Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Today was pretty laid back.  It was 35 degrees so ....

We had a farewell supper for Ellen :( at the Indian restaurant.  Here are Neal, Karen, Will, Tim and me-

Dennis, Ellen, Greg, Alison, Dave and Corinne-

Brenda, Jill, James, Melissa and Ellen-

Marianne, Yan, Matt, Kate and Victoria-

Ellen has been with us for a month and we're really going to miss her, as well as her massages and treatments :(

Our hotel is on the 5th floor.  I happened upon this scene in a small room at the top of the stairs-

Yes, they are making dentures!  Then, the guy in scrubs came in, I'm not sure if he is the dentist, but wanted his picture taken with me.  His friend took it!

Maybe he was going for my boobs, not sure.  He missed our heads anyway!  

Our hotel is an interesting place.  Here is the light fixture in my room-

Yes, there is only one bulb out of 6 working!

This is the bathroom.  I love the pipes!  What's that about???

But these are the best finds of the day!  Detergent....

and in dishwashing liquid-

or maybe this cleaner would work....

Tomorrow we're going to the Pamir Highway!  Looking forward to cooler weather and great scenery!

Dushanbe, Tajikistan

We were all anticipating our exit on the narrow twisting road but everything went fine.  Here is the view leaving Iskander Kul-

The colours are amazing!

The lake is glacier fed.  It's in the centre of the picture.  Temperature wise, it felt like a typical Saskatchewan summer lake.  Quite a few went swimming-

Driving to Dushanbe, we were held up for about 3 hours, waiting for.......  Not sure because we were meeting trucks and cars, and cars were allowed to go, just not bigger vehicles-

There was quite a convoy once we were given the green light-

We drove through "the tunnel of death" or the Anzob Tunnel, a 5 km mess of potholes, darkness, water running in a few places and workers here and there, breathing the fumes!  We arrived at the end, only to be greeted by...

another queue!  But, we went up to the front, were weighed, and told to go.  

I can't get over the view!

We arrived in Dushanbe 5 hours later than expected.  There's not a lot to see here, but there is the world's tallest flag pole at 165 meters-

Ismoil Somoni was the 10th century founder of the Saminid Dynasty.  Here is his statue-

Supper was Indian: lamb biryani, tandoor chicken and chicken kedai.  It was excellent!