

When to go

July to September is the only practical window. Permits take time and must be arranged well in advance. Weather at altitude changes fast.

Practical notes

This is an expedition, not a visit: permits, a guide and several days of travel are required and independent access is not possible. There is no infrastructure of any kind. The stability of the natural dam is a long-standing subject of study and monitoring.

Nearby

Bartang Valley is west, and Murghab is east.

Key facts