After 4 airports, 4 airplane meals, over 4000 km distanced traveled and over 17 hours of time traveled, I finally landed safely into Tashkent, Uzbekistan at 4:00am on Sunday morning. All in all my travels so far was smooth and non-stressful (thank you for all your prayers!).
Well you figure it couldn’t be all that smooth right? Well, it turns out that BA failed to send a cargo-load of luggage to Tashkent because everyone on my flight was missing at least one item!! It was a bit chaotic as the BA agents gave out missing luggage forms for us to fill out. We were told that it should arrive by Wednesday (when the next flight arrives) and than I could call to find out if my backpack was there or not. Thank God I got one suitcase and that I packed toiletries in both bags. By the time I sorted this all out and met up with Rustam (driver from MEDA) outside the airport, daylight began to appear and there were tons of people mulling about the airport at such early hours.
I was still 3 hours away by car from Khujand, Tajikistan. The drive out of Uzbekistan consisted of many cotton fields and many random men and women sitting or standing alongside the dusty roads we drove on. Every town has a checkpoint with guards dressed in army green outfits. I was a bit nervous about this part of the trip but Rustam took care of talking to them and I just kept quiet. We finally got to the border crossing and this consisted of us going through many gates and stopping the car each time to show our passports for them to record. The setup of these border crossings is very simple: One small room, one or two old computers to work from, a record book and a few border guards in green. It was stark and cold-looking but the guards we met were fairly nice. After they found out that I was from Canada, they pretended to slap a hockey stick and said “hockey” haha It’s nice to know that Canadians are known for their hockey even in the smallest and remote parts of the world.
The fun really began once in Tajikistan. I noticed in a far away distance a range of mountains coming up. We are definitely in Tajikistan which is 75% mountainous. The landscape is what I kind of imagined it to be; barren mountainous, very dry and dusty with oasis towns existing in valleys and at the foot of the mountains (like Kamloops or Chilliwack). I’m sure you have all seen clips of Afghanistan on TV lately. Well, the landscape of Tajikistan is quite similar to that. (sorry no photos yet as I was too tired to get my camera)
Rustam told me that the roads in Tajikistan are very bad so I thought the huge potholes and uneven road surfaces were the extent of it but I was wrong. It turned out that right after this stretch of road was the beginning of a gravel roadway that went on for what seemed like miles. It was very bumpy and I definitely would not be able to drive through this type of terrain. Rustam also told me that China is in the process of rebuilding the road that connects Tashkent to Khujand, from Khujand to Dushanbe and from there onwards to China. So as we drove pass road construction machinery, I noticed that they were all from China! Improving the roadways will definitely make it easier to do any type of business in the future.
I will most likely be staying at the MEDA guesthouse which is quite spacious but it will take some time getting used to. The toilet is in its own tiny room, separate from th
e bathtub which is in another room. The water in Khujand is poor due to the poor infrastructure so it smells like rust and tastes bad. I will stick to bottled water and will just have to deal with the smell of rust with some good smelling shampoo and soap =) My very first visitor was a long-legged spider in the tiny bathroom which I just had to sum up my courage to get rid of without squealing like I normally do (I also noticed a bunch of mini ants and a cockroach on my first day!!).
Language will also be a huge challenge for me as all I have only been able to say “Hi” and “Thank you” but everything else is with hand gestures and words like “internet?” I will be picked up by a driver to the MEDA office as it is a bit far to walk to. My first taste of the food was not appeasing at all. I ordered Borcsh and Kebab which both turned out to have meatball-like meat in it and it was a bit bland with a certain spice that I’m not used to eating. I lost a bit of my appetite but didn’t want to be rude so ate about half of it. I figure I’m just not used to the type of food here yet. I wish I had more of this type of food prior to leaving Canada to try to accustom to it.
My first impressions after arriving:
How much it reminded me of cities I visited in China. The smell of smoke, the burning of something which I can’t quite figure out yet and the odd bad smell of waste/garbage.
It was a similar remembrance but also different in many ways. Some women dress in bright and colorful long dresses (looks a bit like a nightgown) while others wear more modern attire. Some men wear a traditional tupi (squared hat). The infrastructure of roads and buildings are in poor condition and it is definitely in worse shape than many of the cities I traveled to in China.
There are so many women and children in Khujand! Everywhere I looked, I saw women sitting outside their little food stalls and children screaming and playing. I walked around the city center in Khujand and it was a weird feeling. I felt the glances and stares of people at me as I walked by. I’m not sure whether to look people in the eye or not. I’m sure I will figure this all out as this is just my first day here in Tajikistan.
I can’t believe I’m finally here. It will be a change in luxuries and the western culture that I am used to but I am open and willing to enjoy this part of the world for the next 6 months.
Well you figure it couldn’t be all that smooth right? Well, it turns out that BA failed to send a cargo-load of luggage to Tashkent because everyone on my flight was missing at least one item!! It was a bit chaotic as the BA agents gave out missing luggage forms for us to fill out. We were told that it should arrive by Wednesday (when the next flight arrives) and than I could call to find out if my backpack was there or not. Thank God I got one suitcase and that I packed toiletries in both bags. By the time I sorted this all out and met up with Rustam (driver from MEDA) outside the airport, daylight began to appear and there were tons of people mulling about the airport at such early hours.
I was still 3 hours away by car from Khujand, Tajikistan. The drive out of Uzbekistan consisted of many cotton fields and many random men and women sitting or standing alongside the dusty roads we drove on. Every town has a checkpoint with guards dressed in army green outfits. I was a bit nervous about this part of the trip but Rustam took care of talking to them and I just kept quiet. We finally got to the border crossing and this consisted of us going through many gates and stopping the car each time to show our passports for them to record. The setup of these border crossings is very simple: One small room, one or two old computers to work from, a record book and a few border guards in green. It was stark and cold-looking but the guards we met were fairly nice. After they found out that I was from Canada, they pretended to slap a hockey stick and said “hockey” haha It’s nice to know that Canadians are known for their hockey even in the smallest and remote parts of the world.
The fun really began once in Tajikistan. I noticed in a far away distance a range of mountains coming up. We are definitely in Tajikistan which is 75% mountainous. The landscape is what I kind of imagined it to be; barren mountainous, very dry and dusty with oasis towns existing in valleys and at the foot of the mountains (like Kamloops or Chilliwack). I’m sure you have all seen clips of Afghanistan on TV lately. Well, the landscape of Tajikistan is quite similar to that. (sorry no photos yet as I was too tired to get my camera)
Rustam told me that the roads in Tajikistan are very bad so I thought the huge potholes and uneven road surfaces were the extent of it but I was wrong. It turned out that right after this stretch of road was the beginning of a gravel roadway that went on for what seemed like miles. It was very bumpy and I definitely would not be able to drive through this type of terrain. Rustam also told me that China is in the process of rebuilding the road that connects Tashkent to Khujand, from Khujand to Dushanbe and from there onwards to China. So as we drove pass road construction machinery, I noticed that they were all from China! Improving the roadways will definitely make it easier to do any type of business in the future.
I will most likely be staying at the MEDA guesthouse which is quite spacious but it will take some time getting used to. The toilet is in its own tiny room, separate from th
e bathtub which is in another room. The water in Khujand is poor due to the poor infrastructure so it smells like rust and tastes bad. I will stick to bottled water and will just have to deal with the smell of rust with some good smelling shampoo and soap =) My very first visitor was a long-legged spider in the tiny bathroom which I just had to sum up my courage to get rid of without squealing like I normally do (I also noticed a bunch of mini ants and a cockroach on my first day!!).Language will also be a huge challenge for me as all I have only been able to say “Hi” and “Thank you” but everything else is with hand gestures and words like “internet?” I will be picked up by a driver to the MEDA office as it is a bit far to walk to. My first taste of the food was not appeasing at all. I ordered Borcsh and Kebab which both turned out to have meatball-like meat in it and it was a bit bland with a certain spice that I’m not used to eating. I lost a bit of my appetite but didn’t want to be rude so ate about half of it. I figure I’m just not used to the type of food here yet. I wish I had more of this type of food prior to leaving Canada to try to accustom to it.
My first impressions after arriving:
How much it reminded me of cities I visited in China. The smell of smoke, the burning of something which I can’t quite figure out yet and the odd bad smell of waste/garbage.
It was a similar remembrance but also different in many ways. Some women dress in bright and colorful long dresses (looks a bit like a nightgown) while others wear more modern attire. Some men wear a traditional tupi (squared hat). The infrastructure of roads and buildings are in poor condition and it is definitely in worse shape than many of the cities I traveled to in China.
There are so many women and children in Khujand! Everywhere I looked, I saw women sitting outside their little food stalls and children screaming and playing. I walked around the city center in Khujand and it was a weird feeling. I felt the glances and stares of people at me as I walked by. I’m not sure whether to look people in the eye or not. I’m sure I will figure this all out as this is just my first day here in Tajikistan.
I can’t believe I’m finally here. It will be a change in luxuries and the western culture that I am used to but I am open and willing to enjoy this part of the world for the next 6 months.
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