About 60 kms from the Uzbek-Tajik border on the banks of the Syr-Darya river lies Khojand, Tajikistan's second largest city and also one of the oldest in the country. It is said to have been founded by Alexander the Great as his easternmost outpost - Alexandria - Eskhate. Due to its strategic location at the entrance to the Fergana valley, it became a prosperous town and built many palaces, grand mosques and a huge citadel but not much of that grandeur remains today. The Mongols ravaged the city in the early 13th century. But it continues to be a booming town today in what is the wealthiest part of the country.  

Our introduction to the people of Tajikistan started in the beautiful home of Amirjon and his family where we had arranged (over email) for a homestay . Amirjon is 17 and finishing school this year. His parents are well educated, his father runs a candy factory and his mother teaches in the nearby university. The well furnished home is arranged around a courtyard and located in the quiet part of town about 25 minutes walk from the center. Amirjon is only one in his family who speaks some English, so he constantly played translator between us and other family members.   

After lunch and a brief rest, we headed out to explore Khojand on foot. Wide roads lead to the center of town where a large statue of the poet Komil Khojandi sits studiously in the middle of Lenina, the main street. The city's oldest remains are the (now restored) earthen walls of the 10th-century citadel near what is considered the site of Alexander's original settlement. We walked past the citadel walls towards the Syr-Darya river where a pavilion has been erected to house statues of the country's heroes and heroines.

A visit to Panchshanbe Bazaar (they claim it is one of the best-stocked markets in Central Asia) and the quiet mosque and medressa just outside the market plaza rounded off our day's exploration. The word Panchshanbe means Thursday (or fifth day counting from Sunday) and the bazaar used to be a Thursday market. On our way back we met a young man who introduced himself as a English translator for the United Nations (he works with UN personnel when they come to oversee elections) and he talked to us a little bit about his city.  

As we were leaving Khojand next morning, we got a fleeting glimpse of its 22 meter tall Lenin statue that had been displaced from its original prime spot near the river and relegated to an obscure location in the middle of a field! Lenin's status seems to be relegated to the background in the other countries in Central Asia as well.