Hard gas stations in Tajikistan (7 photos)

This is how they often sell gasoline in the mountain villages of Tajikistan: an old fuel truck buried in the ground, with a hose in it, a flow meter and a table nearby for the “cashier.”





At first I also thought it was just a truck abandoned by someone on the side of the road a long time ago. I took a photo of it automatically, and an hour later we drove past it in the opposite direction, returning to the guest house from a walk to some local museum.

And near this miracle stood an old “six”, connected by a rubber hose to its rusty barrel and the long-faded “flammable” inscription. Grandfather was filling up his car.

I turned in surprise to our driver-guide, and he nodded in response: “yes, these are the gas stations we have in our villages.” You know how at vegetable markets there are trading stalls in an old van rooted to the ground that will never go anywhere else, but from which they sell onions or potatoes every day.

This is how they often sell gasoline in the mountain villages of Tajikistan: an old fuel tanker buried in the ground, with a hose in it, a flow meter and a table nearby for the “cashier.” He himself does not go anywhere for fuel; large fuel trucks replenish him with gasoline. One of these goes around five to seven villages, replenishing small three-ton tank trucks like this.



And sometimes they even bring a barrel of gasoline, an umbrella, a chair to the side of the road on a truck or even in the trunk of an ordinary passenger station wagon, and... the gas station is ready!

- Fly in, refuel, gasoline is inexpensive!

Quite often there are such “private” gas stations. The pump is either manual or from a car battery. As a measuring device - a 10-liter canister or even a bucket.



There are also more or less decent tank trucks that come to the side of the road under their own power and refuel the cars not by pouring into barrels, but directly directly using a regular pistol.

Of course, in the mountains there are also stationary gas stations with a booth, a pump, and a hose.

True, the booth is clay or dung, the gas station is old and rusty. Due to the peculiarities of the terrain, the fuel tank is quite often not buried in the ground, as at conventional gas stations, but is simply located slightly away from the pumps on a hill so that the fuel can flow by gravity without a pump.



Yes, this is also a gas station!



There is no column, only a barrel inside the mud hut.

Use an old crumpled bucket as a measuring stick.





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