Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
attractive traditional garden homesteads
hidden on alley-footpaths behind what
apears to be a stretched silver-domed Dalek.
Actually, beneath all the Dalek's battered
Plexiglass, there's the heavily eroded 10th-
century mud-brick minaret, Varz-i-Minor .
The mosque beside it has some attractive
woodwork.
If you're stuck here overnight, Varz ( % 92
852 86 86; Rudaki; tr 150TJS) has three new, if
somewhat sparse, guestrooms with modern
bathrooms and very firm beds. It's upstairs
over the modern green-roofed shop-and-
wedding hall complex on the main drag.
Some 3km south, just across the M34
bridge, 'krug' is the main taxi stand for
Dushanbe (45TJS to 70TJS per seat, 2½
hours) and Sarvoda (20TJS per car). Ayni's
second centre is directly east of krug on
the Mastcho road, with the 4WD stand for
Veshab (15TJS) and the eastern Zerafshan
Valley near the hospital, 700m along. In
between, the new, soulless Nuri¨Rahmon¨
Hotel ( % 92-818 67 67; foreigner dm/s/tw/ste
150/250/460/300TJS, local 80/120/220/180TJS)
oddly charges the same for an impressive
double-bed suite ('married couple only',
300TJS) as for two beds in a bland four-bed
dorm while an austere twin costs 460TJS.
Rumi's beloved inspiration, Shams-i Tabrizi.
A good two-hour hike takes you to summer
pastures at Tagob . Or, if properly equipped,
you could try the steep two- to three-day
trek to Hishortob in the Yagnob Valley.
Veshab has a homestay with Huseinboy¨
Sultanov ( % 92-723 00 15; B&B US$12), which
is far better than sleeping in the grimy car-
peted back room of the teahouse with nei-
ther bedding nor bathroom.
Oburdon has the Zerafshan Valley's most
dramatic setting with a trio of white-topped
peaks visible down the cleft of a side valley
to the south, watched over by the stump of
a former fortress. Hatishahr has a discord-
antly modern petrol station amid the typi-
cal stone-and-wattle-walled homesteads,
and the still-unfinished district capital
Mehergun is a bizarre gaggle of govern-
ment buildings slapped on a barren hillside
away from any sign of habitation.
Above Hairobod , a 10km gold-mining
road presents a headstart for a week-long
adventure trek into the Yagnob Valley via
the snowbound 4040m Tabaspin Pass. Just
up the valley, Langar (107km from Ayni) is a
logical departure point, thanks to the utterly
charming Kholov¨ family¨ (Habib)¨ home-
stay ( % 92 761 15 21; langar, Machho; B&B US$12)
which has its own mini museum-cabinet and
can usually help you find a guide, given some
patience. It's right at the start (western edge)
of Langar village where you see a sign with
an EU flag logo. No English, summer only.
It's another 90km to Dehavz , a shrine
village where 5000m peaks start to close in.
The 4WD track ends 7km further, a 15km
hike short of the Zerafshan Glacier whose
loss of 2.5km in 90 years has been cited as
a 'proof' of global warming. With equip-
ment and a guide, it should also be possi-
ble to trek south across to the Rasht Valley.
However, there are no established local
systems to help travellers up here so if you
don't come with a trekking company, you'll
be very much living on your wits and rely-
ing on local direction-finding. Not for the
uninitiated!
Zerafshan Valley
Долина Зеравшан
A bumpily slow road roller-coasters through
the Zerafshan Valley that intersperses im-
pressively stark arid rockscapes with splash-
es of intense irrigated green, though you
won't see as much spikey mountain action
here as at Margeb or Iskander-Kul, especial-
ly if you're driving west on the busier route
towards Penjikent.
MASTCHOHI KUHI (UPPER ZERAFSHAN)
Heading east of Ayni into Mastcho, the road
is long but gently rewarding with several
interesting rural villages and the potential
for some strenuous hiking if you're well
prepared.
Perhaps the most interesting village is
Veshab , 47km from Ayni, with a stepped
section of old houses at the back of town
and a fine perch high above the curling river.
In the village centre, opposite the teahouse,
Bobokon¨Choykhana ( % 91-890 89 28; Ves-
hab; sleeping space 5TJS) , a wide footpath de-
scending past the main shop leads in five
minutes to a tomb-shrine that looks brand
new, but is claimed to be that of Sufi poet
8 Getting¨There¨&¨Away
A variety of shared 4WDs depart from Ayni's
hospital 4WD-stand, mostly in the afternoon, re-
turning the next morning. Once a vehicle is illing
up you'll rarely need to pay more than 50TJS per
seat but you might wait hours (or days if head-
ing beyond langar). However, if you become a
4WD's main 'sponsor' you coud be looking at
around 800TJS to langar (ive to six hours).
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