Tajikistan

Tajikistan is defined by the Pamir mountains, a range so vast and remote it has long been called the "Roof of the World." Persian-speaking and rich in pre-Islamic Sogdian heritage, Tajikistan sat at the southern edge of Sogdiana, the very territory that caravans on the Pamir branch of the Silk Road rested in before continuing toward Bactria and beyond.

The Wakhan Corridor links Tajikistan directly to Afghanistan and Pakistan, a thin finger of land that has funneled traders, pilgrims and armies between South and Central Asia for millennia. High valleys, glacial rivers and isolated mountain villages make it one of the least-visited and most striking corners of the old Silk Road.