Hisssssar

We took a short ride out of Dushanbe to check out the Hissar Fortress, which dates from the 18th Century. Nothing much exciting to write, but the pics turned out well so I thought we'd share.





A view of the valley behind the fortress walls.

The Deaf and the (Sic) Man

While Tajik Air is short on some amenities that you would expect an airline to offer its customers (a reservation system, for instance), it does have its own in-flight magazine, with an assortment of articles in Russian, Tajik and English. My favorite was a piece on Rumi, the Persian mystic and poet who was born on the territory of modern-day Tajikistan 800 years ago. I offer an excerpt, with a big preemptive (sic):

In his short stories [Rumi] invites people to study and there is no better way for human than knowledge. Here below I tell you the story about deaf and a sick man in brief: Once a deaf man's beibour became ill, naturally the deaf man wanted to go and pay a visit to his neighbour So one day he thought to himself and prepared questions, simultenuously answers to his questions and went to see his ill neibour:
Deaf. Hello.
Sick. Hi.
D. How are you feeling? Are you going to be better?
S. No I feel myself worse and worse every day.
Deaf. Oh its wonderful.
D. Who is your doctor?
S. Azroil 1(According to islam a person who comes to dieing man and take his or her soul)
D,He is the best doctor.
What's your medicine?
S.Zahru zuqum (such fruit people eat in hell)

Don't Worry, We're Still Alive

In case you frequent Blogistan readers are wondering why we haven't posted in a while, it's because we spent last week in the Pamir Mountains, where there is no Internet on account of there being no telephones or electricity. Or food or anything else. There will be plenty of stories about that coming soon, so hang in there.

Dushanbe: The New Frontier of Celebrity Endorsements

Our Own Little Speakeasy in Sharjah

Supposedly Sharjah is the dry emirate, meaning there is no airport bar from which to nab a pre-flight drink. However, we caught on to a little loophole in Sharjah’s prohibition law – staying true to its UAE duty-free zone roots, Sharjah International allows you to purchase liquor in the duty-free section, then drink it in any of the cafes after you pass passport control. Cheers, Sharjah!

Uzbek Hats

On a Tajik bus.

Dushanbe: Town of Eastern Delicious Food

In their Central Asia guide book, the LP lists “Restaurants” as one of the “Must-Sees”. I laughed at first – surely the shout out to the restaurant scene must be less of an homage to Dushanbe’s culinary credentials than a nod to the fact that there is not much to see in the capital. As to the latter, its kind of true – Dushanbe is basically comprised of one long street running north to south. However , LP was right – Dushanbe may very well be the culinary capital of the CIS.

Exhibit 1- Deli Darbar

The entrepreneurial logic behind Deli Darbar is a bit unconventional: open reasonably priced Indian restaurants in war torn regions. In addition to Dushanbe, the DD has branches in Kabul and Mazar-e Sharif. Apparently civil strife is the perfect environment for the cultivation of a hopping ethnic food scene. We dined at the DD twice, and were impressed by the authenticity of each dish – even our New Zealand acquaintance of Indian descent gave it two samosas way up!

Exhibit 2 - Al Sham

Al Sham is no sham – it serves up great Lebanese food. I went there for dinner and had the hummus and falafel, which were among the best I’ve had outside of Lebanon.

Exhibit 3 – Salsa

While it might not live up to Pancho’s in Baku, Salsa, and Ecuadorian restaurant, satisfied out latin food cravings. Their signature dish is the llapingachos, fried potatoes and mozzarella cheese topped with peanut sauce. While the description made our stomachs turn, we ordered it any way, and did not regret it. The rest of the menu, a mix of Ecuadorian and Mexican dishes did not disappoint either.

Exhibit 4 – Kurtob
Finger lickin' good!

This is really the only distinctly Tajik dish we came across. Kurtob is a dish of layered bread, yogurt, onion and coriander in a creamy sauce. Sound disgusting? We thought so, but being the intrepid travelers that we are, we gave it a try, and found it to be pretty darn scrumptious.

Exhibit 5 – Le Grande Dame

We went here for brunch. I have some high brunch standards, so I was more than a little disappointed to find the only cocktail available was a pina colada and that their poached eggs were served with the yolks rock solid. However, kudos for LGD for even serving a brunch, which is more than I can say for any other city in the CIS.

All in all, we didn’t have one bad meal in Dushambe. While the city might otherwise be provincial, its restaurant scene, I dare say, is much more advanced than that of Moscow. So once again, bite it, Russia. If Tajikistan can outshine you in the culinary department, you gotta lot of work to do before that WTO bid comes in.