PLACES GALLERY

“Where is that?”, we became quite accustomed to hearing that question when we told people we were heading to Tajikistan. For those that don’t know, it borders Afghanistan, China and the other “stan” countries.

My interest to venture forth into this unexplored (well for me anyway) frontier came about after I watched a TV documentary about The Silk Road and Marco Polo. Another motivating factor is my rather amateur take on photography.

This was, without a shadow of a doubt, one of our most interesting destinations. Although my wife, Rosalind, and I only toured the western part of the country, we were blessed to have our own driver and guide for 12 days. I decided on this option, rather than in with a party of tourists, so that I would not be restricted to time when taking photographs. A mountainous country which requires time to explore.

September seemed to me to be the best time to head over as it is the end of summer and also, that the 9^th September is when they celebrate Independence Day, they were part of the USSR.

The best part of it is that it is not a tourist destination yet, but it is filled with history and facts. One will learn all about the ancient times, Alexander the Great and the Aga Khan. There are a number of fortresses, of which only the front has been rebuilt, I suppose this is part of encouraging tourism.

We landed in Dushanbe the capital at 3.30 a.m. and decided to sleep in and not have any activities that day. Jet lag also played a factor.

After our rest day, we attended the Youth celebrations in the morning in a fountain park. The girls performed dances whilst dressed in the colours of their provinces.

What was noticeable is that all schoolgirls wear plaited hair.

Refreshments were sold and when one of the stall owners noticed that we were visitors, she loaded packets of their different breads and would not take payment.

In general, we found the people very friendly, hospitable and free giving. What was amazing to us what that, unlike most Muslim countries, the people were happy to be photographed. On one occasion two young girls asked to be photographed with us using their own camera.

The main Independence Day celebrations were in the evening. The local soccer stadium could seat 20,000 and the security measures, although not generally an issue in the country, seemed to be reminiscent of the Soviet days. We had to have an entrance permit and no cameras were allowed. Dress was smart casual.

These celebrations were a highlight of our trip. The patriotism, the Presidential speech, the colorful dancing displays, the music, the floats, and the fireworks displays were mind blowing.

There are no shopping malls as we know them, but the markets are the places to shop. The nuts, fruit and vegetables are top grade and we had nonstop offers to taste these commodities. We did come across a supermarket which offered upmarket products. There are however boutique type men’s and women’s clothing stores in Dushanbe.

Tajikistan became an independent state in 1991 after 70 (seventy) years of Russian rule and since the breakup of the U.S.S.R it seems that it deteriorated economically. The massive hydroelectric generating plant in Norak is operating at minimum capacity because the aluminium facility is no longer operational.

The co-operative farms are only working on a limited basis, of course no longer controlled by Russia. The resorts that were frequented by Russian contract workers are now deserted. Many buildings are typically Russian in appearance. Massive library buildings, museums, wide streets and parks. Dushanbe even has the tallest flag pole in the world. In the two major cities they have pedestrian tunnels at the main intersections. Another feature of this country is the architecturally beautiful Tea Houses.

Languages spoken are Tajik and Russian and there are no English signs, which makes for interesting navigation.

Driving from Dushanbe to Khujand is an experience of a lifetime. The mountain passes are at an altitude of 3,000 m with shear drops that make your stomach turn. An interesting feature of these passes is that concrete tunnels have been constructed over the main road. This is to protect motorists from being buried under avalanches. The installation of the power lines over the mountains must have been no mean feat. Obviously done during the U.S.S.R. days.

Food was basic, with lamb and chicken done tandoor style. Interestingly, because of the abundance of apricots, apricot juice was always offered in typical Tajik eating establishments.

There is no industry aside from the dismal outputs of aluminium. Agriculture is mainly subsistence farming. There is large scale cotton farming, and this is made possible by the abundance of water.

Annual Festival Day
or more like “Made in the U.S.A” day.

This was my first experience of an annual festival in a rural town in the U.S.A.

Knightstown is a little town about an hours drive from Indianapolis and typical of a mid West old town in a corn farming area. Houses and State buildings date back to the mid 1800’s.

On the day of the Festival there was everything from horse drawn wagons to Fire Dept tenders, Hot Dogs and Popcorn smothered with butter and even a Golden Oldies band. Vehicles from the 1930’s being driven by elderly ladies with hair that looked like candy floss.

The best was the old lady riding the biggest most powerful quad bike I have ever seen. The wide main street and old buildings was a reminder of the Wild West movies we used to enjoy.

There was and probably still is an eating house run by the American Legion where one could enjoy a meal at a good price. The local railway station was no longer in operation and placards stuck on the windows were very descriptive blaming President Obama for its closure.

The Post Office had the most interesting murals painted in the hallway.

Saturday Yard Sale.

This event was a great photographic opportunity. The only problem was that the locals were not keen to being photographed. I was actually approached by a lady wanting to know what I was doing there.

The yard sale takes place every Saturday morning and anything is auctioned from bunnies to bulls to bales of cattle feed, even second- hand chicken wire fencing and any scrap that someone can find use for.

The story goes that this little hall with its teared seating used to house Cock fighting. This type of gambling was outlawed but to this day this “sport” still exists undercover.

In this hall is where owners have their poultry etc auctioned. The way these ducks and fowls are manhandled is a wonder that the SPCA has not stopped the way they trade. In another hall cattle are being auctioned and then outside there are bits and pieces of building material and equipment that is auctioned. It is quite an education watching the auctioneer and the scribe how they go about their job. I think that their jobs are all voluntary.

Watching the different characters and this whole process is like a time warp.

Jordan  – May 2023

Our Granddaughter, Roxanne Shaikhadeh’, applied to attend a study workshop  in Amman related to her studies. The event was to understand refugees and immigration policies.

Roxanne twisted our arms to meet her there and do a tour afterwards. Maxine then also got a bee in her bonnet that she would like to join us. So, that was a great idea for us to have a holiday in a country like Jordan with our grand daughters.

I knew very little about this country and therefore had to do a fair amount of research before I could make any flight, accommodation and car hire reservations. Local travel agencies were of no assistance because I suppose they do not get requests to go to these countries. In addition, there is no diplomatic mission here, so visas are issued when one arrives in Amman.  The cost as per Google would be R40 per person

Well, what a surprise and welcome from the Immigration official at Amman airport. He said no visas are required for South Africans, stamped our Passports and waved us through. The quickest that I have been through any immigration control.

Amman is a city built like a stadium. Everything is built in tiers. There are a couple of modern shopping centres. What was noticeable was the number of electric cars from China, especially the MG brand.

In Amman we stayed in apartment type of accommodation. It was central to restaurants and fast-food establishments. We enjoyed the middle eastern restaurants and could not have enough of the Lebanese dishes. They were all within walking distance of our accommodation. We spent three or four days in this city before we moved on.

I hired a car during our stay but must admit that driving in Amman was a bit of a challenge. On our return from the desert and Petra, Roxanne drove because driving a left hand drive car in a foreign middle Eastern country can be quite hair raising.

From Amman we went to the Dead Sea where we stayed overnight. Rosalind and Maxine tried the mud pack which supposed to be good – for what I don’t know. They also tried floating in this water which if I remember correctly has a 25% salt content. From the photographs one can see have the sea level is getting lower and lower. From the Jordanian side and looking over the Dead Sea, one could see the West Bank of Israel. The Palestinian side.

On the one day, Maxine and I went up a canyon of fast flowing water. A bit of a tourist attraction because they get revenue from hiring out safety jackets – a must. I was totally taken up by the different colours in the rock of this high canyon.

We then headed to Wadi Rum which is a Toureg reserve and we stayed in the Star Wars camp for two days. We had to park our vehicles at the entrance to this reserver from where we were collected by a 4×4. Sunrises and sunsets were good for photography and so were the mountain ranges. The rock formations and colours were a sight to remember, especially the red dunes. Wadi Rum is where Lawrence of Arabia operated with his band of men.

On one of the days we went on a day trip in the desert through canyons and participated in lunch prepared by our guide and his fifteen year old son. Who incidentally was our driver.

Our last stop was Petra where we booked in for a couple of days. This was a lost city built a few hundred years before Christ. It was settled by the Nabateans, nomadic Arabs. It was discovered again in the 1800’s. Words cannot describe this experience. 

It is indescribable and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kerala India – February 2020

A very interesting, colourful and different holiday

March 2020 is when the pandemic hit the world and in February 2020 we already heard of a COVID case in India. However, that one case did not deter us and off we went on a new adventure.

We had been given the contact details of a tour operator in India and after I had done a fair amount of research we planned our trip.

My brief was a) no city tours b) no temple tours c) no tourist shops. There were four of us and for the ten days we requested a driver/guide and a small bus/transporter.

This worked out well. The travelling was a pleasure and an educational experience..

I must add that we flew via Mauritius on Mauritius Air to Chennai on the east coast of India. On our return we stayed over in Mauritius. The airports in the major cities in India is another experience..

After our stayover in Chennai we drove down to Puducherry and Auroville on the east coast for a couple of days, then a flight down to Kerala on the southwest coast of India.. Auroville was very interesting and is a place where people go on Retreat  and entrance to the big gold dome is only for these groups.

This was our first ever trip to India and therefore I don’t know what the traffic is like in the other cities, but the chaos in Chennai seemed a bit of a challenge even for our driver. The different means of transport was an eye opener. Wagons pulled by oxen, in the city, bicycles pulling trailers and even humans doing deliveries with “ cargo “ on their heads.

All accommodation was good excepting one night we stayed in a place that was a converted military barracks. Adjacent to our room was a night club disco. We could not sleep and I even phoned the tour operator and demanded that he gets us out of this place. Of course , it was about midnight so there was no chance we could get alternative accommodation.

In Kerala we started at Kochi, then stayed on a houseboat on the Backwaters, then Munnar, Kovalam, and out from Thiruvananthapuram back to Chennai then Mauritius.

The Backwaters and houseboats was a pleasant surprise. The food was good, especially since it was prepared by the boats “engineer”. The Backwaters is a transport river joining a few lakes, with people living on the banks. Some residents even had fenced off areas of the water and were breeding duck. Other residents would even bath in the waters. Just about anything went on this community. On one occasion I watched on another houseboat, crows/ravens sitting on the railings at the back where the kitchen was. The kitchen door was open to the outside and everytime the chef/cook would leave the kitchen these birds would hop in and steal food. It was hilarious.

Kerala is a very picturesque area with beautiful beaches and tea plantations. We stayed at The Tall Trees tea plantation. This place was out of this world. The view, the accommodation, the food etc was top class.

We then moved on to a home stay called Vanilla Estate. Part of the estate was a rubber tree plantation. This was quite fascinating to see how they “ harvested” the rubber and manufactured car mats.

On the coast we stayed in the Hindu Retreat Hotel. The beach stretched for miles. The interesting part of this stay was experiencing the ritual practiced by the Hindu’s on the beach and in the sea.

All in All this was a great experience and very educational. Travelling around the world really does broaden one’s horizons.