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Tajikistan

Lake Istravshan is a mountain lake of glacial origin in Tajikistan. It lies at an altitude of 7,201 feet. The lake takes its name from Alexander the Great's passage in Tajikistan: Iskander is the Persian pronunciation of Alexander, and kul means lake in many Turkic languages.

There are two legends connecting the lake to Alexander. The first one states it used to be a location the inhabitants of which resisted Alexander's rule, and in fury, the king ordered to divert a river and annihilate them. The second legend states that Bucephalus, Alexander's horse, had drowned in the lake.

A tree root and trunk cut into a spectacular carving and painted gold. The back drop of the lake makes this a definite one of a kind viewing.

As you can see it has spectacular clear images of the surrounding hills and mountains reflecting on the lake.

Yughnob River

Bathrooms at a rest stop and restaurant. Only a hole in the ground. Yes the year is 2022 too.

Driving through the Hisal Range of mountains at one point reaching an altitude of 8,200 feet.

Car Wash by the side of the highway before entering in Dushanbe

Dushanbe translates in Tajik "Monday". It is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. As of January 2022, Dushanbe had a population of 1,201,800 and that population was largely Tajik. Dushanbe was settled by various empires and peoples through its history. The most recent was Russian. Tajikistan was under Soviet dominion from 1929 until 1991 when they gained Independence.

Dushanbe is a delightful city built around parks, lakes and fountains. Its grand tree lined boulevard, Rudaki, has many older Soviet era pastel colored buildings on both sides of the boulevard. The city grew from a village which had a popular Monday market place, thus the name Dushanbe...Monday..

The Navruz Palace, a privately funded cultural center built by local skilled artisans.

Navruz Palace is a large complex of rotundas, a palace, a cinema, entertainment halls, and meeting rooms. The building is grand and monumentally large with rooms of magnificent chandeliers, parquetry floors, and long columns.

View of the city from the gardens of the Navruz Palace. The facility can be rented for weddings and any type of receptions and meetings. The whole territory of the complex including fountains, summer pavilions and garden – takes more than four hectares. Approximately four thousands of craftsmen from all parts of Tajikistan were involved in the process of building.

The building is also called the Chaikhana of Dushanbe which translates to Tea House. It is the larges Tea House in the world. This the Arzhang is the Conference Hall

Decorative wood carving of colon and ceilings, wall decorations: woodcarving, Florentine mosaic in colored mirrors, painted ceilings. Height of the biggest cupola is 120 feet.

Gulistan Hall used for banquets.

The entire building is over the top in decorations.

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