• 08:00 – welcome tourists from the hotel in territory of Dushanbe, departure to Khujand, driving through the Hissor and Fann mountains range
• 10:00 – the same time it is thinkable to receive tourists from the Panjakent/Samarqand border
• Visiting places: Panjakent city – ancient Sarazm – Rudaki mausoleum
• 12:00 – arriving Panjakent and have a lunch to a national restaurant
• 13:00 – starting the sightseeing of the tourism objects of Panjakent

Sarazm

Sarazm – is the first World Heritage Monument in Tajikistan. This is the oldest settlement (IV—II millennium BC) located 15 km west of the district center of Penjikent, on the left bank of the Zeravshan River. Well-preserved palace and religious buildings, public and residential buildings are of great historical and cultural value. Metal and stone products were found at the excavation site, as well as numerous jewelries made of precious stones and processed seashells. The settlement is located within the Bactrian-Margian Archaeological Complex. The destruction of the settlement coincides with the invasion of this territory by nomadic Indo-Iranian tribes. The name "Sarazm" comes from the ancient Tajik word "sari zamin" (the beginning of the earth).

Penjikent

Penjikent is an administrative center in the Sughd region of the Republic of Tajikistan. Penjikent is located in the valley of the Zarafshan River east of the city of Samarkand, at an altitude of 900 meters above sea level. The city is rich in its sights, architectural monuments, a beautiful recreation area on the banks of the Zarafshan River

Rudaki Mausoleum

Rudaki Mausoleum (taj. Oromgohi Rudaki) is the mausoleum of the famous poet, writer and scientist, the founder of Tajik—Persian literature-Rudaki (858-941). One of the most famous and popular attractions of the country. The mausoleum of Rudaki is located in the small village of Panjrud, which is located 60 kilometers east of the city of Penjikent. The mausoleum is located inside a small park with green spaces, the entrance to which is marked by a large brick arch of Persian style, with massive decorated wooden gates. The mausoleum itself is located in the center of the square, on a small hill, which is reached by a long staircase surrounded on both sides by trees. The mausoleum building is a polyhedron in plan, topped with a hemispherical dome resting on a drum. The mausoleum is built of red brick, and the dome is lined with blue tiles in the manner of ancient Central Asian and Persian mosques and mausoleums. Inside the mausoleum, in the center there is a marble sarcophagus over his grave. ABU ABDULLAH JAFAR RUDAKI is the founder of Persian and Tajik classical literature, the first of the famous Persian poets who began composing poems in the New Persian language. He is considered the "Father of Persian poetry", who stood at the origins of literature in this language.

• ---

  17:00 – continue our trip, departure to Istaravshan
• 19:00 – arriving Istaravshan, accommodation to hotel and dinner in the national restaurant
• 20:00 – end of day

• 07:30 – breakfast in hotel
• 09:00 – welcome tourists from the hotel

Visiting places: Istaravshan city– Hazrati Shoh mausoleum – Kok-Gumbaz – Handicraft Avenue

Istaravshan

Istaravshan is located at an altitude of about 1178 meters above sea level. Istaravshan is a museum city, an ancient center of trade and crafts, one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. In 2002 Istaravshan turned 2,500 years old. According to written sources and some archaeological data, it is known that in the VI—IV centuries BC, in connection with the development of crafts and trade in the settled Central Asian regions, along with small rural settlements, large urban-type settlements arose. In addition to Samarkand, there were other cities in Central Asia of that period. One of them was the present Istaravshan, and in the past, Kyropolis (Kurushkada), named after the founder of the Persian empire, Kira-Kurush (529-559 BC). Kiropol owes its origin to the growth of handicraft production and trade. By the time Alexander the Great conquered Central Asia (IV BC), Kurushkada was already large. a well-fortified city. The city of Kurushkada, Kiropol was founded in the VI century BC in honor of the Achaemenid king Cyrus, who fortified the settlement with three rows of walls and a citadel. In the II—VII centuries BC. on the territory of Istaravshan there was a settlement of Mugteppa — the place of residence of the local aristocracy, who built numerous castles with a peculiar, expressive architecture here.

MONUMENT TO VLADIMIR LENIN

The MONUMENT TO VLADIMIR LENIN - you will not find anything like it anywhere else in the entire republic. It was built in the mid-1960s, the work of a Lithuanian sculptor who lived in Khujand at that time. The monument to Lenin was opened in honor of the launch of the Kattasoy reservoir in 1965. To reach the monument, you need to climb a long staircase of 365 steps. This number, symbolic, represents 365 days a year. The area around the Lenin monument is decorated with evergreen trees, and the green hills and reservoir double the beauty of these places. The climate here is very pleasant, there are healing springs and the famous resort of Avicenna.

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin - Russian revolutionary, Marxist theorist, creator of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (Bolsheviks), main organizer and leader of the October Revolution of 1917 in Russia, first Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, creator of the first socialist movement in world history states.

Hazrati Shoh mausoleum

The Hazrati Shoh mausoleum is the grave of the holy Hazratishoh, the brother of Qusam ibn Abbas, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, buried in the 11th century in the Samarkand Shahi Zinda ensemble. This object is one of the ancient sights of Tajikistan, part of the historical and architectural complex "Hazratishoh", located in the old part of the city of Istaravshan.

Kok-Gumbaz

Madrasah "Kok Gumbaz" located in the western part of the city. This building of the XVI century was built on the initiative of Abdulatif Sultan, the son of the famous astronomer and philosopher Ulugbek, grandson of Tamerlane. The folk legend about the construction of Kok-Gumbaz says that Abdulatif, having quarreled with his father, left his parents' house and took a job with an old Dehkan to dig a ditch for irrigation of his land. He was supposed to receive 100 tenge for this work. The father found out about this and took the money honestly earned by his son from the peasant, added his own to them and built a madrasah with these funds. Even three centuries later, at the end of the XIX century, students studied at the madrasah

MUG FORTRESS

Kalai-mug is a castle (fortress) on Mount Mug, an archaeological monument of the 7th-8th century in Tajikistan in the upper reaches of the Zeravshan River, 3 km from the village of Khairabad, Ayni district, about 60 km east of Penjikent. The structure was located on a steep mountain, at an altitude of 120 m from the confluence of the Qom River into Zeravshan and consisted of a courtyard and a two-story building made of stone and brick measuring 18.5 × 19.5 m. Inside the building there were five vaulted rooms connected by a through passage.

Handicraft Street

One of the most important and real attractions of the city of Istaravshan is the handicraft of the inhabitants. A street of pavilions stretches through the city from the bazaar (the main market), with open doors, folk crafts of various kinds, made by hand. In this street, you can admire handmade creativity like knives, spoons, earrings, bags, belts, etc., at the same time buy important accessories for yourself. In Handicraft Street we have time for shopping.

• ---

  13:00 – lunch in the Istaravshan restaurant
• 15:00 – continue our trip, departure to Khujand
• 17:00 – arriving Khujand, accommodation to a hotel
• 19:00 – dinner in the national restaurant
• 21:00 – end of day

• 07:30 – breakfast in hotel
• 09:00 – welcome tourists from the hotel
• Visiting places: Central square of Khujand – Khujand Fortress – Jomi Mosque – Panjshanbe Bazar – Arbob Cultural Palace and museum

Khujand

One of the oldest cities in Central Asia is Khujand. The second largest city in Tajikistan, an important transport hub, political, economic, cultural and scientific center of the country. Khujand is located on the banks of the Syr Darya, below the Kayrakkum reservoir, in the Fergana Valley. Khujand is one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, according to some sources, the foundation of the city falls on the VII-VI centuries BC. It was conquered by Alexander the Great, who rebuilt and strengthened it, calling Alexandria Eshata (Extreme).

Khujand Fortress

The Khujand Fortress was founded in the VI—V centuries BC. According to the archaeological dates, the Khujand fortress was first surrounded by a bulk rampart, later by a wall of considerable thickness made of raw material. The city and the citadel — components of ancient Khujand, had separate fortress walls surrounded by a wide and deep moat filled with water. The remains of these fortifications were found under the central part of the left-bank Khujand and surround the territory of the ancient city with an area of 20 hectares. With the development of the economy, trade, government system and population, the city is growing. In the VI—VII centuries, a new fortress was built. Medieval Khujand consisted of three main parts: Citadel, Shahristan and Rabad. The citadel was located on the bank of the Syr Darya at the Rabad gate. The medieval Khujand fortress was considered one of the most fortified in Central Asia. During the invasion of Chinggis khan (1219-1220), a 25,000-strong army with 50,000 Central Asian solders was sent to besiege the city. The heroic defense of the Khujand fortress under the leadership of Temurmalik is one of the brightest pages in the history of the liberation struggle of the Tajik people. As a result of the Mongol invasion, the Khujand fortress was destroyed.

Jami Mosque

The Jami Mosque is a complex of Sheikh Muslihiddin, a monument of folk architecture of the XVI century. The object is located on the western side of Panjshanbeh Square. The facade of the building faces Shark Street. The mosque was built in 1512-1513. The multi-column (30 columns) aivan adjoins the eastern wall of the winter hall, also multi-column (20 columns), and enters the courtyard of the mosque.

Panjshanbe Bazar

Panjshanbe Bazar is one of the attractions of Khujand, is located in the center of Khujand, and opposite it stands the mausoleum of Sheikh Muslihiddin. The bazar consists of the main pavilion and many shops, tents, and shops adjacent to it. It is always very noisy here, as not only residents of the city come to shop, but also guests from nearby villages. The main feature of the Panjshanbe Bazar is its unique architecture and decor. The bazaar building combines elements of classicism and Stalinist Empire style, and the decoration is harmoniously executed using Soviet and Oriental styles. A hemispherical portal decorated with bright paintings rises above the central entrance, and sculptures of a man and a woman are installed on the sides. If you go inside, you can see a long-vaulted hall with slender rows of columns. In Panjshanbe Bazar we have time for shopping ?.

Arbob Cultural Palace 

The Arbob Cultural Palace is a building in Khujand, Tajikistan, the former headquarters of a Soviet collective farm, built in the 1950s and modelled on the winter gardens of Peterhof, St Petersburg. The main building consists of three wings - with an ornate theatre seating 800 people in the main wing. The South wing currently houses a museum which tells the history of Arbob and of collectivization and the soviet empire in Tajikistan. The building had particular significance in 1992, when it was the site for the meeting of the Tajik Soviet which officially declared independence from the Soviet Union. It was the site where the Tajik flag was chosen. More recently, in the late 1990s it was also the site where peace conferences following the Tajik civil war were held. In particular, Tajik President Emomalii Rahmon first came to prominence speaking at the Palace, and it was the site for a "plov of peace" which celebrated successful negotiations towards an agreed end to the Tajik civil war.

• ---

  13:00 – lunch in the restaurant
• 19:00 – dinner including a concert program in a restaurant 
• 21:00 – end of day 

• 07:30 – breakfast in hotel
• 09:00 – welcome tourists from the hotel. Today, afternoon we have back way
• 10:00 – arriving Qayroqqum
• Visiting places: City of Qayroqqum – Bahoriston resort – Tajik Sea, Qayroqqum reservoir (you can swim and boating) – Cruise on yacht

Qayroqqum Reservoir,

Kayrakum also spelled variously as Qayroqqum, Qayraqqum, Kayrakum or Kairakum, is a large artificial lake in Ghafurov District of Sughd Province, in northwestern Tajikistan. In 2016, the reservoir was renamed Tajik Sea (Tajik: Баҳри Тоҷик) by the country's parliament. The reservoir lies in the western part of the Fergana Valley on the Syr Darya river. The provincial capital of Khujand lies about 15 km west of the dam. A 1150 km² tract of land encompassing the reservoir and its surrounds has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports significant numbers of the populations of various bird species, either as residents, or as overwintering, breeding or passage migrants

Bahoriston Sanatorium

In a vivid oasis of Sogd valley of Tajikistan, on a shore of a purest Kairakkum reservoir, which is also called the Tajik sea, is located a new sanatorium “Bahoriston”. “Bahoriston” became famous with its rich infrastructure, modern medical diagnostics and highquality of service. “Bahoriston” from Tajik/Persian means “Kingdom of Spring”. The naming is not just a coincidence. The founder of sanatorium National Bank of Tajikistan created on the shore really ideal environment for recreation and treatment. The green area of this health resort makes 22 hectares. Lovely land planning, various infrastructures, neat sidewalks with antique designed street lamps, lawns with bright-green grass and flowers, a lot of beautiful and lovely fountains during summer, cozy wooden arbors carved in traditional Tajik style, various statues, children’s playgrounds and areas, outdoor pools with areas for rest, picnic areas, everything is done to deliver maximum comfort and pleasure for the guests. Sanatorium has its own comfortable beach. The beach season in Tajikistan is from June to September inclusively. But already May has many warm days. Wonderful natural healing factors, modern medical diagnostics, experienced resort doctors and nurses will allow you to get a full treatment of the following profiles. Results always impress everyone who took complete course of spa treatment of sanatorium “Bahoriston”: 98% discharged with improvements; average length of remission after the treatment is 9 – 12 months; morbidity will decrease 2-3 times. In Bahoriston sanatorium we have time for relaxing, swimming and boating (at the request and expense of traveler).

• ---

  11:00 – Cruise on yacht (at the request and expense of traveler, except of winter time)
• 13:00 – lunch in the Bahoriston restaurant
• 14:00 – back way, departure to Dushanbe or border Panjakent/Samarqand
• 19:00 – arriving Dushanbe or border Panjakent/Samarqand, end of tour