Dushanbe, a city of almost three quarters of a million people, is the capital of Tajikistan. We have been able (forced?) to stay here for a full five days waiting for our visas to be issued by the Uzbekistan Embassy. The relations between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are not good and the speed of processing visa applications illustrates the priority that the Uzbeks give to letting the Tajiks visit their country. In fact the Tajiks still claim that large parts of Uzbekistan, including Samarkand and Bukhara, are historically part of their territory. It was Stalin who drew up the borders of these states, often leaving ethnic groups divided by new national boundaries. Dushanbe was once named Stalinbad.
It is quite a contrast to come to this city after the relatively remote and mountainous country of the majority of Tajikistan. It has something of the feel of a European capital with wide avenues and large municipal buildings, but there is also an air of East Europe about the place, with broken pavements, old trolley buses and policemen stopping cars everywhere to check papers and extract fines or bribes from the drivers.
The National Museum of Antiquities houses a large reclining Buddha as well as a range of impressive archaeological finds stretching back centuries. The park in front of the President’s palace is resplendent with fountains and artworks. Many of the women wear colourful traditional long dresses and in the park we met some young aspiring models wearing modern versions of these dresses.
There are a range of restaurants and fast food cafes serving different foods reflecting the many national and ethnic influences here. We had our best wine and meal of the trip yesterday in a Ukrainian restaurant, although the wine was a Moldovan Chardonnay.
Apart from the museums and parks the other attraction here is a botanic garden which some of us are about to visit. But really this city is not geared up to tourism in any significant way. Today we are having our first cloud and rain since leaving Xi’an in China and we hope to leave tomorrow for Panjikent and then over the border to Samarkand.
It is quite a contrast to come to this city after the relatively remote and mountainous country of the majority of Tajikistan. It has something of the feel of a European capital with wide avenues and large municipal buildings, but there is also an air of East Europe about the place, with broken pavements, old trolley buses and policemen stopping cars everywhere to check papers and extract fines or bribes from the drivers.
The National Museum of Antiquities houses a large reclining Buddha as well as a range of impressive archaeological finds stretching back centuries. The park in front of the President’s palace is resplendent with fountains and artworks. Many of the women wear colourful traditional long dresses and in the park we met some young aspiring models wearing modern versions of these dresses.
There are a range of restaurants and fast food cafes serving different foods reflecting the many national and ethnic influences here. We had our best wine and meal of the trip yesterday in a Ukrainian restaurant, although the wine was a Moldovan Chardonnay.
Apart from the museums and parks the other attraction here is a botanic garden which some of us are about to visit. But really this city is not geared up to tourism in any significant way. Today we are having our first cloud and rain since leaving Xi’an in China and we hope to leave tomorrow for Panjikent and then over the border to Samarkand.
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