Adventures in Asia: Dushanbe, Tajikistan

After the seven hour delay, I reached Dushanbe just after midnight. My hotel was to pick me up, but this proved more confusing than I would have liked as there was no one waiting for me with a sign when I exited the baggage claim area. A nice woman behind the information desk let me hot spot off her phone (there was no wifi in the airport) to contact the hotel and eventually things were figured out and about 15 minutes later I was able to check in and get to sleep. My hotel is on the ground floor of this building.

There is nothing wrong with the hotel, but the artist who put the map behind the desk together has rather inflated the size of Tajikistan relative to the rest of the world!

This morning my first priority after breakfast was get some cash, but that ended up being another adventure. It is Saturday, and as in so many places, weekends can make cash supplies in ATMs scarce. Moreover, I ended up having issues with my credit card PIN. Long story short, after a lot of walking around and trying different things, I ended up with Tajik Somoni. 

Sadly, in thinking through my cash options, I also realized my checked bag had been robbed of $435 US I had stashed inside. All that remained was the ripped envelope. 

I assume it happened in the Dushanbe airport, although it could have been in Istanbul, too. Either way, it was an awful realization, but I tried to not let it put a damper on my trip. 

I walked a lot today, past many interesting buildings and monuments and through many beautiful parks. I was actually quite impressed with Dushanbe.

The main street, Rudaki Avenue, is lined with gorgeous trees, and the shade was very welcome on a hot day.

Dushanbe has the "world's highest flagpole," but I only saw it from a distance and when there was not much wind, so did not find it especially impressive. 

To me, the Monument of Ismail Samani was far more imposing, and I found the well-manicured roses surrounding it especially lovely!

Nearby are the old Parliament building (in red and white) and the new white one.

Tajikistan is not quite North Korea or Syria, but the cult of President Rahmon is alive and well. Posters such as these are frequent sights in Dushanbe.

The opera house is one of the non-government buildings along Rudaki Avenue . . .

. . . and so is the Hotel Dushanbe.

Interestingly, the Tajik State Institute of Art and Design is in a building that was the old national museum, which has since moved elsewhere.

I did not go to the national museum, but I did want to visit the museum of antiquities. As I walked there, I passed the Committee of Youth Affairs and Sports building and found out that today is World Football Day.

The antiquities museum is in yet another attractive building.

The museum's collection of pottery, weaponry, jewelry, etc. is quite extensive and was interesting enough, but what I was especially eager to see was the reclining Buddha on the second floor. He has a room all to himself. Some of the statue is restored, because it was disfigured and damaged by Arab raiders in the 7th century, but even so much of the original is in very good condition for a statue that is 1,500 years old!

It had been raining when I went into the museum, but it had cleared up by the time I came out and so I went for another long walk. 

I had seen this mosaic this morning when I was out walking, as well, but in the light of the afternoon I thought it was especially beautiful.

Eventually I reached the Independence Monument . . .

. . . which is in the same park as the Monument of Ismail Samani, which I had seen this morning (and that's the new Parliament building's dome to the left).

A platform behind the Independence Monument overlooks the Varzob River valley and the city beyond.

The National Library of Tajikistan also borders this park. For what is a very poor country, it feels like they have perhaps over invested in impressive buildings in the centre of Dushanbe, but I have only been here one day so perhaps I should learn more before I think such things.

I continued my way north, into Rudaki park (behind which you can see yet another impressive government building).

Oh, and the presidential palace is also nearby this park, to the west.

Much like the buildings, the parks feel somewhat surreal--there were more gardeners in the parks than visitors, and the care with which they are manicured is quite something.

As I came back onto Rudaki Avenue I passed another massive government building, this one still under construction, apparently paid for with Chinese money.

Next to the massive modern new building is a massive older tea house, the Rohat Tea House; this style is apparently rapidly disappearing. I was tempted to stop in to experience it, but I was trying to get to the Mehrgon Market and worried if I dawdled there might not be much to see there, so I carried on. 

When I left Rudaki Avenue to walk east to the Mehrgon Market, the streets and buildings showed me a much different side of Dushanbe. In many places the streets were full with children and doors were open letting me see into the houses. I did not photograph any of these out of respect, but it was obvious that whatever wealth the public buildings might suggest, there are many in Dushanbe living in poverty. 

This is the Mehrgon Market, which was apparently built shortly after independence. 

There are many elements of the market that are modern, but essentially it feels as if business is being done here just as it has for centuries. Dushanbe means "Monday," and derived its name due to the market that was held here on Mondays a long, long time ago, and I thought about how visitors to that original market probably smelled many of the same smells and haggled in much the same way as shoppers were today.

It seems that the main floor is where the more "traditional" goods are sold--fruits and vegetables, meat, spices, and so on--and on the upper floors house vendors selling things like electronics, and especially cell phones and paraphernalia. I took the opportunity to pick up a phone charging cable for a good price.

After the market, I opted to take a taxi back to my hotel. I am in Tajikistan mainly to do a Pamir Highway tour, which will begin tomorrow, so I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening getting a Megafon SIM card and buying some drinks and snacks for the road. I ended my night enjoying a beer outdoors in the park by the Opera House. Alcohol is not as widely served in Dushanbe as in the West, so I was happy to find it here in a very beautiful setting!