Is the road, border or area open and accessible to foreigners? Is there danger?
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Crossed this border to Tajikistan today at around 6 am. No problems whatsoever. It seems to be open 24/7.
Hi TiquiTaqua,
Did you notice if any SIM card shops/counters are opened on the TJ side? I read somewhere that there is a T Cell shop but it doesn't seems to be operational.
I crossed the same border about a month ago and the shop was not open (afternoon but before 5 PM). There was a t cell shop open on the main street in Panjakent so I exchanged some money and got a SIM there. If I had arrived 30 mins later (closed at 5 or 6 don't remember), I would have been Somless and SIMless.
Took the border yesterday from Samarkand to Dushanbe (EU passport). Got a yandex to the border 115 som at 10 am. Border was really quiet. They essentially waved me through, no real questions, they asked about my profession and cracked some jokes about it (it's unheard of in this area as a woman). I had an evisa with GBAO permit. X-ray guys also waved me through, no X-ray was done. On the Tajik side before customs there is a counter to exchange money. Please do change money as I had some minor trouble after.
Outside there is t-cell stall, unsure if it was working or not. I've got quoted 200 somoni to Dushanbe and as I don't speak Russian and really hate haggling I took it. Waited an hour to get the car filled up as again it was very quiet around midday. Arrived to shared taxi station at 5 pm on Dushanbe. Extremely scenic drive, we stopped halfway to have a break. I wanted to give 20 USD and everyone got really scared seeing the bill, my Uzbek companions helped me to sort it out but it seemed noone wanted to exchange or accept any foreign currency including som, they said it's illegal. Probably there were some issues recently about this. The same Uzbek guy convinced the taxi driver to take my Uzbek som for the drive to the hotel which was around 35 somoni. It took me quite a while in the city to find a working ATM that accepts visa or MasterCard so again please exchange some money at the border.
All in all it was very straightforward, nice and helpful people throughout.
200 somoni to Dushanbe is not too bad. I negotiated for 140 from Panjakent. Almost any ATM in Dushanbe I tried accepted my Visa card so this is something new. About Matsercard, I think it is only accepted on a Halyk Bank ATM. If you need to change USD at a good rate, you can always do it at Green House Hostel. Som to Somoni (and vice versa) is indeed best to change at the Tajik border, rate there is much better than on the Uzbek side.
Crossed the border TJ->UZ at 22:00 on Monday (29/04). Very quick but extremely quiet. No availability on Yandex Taxi and only one taxi present so no real negotiating power. 120000 UZS to central Samarkand for two.
Getting to the border, we paid 150 TJS each from Dushanbe in a shared taxi. Quite the experience to say the least.
We were a little apprehensive about the shared taxi having heard stories of various scams but had no issues. Got approached immediately at Chorbogh Taxi station with a reasonable offer and was even offered the front seat at no charge (I’m 202cm). We left within 30 minutes.
Crossed the border from Uzbekistan to Tajikistan on 06-05-2024, got there with own car (Overlander, Dutch registration, Dutch couple) at 09:00. This was a Monday morning, no cars in front of us. Total crossing time 2 hours and 15 minutes. We waited here and there for short times, but in general it was smooth. We were worried because of carrying a drone, stories go around about deep car inspections on the Uzbek side.
First pasport check, passenger and driver have to walk. Tourist registration was not asked for at all. Car inspection was superficial and only took 5 minutes. Only opened the fridge/freezer and the drawer system. Our other 8 boxes were not inspected. To the question if I had any drone, weapons or drugs, off course no was answered with a laugh.
Tajik side was very easy. Temp car import / road tax paid $50 for 30 days. Car inspection was really like 5 seconds, opened one door and finished. "Welcome to Tajikistan!" they said.
For the road tax, they prefer local money. We changed $100 before the Uzbek border to rate of 10.5 Somoni for a dollar I believe. You can also pay the road tax in us dollars. Otherwise there is a bank closer, most likely just to change currencies. All in all smooth crossing.
Funny how the landscape changed drasticly after the border crossing and we were happy with the good roads from the border to Dushanbe.
Jarteppa border and drive to Panjakent right? To enter the Tajikistan. Jarteppab boarder is in Uzbekistan side am I right, When return Panjaskent city to Samarkand what will be he name of Tajikistan side boarder?
Went through this crossing a couple of days ago, was much smoother than anticipated, although time consuming.
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Karamyk being open for goods doesn't mean it is open for tourists.
