Our first night in Tajikistan was spent in Penjikent at the Umariyon Hotel which was located above a supermarket. With an external staircase of 26 steps, we fortunately had help with our bags.
Check-in was straightforward and having said we didn’t mind single beds we were shown to room 9a. The beds were separated by a wardrobe and bedside tables with plug points, but there were no reading lights. There were two worn, but comfortable brown leather armchairs, a coffee table, TV and fridge, but no safe.
The bathroom had a bizarre three-cornered bath with a seat and a shower over, but it was surprisingly effective and more importantly didn’t leak. It lacked a hairdryer although there were complimentary toiletries.
The teapot and two cups appeared a little superfluous as there was no kettle, coffee or tea bags. It was only at breakfast the next day, that we realised there was a hot water urn, tea and coffee which appeared to be available 24 hours as a man arrived with his tea pot, filled it and returned to his room.
The hotel didn’t serve evening meals, and although we were centrally located in the city, unfortunately it was Eid al-Adha and all the nearby cafes were closed. We therefore had to prevail on our guide and driver to take us somewhere to eat and they eventually managed to find somewhere slightly out of the city.
Breakfast was on the third floor in a rather stark dining room and apart from tea pot man, there was no other guests. Having sat down and waited a little while, a lady who obviously spoke no English delivered eight slices of rather good bread, four slices of cheese, two thick pieces of a suspicious looking cold meat which may have been horse, two packets of cake, small dishes of natural yoghurt and larger dishes of hot porridge. Fortunately, we managed to decline the two over-fried lacy eggs and pink sausage before they hit the table. Needless to say, we stuck to yoghurt, bread and cheese with green tea and felt rather guilty at the waste.
This was a slightly bizarre experience, and we hoped that on future nights in Tajikistan we would fare a little better.
