Hey, Hey Dushanbe! We really stayed here too many days! Tajikistan

Exploring Dushanbe

It’s been quite some time since we encountered the level of ostentatiousness that Dushanbe displays…in a blend of Skopje, North Macedonia, meets Dubai, meets China, meets Vegas. It’s oozing with development, cranes, statues, towers, fountains, bright lights, (particularly in the shape of animals or plants), big screen TVs and a distinct “look at me!” attitude.

It even goes so far as housing the world’s now…second tallest flagpole.

Clearly, it’s come a long way since it was a small village holding a market every Monday…which is what Dushanbe was named after (the day of the week, not the market itself.)

It’s definitely a far cry from the poverty-stricken electricity-less villages we saw on the Pamir Highway, and they definitely feature birds here that we never saw in the mountains. (Or the lowlands for that matter.)

Nor did we see any of these…

An entire park built for Tajik’s 25th anniversary. In the middle sits Istiklol (Independence) Monument like a twisted manly birthday cake candle.

In other phallic nationalistic achievements, the second tallest flagpole in the world stands at 165 meters (541 feet). It was surpassed by Saudi Jeddah’s flag but still features a flag that is the tremendous size of a tennis court. Unfortunately, the day we went, it was piled at its base rather than soaring high, so all we got was a big stick. The flagless pole as seen from a distance!

The National Library of Tajikistan is either one of Dushanbe’s most impressive or extravagantly overbuilt, stupid, and pompous landmarks, obviously depending on who you ask. It is 45,000 square feet, 9 floors, and the largest library in Central Asia, which apparently doesn’t have enough books to fill its shelves.

We tried to wander inside to actually find some of these books, but after seeing a collection of quite old and dusty card catalogs, which we had to explain to our 30-year-old friend Jonathan, we were quickly shooed out of the building. Quite a facade for what’s inside.

In the same area, with all the national pride monuments and buildings, one can find a giant and obtrusive golden arch. What you will not find is the other Golden Arches as KFC is the only global fast food chain in town, but only as of 2024.

Instead of obesity and capitalism, this golden arch symbolizes national unity and grandeur following Soviet times. In the middle stands proudly Somoni, the founder of Tajik statehood. Also, Dushanbe’s equivalent of KL’s Petronas Towers, accessorized with the president.

If you leave here not knowing Tajikistan’s colors are red, white and green you might be blind. Or that might just be from the swirly light displays. These are in the shape of fun birds…

….but peaceful lotus-looking flowers adorn the main boulevard.

The lush and tranquil Rudaki Park, which envelops the foreground of the Tajik Parliament building.

Another arch in Rudaki Park, which was named after the 9th Century “Father of Persian Poetry.”

There are a few other classy monuments worth checking out. Speaking of poets, one is the “Wall of Great Tajik (or Persian) Poets” — a striking monument that celebrates the country’s literary heritage. According to Chat GPT, “its design blends Islamic ornamental style with Soviet monumentalism, giving it a sort of ancient-meets-modern state propaganda vibe — but classy.”

The presidential palace. We could not get closer than across the street to take a photo without getting waved away by a guard.

Built in the 1940s, the Ayni Opera and Ballet Theatre in Dushanbe is one of the most dignified Soviet-era buildings in the city — strikingly different from the newer monuments. You can see an opera or ballet there for $3-10 and walk in same day.

Parts of Dushanbe, according to our friends Yi and Annabelle, have a distinct flavor of modern China with LCD display screens tacked onto every classy light pole. There are cranes everywhere and an obsessive amount of development.

An older Soviet building with some interesting character.

There are a few parts that are tree-lined, and pleasant to amble in…but they are few and far between unlike Bishkek or Almaty.

Even crossing the street can be weird in Dushanbe…the crosswalk tunnels are ridiculously stark, and unnecessarily overdone. In addition, we had many days with substantially unhealthy air quality (over 200), which was the worst in the world at the time, so we stayed inside often. There are many reasons for this, including its bowl-shaped geography, construction dust, nearby dust storms and aging vehicles, which are unregulated.

Unlike the flashy independence monument, built in 2011 as the 20th anniversary present to its people basically saying FU to the former Soviets. What a lovely slab of concrete! Welcome to Dushan-Vegas!!

At least the mosques are pretty 🙂

When we met a few travelers at our next destination in Panjakent, they asked us what the capital was like, because they were heading there next. They didn’t understand the word “ostentatious,” so we pointed to the napkin box and said, “this is Dushanbe” and this tea pot is Panjakent. They nodded vigorously…now they knew what they were getting into.

Life in Dushanbe

Because we stayed in Tajikistan’s capital for 12 nights, (about 8 too long), we saw three very different sides to Dushanbe…the backpacker side…the luxury side…and the normal/local side. Unsurprisingly, we preferred the latter. Most tourists only see the glitzy, ostentatious center, which we’ll get to in the next post, but today we’ll speak a bit more about our daily lives and why it was actually a decent place to slow down and decompress after many chaotic weeks of fast travel.

All dressed up…everywhere we went…the young men in Dushanbe seemed like an adorable crossbreed between brief-case toting yuppies of the 1980s and the early Beatles with their mop-tops and skinny ties.

Dushanbe had some terrific markets once you started digging. Our favorite was near the Grand Bus station where not a single other tourist could be found. Here is one of the many bread ladies. All the market people were incredibly friendly and welcoming, especially when they heard we were Americans.

Piles upon piles of delicious-looking produce. We got a sack of peaches/nectarines, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers and a pomegranate for about $4. The pomegranate alone was $.50. We paid a whopping $2.50 for one at the supermarket so, as usual, the markets are definitely a better place to shop.

One of the many adorable dairy ladies scooping cheese.

Speaking of the conveniently located supermarket, right downstairs, it was normally a great value and they had very decent selection. This small bundle was $3.60 for 900 grams of Greek-style yogurt, 200 grams of walnuts, broccoli and cilantro. The cilantro was $.08. Also, the melon…our mistake that never ended. A melon that was NOT a torpedo melon and barely had any flavor.

This was part of the best, and most extravagant meal we had in Dushanbe to fill our tanks back up after the Pamir Highway at Al Sham. This Middle Eastern mega splurge consisted of mint Aryan, beer, tabbouleh, falafel, tagine, and hummus for $38! It was to die for, and the service was absolutely outstanding as well.

For our first night in Dushanbe we stayed at Green House Hostel alongside our friends from the Pamir. It didn’t take long to notice this slice of Vegas obnoxiousness outside our window.

Other than that, Green House, at $22/night for a private bed and bath, seemed like a good value. It allowed us to come together for one last breakfast and take turns cuddling the funny Teddy Ruxpin cat.

All that said, one night there was enough for Greg and I, and the following two nights we were eager to go lick our Pamir wounds with some bougie bandaids. Enter the Hyatt Regency Dushanbe, which cost us 5000k in Chase Sapphire points, or the equivalent of $50…for the $186 value corner suite we got upgraded to. Don’t forget US travelers, you can still get 75,000-125,000 sign-up points , which stretch a LOT as you can see with this purchase. Please use our link to sign up or for more information! 🙂

Oh yes. We enjoyed our posh little paradise. Especially the pool, sauna, jacuzzi and workout facilities!

However, where we really found refuge, especially from the horrendous air quality, was our bright and spacious fifth-floor apartment, where we ended up staying 9 nights. ($28/night). After 2.5 weeks of very fast travel, it was so idyllic to get caught up on work, exercise, chat with friends back home, and have complete control of our diets once again.

This naturally included access to our first Tajik wines, which were actually delicious and affordable, but definitely on the sweeter side. This bottle cost about $3.80.

All in all, it was quite amusing to see the wide availability and affordability of alcohol in Tajikistan, especially considering the 95% Muslim statistic. It seems many of these Muslims are definitely less conservative when it comes to this, which I guess isn’t too surprising considering the long influence from their heavy drinking neighbors up north…

Speaking of…the retro Ferris wheel at the Soviet-influenced perma-park.

Tons of ladies planting flowers on the public streets. What a great community project! Also, the giant pom-poms the girls usually wear in their hair for school.

Tajik’s medical university which happily seemed to be loaded with ladies. Take that southerly neighbors!

The other meal we had out was at Iskender Turkish restaurant. It included a whole pitcher of foamy Aryan, a carrot/apple salad, a chicken salad and lamb gyro. We stuffed ourselves for $16.