Dushanbe

Dushanbe is an outstanding example of an emerging Soviet era capital that has spared no expense in redesigning, rebuilding and redefining itself. Getting here from Panjakent was an inexpensive 5 hour bus ride that scared the crap out of me at times. We were entering the Pamir Highway so there were the standard winding switchbacks, up and down mountains with the death river flowing about 500 metres below. This just added to the list of sketchy bus rides that I have enjoyed here in Central Asia.

My Panjakent to Dushanbe Limo

I ordered a Yandex (Uber) from the bus station in Dushanbe and both my partners commented that the 4 dollar ride was too expensive and wanted to negotiate with the driver.  Have you ever negotiated an Uber fare? Their portion would have been $1.33.  Regardless, they jumped in when the cab arrived and paid their share. I have come to the conclusion that the whole "it is to expensive" is just a Pavlovian response and is a part of their psyche now. That being said this is not uncommon in the "budget travelers world". Sure, over the course of 6 months you might save a few hundred bucks, but I have no energy or patience for it. Regardless, we got to the Green House Hostel easy enough, and what hostel it was.

Dushanbe is the jumping off point for many of the Pamir Highway tours heading to Osh, Kyrgyzstan. It has become somewhat of a meeting point and the place has been designed for all types of Travelers. Overlanders like myself, hitch hikers, cyclists (which were many), and motorbikes. The entrance was a garage filled with gear with people coming and going. The place was constantly buzzing with positive energy, most of which was about the Pamir. People sharing experiences, tours being organized, laundry being done, a lot of laundry being done, mine included. There were kids of 20 and a few bikers in their 70s. It was a great place to just cook, drink, talk and share experiences. Really, an old school hostel experience.

We took a walk to the main street and found some food, a supermarket and some cool buildings and statues. I had no idea this was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to city beautification. It did not take long to see that this was a very walkable city. On the way in we drove down long wide tree lined boulevards that were clogged with Green and White Chinese made electric taxis, which to find out later were metered and stupid cheap.

This was a long day. The "bus of death" left at 6:30 am so wake up was around 5:00. The Salom hostel owner pre-ordered a cab for us to pick us up at 5:45. The drive itself, with a few stops was about 6 hours. Toss in a hostel check in, a bit of walking and shopping, a few beers to get to know the neighbours and my eyes were wobbling around 10:00 PM. This was a town to be discovered but with the temperature hovering around 40C with no end in sight, walking was not out of the question, it just meant hiding during the midday sun was mandatory. Thank you Mexico, I get it now.