Give Dushanbe two days. Day one is Rudaki Avenue: the National Museum of Tajikistan, the 13 metre Sleeping Buddha at the Museum of Antiquities, lunch upstairs at Rohat teahouse, then the flagpole and the park at dusk. Day two goes out of town, to Hissar Fortress 35 km west or up the Varzob gorge. Sort Pamir permits before you leave.
Dushanbe is a Soviet-planned capital under snow-capped mountains, laid out along one grand avenue and walkable in an afternoon. It is also where the Pamir Highway is organised, so most travellers arrive to sort permits and a driver, then stay longer than they meant to.
Twenty-two halls run from Bronze Age finds through the Samanid centuries to modern Tajik painting, and the building itself, opened on Dusti Square in 2013, says plenty about how the state reads its own past. Tickets are 50 somoni. It closes on Mondays, so plan around that.
A 13 metre reclining Buddha, excavated at the Ajina Teppa monastery near Bokhtar between 1964 and 1968 and rebuilt from 43 pieces by Hermitage restorers. It is the largest Buddha in Central Asia. The Sogdian and Kushan rooms around it are worth another hour.
The city's formal heart: fountains, mature shade trees, the 25 metre bronze of Ismoil Somoni under a golden arch, and the 165 metre flagpole in front of the Palace of Nations. It was the tallest on earth from 2011 until Jeddah passed it in 2014. Come back after dark for the lights.
Built in 1958 and raised on columns above the avenue, with painted ceilings, carved plaster and chandeliers over two floors. CNN named it one of the world’s best teahouses in 2017. Order shirchoy and osh, take the upper gallery, and watch Rudaki move below you.
Three storeys and 10,000 square metres of Silk Road pastiche, opened in 2014 to replace the older Barakat and Green bazaars. The ground floor is the reason to come: Isfara apricots, mountain honey, walls of spice and hard white balls of qurut. Expect to be handed a taste.
Planned as the largest teahouse in the world and finished in 2014 as a five-floor palace, roughly 40,000 square metres of carved wood, mirror mosaic and painted plaster by Tajik craftsmen. The grounds are free. Going inside costs 70 somoni and takes about an hour.
Two crowded rooms holding the private collection of the folk musician Gurminj Zavkibekov (1929 to 2003), open to the public since 1990: Pamiri rubobs, dutars, frame drums and the clothes that went with them. Concerts are informal, often around 5pm on a summer Saturday.
The rebuilt gate of a fortress on an old Silk Road crossing, with two madrasas and a caravanserai museum below the ridge. It is 35 km west, about half an hour by road, and a marshrutka from the western stand costs a few somoni. Half a day, including the drive.
A war memorial opened in 1975 for the thirtieth anniversary of victory, on the ridge that closes the city to the south. The view back over the grid to the mountains is the best in Dushanbe. The 1970s cable car no longer runs, so take a taxi up and walk down.
Stalinist classicism from 1946, named for the writer Sadriddin Ayni, and still the main stage in the country for opera, ballet and orchestral nights. Seats cost very little by any European standard. The board outside the box office is the reliable listing.
One musician’s collection of Pamiri strings and drums, sometimes played live.
Russian and Ukrainian plates in an alley by the opera house, shaded terrace in summer.
A short walk from Rudaki Park and the opera, and the default when the table wants a break from osh.
Trees from across the world, gravel paths and a pond, empty on a weekday.
The 1946 flagship on Rudaki, opera and ballet through the winter season.
A full public holiday, marked with concerts and family gatherings across the city.
Four public holidays for the Persian new year, with concerts, buzkashi and street food.
A public holiday, and the weekend the gorges above town start filling up.
The 1945 Soviet victory, marked at the war memorial in Victory Park.
Marks the 1997 accord that ended the civil war. Offices and banks close.
Parades, concerts and fireworks for the 1991 break with the Soviet Union.
The old Persian harvest festival, timed to the autumn equinox and the fruit coming in.
A public holiday for the constitution adopted in 1994.
The country’s main gateway and the base for Somon Air, with roughly 30 scheduled destinations. City buses and trolleybuses run out to it; an official taxi into the centre is 40 to 70 somoni.
The way most people reach Khujand: 340 km over the Anzob tunnel on the M34, five to six hours, about $15 to $20 a seat. Somon Air flies the same route in under an hour.
Trolleybuses and buses cross the centre for 2 to 3 somoni, cash only, and line 1 runs the length of Rudaki Avenue. Carry coins, since drivers rarely have change.
Strips of fatir bread soaked in salty qurut whey and topped with fried onion.
Rice, carrot and mutton cooked in a kazan and eaten from one shared dish.
Hand-pulled noodles in broth with meat and vegetables. The reliable winter order.
Triangular tandoor pastries filled with lamb and onion, or pumpkin in autumn.
Skewered mutton over coals, sold from street grills and every teahouse yard.
A long-simmered mutton and vegetable soup, served with bread on the side.
Black tea boiled with milk and butter, closer to broth than to a brew.
Strained yoghurt, thick and sharp, eaten with bread or stirred into soup.
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