Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of breakfast options. Take the door to the
direct right of the bazaar's main entrance,
beside Megafon.
Obod¨
CENTRAl ASIAN $
(Sherali 42; mains 8-12TJS, kebabs from 4TJS;
h
8am-10pm Mon-Sat)
Behind a vine-fronted
facade, eight summer tables loop around
a central fountain-pool in a shaded court-
yard. Its riverside branch,
Dilkusho
(Obody
Poyon; mains 6-20TJS, beer 7TJS;
h
11am-10pm)
, is
smarter, with traditional pillared colonnade,
but on summer evenings the mosquitoes
like to dine too.
Café¨Safina¨
CENTRAl ASIAN $
(Sherali, cnr Rudaki; mains 6-10TJS;
h
8am-10pm
Sun-Fri)
Decent indoor place with menus (un-
like most chaikhanas) and curtained booth
seats for private soirées.
Sayokhat¨
CHAIKHANA $$
(www.panjakent-intour.tj; Marvazi; mains 15-25TJS;
h
8am-7pm May-Oct)
Penjikent's most im-
aginative eatery, this eccentric new wooden
structure is festooned in traditional arte-
facts and merrily over-endowed with timber
stairways.
around rural homestays, a whole brochure
of which they publish complete with photos
of each family and their houses (available
online). Sells a small selection of handicrafts
and its own 1:100,000 Fan Mountains and
1:400,000 Zerafshan Valley maps.
Niyazov Niyozkul
(
%
93-588 96 68; niyozkul
@mail.ru; Rudaki 20/16) Helpful and trust-
worthy, Niyozkul is an English-speaking fount
of historical and cultural knowledge, familiar
with budget traveller needs. He can organise
accommodation, trekking support and trans-
port - whether private hires or seats in shared
taxis. His unmarked door shares the same
gateway with Elina guesthouse next door.
8
Getting¨There¨&¨Away
The scenic Penjikent-Ayni road is infuriat-
ingly potholed, but due for reconstruction by
2016. After rain, rockfalls can cause delays
but if all is well, shared taxis reach Khojand
(120TJS per seat) in six hours, and Dushanbe
(100TJS per seat) in five hours from the bus
station, 2km east of the central bazaar. Pref-
erably pre-book your ticket and be collected
from your accommodation. Three daily buses
to Artush via Panjrud currently start opposite
the mosque but will eventually relocate to the
bus station.
Cars to Istaravshan leave from beside Rudaki
206 opposite the guliston clothes bazaar.
Departures are most plentiful Mondays and
Friday mornings before 10am.
To reach Ayni or Sarvoda without paying
the full Dushanbe taxi fare, you could take the
10.30am minibus to Umetan (12TJS, around
two hours) and switch to the 1.30pm service
to Sarvoda (aka Zarafshan 1). However, if you
miss the connection there's no formal accom-
modation in Umetan.
From a building supplies yard, 200m down
Shokin from the bazaar, buses run to Shing
(2pm, 10TJS) and crammed-full 4WDs (Takhta
Bazaar) to the Haft-Kul villages (40TJS) de-
part around noon, returning the next morning
at 6am.
8
Information
Internet Tsentr
(Rudaki 40; per hr 3TJS;
h
8am-10pm)
Zerafshan Tourism Board
(ZTB;
%
53
680, Zafar 92-780 77 16; www.zerafshan.
info; Rudaki 111-125) This nonprofit union of
tourism operators runs a remarkably helpful
tourist information office that can help inde-
pendent budget travellers every bit as well as
those seeking tours, transport and guides.
Zafar speaks excellent English.
ZTDA Information Centre
(
%
56 339; www.
ztda-tourism.tj; Rudaki 108;
h
8am-5pm Mon-
Fri summer, 9am-4pm Mon-Fri winter) ZTDA
promotes community tourism and organises
tours across the region, often revolving
HAFT-KUL
For a great overnight trip from Penjikent head to Haft-Kul (Seven Lakes; Marguzor
Lakes), a 20km-long chain of turquoise pools trung along the wetern end of the Fan
Mountain range. The access road gets very rough but daily shared 4WDs can get you
near delightful hometays at Noin, Padrud and Marguzor. Contact the tourit oices in
Penjikent for hometay names and details. The seventh (uppermot) lake is essentially
only accessible on foot even if you rent a private 4WD (day return cots around US$80
from Penjikent through Nematov Niyozkul). Beware that beyond Shing the road is prone
to mudslides, especially in spring. These can block the route for days. Passport checks
are possible at Novichornok.
