Soviet Observatory, Tajikistan
An abandoned Soviet observatory on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere sounds exciting, right? Shorbulak Observatory, once the site of challenging astronomical observations, stands as a remnant of the former Soviet Union and is located some 4,350 meters above sea level.
Shorbulak was an outpost of the Pulkovo Observatory – officially known as the Central Astronomical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences at Pulkovo and was run by Russian astrophysicist Kirill Maslennikov during the 80’s.
This was a challenging location to reach, along the 2nd highest altitude ‘highway’ in the world. And its rather remote, away from any facilities and hotel comforts. But well worth the trip.
