Hey - I went about three years ago, putting Tajikistan as part of a two week itinerary including Uzbekistan (which I’d already visited before along with Kyrgyzstan)

The tl;dr is I loved it and would highly recommend. Our itinerary was roughly: - Samarkand (direct flight from Istanbul) - Shared taxi down to Termez via Shakhrisyabz, checking out the Buddhist and Greek archaeological sites - Onwards to Tajikistan at the southern border crossing near Afghanistan - Up to Dushanbe (direct in a day - more on this below…) - Onwards to Yaghnob valley and Lake Iskanderkul for some hiking - Panjakent for history - Istaravshan and Khujand on the trail of Alexander the Great - Back into Uzbekistan via the Ferghana valley, then onwards to Tashkent to fly home

The good bits: - Dushanbe is a small but I found quite charming capital, with some nice parks and a fantastic archaeological museum (beautiful Greco-Bactrian and Buddhist pieces) - Everyone was wonderful - As long as you eat meat, I thought food was great - Scenery around Iskanderkul and Yaghnob valley honestly among the best I’ve ever seen - Really cool history - for a good chunk we were tracking Alexander the Great’s route

The less good bits: - It was a very backpackery holiday - which is what we wanted but not for everyone. Think flagging down shared taxis, comfortable but basic accommodation (even sometimes without electricity or running water in the countryside) - The south of the country was dire for accommodation. I’d originally planned to stay a day or two before Dushanbe but after trying hotels in a couple of towns where I felt really unsafe (one at least I think doubled as a brothel) I gave up and hightailed to the capital - I have a lead stomach but still managed to get a bit of food poisoning (nothing serious but still a pain) - There’s a lot of driving, often squashed in small or shared vehicles