The hotel owner organised a shared taxi to meet us at our hotel after breakfast which was really great. He insisted I sat in front with the driver. Our bags were tied to the roof rack on top and we headed out of town for about half and hour where we stopped at a farm house to pick up loads of sacks of produce and three passengers. We didn't get very far before one of them had motion sickness.
When our guide book was written the road was bad but we found it very smooth and fast. Rather than landslides and potholes these were the hazards.
We wound through some small villages in the valleys beside the road. If a spring ran down the rock then milk, kefir and soft drink bottles were lined up under the cool water to keep them chilled. If the pipes ran into the drain outside houses then women washed their dishes and clothes beside the drains on the edge of the road. It seemed odd to see someone fill up an electric jug from the pipe over the drain meaning they had electricity in the house but no running water.
We drove through a long curved tunnel and when we came out the other side the geography changed from mountains and valleys to plateau. The small hills had small bushes and dry grass while the plains had miles and miles of cotton plantations as well as other food crops.
Khojand is the richest and second largest city in Tajikistan. There is not much to see here either. We spent some time in the main square people watching. It was the only place in the whole of Central Asia where we saw drunks. A small group of drunk old men were arm wrestling on a bench not far from us.
Photographers with big cameras hounded any families or young couples to have their photos taken and within 20 minutes the poor quality prints were ready for pick up.
All sorts of electric children's vehicles were for hire and this guy looked very pleased with his choice of tank.
Bread seller
We watched a poor frazzled mum with her son who looked like he had some kind of syndrome. He threw about three tantrums as she would not let him get on the motorbikes. He lay on the ground screaming, threw stones at his mum and ran off and helped himself to a bike. The business owner got him off and when he was distracted with a new little customer the boy started up another bike and headed off. A man sitting on the same bench as us felt sorry for the boy and paid for him to ride the bike. After the boy got off he jumped into the sidecar of a bike that another kid was riding and never gave up trying to find another way he could keep riding.
We are on the third floor and have a white balcony. We have managed to find a supermarket and organise food for ourselves. John has been able to take some antibiotics and recover from his diarrhoea.
Visited the citadel which was the site of Alexander the Great's original settlement. The fort's mud walls have eroded away in the background and the foreground shows the rebuilt walls housing the museum.
In the lower floor of the museum is a whole room dedicated to Alexander the Great. A local artist has used different coloured stone in the mosaic display showing Alexander's life. This scene shows him being instructed by Aristotle
Another scene shows him marrying a Tajikistan woman and tin the final scene he has died aged 33.
Surrounding the area is a lovely park which is popular for brides to visit for photographs.
Outside the park was this statue and after some research I see we have one in Hamilton at the Hamilton gardens as well.
Next stop
Tashkent Uzbekistan.
When our guide book was written the road was bad but we found it very smooth and fast. Rather than landslides and potholes these were the hazards.
We wound through some small villages in the valleys beside the road. If a spring ran down the rock then milk, kefir and soft drink bottles were lined up under the cool water to keep them chilled. If the pipes ran into the drain outside houses then women washed their dishes and clothes beside the drains on the edge of the road. It seemed odd to see someone fill up an electric jug from the pipe over the drain meaning they had electricity in the house but no running water.
We drove through a long curved tunnel and when we came out the other side the geography changed from mountains and valleys to plateau. The small hills had small bushes and dry grass while the plains had miles and miles of cotton plantations as well as other food crops.
The new bazaar building
Khojand is the richest and second largest city in Tajikistan. There is not much to see here either. We spent some time in the main square people watching. It was the only place in the whole of Central Asia where we saw drunks. A small group of drunk old men were arm wrestling on a bench not far from us.
Photographers with big cameras hounded any families or young couples to have their photos taken and within 20 minutes the poor quality prints were ready for pick up.
All sorts of electric children's vehicles were for hire and this guy looked very pleased with his choice of tank.
We watched a poor frazzled mum with her son who looked like he had some kind of syndrome. He threw about three tantrums as she would not let him get on the motorbikes. He lay on the ground screaming, threw stones at his mum and ran off and helped himself to a bike. The business owner got him off and when he was distracted with a new little customer the boy started up another bike and headed off. A man sitting on the same bench as us felt sorry for the boy and paid for him to ride the bike. After the boy got off he jumped into the sidecar of a bike that another kid was riding and never gave up trying to find another way he could keep riding.
When in Dushanbe we met a Dutch woman who works in Tajikistan helping apricot growers. She gave us a contact in Khojand for a man who had rented her an apartment. We contacted the guy and met him when we arrived. He took us to an apartment near the bazaar. It is in an old Soviet era block.
We are on the third floor and have a white balcony. We have managed to find a supermarket and organise food for ourselves. John has been able to take some antibiotics and recover from his diarrhoea.
Visited the citadel which was the site of Alexander the Great's original settlement. The fort's mud walls have eroded away in the background and the foreground shows the rebuilt walls housing the museum.
The Cultural and Historic Museum.
In the lower floor of the museum is a whole room dedicated to Alexander the Great. A local artist has used different coloured stone in the mosaic display showing Alexander's life. This scene shows him being instructed by Aristotle
Another scene shows him marrying a Tajikistan woman and tin the final scene he has died aged 33.
Surrounding the area is a lovely park which is popular for brides to visit for photographs.
Outside the park was this statue and after some research I see we have one in Hamilton at the Hamilton gardens as well.
Next stop
Tashkent Uzbekistan.
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