Episode 12
Fortunately it wasn't such a hot morning the day we came to leave Osh. There was lots of cloud around and it was the coolest morning we'd had since the Pamir.We took a marshrutka (mini bus) to the bus station where we had planned to take the 10am bus. I was in the backpack on L's back and caused much comment. Whenever I had been taken on an outing it seemed I caused a stir. On a couple of occasions L had to keep a tight hold on me or I may have been toy napped. I think that's like being kidnapped except I'm a toy not a kid. Just as well, too, the way some of those people mauled me. Phew! it's not easy being so popular.The bus was full to capacity so we ended up in a share taxi for a slightly higher cost and set off not long after the bus. Like most local drivers ours had only two speeds, stopped or flat out.Our route took us through the edges of the Fergana valley past lots of apricot orchards and corn and potato fields, passing through numerous villages both small and large. Off to our left were the high mountains that form the border with Tajikistan. There is another route through them and if Rosie the Rangie had been more accommodating and still in good running order then that is the route my lot would probably have chosen. Instead we were on this minibus with it's death defying driver heading for the town ot Batken that is near both the Tajik and Uzbek borders. From a couple of higher points we got some views over the valley; one can easily see why this valley is refered to as the 'bread basket of Central Asia': It is a green oasis surrounded by barren sunbaked brown mountains. The water used to keep it such an oasis was once the lifeblood of the now defunct Aral Sea.In a mere 3.5 hours we made it to Batkin, way ahead of the bus that takes around 5 hours. We found a hotel that proved to be well outside the town and once there took a considerable time to find someone who worked there who could show us a room. We could just about have walked off with anything that was around, not that there was anything worth walking off with, laying around. Anyway we got a room then went for a walk around the town, got something to eat, and found out where to catch another share taxi or bus to take us across the border the next day.Back in another share taxi it was only a short way to the border where we were quickly stamped out of Kyrgyzstan. I keep a very low profile at such places, always in fear that someone might just ask me for a passport. I would really be happier if I had one but L says stuffed toys don't have passports. We were equally as quick at the Tajik border post, L and D had got there immigration cards and were back in the car ready to go when someone said that the officials wanted money. Tajik border officers and police are notorious for wanting bribes, and most advise is to just ignore them, laugh it off, or plain refuse. Well, my lot flatly refused and we were quickly waved through and speed on our way to Isfara.In Isfara, which proved to be a much larger town than my lot really expected we paid off our shared taxi and caught a marshrutka to Khujand some ways further on. It left almost immediately and we continued through the valley. Here we saw more corn and it was growing in amongst the apricot trees as well as in fields of its own. Quite a lot of cattle, sheep, goats, horses and donkeys too. Possibly L hasn't mentioned the donkeys before, they are everywhere too.We arrived in Khujand much sooner than we had expected. It was very hot here, probably worse than Osh. The valley it's in is quite narrow and it seems quite airless with no breeze anywhere. It does have lovely shady tree lined streets that are pleasant to wander around.Again a hotel was soon located and then we had a bit of a look around the town in the late afternoon, it was too hot for David any earlier. The city is an ancient one although nothing is left from those times. Alexander the Great had a garison stationed here in the 4th century BC at the citidal. The present Citidal is supposedly a reconstruciton of an earlier one but appears to my lot as if its the set of some movie. It totally lacks authenticity, but what the heck, the locals seem proud of it and they are the ones that have paid for it. A good walk brought us to the Lenin Statue, only it's not Lenin any more. Another statue has replaced Lenin, he had been moved to another site it seems. We couldn't really find out who the replacement is meant to be but let's just say it's big, standing atop a 27m pedestal. When Lenin had been here it had been the highest Lenin statue in Central Asia, we don't know if at his new site he sits just as high.We visited the bazaar where the market hall, built in 1954 is absolutely massive but still the bazaar overflows in all directions outside the hall, filling another hall across the street and large squares on both sides of the hall. People were begining to pack up for the day as it was just on dusk when we visited. At the mosque just across the square a stream of men were heading in for evening prayers. The building next to the mosque and just as massive is the tomb of some Islamic hero.Istaravshan is a town some way further on, on the way towards Dushanbe and we made a day trip there and had a look around. There apparently is no hotel open in the town, we certainly didn't see one and it's not so easy to get transport on to Dushanbe from there so that's why we may it a day trip. Not that we saw much really. We set out to find the ' old town' but in that we failed miserably. We did walk quite a long way and tried our best to follow directions given in the guide book but not a sign of any old town did we find. After venturing down many side streets looking for the narrow alleyways of the old town we eventually gave up when David became worn out and very cranky. Perhaps we did stumble through part of it without realizing it, that's quite possible. We returned to Khujand quite exhausted from the heat and our mad driver from the return journey. The only way to get from Khujand to Dushanbe was in another shared taxi, this time it was a 5 hour journey. Spectacular it was too, as we drove through the mountains on a narrow tarmac road for much of the way. The mountains here are just as spectacular as those of the Pamir yet they don't get the publicity. The road was carved out of the mountainside and twisted and wended it's way around the mountain side with some hairpin bends along the way. On one such hair pin bend we encountered a very large semi trailer. He had to take the outside of the bend despite that being the wrong side of the road for him, whilst us and others coming down took the inside of the bend, the wrong side of the road for us, without being able to see if anything else was heading up. There were numerous tunnels too, one about 4k's long, and unlit apart from the headlights of the traffic, now that is quite scary, to come into a pitch black tunnel from the brilliant outside sunshine. No wonder we didn't see any cyclists on this road, it would be extremely dangerous for them.Now we are staying at a hostel in Dushanbe. It's clean and comfortable but lacks a proper kitchen. There are plenty of small eating places nearby as this is a residential area and we are on the 6th floor of a block of flats. Outside the window is a tall poplar tree that reaches another storey high, just one of many in the open spaces between the buildings.Again is it very hot so it is not until the late afternoon that we venture out to do some sight seeing. We have walked around the huge lawn (well the long grass of some was actually being mown that day) and rose gardens that surround an ornamental lake flanked on one side by the National museum and on the other by the Presidential Palace. It's all fairly new and cost this country, supposedly one of the poorest in the world a massive amount of money it no doubt doesn't/didn't have. Yet, it doesn't seem all that poor. We have seen more luxury cars here that we did in Bishkek, even parked outside this housing block where we are staying are several Toyoto Lexus 4 x4's. Along the main avenue there are all the major brand mane goods available and they don't seem to be doing too badly. The supermarket stock plenty of items one would think in a very poor area would have very limited sales. Nutella is very popular, seen plenty of people buying and it is sold at a similar price to Europe, about half or even less of what it sells for in Australia. Another very popular item is 'kinda surprise', hardly an essential if money is very limited. People dress well too, the only scruffy ones are us foreign travelers, we all stand out like sore thumbs. Many women look like something out of 'Arabian Nights' with their head wear and dresses all sparkles, glitter and sequens. L's tried to get some discrete photos but failed miserably I fear.
Another huge great building we encountered all faced with marble and housing a cinema, a theatre, bowling alley, table tennis courts, a museum, restaurants etc, is refered to as a 'tea house' . If you imagine such a thing as some sort of gazebo in the back yard then thing again. The ceilings of the veranda and inside too, though we didn't get inside, are beautifully decorated in an Islamic style. We walked around the outside and found that it faced an artifical lake with a sandy beach and a few people swimming, others canoeing. After a bit of a closer look at the lake L decided she would risk typhoid if she went swimming there. The size of the place is just astounding.My lot are a bit like fish out of water without the car. They seem to lack a good deal of enthusiasm for catching public transport and being squashed in car seats for hours at a time without comfort stops or any such luxuries. So they were on the point of jacking it all in and making a short trip to Iskander kul and Penjakent then heading back to Bishkek to the car, when, lo and behold, the LOI came through. Along with it came a letter from the girl at Stan Tours who L has been dealing with that told us that we could get our (theirs, I don't need one) visas in Dushanbe the rest of this week. Well, I can tell you, no time was wasted. It was too late that day, but off we went smartly before the birds were out of bed the next morning and made our way to the Uzbek Embassy. We got to a small office almost next door to the Embassy where (someone thoughtful had posted a note somewhere on the internet) for a small fee, they check your forms and make sure everything is as right as possible. They re-did our forms as they told us that the forms had to be filled out in Russian for this Embassy. Armed with these new forms and their passports we joined a very large crowd, most Central Asians, who were waiting for the embassy to open. It was thirty minutes late but as no one can complain we all just have to accept that is how the Uzbeks do things. As the only non locals waiting they were quickly spotted and called in. Papers and passports accepted we were then asked to wait outside, L did so with trepidaton as she knew there were several mistakes on the forms but every time she pointed this out she was told, no problem. twenty minutes later we were called back in, I swear L's legs were wobbling; there stood a lady clutching our passports, she opened them, show us the Uzbek visa, then asked for $210 US, the fee for two visas. L wasted not a moment hauling out the cash and handing it over I can tell you, then we were out of there. Not only did we have our Uzbek visas but L had managed to get the entry date moved forward by one week to the earliest we can enter with the current holidays. Whether or not the work done at the little office translating everything into Russian was essential my lot don't care, they do not begrudge the $3.50 AU it cost, far better than hassles and delays.So now I can look forward to a trip up to Iskander Kul in the next day or two I hope and some more photo opportunities. I do expect the trip will be in very crowded share taxis but one just has to put up with such inconveniences if one is a traveler such as I.© Lynette Regan 25th August 2016