To reach Dushanbe we hired a car with a driver in Penjikent. Although it's 225 km, the journey took almost 7 hours due to many stops and road condition. These kind of objects signify the presence of an inhabited locality.
The car goes up and down the hills. The weather changes from hot to cold.
It seems they have got the road police after every 20 km. The guys in the red car perhaps did not want to pay the bribe so the police searched their car.
On the way there are quite a few villages. This is a department store in one of them.
And this is a bus stop with a star built in.
Next to old factories colorful Soviet times mosaics can be found...
...or murals.
Animals cannot climb the rocks everywhere to feed themselves thus they wander on the roads. Sometimes they cause road accidents. For instance, I saw a dead donkey.
Most of the road is in poor condition and very dangerous to Western standards. Look at those traffic signs - at the same time you should expect curve, steep uphill and slippery road. Don't even dream of hiring a car and driving yourself if you come from a flat land country.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus
2 comments:
Hello, wow I really enjoyed this article, not to mention the photos, it must have been a great ride...
I am planning to travel across the same route with two friends in September. I meant to ask you, is it expensive to rent a car with a driver to get to Dushambe? How much did you pay for it? Can you rent it directly in Penjikent? Is it easy?
I hope you can give me some more info, thank you very much for sharing this. Take care!
Racky
It was enjoyable to travel from Dushanbe to Penjikent, a road trip with the other co-volunteers. shitifujon.blogspot.com
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