Jago 257| Backpacking to Khujand, Tajikistan, from Tashkent, Uzbekistan

On the 124th day I finally went to Khujand, Tajikistan, after a week of sightseeing around four embassies in Tashkent to look for a visa.

The distance from Tashkent to Khujand is only 160 kilometers, but there are not always direct buses for border crossing. Therefore I tried to make it cheap, starting from Quyluq Bazar in the southern part of Tashkent. It turned out I had to go further south, to Food City where I finally found a bus to Bekobod where I could get off at Oybek, the border town with Tajikistan (only 14,000 Som/$1.2).

The Uzbek immigration process in Oybek was relatively smooth. I was only asked for proof of hotel registration while in Uzbekistan. The whole process including queuing only took 30 minutes. Then I arrived at Tajikistan immigration which took 3 hours because the internet connection was down and I had to wait for a technician to repair it. It is said that Tajikistan is the least developed former Soviet Union countries.

From the border it is still far from the nearest city. I took a shared-taxi for 10 Somoni ($1) to Buston, where there is an ATM, SIM Card shop, and a mashrutka (van) to Khujand for 10 Somoni. Actually, you can also get a direct shared taxi from the border to Khujand for 40 Somoni. However, I was looking for the cheapest route.

I traveled 1.5 hours through the desert with a backdrop of rocky mountains until I arrived at the mashrutka terminal in Khujand. I changed to local mashrutka to Panjshanbe Bazar, which is a registan (sandy square) that still functions as a traditional market to this day.

The market is very lively and I could feel the nuances of Tajikistan culture in this market. The location is also right next to the Khujand Jami Mosque and the Tomb of Sheik Muslihiddin, the ruler of Khujand from the 12th century.

Tomorrow, I plan to explore Khujand, which was founded 2400 years ago under the name Alexandria Eschate, which is the furthest city founded by Alexander the Great. This city was the outermost point of his empire and I want to see more of how this city looks like now.


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Stage 1 Route - Sumatra (DONE!):
Jakarta - Bandar Lampung - Baturaja - Lahat - Pagar Alam - Bengkulu - Lebong Tandai - Kerinci - Jambi - Kuala Tungkal - Batam - Johor Bahru

Stage 2 Route - ASEAN Mainland (DONE!):
Johor Bahru - Kuala Tahan - Kota Bharu - Su-Ngai Kolok - Nakhon Si Thammarat - Chaiya - Nakhon Pathom - Bangkok - Nakhon Ratchasima - Phimai - Nong Khai - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai - Pai - Chiang Mai - Chiang Rai - Boten - Kunming, China

Stage 3 Route - China (DONE!):
Kunming - Dali - Lijiang - Shangri-La - Shambala - Litang - Chengdu - Leshan - Chengdu - Xi'an - Zhangye - Jiayuguan - Dunhuang - Turpan - Urumqi - Almaty, Kazakhstan

Stage 4 Route - Central Asia (DONE!):
Almaty - Shymkent - Tashkent - Nukus - Muynak - Turtkul - Khiva - Bukhara - Samarkand - Tashkent - Khujand - Fann Mountains - Dushanbe - Kunduz, Afghanistan

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Music Credits:
And Awaken - Stings by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/....