February 12, 2012

It started snowing right before I was about to leave my apartment building. I knocked on Maryam’s door to let her know I’d be gone for a sometime and then trundled through the snow and up the hill to the street where the taxi driver promised to meet me. It was cold and the wind whipped the snow around cutting down visibility and driving it between my scarf and coat. I think I only stood there for less than five minutes, but they seemed like an eternity. The drive to airport was less than 15 minutes, but when I tried to go through the gates I was stopped because I could not proceed until an announcement for my flight was made through the intercom. Neither Corrie nor Caroline had arrived yet and they did and we went through security and the check-in process, we were told the flight had been postponed until 10:50pm. The Air Astana representative asked if we had a place to stay in Dushanbe and promptly said no as I didn’t want to go back to my apartment where I had unplugged everything and consumed all my groceries. I knew the airline here would be responsible if we came from out of town. The guy informed us that a hotel room and meals would be provided along with transportation to and from the hotel.

We were taken to the Asia Hotel, two blocks from my house, and given individual rooms in what appeared to be a deserted building. The rooms were beautiful, spacious and quiet. We proceeded to the restaurant and met two other travelers, one from Kazakhstan and the other a Korean, and had the customary 1.5 hour wait until they brought me a piece of salmon and vegetables. A young couple from Kazakhstan joined us later and we were able to ask them questions about the city of Almaty.  I had been unable to eat the lamb soup I had ordered as an appetizer as it came in a clear broth with what appeared to be chunks of beef and no seasonings whatsoever. Corrie ended up eating it. I went back to my room and took a nap. We went back for dinner, and since the airline was paying, both Caroline and Corrie wanted to order dessert, but all they had was pieces of chocolate, which they turned down. We all commented on how it didn’t seem like we were in Dushanbe anymore surrounded by such luxury and relatively decent food.

The same representative came for us at 9:00pm and drove us back to the airport under the still relentless snow that continued to fall all day long. The flight didn’t depart until midnight, but at least the crew spoke English and provided us with newspapers and snacks. We landed at 2:00am and were greeted by our RELO who had arranged for transportation to the local hotel. The temperature was around zero degree and it was very windy. Even Caroline, more used to cold weather than I am, commented on how the cold here seemed to have “a bite to it”. There was snow everywhere and I almost slipped coming up the steps of the hotel. We were informed that breakfast was included in the rate, but would not be available until 8:00am. I asked if they had coffee service in the room and was told no. Harry arranged for our transportation to the airport the next day and we said goodbye.

The hallway was completely dark except for a floor lamp placed here and there and my room was cavernous, lightly furnished and stinky as the bathroom didn’t seem to be flushing properly. There was a space heater in the middle of the room and a regular radiator below the bank of windows and yet, the room was still cold. I got under the covers, draped my coat over me to try and catch up on the lost sleep.