BO KNOWS. NOT BO JACKSON BUT OUR NEW acquaintance from Massachusetts. He already had his visa for Tajikistan, despite assurances that “visas on arrival” were now possible. We, on the other hand, believed what we read on-line. We started to think it was an April Fool’s joke but it is true, you can get a visa at the Dushanbe airport but it isn’t easy. Or quick.
Fellow traveler, Bo
Bo waited while we filled out forms so he could share our ride to the Twins Hotel. He said he was staying at an el cheapo hotel outside of Dushanbe, his preferred method of travel. He has been to 180 of the 192 UN recognized countries, 280 of the 300-something established geographic entities — and not always with a stamp in his passport!
Ready for a grand entrance, Twins Hotel
I would like to say we had definite plans for Tajikistan, but that wouldn’t be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We had some vague sense that we could get into the countryside for some birding. Bo had invited us to accompany him to Krough, off limits to travelers without a special permit that he may or may not have had. We definitely didn’t have one. Besides, we were booked into the Twins for three days.
Snowy peaks
There is probably a reason why the country isn’t a major tourist site. There are few hotels outside of the capital, road travel is slow and hire-cars cost $1/kilometer. To top it off yesterday’s rain in Dushanbe was snow in the higher country. Abdulgani from the Twins Hotel drove us to Rohat Tours where Gulhoza gave us the bad news. Snowy roads prohibited us visiting Sarazm, the World Heritage site we wanted to see in the west, 300 kilometers away. And there weren’t any places to stay anyhow. So we hired a driver for Sunday to take us to some historical sites closer to Dushanbe and extended our stay at the hotel. We can’t complain about the facilities or the service. We have to be somewhere and this is as good as anyplace.
