A great time had by all.
on Pam Kerruish (Tajikistan), 12/Jun/2010 17:58, 34 days ago
Well, I'm just settling in again after a great trip with Annie, Pip and Irene in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.Despite my trepidations I got through Uzbeck customs without any hassle ( though without much speed either) and met them in Tashkent.We then travelled on to Samarquand and enjoyed the delights of this outdoor !? loo on the way.The duty Free shop on the way to Uzbeckistan-note the Sign is written in English.- and counting our Uzbeck " sooms" to pay for our first meal together-around 2,500 to the pound I think.Samarquand was an amazing place with the most beautiful mosques and mauseleums - built when we were still primitive by comparison. We had a lovely time there,nice hotel, nice people and we we were generally pretty comfortable. It is a Tajik city but was cut off from Tajikistan in the Soviet carve up .My favourite bit was this avenue of grand mauseleums - they are really impressive , but this is just one of several noteworthy sites they have there.Some ,or perhaps all of Samarquand is a World Heritage Site.Anyway, having had a whistle stop trip there we got a small bus to ourselves and set off for the border and Panjikent.It was interesting to note the difference in apparent wealth at the border. Uzbeckistan is far more sophisticated - but Tajikistan had the edge as they presented Annie with a beautiful rose as the first arrival of our party. They were all nice though and I was amused to find that the Uzbeck Border guards were very taken with a coloured squidgy ball that the gang had brought out for the Degmai Cherubs - I thought they were going to confiscate it for a bit!We were able to rely on the help of Ashleigh , a VSO volunteer in tourism, in Penjikent. We had a good guide( a wonderful mimic who took off a previous visitor , a Scot, down to a "T" ) to see "Ancient Penjikent" ( as impressive as your imagination allowed , as its just fallen down ruins now) and then set off for the Seven Lakes, a well known, but little visited, beauty spot. The lakes were not the most beautiful I've seen , the road was not the most dramatic and the mountains not the highest , but as a package it was really great. We had a funny guide and a lovely homestay and thoroughly enjoyed it. We got caught in a storm on the first day ( our "cheery chappie" of a guide dismissing our concerns about the thunder ) but the host allowed us to light a fire in our room to get warm and so we were really cosy - lovely.left and right - the seven lakes area and below right the road in the seven lakes which we thought was pretty hairy until we came over the Shariston Pass and learned what "pretty hairy " really meant!As we travelled over it and saw the burned out carcases of cars that has gone over the edge we realised that there was no margin for error and Pip - quite rightly- told the driver off for using his mobile phone while he was driving us.The road in the seven lakes.Annie with our host family and their 8 week baby girl.Unfortunately this photo doesn't convey the excitement of crossing the Shariston pass , but you can see the road snaking down the far side of the left hand mountain.When we got to Khojand we were able to meet with my Khojand friends the first night and a VSO contingent -up in Khojand by chance -the second night. Luckily there is a new volunteer here for a few weeks - about as long as my friends will be away on summer leave .He is Phillip and is working in Agriculture. Mark is still here and he and I were going to watch the England/ USA football match last night. The idea was that I would support England and he would support the US.Turned out that yesterday was very hot and heavy -early 30s - and I dozed a lot of the time. I started to shape up to go out at about 10.30pm -pretty much unheard of here -when I got a text saying the heat had got to him and he was going to bed!But people I met today told me the result when they realised that I spoke English.Of course we went to Degmai and the children really enjoyed the special attention. I have realised I didn't take any photos there tho which is a pity. I showed the gang the bits of the place which are most important to me - where I live , the River, the Bazaar and the Mosque and then it was time to go. It was a wonderful varied week and it was great for me to see a bit more of Tajikistan with the gang. I just hope they enjoyed it as much as I did! Pamx