We decided not to ride the remaining 500 kilometres to the Tajik capital of Dushanbe. This was a long, drawn-out decision, but it eventually boiled down to the fact that we are tired! At least, tired of bouncing along on unpaved roads. At this point in the trip, it’s not like our mileage becomes any shorter by taking a ride; instead, these cycling days get shifted to Europe. In essence, we are losing nine days cycling in Tajikistan for nine days cycling in Romania. Hopefully it will be worth it.
We arranged a ride with two other cycle-tourists who were in a hurry to get to Dushanbe. After a quick breakfast, we strapped the bikes to the roof of an old minivan, piled in a few dozen panniers, and then set off on the 15-hour ride to Dushanbe. End of story? Not quite.
First of all, the road past Khorog does not improve in quality, and we bumped along for hours. Although I was hoping against it, the scenery continued to be unbelievable, and I felt a little bit of FOMO that we were not cycling, especially when we passed many cyclists. By the time we finally returned to decent tarmac, the sun was setting, and it became clear that the ride would be taking more than 15 hours.
There was a lunch stop, a dinner stop. Roadwork blasting stopped us at the top of a mountain pass for an hour. In the east of the country, we had to register with the army at numerous checkpoints. At one point one of the guys seemed to be indicating that he wanted papers or money from us, and I started to get indignant, before realizing he just wanted a sticker for the office window (many overlanders have stickers made for their trips). We had some cheesy Canada stickers and distributed them to the guards, and this made them extremely happy.
Less amusing were the police stops in the west part of the country. At first, our driver seemed to have a smoke and wait to get waved on. But by midnight, he would just dutifully pull over, take out his wallet, give the officer some money, and then continue driving, always shaking his head and muttering “Tajikistan”. When we finally did arrive in Dushanbe, the first light of dawn was appearing. The ride had taken 21 hours.
We spent a few days in Dushanbe recovering from the cycling and the van ride. Lauren coordinated an epic meal at the home of Vero, another Warmshowers legend. We ate at some nice restaurants and arranged some visa things. We went to see the city’s premier attraction, the World’s Largest Flagpole, which is exactly as it sounds. The city is leafy and beautiful, which seems a bit strange when you consider that there are large swathes of the country that don’t have running water, electricity, or internet.
The highway toward the border featured billboards of the president interacting with things from daily Tajik life, an appropriate way to end our time in the country, and also this post. Onward, to Uzbekistan!
Spokes and Sporks 