After a nice breakfast of porridge, which we now prefer to fried eggs, we packed up and headed through the valley and small villages that all run together.
All along the route people try to flag us down for a ride and one old man at a bump in the road motioned for cigarettes which Turat gave him. He took advantage that all vehicles had to slow down for the bump.
We encountered balloons along the road and a police checkpoint at Namadgut. Turat was not sure if it was a festival or a wedding. Lots of people were dressed in red and white traditional clothes and the country road was amass with groups heading for a museum and a small park.
At the police checkpoint Turat had to pay a bribe because he had an old style number plate. Even though it was valid they still hassled him about it and he was due to get a replacement at the end of our trip in Dushanbe. We would ask if he had paid the police enough money for lunch or dinner to work out how much he had paid. Every day he had to be sure he had enough small change to pay the police.
We parked up and saw a sign advertising the festival for endangered animals especially the Marco Polo sheep , Ibex and the snow leopard.
Ready to listen to music, dance and watch archery competitions.
Snow leopard onesies
We drove on another 15 kms or so through more poplar lines streets and irrigated fields of cereals to check into a Soviet style guest house in Ishkashim.
The bazaar
Managed to connect with our mobile data to the internet and send birthday greetings to our grandson and read messages for my birthday. Found some of the shops open in the local bazaar but several had closed to attend the festival. Bought some snacks and a couple of beers which the owner was happy to refrigerate for us. Meet some travellers from Hong Kong on their first trip outside the island. There was a huge group of motorcyclists and a support car. Most of them were from Germany and Switzerland and hired the bikes from a company in Osh.
Also chatted to a lady from the Philippines who is working 20 minutes from Kabul for the American military and DHL. She loved her work and was on her holidays.
We enjoyed a nice clean hot solar heated shower and a western toilet again. The evening meal was served in a huge room at long tables where all the guests met up. Soup, tomato and cucumber salad and plov for dinner followed by watermelon. They grow some of the biggest melons we have ever seen.
All along the route people try to flag us down for a ride and one old man at a bump in the road motioned for cigarettes which Turat gave him. He took advantage that all vehicles had to slow down for the bump.
We encountered balloons along the road and a police checkpoint at Namadgut. Turat was not sure if it was a festival or a wedding. Lots of people were dressed in red and white traditional clothes and the country road was amass with groups heading for a museum and a small park.
At the police checkpoint Turat had to pay a bribe because he had an old style number plate. Even though it was valid they still hassled him about it and he was due to get a replacement at the end of our trip in Dushanbe. We would ask if he had paid the police enough money for lunch or dinner to work out how much he had paid. Every day he had to be sure he had enough small change to pay the police.
We parked up and saw a sign advertising the festival for endangered animals especially the Marco Polo sheep , Ibex and the snow leopard.
Ready to listen to music, dance and watch archery competitions.
Snow leopard onesies
A military post nearby a derelict fort shows that this place is important as it is the only border crossing to Afghanistan currently open. Some of the Afghan markets have been closed because of an attack by the Talaban but they were soon chased away by the American military.
We drove on another 15 kms or so through more poplar lines streets and irrigated fields of cereals to check into a Soviet style guest house in Ishkashim.
The bazaar
Managed to connect with our mobile data to the internet and send birthday greetings to our grandson and read messages for my birthday. Found some of the shops open in the local bazaar but several had closed to attend the festival. Bought some snacks and a couple of beers which the owner was happy to refrigerate for us. Meet some travellers from Hong Kong on their first trip outside the island. There was a huge group of motorcyclists and a support car. Most of them were from Germany and Switzerland and hired the bikes from a company in Osh.
Also chatted to a lady from the Philippines who is working 20 minutes from Kabul for the American military and DHL. She loved her work and was on her holidays.
We enjoyed a nice clean hot solar heated shower and a western toilet again. The evening meal was served in a huge room at long tables where all the guests met up. Soup, tomato and cucumber salad and plov for dinner followed by watermelon. They grow some of the biggest melons we have ever seen.
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