Last stop: Dushanbe

June 6, 2008

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Tajikistan is the poorestof the four countries that we visited on this mission. Sixty percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day. The contrast coming from Kazakhstan, the richest in the region, is striking. Dujanbe is more the size of a regional capital, so I have to keep reminding myself that I am in the capital of a country. I attended a reception where there was a representative from the U.S. embassy and I was blown away when he said they had 50 staff here, until he reminded me that Tajikistan shares a border with Afhanistan. Oh, yeah...

Another contrast besides the wealth is the clothing styles, indicating a much more traditional culture. Virtually all women wear long skirts and many cover their heads with a scarf. But for some reason, they only seem to import the baggiest dresses with the loudest, brightest prints. If Tashkent was dominated by extremely fashion-concious women wearing very well-cut, form-fitting dresses, this country can be said to be a fashion nightmare. It's also hot. Damn hot. Temperatures over 40 celsius (105 farenheit) in the shade. So having to wear long, polyester dresses must not be much fun. I sweat buckets just looking at them.

The Tajikstanis are poor, but they are working hard to re-build their country after 10 years of civil war, 60,000 dead, and half a million displaced. Forty percent of the adult population has migrated internationally (mostly to Russia) for work. They must be finding it because they send a half a billion dollars a year back to the country, which is about 70% of the GNP.

There are so few tourists here, and an apparently amazing mountain range, it seems criminal that we won't see anything outside our hotel or office. Luckily, our hotel - Marion's Guesthouse - is a veritable oasis. Both Susanna and I almost broke into tears when we arrived. It is a B and B with 8 rooms and a small pool, large rooms, free wi-fi, free driving service, free laundry service, and 80 euros a night. Just too good to be true. So we are glad that we are ending our trip here.

I have to end with a quote about another hotel in town from the Lonely Planet Central Asia guidebook, which has been our bible for restaurant eating anyway. The wry style of writing makes it an enjoyable read, regardless of whether or not one is traveling there:

Hotel Avesto: Old-fashioned and chronically overpriced monster with a dreary Soviet feel, though some rooms have a fine view of the mosque and the suites are big enough to get lost in. the management must be waiting for the Brezhnev-era wallpaper to come back into style. The US and Russian embassies used to be here, so expect some rooms to be bugged...