Day 13

After breakfast we started a trek to Tajikistan border. The border crossing is unbelievable chaos.  To leave Uzbekistan we had to show our passports 4 times and produce all three of our Uzbekistan entry visas.  After an hour they let us leave and we had a 5 minute walk to Tajikistan.  Entry there was also chaos but a little better then Uz exit. Luckily, our Tajik guide Jamshed met us at the border and helped us with formalities. Otherwise, we might have been there much longer.  From the border we drove to the city of Khujand and had lunch and money change.  Then to the market. A large indoor market with everything.  Friendly vendors and they welcome you to sample anything and practically ask you to take their picture, wave and smile.  Then we drove to the Arbob Palace. It was built in the 1950s in the Soviet style by local craftsmen. The story of the huge, beautiful palace is unbelievable. It was built thanks to the vision and perseverance of one man, the director of a collective farm near Khujand who went for a trip to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), saw the palaces there and decided that his hard working people deserve a place like this to enjoy in their free time. The cost of building a palace this size and quality was estimated at 50 mln rubles, but his farm only make 12 mln per year so everybody told him it was impossible. And yet he did it – by uniting 12 collective farms and getting lots of volunteers among builders and craftsmen. The result is amazing. When we were walking to the bus, a group of students approached us and wanted a picture with us. Then we checked into our hotel (Grand Hotel) – also surprisingly nice. The hotel is across the street from the city park so after dinner we walked in the park, which was full of families with children, music, lights, and all kinds of activities. Kkujund is probably the biggest and nicest surprise of this trip.