- Silk Road 18: Murghab, Tajikistan
- Silk Road 19: More Murghab & Alichur, Tajikistan
- Silk Road 20: Langar, Bulunkul Tajikistan; Sept 2019
- Silk Road 21: More Langar & Ishkashim, Tajikistan; Sept 2019
- Silk Road 22: Khorog, Tajikistan; Sept 2019
- Silk Road 23: More Khorog, Tajikistan; Oct 2019
- Silk Road 24: Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Oct 2019
- Silk Road 25: More Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Oct 2019
Dushanbe, Oct 2019
Oct 10, 2019
We spent a couple more days in Dushanbe checking it out some more; as it is a pleasant, clean city.
A little more about Dushanbe, which translates to Monday in Persian. It is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. As of early 2020, Dushanbe had a population of 870,000. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe, and from 1929 to 1961 as Stalinabad, after Joseph Stalin. In ancient times, what is now or is close to modern Dushanbe, was settled by various empires and peoples, including various neolithic cultures, the Achaemenid Empire, Greco-Bactria, the Kushan Empire, and the Hephalites. In the Middle Ages, more settlements began near modern-day Dushanbe such as Hulbuk and its famous palace which we drove by on the way from Khorog (see previous blog). From the 17th century to the early 20th, Dushanbe began to grow into a market village controlled at times by the empires of Hisor, Balkh, and finally Bukhara. Soon after the Russian invasion in 1922, the town was made the capital of the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924, which commenced Dushanbe’s development and rapid population growth that continued until the Tajik Civil War. After the war, the city became capital of an independent Tajikistan and continued its growth and development into a modern city that it is today.
One day, Baha took us to check out the Karvon market, which is a huge clothing market, sectioned with clothing from different countries. We steered clear of the Chinese market, and went to the local ethnic clothing market. Some scenes from this market below














From here, Baha took us to the Mergon market, which is a covered indoor market for fruits and vegetables; some scenes below


Mergon Market was very clean and organized






We continued to check out more of Dushanbe, some scenes below











We happened upon the National Library, and decided to check it out. We were happy to discover that they conducted tours, and luckily, they found us an English-speaking guide, who showed us all over this library. The library was very interesting as it had over 8 million books, of which 5 million were in the process of getting digitized. There were books from all over the world in all languages, and classrooms teaching foreign languages for free. And to boot, the building was very beautiful outside and inside.



We left the park and I almost got in trouble when I took the picture below outside the Parliament buildings and their gardens and fountains. Reason was because there were 2 policemen nearby, and they thought I had taken their picture. So they came over and (with Baha translating), wanted to check if I had taken their picture. I guess taking pictures of policemen is forbidden in Tajikistan, and Dilshad was in a panic, admonishing me for taking so many random pictures; she feared I would be taken to prison and rot in a Tajik jail for the rest of my life. Fortunately, I had not included the policemen in my picture below, and after verifying the same, they politely shook hands and we wandered on. Phew. I need to be careful; being a stupid tourist may not always work as a good excuse….

Baha took us for dinner later that evening to Sim Sim restaurant, where we had pizza and kebabs. Cost for drinks, pizza, Kebabs and desert came to $7 for 3 of us. I love this place 🙂
After a nice few days, it was time to move to Samarkand, Uzbekistan. More on Uzbekistan next
Our journey so far


Thanks Ali. Enjoyed the blog as it brought back many happy memories during my 1 1/2 year stay in Tajikistan as a volunteer. I agreed with your description of Dushanbe as a clean, modern city – but perhaps you don’t know that the streets were hand swept clean with “fagias” like the ones we used at home by elderly ladies every morning.
Warm Regards,
Abdul
Thanks Abdul; glad you enjoyed the blog.
Yes, we did notice that the streets were manually swept with brooms
Thanks again
As always, i enjoy ur photographic excursion to Far away Lands
Thank you Abdul, for the feedback. So happy you are enjoying the journeys
Pingback: Silk Road 28: Bukhara, Oct 2019 - Ali Karim Travelog Asia
Now I watched your journey through Asia and read your posts, I liked it very much, I just remembered the house, comfort and parents. Thank you for such warm feelings that you gave with these posts.
Thanks so much Muayo; for the nice feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed it and it brought back fond memories to you.
Pingback: Silk Road 25: Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Oct 2019 - Ali Karim Travelog Asia
Thank you for sharing. Super informative about the capital and lifestyle. The economy of the entire country is driven by those bazaars because the production sector went slowly down after the collapse of Soviet Unit and civil war. However, the new Dushanbe looks amazing with it’s clean streets and well-designed historical constructions. Enjoyed reading it and looking forward for your new blog-posts.
Thanks Shuhrat; that is wonderful insight into the economy of the area. I had always wondered where the wealth in Dushanbe was coming from. The Bazaar’s were indeed huge and bustling with activity.
Great pictures! Ali
Thanks Shamshudin
Thank you
Thank you for sharing.
Hi Ali – again excellent write up and very informative. The library is impressive so they must cherish knowledge and education. How were you able to manage linguistically?? Was English spoken in the markets??
THanks Zahir for the feedback
To answer your questions; language was a barrier indeed. The library had provided a tour guide who did speak English.
Everywhere else, NOBODY spoke English, so we used our taxi driver who spoke some broken English as a translator. He was hired for several days so he was with us a lot of the time.
When all else failed, sign language worked 🙂
Hello Ali and Dilu, beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing. Times like this we can just appreciate the beauty of our world.
Hope all of you are well.
Take care and be safe.
Naz.
Dushanbe appears to be very interesting
Ali,
Beautifully done city of Dushanbe. The pictures and captions are really well done!
THanks Iqbal for the feedback. We were impressed with Dushanbe. Now if only it can transfer/replicate to Khorog and GBAO…..
Dushanbe is actually very pretty. The library staircase is so grand.
Beautiful markets.
Lucky break on that picture; may have ended with you rotting in a Tajik jail as Dilshad said.lol.
Thanks; yes I am so thankful that as an ignorant traveller, I did not end up in a Tajik jail 🙂
Such wonderful pictures; with beautiful thoughts
Thanks Meharban; glad you like the blog post.
Thanks for sharing Ali & Dilshad…Your blog is full of Memories…Loved it.
Stay safe & Blessed Ameen
Love, Light & Cheers
Muslim Harji
Thanks Muslim, for the feedback. Glad it brought back fond memories
Beautiful pictures, Dushanbe is such a colourful, vibrant and lively place!
Azizeh; indeed Dushanbe was very clean, and nicely decorated in all public spaces.
Thanks for the feedback
So interesting and beautiful.
Man you did it.
Thanks Mr Walji, for the nice feedback
Hey Ali,
Loved the photos – brought back so many memories! Very impressed with all the research and how you put it all together. Excellent work!
Hope you are keeping well and safe..
Cheers
Anil
Wow, thanks Anil, for the wonderful feedback. Happy to note that this brought back memories for you.
Wow! Really interesting….could retire there, couldnt we!
Looks so modern now compared to the late 1990’s…..although we were not allowed to go wandering anywhere much. Disappointed.
(although we did a bit without telling anyone!!) But it was different in Khorog!
Warmest wishes to you all,
Amin.
Thanks Amin, happy that this brought back memories for you. So it was not long ago (late 1990’s) that there were many restrictions on foreigners.
Glad they are not so restrictive now. However, I did have a scare with the policemen and taking pictures 🙁 ; so it could still be dodgy….
Thanks for the feedback
Thank you, nice pictures. Mouth became watery seeing shishkabab and fish.
Thanks Amir. Glad you enjoyed
Thanks Ali. Very interesting place to visit.
Happy thanksgiving
Thanks AJ for your feedback.
Happy Thanks giving to you too
Wonderful
So glad you enjoyed the blog.
Pingback: Silk Road 24: Dushanbe, Tajikistan; Oct 2019 - Ali Karim Travelog