Ghazza sits in the Fann Mountains in a valley that earns its reputation. The village is small, the guesthouse is the centre of operations, and the pace drops sharply from the city stops that precede it. There's not much to do here except walk, eat, and be filmed by Tajik television, which apparently is a thing that happens.
Accommodation
Ghazza Village Guesthouse
A basement breakfast, loud staff conversations during the welcome presentation, and a general atmosphere of cheerful indifference to schedule. It works. The guesthouse is a genuine community operation and the better for it.
Restaurants & Bars
Plov lunch
Eaten at a spot in the village with live folk music at a volume calibrated for dancing and singing rather than conversation. The music was genuinely good. The plov was the occasion for it. Both were worth the stop.
Sports & Activities
Summit hike
A hard hike, relentless in gradient rather than technical difficulty: it goes up and doesn't stop going up until it doesn't. The route passes through a herd of goats, which requires patience and some negotiation. The lake at the top needed more sun than it got on this visit to show itself at its best, but the views from the summit justified the climb regardless.
One member of the group was interviewed by a Tajik TV crew who had come to film the visit. The rest of us were also filmed on our hike. We left the following morning on camera too. Ghazza apparently considers visiting trekkers worth the coverage, which is either flattering or a slow news week.