Blogs from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, Asia
August 9th 2010
Got up early to get ready for my long journey back to Dushanbe, Beha told me he will go to the share taxi stand and get a taxi to pick me up from their apartment, I told him I will go with him and take all my stuff and he can leave me there as i can manage to wait in the station, he and his mom had a conversation and for some reason they did not want me to leave the house, they made me sit and wait while Beha grabbed a taxi to take us to the station, it's like a door to door service and I feel like they are hiding me from someone, police perhaps, is their homestay needed to register and they have not done that? everything is lost in translation. ... read more
July 26th 2010
Dushanbe (Tajik: Душанбе, Dushanbe; Dyushambe until 1929, Stalinabad until 1961), population 679,400 people (2008 est.), is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. Dushanbe means "Monday" in Tajik, and the name reflects the fact that the city grew on the site of a village that originally was a popular Monday marketplace. (WIKI INFO) For the last month or so I have been travelling with Russ and now we split as he takes on Uzbekistan while I have another week to chill in Kyrg. I had the intention of spending some time in Arslanbob, near the town of Jalalabad, I went online and had a look at things to do, the place sounds promising, walnut forests, waterfalls, great hiking opportunities but the problem was majority of LP thorn tree forum reviews on the CBT there was bad ... read more
May 15th 2010
So I have ventured South for a brief forray into the Persian sphere of influence and of course have been met with unfathomable hospitality, all the mulberries I can eat and a sense of comple incomprehension as to what I am doing there! -------------------- When travelling to Tajikistan down the remote Pamir Highway it is suggested by locals not to hitch as trucks do not come every day, maybe you may spend weeks waiting. Of course if you do then it is less advisable to walk out of Sary Tash, the last settlement of notable size and whilst waiting for a truck walk up to the military listening station/artillary depot (think Memwith Hill) and ask for some tea and jam sandwiches. If the guard walks off to find out, then do not run off at full ... read more
May 14th 2010
Having had our fix of Silk Road culture we now head south into the Zerafshan Mountains onto good motorcycling road, sweeping up and down the green mountainside. We pass through some tin roofed villages and they have obviously got a job lot of paint as one village will have blue roofs, the next green, the next red etc. At one point the sky ahead goes very, very black and we have thunder as we ride through a snow storm. It doesn't last long and soon we are back in the sunshine riding along picturesque valleys. We make one brief diversion at Shakhrisabz - Timur's birthplace which was once grander than Samarkand. Now its just a few ruins but what's nice is that they are un-restored.. Ak-Saray was Timur's summer palace but all that's left is the ... read more
April 26th 2009
It was a Tour de France moment, minus the speed. Cycling out of Murgab, it felt special for a while, as locals yelled and whistled to grab my attention. Kids running along the bike cheering, but that was for a reason. I was told earlier in the week that I was the first backpacker of the season. Here for 5 days I would be 320km from the nearest tourist and that tourist was riding on a bike. With its scenery ranging from Mars to Pluto it was a spectacularly remote feeling. The sound of silence was only broken by the occasional cool breeze and the racist dogs that can smell a foreigner a mile away - Even with the wind going the other way. My brief moment on the bike was treated to a cyclist’s tradition ... read more
April 4th 2009
(There are two parts to this first part is for avid readers and people considering travelling here. The second is if you are in a hurry.) PART 1 - So I’m on the TV show the Amazing Race and the challenge is to get through the ex-soviets red tape before Navrus (New Year). These are my instructions - and this is what happened: First up you have to arrive at the airport without a VISA and hope the information you received is correct and you can get your VISA at the airport. Once at the airport you will need to convince the consular that 14 days is not enough and you need the full one month in case things with permits and registration go wrong. Go to the cheapest hotel remembering when crossing the road that ... read more
