1

Hey,

I'm looking to cross one of these two borders within the next week or so. If you can wait that long, I'll get back on here with some info for you once I'm in Tajik.

Stephen

2

Only option will be crossing via Oybek to Khujand then take a local bus or taxi to Penjikent.

3

Hey Stephen,

would really appreciate that - I'm going in June.

Lars

4

Larsen,

Hopefully this info isn't too late to help you? Penjikent/Samarkand is still closed, and Bekobad is open only to Uzbek/Tajik passport holders (and the town also doesn't have a hotel tourists can stay at).

So, Oybek it is.I bussed from Samarkand to BEkobad one afternoon and then midday the next day to Oybek. You might be able to catch a direct bus from Samarkand, though I never did end up asking about that train. If you take the bus, make sure you ask for the border/customs as the bus actually passes it before the town of Oybek proper.

From the border, shared taxis wait to go to Khojand but nobody would quote me a price under $30. I started walking to the nearest village and on the way somebody stopped for me and took me to a hotel in Khojand for $10. If you wanted to go all the way to the village by foot, though, it would be entirely walkable and I talked to another traveler who found a marshkrutka there for Khojand.

Hope that helps!

Stephen