Day 2 in Dushanbe

 

Walking Stats

Travelogue 

We somehow managed to get up at 7:00 today which isn't bad. We want to adjust to the local timezone quickly.

We'd both found our appetites again this morning and my breakfast at the hotel included a  fried egg and tasty bread.

We still had a few chores to do so we started there. K1 now has lots of cash, hopefully more than enough for the Pamir Highway.

And I now have a T-Cell SIM card! The man in the shop assured me I'd be able to use another network called Megafon as well with this SIM. Megafon gets good reports from travellers in the Eastern Pamir where we're soon to be headed. The SIM certainly worked well in Dushanbe with a 5G service right from the start. It's a data only SIM giving me an allowance of 100 Gb right up to the date my visa expires and all for 220 Somoni (about £18). Bargain.

We still needed petrol but apart from walking to the nearest petrol station we could see on the map to get orientated we decided to buy our petrol later. 

The president's image is everywhere 

K1 emptying another ATM

Dushanbe uses a system of deep water channels - you need to be careful not to fall into them!

Near our hotel. A fairly typical back street in this district.

Today was to be our last day in Dushanbe and that meant sightseeing was an absolute must!

Almost everything you might want to see in Dushanbe is a walk away. We did walk almost 23 km though so the steps do stack up.

All in all we had a great day and like this city. It has a very relaxed and friendly vibe. Everyone we've had personal contact with has been friendly, helpful and welcoming.

I like to watch out for novel birds when I travel. Yesterday I discovered that the most common bird here is the Myna bird. Today I saw Muscovy ducks in one of the parks and identified Laughing Doves which are also very common.

So, what sights did we see?

Just walking...

A cycle lane!

English books for sale

Bread - wood fired oven

Apartments and Taxis

KFC Dushanbe 

The Sadriddin Aini monument and gardens 

Independence Monument 

Monument to Ismail Somoni

There were lots of guys in suits with earpieces here looking just like what they were. Security! This monument is close to the Parliament of Tajikistan and we later witnessed a huge police and military presence build in this area with some approach roads closed. The presence of the Georgian national flag alongside that of Tajikistan that we'd noticed many lamp posts have attached to them now became clear. The president of Georgia was in town!

I asked a couple of local guys what was going on and after telling me they didn't speak English, they explained. In English :-)

The Parliament of Tajikistan 

Rudaki Park and Monuments 

Monument of the Persian poet Rudaki

Peacock!

Dushanbe Flagpole 

There's a flag up there, honestly!

Parliament seen from in front of the flagpole 

Istiklol (independence) Monument 

Botanical Gardens 

En route here we walked through a hospital area which was interesting to see.  Eventually we reached the botanical gardens and paid 10 Somoni each for entry. That's 82p each. Bargain.

A shelter guarded by a bear

M1 using the outdoor gym

Rain soon filled the drainage channels!

Yes, as we walked around the botanical gardens we started to hear thunder and then it started to rain. Nice rain. Welcome rain that felt good. It probably only lasted about 30 minutes but it was pleasant after the heat of the day.

By the time we'd finished sightseeing we were tired, hot and thirsty (despite buying lots of cold drinks today). We dropped into a supermarket and bought more drinks, some bread and salty snacks. We didn't feel like having a proper dinner. I bought some bananas for breakfast and on the road tomorrow and we bought some bottled water for in our bike water bottles too. Because tomorrow we start cycling!

We dropped our shopping back at the hotel and then cycled to the petrol station and had our four fuel bottles filled.

I strapped my second bottle to The Mule just in front of my saddle. Tomorrow I'll find out whether or not this works.

Tomorrow

We plan to get up at 5 am tomorrow, forego the hotel breakfast and make an early start. It will be cooler and we hope there won't be much traffic as we cycle East out of the city and onto the Pamir Highway. The adventure really starts tomorrow!