Tajikstan

Traditional band

After our tattoo adventure and saying farewell to Selina, we drove to the Tajik border. Here we once again said goodbye to Bek and crossed through the border station on foot. We were met on the other side by our new guide, Khusrov. We then had an hour drive to our destination, Khodjand. On the way we stopped and observed a wedding party. Apparently there are tons of weddings in Tajikistan, and they're very big celebrations with traditional bands and big feasts. We felt awkward about stopping on the side of the road to watch the wedding procession into the building, but our guide had us get out and the people were so friendly that the band played again specifically for us and we were invited to join the party. We declined, and carried on with our journey.

Buying bread at the market

Once in Khodjand, we stopped to see a beautiful, huge tea house (there was another wedding so we just peeked inside) and looked at the nearby government meeting house in the park. Tajikistan is one of the poorer countries in Central Asia, and the hotel that we stayed in was pretty dismal. However, it did feel like the people that we met were more friendly and vivacious then those we had come across in other places. We went to the main square and there were so many people! We must have seen 5 wedding couples getting their photos taken in front of the fountain and statue. It was a lot of fun to see all the little kids running around and teenagers hanging out. This was the kind of "scene" that I felt was missing in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. I could've hung out at the square all evening, but we left for dinner.

We only spent one night in Tajikistan. The next morning we visited their two big mosques, bazaar and handicraft area. We all snacked on bread and bought local tapestries, called suzannis. We visited a couple of park-type areas with monuments and a small fortress, then went to two nearby lake beaches. One was public and one was private. Not exactly pristine, white sand beaches, but it was fun once again to see people out and splashing around. We then drove back to the Uzbek border and were met again by Bek who drove us to Tashkent.

In front of the two mosques and mausoleum

Details of what we did:

Day 11: Sunday, August 18, Tashkent-Khodjand (Tajikistan)

·       Drove to border 

·       Met by new guide Khusrov. Khusrov very likable and proud of his country and wanting us to love it. Had been on eco-tourism course in Washington DC and very enthusiastic about needing to improve tourism in Tajikistan)

·       Drive to Khodjand (I hour) with stop to see local wedding at a restaurant

·       National Tea House (another wedding taking place), Government meeting house, Somine Square with its huge statue, large crowds and wedding parties –all very vibrant and fun to watch.

Day 12: Monday, August 19, Khodjand-Tashkent (Uzbekistan)

·        Friday Mosque, Mausoleum and New Mosque

·       Bazaar –fruit, bread and vegetables

·       Handicraft area near Bazaar

·       History Museum (from outside as closed) + run down and bare Archeology museum

·       Temurmalik Fortress

·       walk through park to bronze busts of famous Tajiks on a riverside area

·       Lenin’s Statue + Afghan War Memorial

·       Kayrokum Lake/resevoir –visit public beach (collect sand) and private club area –not very attractive

·       Cross border –empty and go through relatively quickly. 

·       Bek picks us up