Long road to Tajikistan

So I'm behind in posting. Turns out that Tajikistan is the most non-technical country I have visited. I can only access the internet at the MC offices. I'll do a bit of catch-up. On Oct. 28th I started the long trek to Tajikistan. With the 12 hour time difference, I didn't arrive until the early morning hours of Oct. 30th. Between those two time points I flew from Chicago to Detroit, to Amsterdam to Istanbul and to Dushanbe, Taj. I had to spend 6 hours in the Istanbul airport and it's not the most lay-over friendly. There are very few seats and even fewer electric outlets. I ended up camping out at a restaurant where the waiter pretty much grunted his disapproval when on my second visit, all I ordered was a coffee and water.

The overnight flight to Tajikstan had me landing at 4am. My coworker had drawn me a map and given me specific instructions on how to efficiently navigate the Dushanbe airport/visa/immigration system. It only took me an hour to do it all. If I had checked luggage, I might still be there. An MC driver picked me up and drove me through the rainy darkness to the guest house - which was the most bizarre place I've ever stayed - the bathroom and kitchen were on the first floor and the bedroom/sitting rooms were on the second floor through a series of ornate wooden doors. The water that came out of the shower alternated between clear and silty but I managed to reasonably clean up before hitting the hay.

I had been instructed to sleep as long as I liked but around 11am a persistent pounding and door bell ringing started at the main gate (all residences are walled and gated). When I finally heard my name being called, I found the office secretary telling me my flight was at 2p so I need to come to the office. A quick lunch and meeting with our country director and I was on the oldest double-prop plane I've ever seen heading to Khujand - which sounds nothing like it's spelled.

The guesthouse apartment in Khujand is very comfortable and "normal" and I'm sharing it with the consultant who is conducting the program final evaluation. We seem to make very good roommates. Dinner that night was with the ex-pat office director. The three of us managed to order dinner though ended up with various successes - mine was more oil than substance.

Finally to bed after a remarkably long day. (The photo is the guesthouse in Khujand - our kitchen window was the middle floor to the right of the stairwell windows).