2017/09/10

Day 43: Kolub - Duschanbe

I arrived early in Dushanbe and was already in the supermarket for shopping. I will not go out to dinner tonight because my digestion is messed up. Probably the tomatoes in Langar are the trigger. And therefore today Coke, bread, shortbread is the only choice. I hope I will be well tomorrow again for the ride to Samarkand.

I like to walk through the city here. The street life here in Dushanbe is great, there are tons of people in the street. In some trees are large schools of birds and make a lot of noise. There are more men than women on the street. The women wear long clothes and clothes and pants underneath and headscarves, but are not veiled. But there are also many Western-dressed people.

But back to today.

I slept great. It was necessary. Breakfast in the restaurant at the counter with pancakes and egg. Fixed a few minor things on the bike and then starting to Dushanbe. I was riding through rather hilly mountains, tranquil but now in the autumn quite barren. Wheat and other grain is already mowed, perhaps by hand and sickle. It all looks very tedious when I see the people without big equipment in the big fields. And chaff and wheat are still kept old by throwing each other apart.

I was passing the "Blue Lake" or Nurek Reservoir, which is really pretty with a rocky island in the middle.

Since I had only about 170 km today, I took my time. Passing through a town I was again stopped by a policeman and controlled and had to show my passport. With enough people around, I did not worry about not getting the pass back. These kind of situations are always not easy to judge. But friendliness and shaking hands always helps.

I'm in Dushanbe early but do not find to the Green House Hostel directly. Since there is no sign outside the house, I was passing it a few times. It is a family run accommodation and quite nice.

I am looking forward to the next days in Uzbekistan, where I will stay for two days in each of the cities, which will hopefully be a bit more relaxing. I often have to ride a lot of kilometers on my journey and quite often would have liked to spend more time on a place, just to take a few hours to look at mountains or something similar.

My bike is moaning a bit in the morning, I hope it keeps up well. Considering the mileage, the constant shaking and vibration, it has gone really well so far.