Taking the Yak to Khujand

Tajikistan is a very mountainous country, and getting from one city to another involves hours of driving or short flights. Some people choose the drive.

When I was asked to fly up to Khujand in the north of Tajikistan in order to visit a few project sites, I was happy for the opportunity to see the projects and meet the people who actually benefit from them. I'm not sure if my colleagues were trying to warn me or scare me about the flights, but I didn't really know what to expect.

Going up to Khujand, I flew on a tiny Russian-made commuter jet called a Yak. On the ground, there was no air conditioning, and it got quite hot and sweaty in there. Fortunately, a man in a police uniform waved me into the seat next to him, and I asked if he flew this route very often. He said that he made the trip every week, so I felt more confident in our plane. One thing my colleagues mentioned was that the Yak, being so small, would react much more to turbulence. That day, the skies were clear, and there wasn't any turbulence that I felt. Once it cooled off inside, the flight was pleasant.

Coming back was a bit of a different story. That flight was on a larger medium-range Russian Tupolev that had clearly seen its best days many years ago. Just about anything inside that could fall into disrepair had, but the wings stayed on and the engines worked for the entire trip. My colleagues said they preferred that larger Tupolev to the smaller Yak. I'll take the Yak any day.

Reclining Buddha in Dushanbe

When I went to Bangkok, a lot of people said that seeing the Reclining Buddha was a must, and they were right. In the travel guide to Central Asia, I read that Dushanbe also has a Reclining Buddha in its national museum, so I had to see it.

The Reclining Buddha in Dushanbe is a relic of the extent of Hindu culture into Central Asia prior to Islam. It's possible to see the influence of south Asia in Tajikistan in the food and dress, but not in religion. While this Buddha is nowhere near as big as the one in Bangkok, I thought it was even more impressive because it was carved from stone. The room it was displayed in was just a bit larger than the statue itself, and it made the statue seem even larger.

Yummy, Yummy Laghman

Many times, people ask what kind of food people eat in Central Asia. The answer is kind of boring because there isn't too much that would be considered exotic. One thing that is popular (but not really exotic) is a kind of noodle soup called laghman.

In Almaty, I've had laghman that had a lot of red and yellow peppers, but the laghman at an out-of-the-way restaurant in Dushanbe had potatoes and a bit more spices. It was so good, and I went back for dinner three times.

Georgian Restaurants

When I was in Dushanbe last year, we decided to have dinner one night at a Georgian restaurant listed in the Lonely Planet travel guide. I think I was the only one who enjoyed the meal, and part of it was a great Georgian beer I had. Back in Dushanbe, I had to find the restaurant so I could have more of that beer. As it turns out, Dushanbe has two Georgian restaurants, and I went to both.

One is more upscale than the other, but it doesn't have any Georgian beers on the menu. After learning that, I made sure to try the other one night for dinner. As I walked up to it, I saw that all the lights were off inside, but the "open" sign was lit. I opened the door and saw the women working at the restaurant were all engrossed in a Russian soap opera. I almost felt bad for interrupting their program, but I sat and ordered anyway.

I didn't quite understand the storylines, but it was easy to tell who was good and who was evil. Unfortunately, as I finished, an important story element developed. Would the jealous grandmother injure the new baby? I still wasn't quite interested enough to go back to the restaurant the next day though.

Not Quite a Lemonade Stand

Remember the kids in the neighborhood that would sell lemonade from a stand on the sidewalk? Well, it's not quite the same thing in Central Asia. (OK, I'm stretching the joke. This photo really isn't typical.)

It's hard to see on the side of the tank, but this is a квас (kvass) stand. Kvass is some kind of alcoholic drink that sounds pretty interesting, but I haven't tried yet. I saw these two kids operating this thing and had to take a photo. I've joked with cashiers in the US about whether they were old enough to sell me the beer I was buying. I don't know what the law says in Tajikistan, but I guess these kids are old enough.

Hotel Minibar

Normally, I let things like this slide. We've all seen funny examples of poor translations in English, but this one really made me laugh.

Hopefully, you can see in this photo that item #3 is a "bear". I looked inside. There was no bear.

Quick Russian Lesson

While I was on temporary duty in Tajikistan, I saw these billboards all over Dushanbe, and I thought they were pretty amusing. I'll explain why.

People in the US have been talking about "energy independence" for years, and they talk about it even in developing countries like Tajikistan. But it's not quite the same.

At the top left of this sign is the name of a big Russian oil and gas company, Gazprom (and I guess this is a bit of a lesson on the Cyrillic alphabet as well). Below the company name, it basically says "foreign oil and gas" (zarubezhni neft i gaz). The next two lines below that are in Tajik. Then the last two lines are in Russian. They say "Together towards the energy independence of Tajikistan!"

In the US, we're trying to reduce foreign energy sources, but Gazprom wants to think that energy independence will come from relying on a foreign provider. Maybe Gazprom thinks that no one in Tajikistan remembers Russia cutting off Ukraine's gas supply a few winters ago.