Khujand is Tajikistan's second city, sitting on the Syr Darya river in the Fergana Valley. It's an old place, Alexander the Macedonian founded a garrison city here, and the museum takes you through what came before and after with more candour than most state museums manage. The first uranium used in the American atomic bomb programme was mined from Tajikistan.
Sights & Culture
Khujand Fortress (Ravnan)
The fortress on the river has a long history of occupation and reconstruction. Worth a walk around the exterior.
Stella S Gosudarstvennym Gerbom Rt
A notable civic structure near the fortress complex.
Somoni Statue
A large statue of Ismoil Somoni, the national hero and founder of the Tajik state.
Panjshanbe Mosque
Attempted entry, didn't manage it. Visible from outside and worth the look regardless.
Museums & Galleries
Sughd Regional Museum
Built to resemble a castle and containing a collection that covers the full sweep of the region's history, which is considerable. The Sarazm settlement, one of the oldest agricultural sites in Central Asia, features prominently. The museum addresses the "200 years of silence", the period following the Islamic conversion of Central Asia during which entire peoples and cultures effectively vanished from the record, absorbed or erased. It's an unusually honest framing for a state institution.
A descent into the lower galleries takes you past a statue of Alexander the Macedonian. The claim that Buddhism derives from symbols a million years old was made during the tour; treat it as enthusiasm rather than archaeology. The 1% casualty rate cited for Tajik Red Army soldiers in the Second World War also appears in the exhibits and seems, to put it gently, optimistic.
Mausoleum of Sheikh Muslihiddin
The mausoleum of Khujand's patron saint sits within a complex in the old city. A significant local pilgrimage site.
Restaurants & Bars
Dinner
The food was fine. The waiter was not.
Shopping
Panjshanbe Bozor
The largest market in Tajikistan and one of the better ones on the trip, big, well-organised, and modern enough to feel functional rather than purely atmospheric. A man polishing bread with a cloth rag was the detail that stuck. Worth the visit.
Supermarket Amid
A supermarket near the market district. Notable primarily for the cookies at 45 som, which are worth picking up.