Transportation to Shahriston District and Ovchi

On foot, motorcycle, bicycle or jeep you can access this region from the south (the Zarafshon valley). See our article on how to get over the Turkistan ridge, and follow the directions in reverse. By car you can drive quite a ways into the mountain areas, as the terrain is wide open and the roads easy. This, of course, requires a private driver.

Shahriston District

If you are doing regular shared-car transportation, you will be coming from Khujand, Dushanbe or Panjakent. If you want to access the region from the western Shahriston side, then it’s easy.

From Dushanbe or Panjakent you need to find the drivers going to Khujand, but tell them you are going to Shahriston. But to make sure they don’t drop you off in the town of Shahriston, show them a screenshot of the wolf monument (Romulus and Remus) that sits at the turn to the Ohtangi Resort. You can find pics at the Google Maps link, or download this pic here. The drivers will recognize it. On any map app that uses OSM data, the monument is labelled as “Capitoline Wolf Monument.“ However, this puts you at a location at least 15km from the more interesting terrain, and it will be a long walk on a road. Being able to negotiate a trip with your driver to the Ohtangi/Okhtangi Resort will depend on your language skills, and the size of your group. Being a solo passenger makes it probably not worth it for your driver (and certainly not for your fellow passengers). How about hitchhiking? If you are solo and it’s the weekend, then you have a good chance to find a ride. A less busy day and a large group with backpacks? Probably not. You may be walking a long way. Want to know what the walk looks like? The first 3 minutes and 30 second of this video take you 99% of the way to the Ohtangi Resort Zone.

From Khujand you can do the same as above with drivers headed to Dushanbe. But they will probably want the full amount of the Dushanbe price, as they won’t like find new passengers after dropping you off. You may have better luck getting first to Istaravshan, and there finding a driver who is headed to the town of Shahriston (and who may be interested in a trip up the the Ohtangi Resort). But that may require some investigation. There is a place where driver congregate to get to Dushanbe (“Shared taxis to Dushanbe“ on OSM-data maps), but I’m not sure of the more local drivers are there as well. If you stay the night in Istaravshan , the budget Sadbarg Hotel is the best option.

From the town of Shahriston you may have better luck finding a driver who actually knows exactly where the Ohtangi Resort is. I have not been to this town, but I suggest going into the center to find a driver (the main highway bypasses the center).

Prices? I’m not sure. I hiked into the region. But it is usually much more expensive when you have a special location you need to get to (where the driver will return empty). For hitching, you should pay. But if you get picked up by locals on the way to a picnic they will likely refuse payment.

Ovchi

The village of Ovchi is in the Ghonchi District, and is the eastern entrance to the mountainous areas of the district. Be careful with this name, as there is another Ovchi as part of the town of Ovchikala in another part of northern Tajikistan. This village name will also be much less familiar to drivers in this region.

I exited the mountain through this village, and transportation is limited. Expect a pattern of drivers leaving the village to go to the bigger towns in the morning, and then returning in the evening.

The best way to get to this village is to use Istaravshan as your starting point. From here try to find a marshrutka or shared car headed to Ismoil Somoni (likely still called “Kalininabad“), or better, to Darkhon (probably still referred to by its old name Yangiariki Bolo). From these towns you can try to hitch a ride further up the road. This may take a while and require some local language skills.