Mountains, ruins, and Silk Rd towns of northern Tajikistan

On our tour of the Silk Road in Central Asia, we crossed a border out of Turkmenistan, and grabbed a taxi then train across southern Uzbekistan, to cross another border to get into Tajikistan. This country of around 10 million people is sandwiched between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Afghanistan, and is known for its beautiful mountains; in fact more than 93% of Tajikistan is mountainous.

Mountain town in northern Tajikistan

Later, we drove through some spectacular scenery and further into the mountains to reach other areas of Tajikistan. But Tajikistan is also known for its historic sights, so our first stop there was in the north-west in Panjakent, a town of around 52,000 people where we saw two lots of ruins from the Silk Road days. Panjakent is an interesting place.

Our hotel reception area, Panjakent, Tajikistan

Until 1991, Tajikistan was part of the Soviet Union, and Panjakent still has that Russian look with wide streets and big government buildings. Even our hotel showed its Russian past, reminding us of the glitz of the Moscow Metro with its chandeliers and baubles. However, it was a great place to stay and the hosts were really helpful, notwithstanding our lack of Tajik language and their limited English.

Leigh at the ruins of Old Panjakent (UNESCO), Panjakent, Tajikistan

Our friendly hotel host took us around the ruins and other places we wanted to see in Panjakent. Actually, the Panjakent we stayed in is ‘new’ Panjakent. ‘Old’ Panjakent, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a ruin, having once been a major stop on the Silk Road in the 5th to 8th centuries AD. In those days, it was a well-organized and fortified city with a palace, temples, markets, and monuments, and we could see the layout of many of those structures.

Re-created murals of Old Panjakent (UNESCO), Panjakent, Tajikistan

We popped into a museum at the ruin site, seeing objects and murals that had been carefully restored. It was amazing. We also visited Sarazm, another nearby UNESCO site which is a ruin. Sarazm dates back over 5,000 years to the 4th and 3rd millennia BC making it one of the oldest settlements in Central Asia.

Re-created Tajikistani home at Sarazm (UNESCO), Tajikistan

The Sarazm site is smaller than the Panjakent site, but we could still see the foundations of several houses there. A few of the houses had been recreated and furnished, showing what a typical house might have looked like in those days. We followed up with a visit to the onsite museum and it was really interesting. After that, our host took us to the Panjakent Bazaar.

 

Us with our guide in the canteen at Panjakent Bazaar

After enjoying the buzz and colour of the main bazaar, our host ushered us into the bazaar’s eating area. We sat at a communal table and the blokes sitting opposite us got a wee shock, but we were soon trying to chat. Without asking, we were served with plov (pilaf) and green tea, the national dish and drink of Tajikistan. It was delicious, and quite an experience.

The Rudaki Historical Museum, Panjakent, Tajikistan

Next was the Rudaki Historical Museum where we saw artifacts from the Bronze Age to the Sogdian era – the Sogdians dominated trade along the Silk Road from the 2nd century BC until the 10th century. That night when looking for a place to eat, we found a restaurant down a dark side-street where the owners drew us in with a lovely welcome. They then put us into a little dining room with no windows and closed the door, which we learned later, is the norm.

People and architecture on Panjakent, Tajikistan

Then they gave us a menu which we deciphered with Google Translate and we ended up with a tasty soup, local bread, and home-made beer. It was so different. But, the architecture, clothes washing under a street tap, broken footpaths, and slightly run-down appearance of Panjakent, definitely reminded us of our time in rural Russia. After an interesting time in Panjakent, it was time to move on. 

The scary road through the Fann Mountains (UNESCO), Tajikistan

Our next destination was Istaravshan, a city in the foothills of the Turkistan Mountain Range. With no public transport available, we booked a car and driver to get there. The drive took us through the UNESCO World Heritage Fann Mountains, and the scenery was stunning. The road however, was not! It was relatively well paved, but we were climbing up through the mountains on a steep road with no centre line, no guard rails, cars overtaking each other, and it started to snow – eeek!! 

Village dress in the mountains, Tajikistan

We drove through many villages on the way, and were interested to see people wearing what we would call, their national costume. The women wore a long dress with headscarf, and the men wore long coats with square embroidered caps. We also drove through herds of goats and donkeys and were in awe at how the herders manage their animals in the traffic on such narrow winding roads.

Old town streets of Istaravshan, Tajikistan

A few hours later we arrived in the city of Istaravshan and had a wander around while our driver waited for us. We walked through the city’s old town, and the streets look much the same as in Uzbekistan, with houses behind high fences that abut the narrow roadway, with no footpath. Then we found the bazaar and it was incredibly large – the largest we’ve seen.

Gents in the clocks-and-stuff stall in Istaravshan Market, Tajikistan

We wandered around unwittingly causing a ruckus, as we were clearly not local. We asked people if they were happy having their photo taken, and they were more than happy, and actually posed for the photos. It was great fun. We spotted some women buying somsas for lunch and decided to do the same. They gave us a big thumbs up for our choice, as did the gents in the clocks-and-stuff stall.

Khujand and the Qurama Mountains, Tajikistan

We managed to find our way out of the huge bazaar and back to the car to drive to our next destination which was Khujand, once known as Leninabad, the second-largest city of Tajikistan with a population of around 190,000. It sits in front of the Qurama Mountains along the Syr Darya River. It is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia being founded by Alexander the Great 2500 years ago as part of the Persian Empire.

Wrapped rounds of bread at Khujand Market, Tajikistan

Khujand’s location made it a busy stop for trade along the Silk Road. These days, it is still a trading place through its huge bazaar, which is known as one of the best in Tajikistan, and which we visited. We noticed that the bread is wrapped there, and we hadn’t seen that anywhere else on this trip to date. You normally just get an unwrapped round of bread and break off bits as needed.

Central Square with Sheikh Muslihiddin Mosque on left, Khujand, Tajikistan

Outside the bazaar, we enjoyed the vibrancy of the central square. It's flanked by the bazaar on two sides, and the road, and the Sheikh Muslihiddin Mosque and Mausoleum on the other two. It was a great place to people-watch. We took many walks from our hotel, driven out because the hotel was so, so noisy with a restaurant that constantly pumped out loud thumping music. At night, we had to use ear-plugs to sleep.

Large buildings in Khujand, Turkistan

But the hotel’s location on the Syr Darya River, gave us great views across the river to the city opposite. On one of our walks, we navigated the ubiquitous broken footpaths to wander along the other side of the river and gape at the large buildings there. Also once a Russian city, Khujand is now a clean and green city with lots of street trees, pretty flower beds, and a vibrancy that we enjoyed.

Marg in the old town of Khujand, Tajikistan

On one occasion when walking on the other side of river, we found the old town. It had the same look and layout as the old town in Istaravshan, and Samarkand in Uzbekistan. We met a woman there who tried her English on us while we were walking. Then she said “that’s my house” and quickly disappeared behind a large white-painted brick fence.

Clothing shop, Khujand Citadel and Lenin Statue, Khujand, Tajikistan 

Later we visited some shops and the historic Khujand Citadel which has been restored to within an inch of its now modern life. Then we hunted down a giant statue of Lenin that post-independence, was relegated from a prime spot to a hard-to-find backwater on the other side of the river. After that, we relaxed in a hole-in-the-wall café with food we selected from photos. Love it here. Tomorrow, we head south to visit a lake, more mountains and the capital of Tajikistan, but that’s in the next blog.

This blog is one in a series about our travels along the Silk Road of Central Asia.