This weekend a number of classmates and I will travel to the northern cities of Panjakent, Istirafshan, and Khujand. These three cities are among Tajikistan's finest and oldest. Panjakent today is a small city but contains a great amount of ancient ruins. It is also circled by a beautiful natural environs. Istaravshan is another small city and is famous for its knives; it is said to be over 2500 years old. Khujand was founded as a military fort by Alexander the Great around 300 BCE at the eastern most point of his empire. It has since been inhabited--one of the world's most consistently inhabited cities.
The drive north begins tomorrow morning at 5:00 am and will snake into the mountains of central Tajikistan. It will be a fantastic trip into new places. I will be sure to take pictures and notes; I'll let you see 'em when I get back.
Peace.
Those cities have lots of vowels and sound dangerous.
ReplyDeletethe only dangerous part would be the mountain roads and crazy drivers.
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