Arid plateau landscape with salt lake near Langar, Pamir Mountains, Tajikistan
A vast arid plateau in the Pamir Mountains near Langar, Tajikistan, featuring a small salt-encrusted lake beneath dramatic storm clouds on September 27, 2018.
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The Pamir Highlands of Tajikistan represent one of the world's most remote and pristine landscapes. This plateau near Langar sits at high altitude where the air is thin and the terrain unforgiving.
Small bodies of water dot the landscape, their edges crusted with mineral deposits from centuries of evaporation. These salt lakes are lifelines in an otherwise barren expanse.
Storm systems roll across the mountains with little warning, casting dramatic shadows across the golden-brown terrain. This is the ancient Silk Road region, unchanged for millennia.
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