Rain and a little new life!!!

Raining:

So finally it rained here last Friday night. I woke up Saturday, to cold and dampness with wet clothes on the line. Ah reminded me of home - it was only 18 degrees and I was freezing!!! Out came the socks and long tops. But it is just a blip back to normal weather again now. In fact the weather here is supposed to be lovely and warm right up until late October.

But it was funny experiencing rain again – was a bit perturbed. No sure what do with myself – until I copped myself on and went for a walk in the drizzle. In all fairness have grown up with constant rain – 3 months of sun can’t change that!!

Language:

Well my ‘Tajik’ is improving. Yesterday there was a conversation here at work and at the end of it I burst out laughing. Actually understood the gist of it – just picked up a few words but enough to get the joke. They guys were amazed – guess they are now worried about how much I actually understand? When they are on a roll (and they speak very fast here) I generally understand nothing!!

Russian – Most of my work is actually in Russian. At this stage I can recognise the key words as I am looking at them daily. Can’t actually say them but can read them. It’s funny I work at times using the Russian version of Microsoft. Its gas years of working in computers have meant I can navigate based on instinct and not necessarily knowing what the words mean.

Sporting Life in Khujand:

So the evenings are cooling down and I can now actually contemplate playing tennis. So off I went down to the sports arena here. I met the couple that run the place and they told me I can play anytime I want free of charge. Got myself a cheap racquet and tennis balls and off I go to play!! And heard the nice new pool will actually open mid- September. It has Jacuzzi x 3 and spa treatment area - the works. There are specific ‘woman only days’ and mixed days to cater to all.

However Khujand is a surprisingly modern city – with reasonably relaxed attitudes. They have a different approach to other places I have visited. There is a real sense of small entrepreneurship and the people are keen to move on from their history. My friend was telling me that I would not recognised Khujand as it has changed so much in 3 years. From, simple things like increased traffic, to more restaurants and shops.

Rounders: The kids were fascinated with the tennis racquet, so I decided to teach them how to play rounders. Oh dear difficult enough with no language barrier but very hard when there is. There were about 25 kids, different ages and god, fights and tantrums. I spent most of my time roaring Nay (no) at them. But you know they picked it up pretty quick. I hope to buy some toys for them when I’m leaving - some footballs and outdoor stuff for them to use next summer.

Football in Khujand:

Went to my first soccer game here Khujand V Dushanbe. Now Dushanbe’s captain is the President’s son so they have oh a ‘slight advantage’. But standard of football pretty crap to be honest maybe division 4/5. And it did feel odd been in a stadium with approx. 1,000 blokes and 4 woman. Not the most comfortable of evenings but an experience none the less!!!

Movies:

So I watched the ‘Hurt Locker’ the other night. Wow what a great film can see why it won the Oscar – a very realistic portrayal. I think the entire Republican party in the US should watch it!! I had a German friend over and insisted we watched the ‘Commitments’ as he had never seen it. Oh lads was crying laughing – haven’t seen it in so long – bloody brilliant!!!

Ramadan:

I have felt so sorry for my boss who was doing Ramadan. Some days she looked in rag order like she was going to collapse. The other day she gave in and had some water and food. God what a transformation she was like a new person. I get the reasons behind Ramadan – but perhaps not if you’re making yourself ill. I told her not to worry between her Muhammad and my God we had all bases covered.

So she gets some salad for lunch and we all tucked in. So was eating all happy cos I noticed mushrooms in the salad (very difficult to get mushrooms here). When decided I should just check they were in fact mushrooms. Omg q major laughing – my mushrooms was in fact cow tongue. Oh I said a quick prayer to God thanking him for his timely intervention.

National Holiday:

Well Ramadan was over Tuesday/Wednesday so it was a ‘national holiday’ here on the Wednesday. Happy days no work!!  It is a really big celebration here after 40 days of Ramadan. Families and extended families get together and eat ‘osh’. Our neighbours dropped in Osh for myself and Jeff which is very nice. But I can really only stomach Osh maybe once every two weeks. What puts me off it is that they make it will a huge amount of well basically lard – and plonk some on top for you to eat. So another neighbour last night dropped in Osh – oh I couldn’t look at it – had the auld classic peanut butter sambo.

This is my neighbour making osh – in the typical Tajik cookware. So deep within the rice there are huge chunks of meat and lard. Of course the problem we had was how to throw out the leftover Osh. We are the only foreigners in this area and they have folks that go through the bins. And well it is just not done to throw out bread and Osh. So it was with military planning that I put the leftover Osh and bread in a bag. Put that in another bag and brought it into town to dump.

The best till last:

So I have got to know my neighbours really well. And last Sunday Naziba had a beautiful baby girl,   Muslima. Of course right up until she went into hospital she was cooking, cleaning and doing all the laundry (hand washing) all while heavily pregnant. She is back home and well this is her life now and taking care of a new baby. As is custom here she and Muslima cannot leave the house for 40 days. This is an old tradition to protect the baby and give the Mother time to recuperate. God love her she is dying to go out as the weather is nice now but stuck indoors for another 30 days. After 40 days her Mother will host a party for family and relatives to welcome Baby Muslima.

Baby Muslima Helena:

So we were chatting and she told me the baby’s name would be Muslima Helena. So it took me a few seconds to realise the middle name is after me. Everyone here calls me by the French pronunciation – Helena. Oh wow was so touched it is such a lovely honour.  I know I will probably never see these lovely folks again. And would I love to be a fly on the wall when they explain to Muslima how she came about having such a non – Tajik second name!!

As you can see in this picture the baby is wrapped up very tightly. They do this for one month I’ve been told to prevent the baby scratching themselves and generally moving around. After one month the baby sleeps in a special cradle with a hole. The baby arms and leg are tied and a little tube is attached to them so they can basically pee via the hole.

This is the norm here and surrounding countries and the woman will tell you that is it is a good practice. The thinking is that the baby will not move as much and demand attention so to give their Mother time to cook, clean and do laundry. Also with limited electricity and water it reduces washing baby clothes. Nappies are expensive here you see people buying 2 or three. And then they are recycled and hung out to dry. I do struggle sometimes to understand some of the local customs and practices here – but have to say I think this is unusual to say the least. But as I keep saying to myself who am I a blow in for six months to judge customs that has been carried on here for hundreds of years!

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

PS: In Dushanbe they just opened the world’s largest flagpole (Guinness record book) at a cost of over $3million. Go figure???

PPS: Am trying to find out where I can go to watch the Ireland v Russia game. KO 4pm here so good timing and I will try to round up some honorary ‘Irish’ friends to watch with me!!

Khujand - A tourist's delight!!!

Khujand – in Pictures:

I had visitors all week so took the opportunity to take some snaps of Khujand. I haven’t actually done the tourist thing here since arriving, so it was a nice opportunity to see the city differently.

Pictures below enjoy:


The local mosque one of the largest in this region - this picture taken from the market. 

Ah I luv it - Pasjambe the infamous local market. Taken from the outside its a crazy vibrant hub of activity. Would make tesco in Finglas look soooo tame!!! They wouldn't last a day here.

A local favourite - the tea house. Probably equivalent to the 'pub' sat outside here on a tapcham for a couple of lovely cold beers. Oh yeah the locals actually drink tea here, its just the foreign yobs who drink beer!!

Well there has to be some payback for living with the heat and here you have it Karakum. The local 'tajik sea' so nice to have a dip in this heat. PS hope not making y'all jealous!!!!

Students – Discussion Group

These are some of students I meet with weekly. I love meeting up with them this week we had discussion about Irish/Tajik music. I’m organising table tennis with them on Thursday with mixed teams which should be good fun. And next week to do something different I have asked them to take me on a tour of Khujand – local style.

Invitations to Ireland:

Oops gone a bit mad with these. So far in no particular order I have invites out to: China, USA, Holland, UK, Tajikistan, Nepal, Germany, Canada, Finland, Norway, Italy, Urkraine, Russia, Austria, Israel, Indonesia and the Philippines. Of course am hoping some are of the reciprocal nature and not all turn up in Dublin at the same time. Otherwise might be calling on friends to offer accommodation and possibly having to resort to serious diplomacy!!

Seasonal Food:

It’s great here the market sells the most incredible locally grown foods. No crap all naturally grown and my god are they amazing. Tomatoes like you wouldn’t believe – so juicy and tasty. You can literally eat them on their own – sort of like a really good Irish spud. Incredible grapes, small no pips that they dry out and use for raisins. Not forgetting aubergines cucumbers and melons to die for. 

The other side off the coin is when the season is over it’s over. Come winter its spuds, eggs, and that’s pretty much it. This explains why the locals are right busy bottling tomatoes, aubergines and cucumbers for the long winter here.

Just re-read this sounds like something from ‘Little house on the Prairie’ - young readers check out re-runs always on some channel somewhere!!

Oh my lovely neighbour dropped in grapes grown literally outside my window – mmmm yummy!!

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

PS: Just realised it is 3 months since I arrived in T. I got an email from a volunteer arriving in September. God felt so knowledgeable about T – it’s amazing how much you pick up. Ahhhhh guess time is going fast!!


PPS; I do not work for the Tajikistan/Khujand tourist board!!

Hot in the city tonight oh yeah..................

Top 10 Reasons you know it’s hot hot hot!!!

10: The locals are complaining about the heat…………even heard talk of climate change

  9: Wet clothes are dry within 20 minutes of hanging out

  8: My bottle of frozen water is fully defrosted within 15 minutes of leaving flat

  7: You are dreaming of clouds and rain (seriously true)

  6: Not been bitten by mosquitos (does extreme heat maybe kill ‘em don’t know??)

  5: Cooking is major hassle – its peanut butter sambos!!

  4: You are spending more money on water etc than food

  3: You sleep on damp sheets with wet hair but still wake up kicking off non- existent duvet cover

  2: The toilet seat in flat is hot – very uncomfortable. Although could work in winter???

  1: It is 47 feckin degrees @ 4pm!!!!

Yep this week just gone was the worst yet. I have never experienced like it - unbearable. By 11a.m. I was faded – although this normally happens in Dublin so not sure if that is actually heat related!! But this week huge improvement it is only about 30 degrees which is positively tolerable!!!

Funny Photos:

My friend took this one of the bear. It is true taken on a bus in Dushanbe. The man takes him into the centre as a ‘tourist attraction’. He is apparently looking for new owner as he wants to retire. Personally if I was on that bus would have got straight off. I don’t care how ‘tame’ the bear is at the end of the day it’s a wild animal.

Jeff took this picture in a village near here. I think it’s great – especially the woman getting into the front. Of course I was dying to know how the hell they actually got the cow into the car. But it is not unusual here you see all sorts of animals in cars.

The funniest story I heard was a friend coming back down off the mountains and the shared taxi didn’t show. So they clamoured into a jeep with locals – all 11 people and a goat!!!

Brillant only in T.

President in Town:

Yep the main man was in town this week. Bit of pain really as all roads blocked off so had to walk in/out of town. Loads of security and fuss – which is grand until you remember he is President of T not USA!! On the plus side the roads he used now have lovely markings and lines and new tarmacadam.  He also opened a new huge swimming pool. Was all excited until it was explained to me; that the President opening something does not actually mean it is ready to use. I shall wait and see, hopefully before I go home!!!

He opened a park with a statute of King Somoni (see picture below). He was an old King from Persian times and revered here.  There is a bit of a story around me actually taking the damn picture – but probably not suitable for this blog……….

Friends Visiting From Penjikent:

Yeah have a friend coming down early in week for a few nights to visit me. Penjikent is a small town about 5/6 hours from here on crappy roads. It was announced that they will have no electricity for 3 days – hence the visit. Another friend is coming down over the w/end. It will be nice to show them Khujand and hopefully visit the beach!! To be fair Khujand is a big step up from Penjikent -   very limited food supplies etc with a sum total of 3 foreigners living there.

Local University – English conversations:

So I go one/twice a week to the local university to hold ‘chats’ with the the students. We usually pick a topic in advance and discuss. It is great for me and it helps me understand T and for them they get to learn lovely Irish English. They are so interested in Ireland – as they haven’t had someone from Ireland before. We have so far covered Irish Sports, History, and Culture. There are great – so eager to learn and help me. For example tonight I mentioned that I had to go to the market and that I like the local ice cream (yummy). So end of class was offered a lift to market and then a guy calls me to say that he has arranged for me to visit the ice cream factory. And I can eat all the ice cream I want – yeah ‘Lainey & the Ice Cream Factory’ happy days. Must remember to starve myself in advance!! But it’s just an indication of really how genuine these people are, they cannot do enough to help you!!

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

Working in Khujand................................

So I hear people are curious to know what exactly I doing here in Khujand well………...

I just signed off a 4 hrs ‘Disability Awareness Training’ programme and waiting to get government approval. Now I am meeting with various banks and other business here in Khujand to organise some seminars. As I explained to the people I meet at this stage it’s not about securing jobs for people with disabilities (PWD). The systems/environment are just not in place yet – but it is about raising awareness.  I am trying to get these important people to understand that PWD can work and contribute to society. This is a challenge as it does contradict the old ‘soviet’ way of thinking. But I am confident from what I have seen/heard that people are willing to listen and learn!!!

I just met the boss of one of the local banks this morning. The great thing here is that people are willing to meet with you and give you a chance to explain yourself. So this guy was great offered me a training room and anything else I needed along with some great local knowledge of other business contacts etc. At the end of the meeting we were chatting so turns out he knows Ireland well. The first branch of this bank was opened by an Irish guy in Dushanbe.

This is my boss Sabohat (above on left Nosa my translator on right)– she had me over to her house Sat night for an ‘epic’ 4 hour Tajik dinner. She wanted to wait until her son came back from Russia as he speaks English and she speaks none. Now the communication difficulties can be frustrating at times especially when your translator is away and your dependant on Google translates. (For the record not great). However having said that the positive thing that is that conversations/meetings tend to be direct and to the point. Now this is something I can appreciate – one avoids the endless marathon sometimes meandering blah blah blah meetings that occur without language barriers. (PS – this is a general comment and not directed at person(s) in particular ha ha!!).

But she is a wonderful dynamic passionate woman determined to make a difference for the children with disabilities here in T. Over the years I know this has caused some difficulties with her and officialdom but she just keeps going. I have so much admiration for her – she set up Rangikamon (rainbow) 10 years ago as a local NGO and it is still going strong.  I hear all the time about people like Sabohat trying to fight the system and make a difference. And you know they are in small ways. But if wasn’t for people like her and others I wonder what would happen here, Ireland and elsewhere??

My Translator:

Ah she is my eyes, ears and voice and brilliant. Her name is Nosa, she is 21 and speaks excellent English. She is in fact so good and so used to me now that most of the time I forget to slow down. But we are now great friends you really develop such a good bond with your translator because you are completely dependent on them. She is leaving in September for a yearlong scholarship in a university in Prague. I’m so happy for her but will miss her terribly – I just hope I can find a great replacement. Also trying to arrange for her to visit me in Dublin so hopefully some of you will get to meet her in person next year!!

Luv this photo - kettle in office balancing very precariously on two paper holders!! (I generally stand beside it when its on). As is typical here in T there are loads of electrical sockets trouble is few if any actually work!!

Marshrutka (aka Mini Bus)

Ah lads I don’t think I will ever forget the joys of travelling to work in a Marshrutka. The journey time is only about 10 minutes but honestly every week I have a different experience. They basically stop everywhere and you just wave to get their attention. Cost about 15 cents and my god they are crazy drivers. They are all competing for your business and come roaring along, screeching to a stop to try and get you on. Of course when they are full I just wave them on which causes great consternation. I still haven’t quite managed the art of climbing in/out with bags etc – it’s never particular graceful shall we say.

They tend to motor long around 25 mph but then over the bridge which is a nice decent road they pick up to maybe 45. Always at this stage my heart is in my mouth. In my view it’s a single road but here it seems to be two lanes. And at times there is literally a few inches between the Marshrukas as they zoom along.

I always get a seat because A) I’m a woman and B) Foreigner and I usually always find someone to talk to. If you get on loaded with bags people with take them off you and hold them for you. Likewise this woman got on carrying twins and just handed me one to hold. I tell you they are great crack - you normally pay a little kid who open/closes the door. And this is done wordlessly you just tap someone on the shoulder and they pass the money along. Oh and yes as is normal here no seat belts!!

Mosquitos

Oh god the bane of my life. I have tried everything. Vitamin E tablets, spray, cream, and plug in stuff to absolutely no avail. Some nights are okay just a few bites and then other nights I wake up. I’m telling you right now your average junkie in Abbey Street would have nice looking legs then mine. Let’s just say after counting 30 bites on one leg – I gave up. The little feckers just luv me – Jeff my roommate not one bite!!! Why oh why???

Alternative Sleeping Patterns:

Ah yes well I have for some reason developed my own personal alternative sleeping pattern. For example; one night I will wake up or not sleep at all  – and cranky all day. The next night cos I’m so tired I’ll sleep for about 5 hours!! I set my alarm religiously every night but not sure why I bother sun rises here so early I actually have never needed the alarm. Ah well roll on the cooler weather in October.

Ramadan:

Yep, just kicked off today 1/8/11. Essentially you cannot eat/drink between approx. 3am and 8pm for the whole month of August. Young, old and sick are excused but for everyone else this is norm. I honestly do not know how they do it especially no water in this heat. My friends tell me the first 10 days are torture but after that it gets better. Me I think I would probably last 10 minutes. You can’t even have a shower, anything that provides relief for a person breaks Ramadan.

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night and I hope you enjoyed the long w/end.

Lainey xxx

Ps: Great just got a weather warning email the weather is supposed to get extremely hot between 2 – 6^th August. Yeah just what I need more heat!!

PPS: As I upload this it's 4.12 am...........been awake all night can't sleep between heat and mosquitos ahhhhh!!

Unusual Experiences in Khujand..................

Hi Folks, 

Earthquake in Khujand:

Well lads experienced my first ever earth quake tremor last night. I am located 170km from the epicentre. Have been told it was 6.3 on the Richter scale.

Omg such a scary experience. Woke up didn’t know what was happening – stupid bed moving and shaking really badly. I jumped out of bed shouting (naturally). I thought there was some type of animal under bed. Then the lights and windows started rattling and shaking and it dawned on me – Earthquake!!! Actually it was a bit like trying to walk on plane with v. bad turbulence it was difficult to get balance.

Ran out onto landing – and thankfully had the wits about me to stay under the door frame as I figured it was the best place. However have since googled and the bath is safest place!!!

It must have lasted for maybe 30 seconds but I tell you the scariest of my life. This beats by a mile my current No. 1 scariest moment – Sky jumping @ 20,000 feet from a plane over Queensland!!

Communication: 

Well I do try but sometimes if irritated with crappy service or annoying people I will just give up and revert to English. An example in my local supermarket there is a particularly rude server. Now I have observed her over the last few weeks and thankfully it’s not just me because I am a foreigner she is in fact rude to everyone!! So this is an example of the conversation I had with her yesterday. I was after buying bread and veg in separate small bags and other items.

Me: Indicating I wanted a big plastic bag

Rude Lady: - No no no

Me: Are you having a laugh I just want a bag

Rude Lady: In v. animated Tajik dunno what exactly but blah blah blah

Me: For god sake I just want a bag, so I reached over and took one. (There is no tax here on bags, so not sure what the problem was)

Rude Lady: Even more animated Tajik blah blah blah

Me: Oh Christ almighty I just want a bloody bag (muttering under breathe you silly cow)

*END OF CONVERSATION*

Farmers Tan:

Yep am getting one here. Nice colour on feet, arms and face!!

Local Neighbourhood:

So thought I would post some pictures of my neighbourhood to give you an idea of what it looks like.

Apartment Block:

Now it doesn’t look like much, but it would probably put most of the apartment blocks in Dublin to shame. You don’t hear your neighbours in these Soviet built apartments!! On the outside they all look pretty run down but when you see inside some of them they are great. God the Tajiks love their interiors personally not my taste. In fact some might call it really gaudy but each to their own. They like their light fittings, big furniture, plastic flowers, curved ceilings, patterned everything!!! Actually that what was so scary about the tremor the fact that we could feel it in this building as they are so well constructed.

Local Bakery:

This is where it all happens and they make the local bread. They must start awful early cos I have walked by around 6am and all finished for the day. The great thing about this bakery is that it operates using wood only so during the winter when electricity is so sparse the locals can get bread. This type of bakery is in every neighbourhood and bread is amazing!! (The best thing in T).

Local local shops:

So I just love the little local shops. They tend to have very erratic opening times – I haven’t quite figured out when/why they open. But they all seem to do business – and the locals do shop in them a bit. They have all the basics which is handy and saves a trek to the supermarket. I luv this one below (hidden by bushes) – but it only ever seems to open for 1hr in evening.

Movies:

Felt I needed a laugh the other night and watched ‘Ferris Beuller’s Day Off’. Ah lads you can’t beat the classics. Brilliant was roaring laughing!!

Tajik Lessons:

Well gave up on the damn alphabet. Oh was wrecking my head – decided to just go for ‘conversational’ lessons instead. Makes more sense not here for long enough to be learning alphabet!!

Music:

Yes I am a huge fan of: Tajik, Iranian, Arabic, Russian music. Some of the Arabic music is amazing it’s a fusion (oh sorry bad choice of word??) between traditional Arabic music and really cool western beat music. Deadly have one/two favourites that whenever I hear I’m singing along to. Yes don’t have a clue of the words/meaning of them but its music feck it, who needs to know the words!!

So settling back in after my lovely break – and work is going grand. Heat is killing me here – but what can you do??

Hope all is well.

As always from me to y’all good night!!!

Lainey xxx

Its all about the pictures folks............

Sorry folks my camera does not do the Pamirs justice but to give you a flavour!!

This is the 'car' I travelled in for 3 hrs, two of which were on 'roads' like this. Actually this photo was where we got stuck the rocks are so big it was difficult to get traction. At this stage we hadn't seen a car for 1hr and were stuck for 45mins. Between the two of us we got big flat rocks to try and get past. Thank god we did no phones etc in this area. The poor fella was looking at me as I had to stop to put sun cream on - its so strong up high in the mountains.

This is my guides family - they kindly invited me in for a cup of 'choi'. Folks I have never seen such poverty in my life. In this area they are lucky to survive on approx $50 a month. They are so poor and yet so incredibly kind and generous. They produced bread and biscuits and sweets for me - I only ate a small amount cos I could see the younger children (not in photo) staring at the food. The smell is overwhelming washing/showering etc is not high on their agenda. Surviving daily is the main aim particularly in winter when they are completely isolated.

This is the eldest child of the family I stayed with - cooking dinner on the 'outdoor oven'. They survive on bread and potato's. As I was a guest I got a special potato soup with onion and carrots.

Rush hour in Khugor - luv this photo cows wandering around the streets!!

Well this is the toilet of the family I stayed with. No paper/water and any other sanitation e.g. showers etc. Not exactly sure of the significance of the two toilets - is one male/female or for number 1/2??. To be honest didn't care just wanted to get it over - not exactly private.

This is what happens when you meet trucks bringing food/goods to Khugor. This photo doesn't do the road justice. This was actually a 'good section' of it.

So back to work tomorrow after a brillant week off. I will be busy but hoping to take some more time of in September depending on work load.

It was so good to get back to Khujand - I honestly felt like I was coming home. To give you a sense of how great the locals are: I got chatting to a fella waiting for my bag at the airport and he kindly offered me a lift home. Turns out he lives around the corner from me!! So have an invite to 'choi' during the week.

Take care everyone.

From me to y'all goodnite!!

Lainey xx

Ladies and Gentleman................................

Welcome to Tajik airlines – please observe/note the following:

1). You cannot book tickets more than 5 days in advance. This is because we change our schedule weekly if not daily and we enjoy the frustration this may cause our passengers trying to plan a trip.

2). Our prices remain the exact same regardless if  you book 5 days of 5 mins in advance of departure.

3). If the plane is overbooked this is not a problem for Tajik airlines. We just request that passengers squeeze over and the 3^rd passenger can sit on the edge of the seat.

4). There are no toilet facilities – we are not Ryanair

5). If you missed the safety statement – there wasn’t one.

6) Please note the emergency exit door. You simply negotiate the luggage and passengers on the aisle. Make your way to the front of the plane. Climb over the luggage there. Note the large man who looks like Kojak. Just ask him to get up to allow you exit the plane. Of course if you are looking for the emergency exit whilst in flight there is a high probability that this is simply a hopeless cause.

7) We don’t fly to Europe – for some reason the aviation authorities will not allow this. This has something to do with ‘poor plane maintenance’. We dispute this. 

Thank you for flying with Tajik airlines and we look forward to seeing you again on another Tajik Airlines flight. (We are the only internal airline in Tajikistan, so there is a high chance we will see you again)

Camping Trip in Iskandar Kul (Alexander’s the Great’s Lake).

For you history buffs out there this is where legend has it that Alexander the great came with his missus - Roxanna).

Oh folks this was at times the best/worst experience so far in Tajikistan.

The road trip was fine until we arrived at a local infamous tunnel that we had been warned about. Omg 20 minutes of terror. Windows closed due to pollution. The brief occasions I did open my eyes was scary. No lights cars driving all over the place to avoid huge holes and massive floods.

About an hour before getting there the road changed to what I can only describe as a sheer mountain road again with massive holes and flooding. Actually the way back was terrifying as we were on the lake side and my imagination went into overdrive thinking of what might happen!!!

But man was it worth it. The lake and mountains were just extraordinary the sheer scale and beauty my poor camera couldn’t do it justice. Went swimming in the glacier lake – the mountains surrounding it still have snow on them. I lasted for about 5mins, the first couple I could barely breathe it was so cold. It felt great mind you after drying off very exhilarating. The best thing was the weather it was lovely and cool and at night I even had to wear a fleece!!

 My apologies my picture does not do it justice!!

Sat night we (all 10 of us) were invited to a traditional ’osh’ dinner by a group of very distinguished Tajik men. It was fabulous cooked in the traditional way over a fire stove. Of course there was no electricity so I gave their head guy my head lamp. This endeared him to me for life and we bonded big time. It was amazing, the traditional way of eating osh is you share a plate and use your fingers. Now bearing in mind it’s a kinda sloppy rice dish and you might get an appreciation of just how difficult this is. Honestly it takes a while to master so I resorted to a spoon!!

We took a 1hr hike to a local waterfall – spectacular you literally are on top of it and great views. And there were lovely wetlands around the river. All in all a really enjoyable trip but……………….

Yes omg the toilets (hole in ground) – no detail required but suffice to say I had to fashion a DIY face mask. I literally thought I would get sick. It was so bad that when it got dark I reverted to my natural surroundings – trust me a lot more pleasant!!!

Pamirs

Hoping to fly there Friday fingers crossed. It depends on the weather, has to be very clear and availability. The plane only seats 17 and they reserve 2 for VIP’s. However I have warned about this flight particularly if you are of a nervous disposition. It literally flies very very close to the mountains at a low level. My friend Jan who flew here for our training advised that on her flight up people were getting sick and it’s only a 30min flight!! And naturally there are no sick bags. So folks me thinks I will be bringing a little plastic bag just in case!!

So hope your all well from Dushanbe to Dublin good night!!

Lainey xx