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Asia central asia Tajikistan

Panjakent

Stories and Photos from my travel to a lively Tajik border town near Samarkand, UZ.

Destination 》Asia 》Central Asia 》Tajikistan 》Panjakent

Year Visited: 2019 – September

Panjakent was the last stop during my three plus weeks backpacking trip through Tajikistan. After exploring Khujand, the second largest city of Tajikistan and one of the oldest city in Central Asia, I took a shared taxi to Panjakent (also spelled Panjikent), a lively border town near Samarkand, Uzbekistan, and an important trading post on the ancient Silk road.

Panjikent is a great jumping off point for trekking adventures into the Fann Mountains.

Photos below are from town of Panjakent.

Mountain road from Khujand to Panjakent. The road on western part of Tajikistan is well maitained.
The Border town of Panjakent.
A view of the new Panjakent city from the ruins of the ancient Sogdian city of Panjakent.

Ancient Panjakent was a small but flourishing town of the Sogdians (an ancient Iranian civilization) in pre-Islamic Central Asia. The remains of ancient Sogdian city are just out of town, on a hill overlooking the valley. The Shaivism was popular in Sogdiana as found from the wall painting from ancient Panjakent.

The remains of the ancient Sogdian city of Panjakent.
6th century Wall paintings discovered from the ruins of an ancient city have themes from Mahabharata and Shiva.
Panjakent Bazaar, the city was a major trading post on the ancient Silk Road.
Spices shop in Panjakent Bazaar.
Breakfast at my home stay.
This school boy, a 9th grader (15 years young), talked to me in Hindi for almost 45 minutes. He can communicate in 10 languages. His goal is to become a tour guide. Good Luck my friend!

Next stop, Samarkand, Uzbekistan, an important trading city on the ancient Silk road. There are plenty of shared taxis available near the Panjakent Bazaar for the Tajik Border. Once you clear customs and immigration, it is easy to find a shared taxi from the Uzbek border to Registan, Samarkand.

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By Window on The World

In May 2017, 23 days before I was going to complete 50 years, grabbed an opportunity and took an early retirement.. Picked up a backpack and traveling ever since.. Love to travel around the world, experience different culture, local cuisine & drinks .. and take pictures.. so far been to 108 countries and still counting...

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