The National Museum of Archaeology contains the 1600 year old ‘Tajik Buddha,’ now thought to be the largest statue of its kind in Central Asia. The museum also houses displays of Zoroastrian and Buddhist artifacts. Khujand is the country’s second largest city and an ancient Silk Road trade center. Located at the entrance to the fertile Fergana Valley, Khujand is cited as the easternmost city established by Alexander the Great. As such, it has a rich history and many preserved architectural and cultural sites. It also happens to be a popular mountaineering center in a country where half the land lies higher than 9,000 feet above sea level and which has a number of peaks taller than 20,000 feet.

Near to the border with Uzbekistan is Penjikent, which lay on the only route from the East to Samarkand and flourished from the 5th Century. Arabs destroyed the city in the 8th Century and the ruins were discovered in the last hundred years. Today, the excavation site has been turned into a memorial reserve where tourists can visit a medieval citadel, palace, public buildings, dwellings and a necropolis. Midway between Penjikent and Dushanbe lies the emerald gem Iskander Kul (lake). The lake is at an elevation of 7,000 among the 4,000 plus peaks of the Fan mountains, which contain many other hiking, fishing or skiing spots for Dushanbe’s residents.

The tar are Central Asian style with the additional side strings, but just like Iranian tar have the skin head, 3 pairs of main strings of metal and waisted body carved from wood. These tar are shaped very much like Iranian tar from last century, with the curves of the upper skin being more wide and rounded than those of the last 50 years. These are the most robust tar we have been able to offer; they even have a neck reinforcement rod for added strength. They vary quite a bit in ornamentation, with some being austerely plain in the manner of Iranian tar, and others having inlaid patterns more in the Uzbeki and Azerbaijani style.

Several countries use the tar as one of the most important art instruments, including Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Tajikistan, and of course Iran; even the Herat region of Afghanistan had the chartar, although it was much rarer than the dutar and rebab and tambur. For many years it’s been difficult to get instruments from this part of the world, and we are fortunate to have a supply of these once rare items from a part of the world that is too little known, particularly its rich musical heritage. For centuries this was the Silk road, the caravan trail from the Middle East to China, and along with silk, spices, jewels, precious metals, etc., musical instruments were carried from place to place.

Many cities along the Silk road, like Samarkand and Bukhara, were known for their great musical cultures, often mixing musical elements from different regions into a rich fusion. Political upheavals of the last century and geographic isolation have kept Central Asia from the mainstream of the world music revival, but things are changing now as the treasures of this part of the world become better known.

Shipping to Kazakhstan requires that your logistics company works with several different sets of laws and shipping methods. This nation is very much connected with Russia and, up until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, there was a huge Russian population that lived in this nation. Despite its rather remote location, this nation has been very stable politically and, thus, has become the largest economy in Central Asia. This means that there is likely a market for your goods in Kazakhstan, if you can get them there!

The best logistics company for the job will, without exception, be one that does business in Russia. Shipping to Kazakhstan, because the nations share a border, means shipping through Russia, if you plan to go overland. Trains and air transport, as well as trucks, can provide transportation for the rest of the journey. The issues for logistics companies that don’t have offices in this part of the world arise from unfamiliarity with local laws and with the businesses needed to get the job done. An experienced company can make the entire affair of shipping go off without a hitch, but an inexperienced company may end up having your goods somewhere in Central Asia that you’re never even heard of.

Be sure you deal with a company that provides shipping to Kazakhstan on a regular basis. This is the only way to figure out how to get goods in and out of this nation and, without this experience, the affair is just too complex to be profitable. If you don’t have a logistics company with any Russian speakers on staff, you need to look elsewhere. This part of the world is incredibly vast, has a complex set of laws and bureaucracies that must be navigated and requires an expert logistics company for shipping.

The museum also houses displays of Zoroastrian and Buddhist artifacts. Khujand is the country’s second largest city and an ancient Silk Road trade center. Located at the entrance to the fertile Fergana Valley, Khujand is cited as the easternmost city established by Alexander the Great. As such, it has a rich history and many preserved architectural and cultural sites. It also happens to be a popular mountaineering center in a country where half the land lies higher than 9,000 feet above sea level and which has a number of peaks taller than 20,000 feet. Near to the border with Uzbekistan is Penjikent, which lay on the only route from the East to Samarkand and flourished from the 5th Century. Arabs destroyed the city in the 8th Century and the ruins were discovered in the last hundred years.

Today, the excavation site has been turned into a memorial reserve where tourists can visit a medieval citadel, palace, public buildings, dwellings and a necropolis. Midway between Penjikent and Dushanbe lies the emerald gem Iskander Kul (lake). The lake is at an elevation of 7,000 among the 4,000 plus peaks of the Fan mountains, which contain many other hiking, fishing or skiing spots for Dushanbe’s residents. To the east is the larger Kara Kul situated amongst high, barren highlands that, with their errie atmosphere and yak herds, are reminiscent of Tibet. The lake is often accessed from Kyrgyzstan, heading west from Osh.

In ancient Central Asia the match makes couldn’t come into brides home to propose the marriage without informing the bride’s family. The match makes or sometimes mother of the groom came early in the morning when everyone was sleeping to the bride’s home and swept the floor near the entrance door to the bride’s home that would show the bride’s parents that there is a family who is interested in proposing marriage to their daughter. Next bride’s family would start to prepare for the visit of the match maker, by trying to find out from which family the groom is and learn more about the groom and his family. Parents of the bride did not agree to the marriage from first visit of the match makes even if they were in favor of it. First bride’s family had to show its’ pride and give an impressions of their daughter as hard to get bride, which would bring brides’ and her family’s status higher.

In present time the process of match making became easier in some parts of Central Asia, young women and men meet each other in their own and then ask their parents for permission to the marriage or their parents or immediate family members play the role of match makers. They tell each other about their families, relatives and other background information. A lot of attention is paid to how neighbors describe the bride or groom and references from school or work.

Bride and groom are allowed to have few dates before giving their final agreement for the engagement. Those dates are very important as they give young people an opportunity to find out more information about each other, such as their views on different aspects of life, their personalities and interests. Based on those dates they are able to make a better decision about the possibility of future marriage.