May 6, 2012

As soon as daylight came through the windows, I got up and found my way to the communal showers to brush my teeth. The toilets were in a separate cabin and incredibly enough were clean and didn’t smell at all. I boiled water in the teakettle Aireen had brought and had a cup of the instant coffee, that didn’t taste like coffee at all. I wore my thermal undershirt and piled on the sweater and shawl before heading to the lake where I ran into Christian, a guy from Canada currently doing research into the Tajik civil war, and we both commented on how beautiful the early morning light made the lake look. I went to the canteen and was served the same 3-in-1 mixture that passes for coffee around here and then took another long walk while waiting for people in the cabin to wake up from their slumber.

When they got up, it was time to start a fire to grill hot dogs and chicken adobo for breakfast along with cooking steamed rice. Linda and Aireen insisted I join them and I was served stewed canned tuna, smoked salted fish, steamed rice and flat bread. Aireen’s Tajik boyfriend, Adili, who’s 15 years her junior, seemed perfectly at home eating this combination for breakfast. After clearing the table, we got ready to explore a waterfall nearby and I finally got a chance to exchanged experiences with Aireen and hear about her teaching background. We have so much in common and so little time to spend together now that my leaving is fast approaching.

The path to the waterfall was not marked in anyway and we had to climb over huge boulders and improvised a way there. There was a flimsy overlook point from where to appreciate the roaring waterfall but I never been much for heights, so I pretty much stayed away. A light rain started to fall and we scrambled to get back to the camp before a downpour, which never materialized. Aireen and her family set out to start another fire to cook lunch, and I went to the canteen to inquire about lunch and was told that in about an hour they would have a mixture of potatoes and beef ready to serve. The only positive thing I can say about it is that it was fresh and hot.

We had agreed to leave after lunch and so I returned to the cabin and took a short nap while the rest had lunch al fresco. We left about 3:00pm and enjoyed a much quieter ride as there seemed to be fewer trucks and cars on the road. Even the nightmarish tunnel was somehow wide open since the heavy machine operators had the day off and only took 26 minutes to traverse it. There were stretches of the road around a desolate area where Ryan commented Tajiks exploit small coal mines and live in squat, dark houses hugging the mountains. We made the requisite stop to get the car washed and went nearby for a cup of coffee and to my dismay; the same 3-in-1 stuff was all that was available. I calculate that it contains three parts sugar, two parts cream and one part, if that much, coffee. We arrived in Dushanbe around 7:00pm. Everyone agreed to share photos on Facebook at some point. Aireen has invited me for dinner on Wednesday night.