Tajikistan: Istaravshan

Istaravshan is another ancient city only 80km south from Khujand. It has a few tourist sites around the old town, none too exciting, though Istaravshan more than makes up for it with hospitality. Everything we read said so, and amazingly that's exactly how we experienced it.

Walking around the old town, we quickly learned that at our normal level of greeting people we come across, we could end up with invitations for tea that we would then have to decline. While we didn't see so many people around the old town, at prayer time we came across many men going to the mosque, even though it was not a Friday, it was the second day of Eid (end of Ramadan). We had learned that in Central Asia only men go to the mosque, so when we came across several nice ladies standing around outside a house with the door open, we both thought maybe this is how women get together and pray. In our normal curious ways, we asked if I could go in. To make a long story short, we landed ourselves in the post funeral mourning of a family matriarch. The hospitality ensued was unparalleled, from the senior ladies down to the toddlers. I was very much moved.

Notes to fellow travelers: the marshrutkas from Istaravshan to Khujand must not be allowed to park and wait in the Khujand station. Catch them as they drop off passengers in the station.

On bus 314 (1st and 2nd below) from Khujand to Istaravshan (Истаравшан), we passed the Mug Tepe Fortress (3rd below), high on a hill to our left, but following other traveler's reports, we did not visit, and then were dropped off in front of the Market (4th below).








We walked (1st below) towards the Shahr-i-Kohna (Old Town) and then to the Hauz-i-Sangin Mosque (2nd below) with its dried up pond (hauz).




Then onto the Madrasa Abdulatif Sultan (Kuk-Gumbaz) which no longer has students, where a friendly caretaker gave us a short tour.










Friday prayers at the Maschidi Khazrati Shokh and its beautiful brick minaret.






Adjacent to the mosque, there is a Soviet era (presumed) mosaic mural.


City Center.


Our new friends from the post funeral mourning. The two young men at right are old enough to wear the traditional male coats and hats.


Continuing to the Chor Gumbaz Mausoleum with its four domes and filled-in pond in the front (I'm guessing).


The Sary Mazar Complex consists of an older mosque with a wooden iwan, a newer mosque with a pond/pool, a very large tree (which we sat under for a long rest), and two tombs with pleasing ceramic tile facades.

Tajikistan: Khujand

Khujand, second largest city in Tajikistan, at the western end of Fergana Valley, is actually much closer and easier to get to from Tashkent and Sarmakand, Uzbekistan. It was one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. Firmly on the Silk Road, it has seen armies from Alexanderia the Great, to Arabs, to Geghis Khan, to Qing China, to Soviets, and everyone in between.

Today, it has the usual market (5th below) and mosque, across from each other on the main square (1st below). Even though those buildings themselves are not particularly ancient, the same bustle of the main square must have been going on for a few thousand years. Having a bit of luck, we were able to enter the mosque and walk around (2nd below) before being shooed out as a funeral procession approached (3rd and 4th below).











Khujand also has a fort of dubious provenance (1st and 2nd below). In fact, the President was in town to open the newest embellishment to the fort, which caused much commotion; that is, street closures, fireworks (below), and more. The more important person for us was our new friend Yibo (his Chinese name), who we met in Panjakent, just a week earlier, when he was visiting his family. Yibo learned Chinese in Nanjing, China, courtesy of the Confucius Institute. He now works in Khujand as a translator for a Chinese cement company. Because of my mishap with Wechat, missing out the opportunity to have dinner at his family home in Panjakent, Yibo treated us to dinner at a restaurant in Khujand! 











Qurutob, a culinary discovery! The national dish of Tajikistan, it's main ingredients are yogurt, fatir (flatbread), tomato, cucumber, greens, onion. We twice ate it for breafast!


Our shared taxi from Dushanbe to Khujand was pulled over three times by police. Each time the driver grabbed his wallet and rushed back to meet the officer. Hmmm. The drive was beautiful. First, retracing our route back over the mountains, skirting a small landside and again surviving the Tunnel of Death (video, 2nd below). Then east to Khujand in the Fergana Valley.










For much of the drive, it seemed that every car, including ours (first below), had a pile of cargo/luggage on the roof.




Khujand is on the banks of the Syr Darya (River). The main bridge across it was closed to vehicles during the president's visit.








Some examples of contemporary architecture around town. First, the very cool Soviet Modernist SILKCOAT building. Second, some government offices. Third, the regional library.