My travel there was mostly uneventful. I flew via Istanbul, and had the pleasure of flying business class. This is not a usual thing for me, in fact it’s only my 3rd time ever. And what a difference from economy! This is a very civilized way of travelling and I hope I get to do so again. In the planes, we were fed higher quality food (and more of it), on trays with tablecloths, metal cutlery and actual glassware. In Istanbul, I had a few hours to wait for the next flight, and was very glad to visit the business lounge. What a great place! Comfy seats to sit or recline in, a variety of cold foods and hot dishes cooked on the spot, a “concert room” with plush seats and a large screen and high quality speakers showing a variety of classical music concerts, an Internet corner with brand-new Apple computers, etc. There was even a player piano, not just a simple upright but rather an 8-foot grand piano! I knew these existed, but had never seen one. It was wonderful, a very relaxing way to spend time in the airport.
I also wandered out to look at a few shops, including one store completely filled with Turkish Delight, apple tea, nuts and decorated ceramics… and so many people it was a real fight just to get through. I picked up some apple tea drink and a couple of stocking stuffers. OK, first I know apple tea is an instant drink mostly composed of sugar, but I really like it so I don’t care. Second (and before you exclaim), no it is not too early to start Christmas shopping; I actually started mine back in June.
The second flight, Istanbul-Dushanbe, was a bit different. Definitely a lesser quality airplane: between the motors sounding like I was sitting in a flying lawnmower and the strong odour of burning rubber, I was a bit worried for a while. But all went well, and I landed safely in Dushanbe. Walking off the plane, I saw a number of people holding signs with names of travellers they were picking up. But my greeter was not there. No worries, he might be in the terminal. So in I go, fill another form along the way, go through customs with form and visa, and then get into the baggage claim area. OK, that’s saying a lot: there was just a plexiglass wall separating customs from baggage areas, and the latter consisted of exactly one carousel. But my bag came out without trouble or damage (not the case for everyone), and then I looked around again: still no one to meet me. I should point out that at this point it was 3:30 AM local time, so it was rather important to get picked up as I had no idea how else to get to my hotel. OK, look around again, finally spot the little unidentified door leading outside, head that way. I open the door, and am met by a wall of men, all staring at me as though it is very odd that I be coming out this door. No one says a word, and no one moves. Very unsettling in the dark in the middle of the night, in a country where I have no inkling of the language. But as I am weaving through the crowd, I finally spot my greeter. Yay.
OK, off we go to the hotel. Arriving there, no one is around at first. When someone does come out, it takes a while to figure out who I am and that I in fact have a reservation, but it eventually gets sorted out. I get to my room and get settled a bit, and then collapse into bed to try to catch a two or three hours of sleep before having to get up and go deliver lectures. But as I lie on the bed I discover there is actually no mattress, just a box spring. The bed was seriously harder than the floor! I found a few thick blankets in the cupboard and used those to create a mattress on top of the box spring and was finally able to sleep a bit. The next morning, we asked about the bed, and were told that’s how it is, nothing can be done. However, I have since discovered that this is not entirely true: the hotel actually consists of 3 buildings, and one of the lecturers and I seem to be in the worst one. The other two lecturers were put in the main building, which I then got to see. What a difference! The rooms are twice the size, have refrigerators and decent sized bathrooms, the breakfast service is better, and most importantly they have actual mattresses! But I only found this out on my last day there, so it was too late to ask to change rooms.
Anyways, on Monday morning and working on 3 hours sleep, I went to the National Academy of Sciences to kick off the training course. Everything ran well for the course throughout the week. Our hosts were very well organized and extremely helpful for all logistics. A few problems nonetheless: some people did lose their luggage, and only one of them did end up getting it. The others would either pick their baggage up on the way home or it would be sent to them (if found). Note to self: learn to pack lighter and only take carry-on, just in case! Also, about 1/3 of the participants had digestive issues during the week, ranging from very mild to one person who needed medical attention for a fairly high fever. In my case, the first two days were not a problem, but after that I did have some difficulties. And two important words about the facilities at the Academy; turkish toilets! A big thank you to my American friends who had recently brought me some “Pepto-Bismol” pills from the US, which helped to keep me able to function. Overall, though, the course went well and everyone was satisfied.
Besides the work, we had a chance to see a few things. Our hosts kindly arranged a number of activities for us. On the first evening, they took us for a walk around town to see some of the sights: Parliament, presidential residence, statue of Somoni (the founder of the Tajik government in the 10th century), and the tallest flagpole in the world, 165 meters high with a 60-metre flag. They then took us to the Rohat tea house for dinner, complete with music and an impromptu demonstration of Tajik dancing.
Parliament
Somoni park fountains
Presidential residence (think White House on steroids)
Banquet hall at Rohat Tea House
On Tuesday morning, while the course was ongoing but I was not needed, I was taken to a bazaar because I would not have a chance to go with the group on Friday. It was interesting, but not as colourful as I had hoped. It was all coveres and had too many stalls of Western products. The most interesting was to watch the goldsmiths working on the traditional intricate jewelry. I went back to the training course after lunch to deliver my last lectures. At the end of the day, our hosts took us to a souvenir shop. Thankful they did, as it would be unfindable by random tourists. They had fun modeling some traditional clothes for us. I did too.
After this, the whole group went to the National Museum of Antiquities, where we saw the largest reclining Buddha in the world. Quite impressive. Then I met the lecturers arriving to deliver the last 3 days of the training course. They are friends of mine and I was glad to be able to spend time with them. We had a nice dinner with a few of the course participants.
On Wednesday after the training course, we were taken out of town to the Hissar fortress, a historical site. It was interesting even though mostly destroyed, but I didn’t enjoy it too much as I was not feeling very well. We got nice views of a madrasa across the street and the mountains in the distance.
The drive back was particularly interesting: the car we were in, like most cars here, did not have (or did not use) seat belts, had a cracked windshield, smelled of gas fumes and burning rubber, and had a crazy driver. Road lanes are optional, speed limits don’t exist, and red lights are barely respected. In addition, pedestrians will randomly just walk into traffic fully expecting the cars to avoid them. But none of these things were the key. Instead, what happened is that our driver and the one from another car carrying participants decided to have a race once we got into town. Crazy weaving through traffic ensued. Scary and yet exhilarating (but I’d still have preferred to avoid it).
On Thursday at lunchtime, we went to the nearby Green Market for a look. And in the evening, we had an official reception. Then I returned to my room for a few hours, trying to rest if not sleep since I had to be at the airport at 2 AM Friday morning.
All right, time to go home. My itinerary was Dushanbe to St. Petersburg, 10 hours wait, then St. Petersburg to Vienna arriving completely exhausted. First issue: it seems you can’t get a visa to go into Russia for just a day, so I wasn’t able to leave the airport to visit St. Petersburg. Second issue: I needed a transit visa just to go from one terminal to the other. I wondered why, until I got there. Getting off the plane from Dushanbe, those of us with connecting flights were stuck in an entranceway for almost an hour, until someone finally got us going. First we had to slip by customs two by two (accompanied by an official) to fetch our suitcases. Then they piled us into a van to go to the other terminal. I mean that literally: we climbed in and then had to put our suitcases on top of us as there was no luggage room. Then we drove a solid 10 minutes through the countryside to get to the other terminal (which explains the need for a visa, since we travelled through Russia). Arriving there, we all went to the “connections desk”. However, it was unmanned, with a helpful sign stating that check-in can only be done 2 hours prior to departure. Should no one show up, please call the following number. OK, problems: first, what if you have no functioning cell phone? Also, I had to cart my suitcase around for hours. On top of this, no check-in meant no boarding pass, which meant no access to the business lounge.
The upside is that I met a number of nice people (we sort of stuck together and helped each other out). I went off with a Swiss guy to find lunch. Turns out this terminal is very basic: first there are no banking machine, no exchange desk, and the stores etc. take only roubles or credit. OK, fine, I have plastic. As for food, our options were a café stand or a single restaurant, a TGI Fridays. Really? An American chain restaurant as the only source of food in a Russian airport? At least we knew what we were eating, so it’s all good.
After killing a couple of hours at the restaurant, I wandered back to the check-in area, for lack of anywhere else to go. There I came across a woman and two kids, all of them crying. I approached her, and found out she was in quite a jam: returning to London after a month stay in Tajikistan, it seems the Russian airport authorities decided she was under suspicion of child kidnapping or trafficking, though only for one of her daughters. They were quite aggressive to her, took away all her papers and left her stuck on those chairs with no information. For hours. By the time I met them, the little girl in question was completely traumatized, crying every time she saw any official and asking if her mom would leave without her. I helped the best I could, which was not very much: I got them some drinks (she had neither roubles or credit cards, I mean really, who would think there would be such limited payment options in an international airport?), I played movies on my computer to keep the kids calm, and I let the woman talk to me, which kept her calm too. By the time I left hours later, she was still in the exact same situation, even though she’d talked to 3 more officials and even the UK consulate on the phone – twice. I hope she made it home eventually.
Selfishly, I must say that this at least made my layover time go by relatively fast. I finally was able to check in, at which point some official just walked away with my suitcase. OK, probably not going to see that again anytime soon. But having anticipated luggage issues, I had packed anything I was not willing to lose in my carry-on, so it was fine. Then I boarded my flight to Vienna – aah, Austrian airline business class, decent food, comfortable seat, a plane that is not in danger of collapse. I got home easily – and so did my suitcase!
A quick weekend home, and I would be off on the next duty travel, this time to Paris. But that’s for another blog entry.
Here are your random parting shots:
Not sure if you can read this, but it says alcohol content 8-12%
Most of the horsie statues (and there were many) were smiling. I like.
Winnie the Pooh's house?
