Dushanbe and Hisor

The Dushanbe region was settled by the Tajik, a people of Persian ancestry, before the 10th century and conquered by Mongols in the 13th century. The region became a constituent state of the USSR, the Tadzhik Soviet Socialist Republic, from 1929 to 1991, when it declared its independence. Tajikistan’s majority culture is non-Turkic, unlike its neighbors to the north and west and east. Tajik language is closely related to Farsi due to the Tajiks’ Persian origins, while the official script is Cyrillic, which poses major problems for the development and keeping of literature and cultural identity. Tajikistan is the poorest country out of the former soviet states, the poorest country in Central Asia and one of the world's poorest, largely owing to a devastating civil war that broke out shortly after independence in 1991.

Tajikistan is mainly mountainous but has all climatic zones from fertile cotton valleys bordering Uzbekistan to the Pamir highlands.

Forbidden are mosque or church signals and muezzin calls. Authorities fear any imported religious extremism.

Dushanbe is a sympathetic town, which maintained many green spaces, trees and parks. Infrastructure is dominated by pompous architecture. Aside from Afghan, Ukrainian and Georgian restaurants, there also is a German-type Brewery. Dushanbe has an active hiker’s club, which has a facebook site (Hike Tajikistan). Hike Tajikistan offers many excursion of varying difficulty.

One can spend two or three days exploring Dushanbe, taking in the historic sights. The Museum of National Antiquities (with the Sleeping Buddha and the Princess of Sarazm) is quite worthwhile, too.

Not to be missed, and easy to reach by taxi from Dushanbe is Hisor, or Hissar or Gissar. The once-important fortress of Hisor is depicted on the 20 Somoni note of Tajikistan. The fortress walls were one meter thick and had gun slots for rifles and cannons. Inside of the fort was garden and water pool. The only parts that remain are the monumental gates built of burnt bricks with two cylindrical towers. This architecture is typical for most of Bukhara buildings built within the XVIII-XIX centuries.

Hisor is a favorite place for wedding ceremonies, of which there will be several on weekends. They produce a spectacle well worth the visit. Hisor also has a modestly interesting museum.