Penjikent

Penjikent is a town in West Tajikistan, some 20 km from the Uzbek border. Unless you like Soviet relics there's nothing much to see there. Upon entering the town I saw this weird road police post with a car on the top. Police posts are very present on roads and they stop most cars to check papers. Normally a local driver will hand 3 somoni (around 0.70 USD) to a police officer to skip the check.

This mural reads as "60 years of Tajik SSR". The town's main street mainly hosts old Soviet apartment blocks.

And there's also another Soviet relic - restaurant "Friendship". On the left you see an advert for Tajik's constitution.

A garbage bin.

Local culture house that hosts cinema screenings and music events.

A memorial desk for Tajik people of Penjikent who died in Soviet-Afghan war.

They also have a golden Lenin...

...and a communist party.

But the main sights in Penjikent are Soviet murals and mosaics. I collected most of them.

This is the meat at the butcher's. Looks a bit rotten. I could not believe they eat it. But apart from this the food is cheap and eatable. Especially fruits and vegetables. Tomatoes were 0.20 USD per kg. I wanted to buy only two pieces but the salesman gave them for free, probably did not want to bother with such a small amount, perhaps just wanted to please the tourist.
Photos by (c) Arnis Balcus