Transport in Khojand

The main road border crossing with Uzbekistan (Oybek) is situated 60km north of Khujand near Buston, and this is the easiest way to reach Tashkent, 100km on the other side of the border. The Oybek border post is open 24 hours for foreigners and, providing your papers are in order, its a relatively easy crossing. The minibus to Buston from Khujand costs TJS5, as does a taxi from Buston to the border. Minibuses leave from the Abreshim bus stand in the northeast of the city.

From Khojand there are daily flights to Dushanbe (US$65), plus flights to Moscow, St.Petersburg and various Siberian cities. Tajik Air (Lenin 56; working hours 8am-noon & 1-6pm) is near the Panchshanbe Bazaar, from where taxis (20TJS) and minibus N80 run to the airport, around 16km south of the city. The two most useful airlines using the airport are Tajik Air and Somon Air.

Minibuses to Kanibadam/Kanibodom (minibus 328; 2.50TJS), for Uzbekistan, and to Isfara (minibus 301; 3.50TJS), for Kyrgyzstan, leave from the Isfara bus station (Lenin) in the southeast suburbs, on the road to Chkalovsk.

Minibuses travelling east to Isfara depart, imaginatively, from the Isfara bus stand at the southern end of Lenin. A seat either in the minibus or a shared taxi should cost no more than TJS10.

There are frequent minibuses (minibus 314; 4TJS, 90 minutes) and shared taxis (7TJS per seat) south to Istaravshan from the old bus station (Kamoli Khojandi) in the west of town. Shared taxis to Penjikent (seven hours, 100TJS) also leave from here when full. For shared taxis to Dushanbe (120TJS to 150TJS per seat, eight hours) you need to take minibuses 29, 36, 45 or 55 in the early morning from Lenin street to the Abreshim bus stand in the northeastern suburbs. Minibuses depart early in the morning. The new tunnel at Shahristan has reduced the journey time between Khujand and Dushanbe to around eight hours.

Minibuses 389 and 55 also run from here to Buston (3TJS to 4TJS), from where you can take a taxi to the Oybek border crossing with Uzbekistan.

 

For the Isfara bus station, take minibus 35 or 55. To get to the old bus station on Kamoli Khojandi, take minibus 29. You can catch all of these buses at the stand on the corner of Lenin and Rajabov. To get off in the centre, alight at the bus stand by the hammer and sickle monument.

Khujand is one of the few cities in Tajikistan to still have a functioning rail service. There are twice-weekly trains in each direction between Khujand and Saratov (TJS880), and also a weekly service to and from Moscow (TJS1,005).

The train station is in the south of the city on R Kasimov, just west of the junction of Lenin and Gagarin.