Dushanbe, Tajikistan
Our impressions of Dushanbe
Dystopic: The word that we most associate with Dushanbe is dystopic (Pages is telling us that this isn’t a word which we refuse to believe. Damn Pages and your red squiggly lines). The city’s architecture, countless ongoing and unfinished building projects (far too many to support a city of 800,000 people), and trimmings (street lamps, railings) combine to create a vibe that reminded us of the Capital in the Hunger Games (complete with white roses nonetheless) or even Gilead (please don’t tell us what happened in the latest season of Handmaid’s Tale – we don’t have access to Hulu). We heard that it used to be a much more charming city until the longstanding ruler of Tajikistan, Emonali Rahmon (formerly Rahmonov, but he dropped the “ov” to sound more Tajik and less Russian) leveled the city and created his version of a capital city
Surprisingly international cuisine: Despite the dystopic vibe, we were pleasantly surprised at the international nature of the city, especially when it comes to restaurants. Coming off twelve days of Uzbek cuisine, we were very excited to have different options. Indian, Georgian, Mediterranean, and of course Tajik were some of the cuisines we enjoyed while in Dushanbe
Eerily beautiful parks: Despite being the poorest country in Central Asia (GDP per capita of $897 in 2021), Tajikistan’s parks are immaculate. Freshly trimmed hedges, roses of all different colors, and perfectly manicured lawns were characteristic of every park that we walked through. We were often the only people in these parks which felt much creepier than it did in Uzbekistan – in part due to the investment put into the parks and upkeep of appearances despite the country’s poverty and partially because of the general dystopic vibe of the city
What we saw in Dushanbe
Komsomolskoe Lake: On our first afternoon in Dushanbe we made our way to this manmade lake a bit outside of the city center. It was a super peaceful place to walk around and catch the sunset. Definitely worth a stop if you ever find yourself in Dushanbe for a few days
Kokhi Navruz: Near the lake is the world’s “biggest teahouse” (though it’s not really a teahouse), Navruz Palace. Jessie had been to the Dushanbe Teahouse in Boulder a few months before Dushanbe, so was eager to check it out. Not at all the same… Navruz Palace is massive with nice decor on the outside (beautiful painted ceilings, large chandeliers), but not much of interest for us on the inside (two fast food restaurants, a wedding venue)
Dushanbe Flagpole: We both read Erika Fatland’s book “Sovietistan” before making our trip to Central Asia. Though many things have changed since she wrote the book in 2014, one thing has definitely remained the same: Dushanbe is home to the third tallest flagpole in the world (once the tallest, but Jeddah and then Cairo have since surpassed the record). The flagpole is indeed very tall and situated in the middle of a lovely park. Per usual, we were the only people in the vicinity
National Museum of Tajikistan: There aren’t too many tourist attractions in Dushanbe, so we were excited to make a stop at the National Museum of Tajikistan. We expected it to be similar to the museums in Uzbekistan – a collection of artifacts with descriptions but no real story to weave them all together. But, we were pleasantly surprised. The museum is a four story building with crumbling floors and dysfunctional escalators. What it lacks in infrastructure, it makes up for in breadth of exhibits – geology, national history, gifts from foreign nations, an attempted fine art section (including copies of Italian greats). We had a really nice time exploring the different exhibits and learning more about Tajik history. The two things we noticed about modern history – a very brief mention of the Tajik Civil War (from 1992-1997 there was a war in which many Tajiks lost their lives, but it’s not widely discussed) and a very notable presence of Rahmon (a picture of him around almost every corner or so it felt)
GBAO Permit Office: In order to travel along the Pamir Highway, we needed to obtain permission from the Tajik government as we would largely be in the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous region. We ended up spending the better part of our morning at the GBAO permit office with Baktiar (our Pamir Highway guide, driver, and soon-to-be BFF). During our time here, we saw scores of Russians applying for Tajik visas due to mobilization, bribes at multiple levels (corruption in the flesh), and a screaming argument break out between Baktiar and one of the officials that de-escalated in laughter as quickly as it escalated. Never a dull day in Dushanbe!
Where we ate and drank
Delhi Darbar (x2): We eat Indian food quite regularly at home, so were stoked when we heard there was an Indian restaurant in Dushanbe. We made our way there for a linner shortly after arriving in the city and were not disappointed. Naan, butter chicken, daal makhani – it was all delicious and exactly what we were looking for. We ended up coming back here with our new friends (more below) the next day. One of them was not into spicy food and opted for a caesar salad and mango lassi…
Qurotob Olim: Much to Jessie’s delight, we learned that Tajikistan’s national dish – Qurotob – was vegetarian. We had to try it! We read that one of the best places to do so was “Qurotob Olim”, so off we went. It was a bit of a hike from where we were staying, but when we got there we knew we were at the right place with tons of taxis parked outside of the restaurant (we later learned that many taxi drivers eat here not that they were taking others here). We walked into the restaurant and were a little lost on where to go next – sinks to wash our hands (which we did), an open air kitchen (do we order directly from here?), and a kassa (cash register) flanked the front with packed tables of Tajik men staring at us in the back. We must have looked confused as a kind man quickly ushered us up the stairs where there were a few tables of young men and women. Men downstairs, any groups with women upstairs, no tourists. This man was our savior during our meal. He sat us down at the traditional Tajik table brought us menus in Russian (no English per usual) that had pictures of the dishes, understood our “point ordering” and weak attempts to confirm “bis miasa?” (no meat), and quickly brought out one steaming hot dish of qurotob, nan, and a large bottle of RC Cola (potentially Tajikistan’s national drink – we saw it everywhere). The qurotob was composed of layers of thin bread doused in yogurt, topped with peppers, spicy peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, and dill, and generously soaked in vegetable oil – a hearty dish. We made our way through what we could, downed several cup-bowls of RC Cola, and cleansed our palates with the nan. When we were done, we made our way to the kassa to pay. Our savior ran after us to help us navigate payment – $2.90 USD for a very filling meal for two. The man at the register asked where we were from. “Oh America!” he exclaimed. And generously gave us a pack of gum. Definitely one of our favorite experiences in Tajikistan, though we probably won’t be cooking up qurotob when we get back to the states
Tflisi: We were excited to try Georgian food (a staple in former Soviet countries) and had read that Tflisi was a good spot (and less than a two minute walk from our apartment… score!) It was delicious for the most part. We had a great jug of Georgian wine (much better than the Uzbek wine we tasted in Samarkand), khachapuri (Georgian bread with steaming hot cheese and an over easy egg in the middle), and kidney beans reminiscent of a light chili. We tried to order Georgian dumplings to round out our meal, but the restaurant was out. We made a snap decision and opted for the margarita pizza instead – always a safe bet we thought to ourselves. Boy oh boy where we wrong! Jessie took a bite into the pizza and instantly knew that there was something off. The sauce tasted like mayonnaise. At first Doug thought she was being ridiculous, but after a bite he agreed. Ever since eating at Tflisi, we’ve had to confirm that there isn’t mayonnaise in the pizza. People look at us weirdly when we ask, but much better safe than sorry
Public House 2.0: We didn’t ever plan to go to a bar while in Dushanbe (and definitely not an Irish-American bar in the middle of the day), but we obliged when two new friends that we met at the GBAO permit office insisted that Public House was a great spot. We ended up having a blast. We spoke with our companions about the atrocities of the Russian invasion in Ukraine (they among thousands of other young men in Dushanbe had just fled Russia to avoid mobilization), their perceptions of the Russian government, what their families thought about them fleeing, and many other heavy and lighter topics over Tajik beers. We also taught them how to play Cricket (the darts game) – one of the highlights of our time in Dushanbe. We ended up playing a slightly disorganized version of cricket when other patrons in the bar enthusiastically asked to join – a young Uzbek, two older Tajik businessmen, a young professional from an autonomous region in the Caucasus – with Google translate as our primary mechanism to teach everyone the rules. After one of our new friends suggested Vodka shots, we knew it was time to get out of Public House 2.0, so we split ways
Amani: We spotted this place in the park and assumed it was pricey… But it wasn’t! So we decided to give it a go. We were the only people in the restaurant with the exception of a group of Tajiks around our age playing music which set a lovely ambiance. This place also had an “open air” kitchen – meaning we could see the two chefs (both older ladies) preparing our meal. We had typical Italian fare (normally not Jessie’s food of choice, but she very much enjoyed it) – bruschetta, pasta arrabbiata, and vegetarian pizza with corn. Yum!
Al Sham: Post-Pamir Highway, we were in pursuit of a good last meal with Baktiar and something other than traditional Tajik food. We had read about Al Sham and heard great things from Fleur and Eloi (the Dutch-French couple we spent a hike and a quick ride with on the way back from Jizeu village), so we told Baktiar to meet us there for our last hoorah. We had a good Lebanese meal here – falafel, hummus, fattoush, kebab – with great service and a fun send off. Two highlights of the meal: Baktiar shamelessly hitting on our waitress only to find out she’s married and learning about the Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan which include a sport played with an emptied-out, headless goat carcass as the ball. We will certainly make it to Kyrgyzstan one day
Moose Cafe: At Moose Cafe, we were exposed to the hip side of Dushanbe – lattes, young professionals working away, babies – all staples of a cool cafe. And we think we added to the charm: two Americans with their oversized bags and unfashionable clothes on the prowl for an espresso and free Wifi. We posted up here for the day before our flight from Almaty to Dushanbe. We threw back two double espressos in the morning and had some “thai” food for lunch (more like noodles and soy sauce, but still good)
Where we stayed
Airbnb: We spent three nights at a lovely Airbnb in the heart of Dushanbe. It was spacious, had fantastic shower pressure (especially important after coming back from our 9-day Pamir Highway road trip – read more about it here), and had the kindest host that left us chocolate and water. We loved staying here
Such a contrasting experience to the Dunshabe tea house in Boulder! I’ll think of you two every time I pass it now!
Dushanbe and Boulder couldn’t be more different – shocked they are sister cities!