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Published: July 12th 2016
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July 10 - I woke up at 5:30 and decided to get out of bed and finish getting ready for the trip. Geertje and the taxi arrived early, at 6:15, which was unexpected. I grabbed a take-away breakfast from the hotel and we were off. We got to the share taxi stand before 7am and arranged a price, but had to wait for another person. We agreed to pay 100,000 som each to pay for three seats instead of two, so the taxi would not be so crowded. Eventually another woman came and bought the other seat. She spoke English, which was a bonus. She had her son, but he sat on her lap, so it was still good. After twenty minutes or so, the car stopped and we were waiting for the driver's brother. It was unclear why and very irritating, as we had a long day ahead of us. It turns out that the brother was our driver, and we had to switch to his car. Weird.
It was a long day in the car, with a few stops along the way for gas, bathroom and some food. It was quite scenic though, but hot. We had to
go through several security checks along the way. We finally made it to the border at 3pm, and it took an hour to get through, with no one ahead of us. We had to go through about five different offices, and in one, they went through everything in both bags, including my camera and laptop. And this is only on the way out of Uzbekistan. But I guess they have a problem with sex tourism, or something. I also had to show all my money, which meant taking off my belt to show almost two thousand dollars. Awkward. They were surprised but did not try to take any.
We eventually made it to Tajikistan, and were given forms to fill out. Then we had to wait before anyone came back to process them. But it went quickly when he did show up. We also had to have out temperature taken, and they were both high. No kidding - it was boiling outside. He made us take off our packs and relax and then took them again. Mine did not go down much, but hers did. He sent us through. Then we got to the taxis and haggled for a
still-too-high price. But we had to wait for two more people to fill up the car to get that price. We waited for an hor, but they never came. We finally agreed to almost as much as he had asked for before. Bummer.
It took an hour to get into Dushanbe, the capital. He drove us to the Green House hostel, where we had both booked a dorm bed. He showed us some options, but I took the women's dorm I had pre-booked. She was in a different one with the idea of moving into the women's one the next day. I had the last bed - a top bunk. The worst. But at least there was air con. Eventually we went out to find some dinner, as it was after 8pm. We took along a French guy who had also arrived today, but he is doing his trip by bike. In fact, he is doing a round-the-world trip by bike. He has been away for four months, starting in Zurich, and expects it will take four years to do the whole thing. We got some shashlyk (shish-kebab), salad, bread and some juice. All very good, and more expensive
than any other meals I have had on this trip at $5. Geertje thought she had Tajik money to pay for the dinner - someone had given it to her before - until we all changed money the next day, but it was actually from Kygyzstan, I think. Luckily she brought some dollars as well, as I did not, and that was fine.
Back at the hostel, I re-washed my hair with two eggs and this time it got clean. I also heard from the couple I'm meeting here to plan our Pamir highway trip together.We meet tomorrow. I actually skyped with Jeroen for the first time since leaving Baku - the signal was strong enough, but I can't use facebook without a VPN, since it is blocked in Tajikistan. I have a free VPN but it does not allow me much data. I met a girl from New Zealand who just graduated from college in China, as she was doing Chinese studies. Got to sleep around midnight.
July 11 - As I sit here typing, I am listening to a guy in the bathroom. He is showering and sounds like he will throw up at any minute
and is constantly hacking up something. It is so hideous. Even worse than grabbing my new, unopened water from the fridge to find that someone opened it and drank most of it. Bastard.
...Later that day...
So, it was a busy and productive day. I woke up early, and tried to find somewhere comfy to sit, but no such place. I started on a couch in a dark room with Russian news playing until breakfast, then moved outside. Meh. I went to change money at the nearby Sheraton hotel with the French cyclist. I forgot people live/travel like that. It was nice, but also strangely uncomfortable inside. Later in the hostel I met with Giovanna and Tommy to try to plan our Pamir trip. I wasn't much help, as they had to use their phones to call a few agencies to get quotes. We wanted to leave from Dushanbe, but weren't sure if that would work out. We also wanted to leave the next day - a lot to ask. We had to wait until the afternoon for some quotes, but it worked out. The first one Gio talked to came back with a quote that sounded promising,
and they would come to see us in the evening, with the car and driver and discuss the final money and itinerary.
In the afternoon, we went to lunch at a place where you pick from already cooked food. I had beef and onions, a salad and fruit. From there I changed more money and they left to buy SIM cards. Back at the hostel I updated the blog and chatted with roommates. In the end, the hostel was most comfortable on the floor in my room. I skyped with my mom and it was hilarious. She couldn't understand why I'd come here, let alone go on the Pamir trip. I will not have internet, nor much electricity probably. I will sleep and eat in homestays with no access to showers and toilets that aren't. But it will be beautiful. And cooler! It's the second highest highway in the world, and we will spend about two weeks. It's really the main attraction of my trip.
At 5:30pm, I met Gio and Tommy to go to the Green Bazaar, the main (and only) attraction I saw in Dushanbe. We bought dried fruit and nuts for the trip, and some
water and toilet paper. And my stomach started to rumble. Was the lunch bad? What bad timing.
The driver was late coming back to Dushanbe, so I repacked and met a new roommate, Anna, from Lorrach, Germany. Lorrach is right over the border from Basel! She's been doing a postdoc in chemistry in Japan and is now taking a year off. She had just arrived and wanted to do a similar trip. I told her it might work out, depending on the car. A few minutes later I went to meet with the others and the company guy and driver. After a long discussion, we settled on one of two itineraries, with just a slight change between them. It will either cost $1500 or $1600 for the car, driver and gas for 13 days, split between us. Then homestays and food will add more - maybe $250 each? Not bad. We have a huge van 4x4, so we decided to bring Anna for everyone to meet. We also found that we would have a different driver, so he came to meet us as well. We decided to do it, and we will bring Anna with us. She was worried
about finding people to go with, and within two hours, it worked out. Cool. Stomach still rumbling. Late to bed, of course.
July 12 - My birthday, and up every hour from 3am, when a roommate came back. Out of bed at 5:30am. Stomach problems, but unclear what. I so hope this passes and doesn't become the only thing I remember from this two week trip I'm about to embark on. I took some charcoal and will hope for the best!
Next update will be in a few weeks...
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
Happy birthday!
The Pamir trip should be a true adventure, but it sounds like you have some good travel companions. I'm enjoying reading about your travels in Central Asia as my son and I traveled there in April 2013...too much snow to do the Pamir highway however.