The Great Silk Road runs along this river, and if you cross it, you can find yourself in Afghanistan. At its bottom in the sand you can find the smallest grains of pure gold. It is ownerless, because, firstly, this region is borderline, and therefore conflicts with the Afghan side are possible, and secondly, the state does not have money to engage in gold mining on an industrial scale.
General information
This is the Pyanj River in Tajikistan, and a surprisingly paradoxical situation has developed in this region: the mountains, one might say, are crammed with jewelry (silver, gold, sapphires and rubies), but they are not mined.
A beautiful and powerful river is quite changeable. Now she is calm, then seething. It’s even hard to imagine that the stormy waters of the beauty escaped from the mountains and on the plain connected with the quiet and calm course of the Vakhsh river. Then it flows into the Amu Darya and, not reaching the sea, diverges in different directions.
Before we move on to a more detailed description of the Panj River (border with Afghanistan), we will consider the Amu Darya River.
A little bit about the Amu Darya basin
The Amu Darya is the most aquiferous river in Central Asia. Its length is 1415 kilometers, and 2540 km from the source of Panj. The river basin covers the territories of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The area of the Amu Darya basin is 465,000 square meters. km, 255,100 sq. km. km of which are mountainous.
The boundaries of the basin are quite clearly identified within the mountains: in the south it passes along the Hindu Kush ridge, in the north - along the Turkestan, Alai and Nuratau, in the east - along the Sarykol ridge. A large area is occupied by snowfields and glaciers, which determine the nature of the nutrition of the largest rivers of the Amu Darya basin. These are the Pyanj, Amu Darya, Zeravshan, Vakhsh and other rivers. And the rivers located in the western zone of the basin, where mountain ranges with lower heights are located, have snow-glacial and partially snow food (Kashkadarya, Kafirnigan, Surkhandarya, Kyzylsu).
Geography of the Panj River
A river is formed by the confluence of the Wahandarya and Pamir rivers. The source is located at an altitude of approximately 2817 meters. The Panj River flows between Afghanistan, located on the left bank, and Tajikistan (right bank). The exception is a small site in the Hamadoni region of Khatlon region. In this place, due to a change in the riverbed, part of the Tajik lands ended up on the left coast. The total length of the river is 921 kilometers, the basin area is 114 thousand square meters. km, the average daily water consumption is about 1000 m³. Used by a pond for irrigation.
A road from the Dushanbe-Khorog direction passes through a section of the Panj Valley. At the confluence of Panj Yorhdary stands the village of Yorh.
It should be noted that in the north-eastern part of Afghanistan, at the confluence of the Panj with the Kokcha River, archaeologists near the village. Shortugai An ancient Harappan settlement was discovered, named Shortugai A (age - approximately 2200 BC). The parking area is 2.5 ha.
Tributaries
The Panj River receives its main food due to melting snow. The name Panj (five rivers) received thanks to the following rivers: Wahandarya, Pamir, Bartang, Gunt and Vanch.
The first two, as noted above, merging together, form the Panj, and the other three are right tributaries. All of them belong to the rivers of snow and glacial nutrition, because their sources are located in the region of powerful glaciers. Most of their paths, these bodies of water flow through deep ravines, they are characterized by large falls, rapids, and therefore rapid rapid flow. Only the Kokchu River can be attributed to the left most significant tributaries of the Pyanj River.
In conclusion about fish
Many fishermen note that there are few fish left in the lakes and ponds of Tajikistan due to their predatory attitude. In order not to sit on the shore for hours with a fishing rod and not spend time fishing, people use networks and electricity. This leads to the death of eggs and small fish.
The fish of the Pyanj River and other fresh water bodies of Tajikistan are marinka (according to fishermen, very good fish), the queen of freshwater trout rivers (rarely), carp, bream, and catfish.
In Tajikistan, fishing is not particularly developed as a type of tourism and leisure. Now there are no societies of fishers and hunters, as before. They helped beginners with tips and experience, provided fishing enthusiasts with the necessary equipment, and also worked to familiarize themselves with the rules and laws governing fishing in the republic. There is no development in this regard today.