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Published: September 4th 2010
From the Acted homestay we took a cab to the taxi stand across some cement factory, about 15 minutes from where we were staying, the cab ride was 15 somonis, lots of traffic police as usual, in almost every corner, and they are like sharks, stopping cars at every opportunity we saw yesterday how they blatantly accept bribes in the street, it's ridiculous how often vehicles here gets stopped by these sharks. We got to the taxi stand and immediately we got mobbed by the taxi drivers, the doors of the taxi flung open and our arms got yanked out of the taxi beckoning us to come with them, i left the negotiations to Tapio, everyone wants our business, we wanted to go with the car that goes right away, with people already in them so we don't wait long, but it all seems to get lost in translation, this fellow tugged me to his car, and Tapio got summoned to another, in the end we found our car we wanted but till took about 30 minutes before we departed,waiting for one last passenger.
In the car is a mother and son from Penjikent, here only to visit grandma they
are very friendly and the boy speak good English, he is quite talkative and throughout the journey peppered me with questions, what's this in English? etc. I even got to watch movies and clips from his cell phone, mostly about Allah, prayer songs and such and surprisingly enough 50 cent! The road was good for awhile and the the scenery is already amazing just outside the city, hills surround the capital with all sorts of color, Varzob rivers runs along side the road, we saw a man made lake complete with cottages for recreation and lots of cafes on the banks of the river. Every now and then we encounter rough gravel roads, the Chinese are busy building, repairing the roads here, we entered several tunnels, and lo and behold we are now high up in the mountain ranges, we started seeing ice in places, the scenery is colorful and spectacular, some areas are barren hills with some greeneries at the top. We felt asleep after awhile everytime i woke up the boy, Johnny, (we christened him as we cant pronounce his Tajik name) would talk to me, he never stop chattering but is quite entertaining.
We saw several
push bikers all foreigners, we stopped for lunch at some restaurant and the waiters wouldn't stop chattering with us, over friendly, they can't speak English well so they start enumerating all the words they know, Arnold Swarzenneger came up as well, and L.A. and Bush and table, and nose, and shoes, any word they know really, this got annoying as we were trying to have lunch, and Tapio is not happy he have to keep repeating he is Finnish not Australian! The we are off again, nearing the town of Ayni, we passed several villages all the while there is always a river next to the road, from beautiful blue green Varzob, to a murky brown then gray rivers. There is always water nearby. After 6 hours we finally arrived in Penjikent, after, the car had experienced minor setback but we made it anyway, the doors won't open and have to pry it with pliers! We got dropped off right at Nematov Niyozkul's GH, a short old man super talkative, he just happened to be coming out of a taxi when we arrived, after paying 100 somonis each for the taxi we went to the GH, it is now called
Elena's GH btw, it is run by an agency but Nematov is the caretaker so same same...
We have nice comfy rooms, for $10 per bed, tv in the room but only for display, doesn't work. Tapio and I decided to go to the bazaar in town so we took bus #4 and dropped us off at the entryway, everyone now is watching us, people greeting hello, where r u from, etc. like i said the Tajiks are naturally friendly, we attracted a few kids in the market following us, and asking for photos and then wanted to see the photo on the screen, quite fun and a good opportunity to take their photos without paying but it gets old quickly, we can't take 2 steps without being asked for their photos to be taken. Everyone is smiling to us,young girls giggling, one shouted out to me I love you, i don't know how to answer back, i just said thank you and Tapio and I left quickly, laughing our hearts out at the propositions. One girl wanted to marry him.
Tapio bought the call to prayer alarm clock, very tacky but funny. I bought honeydew melon not
as cheap as Kyrg but it's barely even $2! We took one of the Chinese van #4 back to the GH, it's quite small and gets crowded easily. I left Tapio in the GH and I went for a walk in the afternoon, as before the kids followed me and I have to take all their photos, I got out of it by saying I am hungry so I will go home now. There is a wedding pictorial at the museum called"Museum named after Rudaki"I took several shots then walked back quickly, I felt uncomfortable as by now everyone is staring at me, i heard several kunichiwa greetings, I yelled out I am not Japanese!
Dinner was meager we got served plov and salad for $5, next time we will eat out. Nematov is a talkative little old man and a little bit pervy we concluded!He does not always directly answer your questions, he starts a new topic quickly and you can't interrupt him as he never stops talking, but other than that he is quite helpful and right away made us feel at home in bis GH, A fountain of knowledge, try to ask only what you need
to know or you will be in a conversation for a long time!
The next morning we went back to town to find an ATM machine the locals directed us to the Posta which we had a hard time finding, took awhile and when we did find it the old styled ATM machine is only in Cyrillic, we have to guess which button to press, took a few tries then it worked!We then took breakfast at a small cafeteria, we pointed to eggs and hotdogs being served to another customer, easy. i went back to the bazaar to take some more photos and then we walked back and found the Tourist Info center in town, Delia, a nice young woman is working there, she studied in Virginia and is going back there to further her studies, she of course spoke good English and gave us some tips on thins to do here and also potential places to stay in Khojand.
When we got back to the hostel the big group that came from Samarqand, a group of middle aged Canadian and English tourists trekking in the Fan mountains for 14 days arrived, Nematov arranged for us to get a
ride on the second transport vehicle for them, we just pay gas which will be cheaper, at $50 we split the cost, normally it's $80 for a taxi or 4wd hire! The Marguzor lakes is about 63 km form Penjikent, we wanted to do a day hike there. So we drove in the 2nd vehicle stopping briefly at the bazaar to buy additional provisions then we are off, the truck is old and rickety and we feel every bump and it's not well ventilated, we have to suffer for 2 hours, we got to a checkpoint where they checked our passports, the young Uzbek dude who is the assistant guide of the trekking group was with us and he said they have goldmines here which explains the security check.
The landscape is barren, tall mountains that is arid and dry and yet a big river runs through the valleys, form Penjikent it started murky brown then dirty gray and as we keep getting higher into the range is became pristine blue. this is where we will find the 7 lakes of Marguzor, I think each one or some have their own names but collectively know as Marguzor anyway.
This
valley is a complex of interweaving ridges and former glacier banks and moraines. These lakes are born amid snow topped glacier fields. We followed the raging river upwards, passing small villages and settlements, there was a very recent mudslide here as we saw when we passed, last week they had torrential rains, we are lucky it's gorgeous blue skies and no threat of dark clouds. The river in some parts are swollen and we have to navigate through flooded gravel roads.
Eventually the first lake came to view located at 1, 598m, this is so beautiful, turquoise blue, the dirt road we are on snakes around the side of it, amazing sight, then we get further up the ridge on switchback roads, then came the 2nd one, equally stunning as the one before it, on the 3rd lake there were locals camping and swimming, we kept going further up, the smallest of the lakes is #5 we passed through a small village where the kids were frantically waving at us smiling and giggling, we reached a rough campsite at the foot of the Lake number 6, while the Uzbek dude guide sets up the tents for the group Tapio
and I started the 2 hour trek up to lake 7 at 2, 400m high, they call it Azor Chashma, the walk is easy at first following the dirt road along lake 6 which is also gorgeous there are villages on top of mountain ridges and along the sides of it, we occasionally encounter locals, with their donkeys, or people walking, everyone humbly greeting us, France! we heard a couple of times as they guess where we are from, must have lots of French tourists here, they assume everyone is French now. The road suddenly splits, one trail goes up the hill we decided to follow the main road, there is no marker and we have to constantly ask for directions, some giving confusing ones, when we got to the Marguzor village, the trail continues to the side of the river but we crossed the flooded bridge as we were told by a local then realized it must be a short cut, we went back to the side trail , we took tons of photos of kids and adults, as we walk the trail.
One guy in a small house yelled out Obama! and Tapio pointed to me, he
is the American! the guy shook my hand firmly and refuse to let go, I have to take my hand back slowly, then comes Tapio's turn to shake hands, same thing, we crossed another small bridge then started going uphill, the trail winds on the side of the mountain, kids following us for a bit then left us when we reached a stuck 4wd vehicle with 7 drunk local men, they wanted us to help them push the vehicle but we told them we must move on as we have little time, eventually getting to the top, the lake sits on a deep ridge, colorful mountains surround it, it must be the time of day we got there but it is not as colorful and attractive as number 1. but it's beautiful all the same, Tapio sat down along the trail for late lunch while I walked further out a bit, I encountered stunned locals, who just stopped on their tracks and stared at me, one guy's donkey kept walking while he stood there watching my every move, I have to remind him his donkey had gone astray! He was with his 2 sisters, who keeps giigling, i gave them
pear fruits and they were happy. On the way back we caught up with them until the foot of the Marguzor village, the walk is long but scenic and eventually arriving at the base camp at lake 6 the driver who is waiting for us is upset, yelling out Dushanbe, Dushanbe! we surmised he is bound for Dushanbe later and we to him are late! We did not pay attention to him, we paid the gas and Nematov knew how long it takes for a round trip walk to the lake. he drove like a mad man, we picked up some kids along the way who hitched for a couple kilometers, they refused to sit next to me opting to sit on the floor!
We kept stopping the driver adjusts something under his seat, it must be the gas tank or something, at one oint we almost had an accident, a 4wd veered too close to us as we tried to overtake it, Tajik words got exchanged between the 2 drivers and some swear words am sure, it was dark when we arrived back in town, there are few more guests that arrived, 3 backpackers from Lithuania and a
family from Iran, we engaged in good conversations with them while I have my late dinner of cheese and bread, I was so hungry. Then we went to bed, tomorrow, Tapio goes back to Dushanbe while I stay to do more hikes.
I went to visit the old town ruins of the city with the 3 cool Lithuanians I met in the GH, Bernard, Gintare and Mindas. we walked towards the bazaar, there is a Greco-Roman wrestling tournament going on in town in the town stadium and so lots of people are watching, kids again followed us with greetings, hello, what is your name. Arriving in the bazaar I met David again, the local where I bought somosa from yesterday, he spoke good English and he helped us find the right directions to the ruins on foot, took us probably 30 minutes of walking to get there, going through some orchard in the process and up the hill, we paid 3 somonis to see the ruins, 1st the musuem then the village itself, it is freaking hot, no shade and no clouds in the sky, the ruins is in bad shape as it is made of mud only a
few sights are recognizable, when it rains they get ruined and have to be rebuilt, a Russian archaeologist from the Hermitage in St. Pete is there working and chatted with us and explained a bit about the history, Its a big complex of mud, we went from hill to hill, along the way getting pricked by thorny bushes, on the way back down to the main town we got mobbed by kids in their swimming shorts jumping on the murky river that runs through their street.
We tried to get in the mosque but they were praying so we went to the bazaar and had a look, the boys wanted to buy this green tobacco powder the locals put in their mouths for a little buzz, and though they spoke Russian they got misunderstood, when Mindas asked a local he was told we have to get a taxi to buy it, it's 4km away towards the factory and he said it in a hushed voice, only later did he realized they thought he was trying to buy illicit drugs! When Bernard saw one vendor with the stuff he pointed to it, and the guy said ahh! this stuff, it's
over at the back of the bazaar! Lost in translation somehow. Then we went for lunch and 3 liters of Pulsar beers later we went back to the hostel to chill.
In the eve another Finn guy arrived, Jakko, and he shared my room, we went to look for dinner outside of the GH and found a decent one near the Rudaki museum, the Lithuanians buying lots of cigarettes because its so darn cheap here and with flavor, Gintare was craving for cheese so we looked for it, and took awhile to find them. We bought Tajik cognac and had it in the eve while we chat the night away. Nematov finally arranged my trek for tomorrow, almost did not happen as he could not find an English guide for me, in the end it worked out well.
WIKI INFO ON PENKJIKENT:
The city of Penjikent ("five villages") is located in Khujand area of Tajikistan in a picturesque Zeravshan river valley. Quite possibly the five villages started the history of this remarkable city which originated in the 5th-8th centuries AD. Penjikent of that time was one of the most important cultural and crafts centers of Sogd.
It was even named "Central Asian Pompeii". It was a superbly fortified well-organized city with a ruler's palace, two temples, markets, rich dwelling houses decorated with numerous paintings, wooden and clay statues of ancient gods. Penjikent was the last city on the way from Samarkand in Kukhistan Mountains. It was a very favorable location since no caravan or person going from the mountains or returning to Samarkand could bypass Penjikent.
Ancient Panjekent was a small but flourishing town of the Soghdians in pre-Islamic Central Asia. It served as the capital of Panch and was known as Panchekanth.
The ethnic and territorial name "Soghd/Soghdian" or Sughd/Sughdian was mentioned in history as early as the Iranian Achaemenid Dynasty (6th century BCE). The Achaemenids founded several city-states, as well as cities along the ancient Silk road and in the Zarafshan valley.
The town grew in the 5th century CE and many professionals such as established businessmen and landowners made their livelihoods in Panjakent. In 722 CE, Arabian forces besieged and annexed the town. The last ruler of the town Devashtich fled into upper Zarafshan but he was captured and sentenced to death. For around 50 years, ancient Panjakent was ruled
by new administrators but towards the end of the 8th century the town on the upper terraces was depopulated and relocated. Many ancient ruins of the old city, particularly the city architecture and works of art remain today.
According to Arab geographers, Panjakent in the 10th century had a formal Friday mosque that distinguished the place as a town from a village. It was the easternmost city of Soghd, and became well known for its walnuts.
Russian archaeologist Boris Marshak spent more than fifty years excavating the ruins at Panjakent. He remained there even after Tajik independence as director of the excavation of the Panjakent ruins, even during the years of Civil War in Tajikistan from 1992 to 1997. Through close cooperation with the government of Tajikistan, Marshak ensured the protection and continued excavation of the Panjakent ruins. An important feature of the ruins is the frescoes which show details of dress and daily life.
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hey mate thanks for sharing your stories. great to see you go through central asia i think is an amazing place, i spent 8 months living/travelling through there as well. unfortunately didnt get to make it to tajikistan (it was november by then and would have been freaking cold!). keep it up! :)