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Showing posts from June, 2011

The road less traveled

Donkey and boy in Penjakent, in the North West of Tajikistan It’s become pretty commonplace for us to be sent on excursions and gatherings to Dushanbe, the administrative center of the country. All government agencies and NGOs are based in the capital of Tajikistan and almost all significant meetings (and do they meet!) are conducted here. Dushanbe means Monday,  named after the day the weekly market was organized. Tree lined boulevards in the centre of Dushanbe, could be Paris.... Before the Soviets turned the city into an administrative centre, Dushanbe was a quiet provincial town with little or no appeal. The Russians added big government buildings, boulevards, public transport and hospitals. When Tajikistan gained its official Independence (September 1991), more government buildings, some palaces and a lot of statues of well known old Tajik statesmen were added. So, there you have it, Dushanbe. We like the place; it’s quirky and still has a definite small-town feel to it, in