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Trip Start Apr 26, 2008

Trip End Nov 30, 2008

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Flag of Tajikistan Dushanbe, Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Friday, May 16, 2008

Crossing the border between Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is easy enough. Some football small talk and a friendly $2 bribe to the tajik officer and you are through in 10 minutes. The problem is what comes next. To get from Samarkand to Dushanbe the capital of Tajikistan you must cross the Fan Mountains. And well the road going through them is scaringly beautiful. Indeed you go through valleys with extremely steep rocky mountains on both sides, very prone to landslides. So bulldozers consistently have to dig the road deeper in the mountain making a road that was by far the worst I've ever taken. And the joys of a 20 years old Russian jeep and 2 Tajik kids throwing up every 5 minutes in the backseats did not make it more comfortable... The best part is when you get to the highest point of the trip and need to cross what the local newspaper named "the tunnel of death", a Iranian project that was supposed to be finished last year but for some reasons have gone through some small problems... So supposedly it is closed but for a small bribe our driver takes us through this extremely dark and polluted tunnel with at some part close to 1 meter deep of water

Fan mountains in Tajikistan

. Despite all that I still spent most of the 8 hours drive with my mouth open, enjoying the gorgeous scenery all the way to Dushanbe.

To say the least, Dushanbe was not the highlight of my trip so far. The corruption is too widespread and obvious for you to feel well here. You have a cop every 100 meters stopping cars for bribes; a student telling me that he needs to pay is teacher just to have the right to pass an exam; the local KGB closing all new business making a bit of money and not closely associated with the president and its cronies; etc... Tajikistan is the poorest country in the region and I am afraid it will remain just that for quite a while.

After 3 days spent here (and having successfully obtain all the ridiculous and expensive permits and registrations required), I take another (very long) drive to Khorog, the main city of the Pamir Region, one of the most remote and beautiful mountain region of the planet.

Dushanbe hotels Slideshow