Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Trolleybus 12
Runs along Somoni then down
Sino past the main bus station.
Marshrutka 8
Zips along Somoni, passing
Royal Pub and the giant new teahouse site. It
then zig-zags across the centre past the giant
flag (westbound only), OVIR, green Bazaar
and the Badakhshan taxi stand before dipping
under the railway and doubling back past the
airport along Titov.
Marshrutka 16
Much the same as route 8 but
at the western end it passes south of the bus
station then drives up the western river bank
past Diar Dushanbe (a vast new construction
site) before joining Somoni east of the Hyatt
Hotel.
Marshrutka 25
Southwest from Bekhzod dodg-
ing the Opera via Bukhoro then out west via
Sherozi past the circus, north up Sino past the
bus station, then west at the Russian Embassy.
Most
taxis
charge a lat 20TJS for a ride almost
anywhere in town. For short trips the smart
white Asian Express cabs are better as they work
on the meter system.
Takob
is a ski-resort with summer hik-
ing potential, which is reached via a turnoff
36km north of Dushanbe, just before the
President's
dacha
(holiday bungalow).
NORTHERN TAJIKISTAN
Northern Tajikistan's main city, Khojand,
sits on a cartographic periscope that pokes
up between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to
peer into the mouth of the Fergana Valley.
The M34 road that heads there from
Dushanbe, dramatically traverses the
Hissar, Zerafshan/Fan and Turkestan
mountain ranges. The road is smoothly
surfaced with one outrageous exception:
the infamous
Anzob¨ Tunnel
. That's a
mind-boggling 5km succession of pot-
holes, unlit mid-road hazards and lethally
pinging rebar steel spikes. But away from
the tunnel nightmare, only a few pylons
get between your windows and some truly
fabulous geological wizardry.
Beautiful Iskander-Kul lake, dramatic
Margeb and the timeless Yagnob and
Zerafshan valleys all make great summer
excursions. If you have sufficient language
competence to organise things independ-
ently, the main access points are Sarvoda
and Ayni. Otherwise there's excellent Eng-
lish-speaking help in historic Penjikent,
further west. Its role as tourist hub has
been undermined by Uzbekistan's closure
of the border near Samarkand (since 2010)
but it's still a key access point for organis-
ing trips into the western Fan Mountains.
Around Dushanbe
A popularly touted tourist offering is
His-
sar¨(Hisor)¨Fort
, 30km west of Dushanbe
(7km by shared taxi beyond Hisor town).
Actually, all that survived a 1924 Russian
assault was the twin-towered gateway. It's
on a massive scale but over-renovation
means that it doesn't quite look the 18th-
century part. You might prefer to simply
unfurl your banknotes and see the scene on
a 20TJS note. If you do go, one of a pair of
16th/17th medressas at the site contains a
minor museum.
Nurek¨Reservoir
's remarkable opal-blue
waters are an attraction for expats who ar-
gue over which of the many private house-
boats make the best weekend getaway.
However, due to the importance of securing
Nurek Dam (the world's highest), permits
are required, adding an obvious annoyance.
The easiest way around this is to use the
facilities of
AquaClub
(
%
93-732 77 77; http://
aquaclub.tj/en; Nurek Reservoir; per person 170-
350TJS)
with its own new houseboats and
various water-based activities.
The
Varzob¨River
flows beside the main
M34 north of Dushanbe, lined by dozens of
nouveau-riche villas. There's no one particu-
lar place to head for but there are plenty of
picturesque locations, including the
Varzob¨
Reservoir
and the 20m
Gusgarf¨Waterfall
,
a 2½-hour walk up a side valley 7km south
of Varzob (31km from Dushanbe).
Fan & Zerafshan
Mountains
Iskander-Kul & Sarytag
Искандеркуль и Сарытаг
Between Sarvoda and Ayni the main
Dushanbe canyon-road already hints at
magnificent glories behind. The easiest
way to access them is driving to glorious
Iskander-Kul
, an opal-blue mountain lake
that looks almost tropical in strong sun-
light. It isn't. At 2195m, don't expect to
swim here. But adding greatly to the visual
spectacle is the variegated colouration on
the superlative mountain backdrop. The
scene is especially dramatic around 1.5km
before arriving at the lake, but breathtak-
