We had arranged the next section of our trip through Stan Tours which was a group that we found while watching video blogs about the Stans.
I had mapped out this trip itinerary based on some other tour itineraries I had found, and we had managed the first part by train and plane, but this section was either bus or private van, so we opted for private van and Stan Tours organized our drivers for us for Tajikistan and later in Kyrgyzstan.
We had arranged for pickup at 9am from our hotel so we got up and had breakfast provided by the hotel in their interior courtyard. They served quinoa and eggs with sausage and cookies. Something we would get served several times over the coming weeks. Not a what the girls considered an awesome breakfast, but my mantra with them has been that when they are served food, they need to try and eat some of it, as we don't know what our next meal will look like or when it will come when we are traveling for long days. So they need to put something in their tummies when the opportunities arise.
When our driver arrived we went out to load up and discovered we had a mini bus all to ourselves. We all piled in and off we went. Dave noticed that our bus seemed a little empty and low and behold, we appeared to have forgotten Emily and Brian behind. Lol. They had lost their passport holder and unbeknownst to us were still in their room searching. Our poor driver had to turn that big bus around! Thankfully Emily and Brian forgave us for our transgressions and off we went.
Once we were officially all on the bus we were off towards to Tajikistan border. As we left the city we quickly were in rural farmlands. It was a lovely winding drive... however I made a fatal mistake.
We would need to get out and walk across the border where we would meet our second driver and our guide. It was only about a 45 minute drive on this side of the border so we had opted not to get a guide.
I had been nervous about this particular border crossing because I had read online that it had only opened up again the year before, and I wasn’t sure how smooth the process would be. I had also read that they could search your phones and deny your access if they found things they didn't like. My poor brothers were diligently deleting photos from their phones during the drive. We would need to be processed out of Uzbekistan and then walk about a mile and be processed into Tajikistan.
The Uzbekistan customs went fine and we walked across the border to the Tajikistan customs building. It’s a long process running 11 people through passport checks and taking photos of us and we had needed visas for this entry which meant further scrutiny and paperwork. We were all though when all of a sudden, I heard the custom agent say that there was an error or Brian’s visa. My hear literally sank. What are the chances that the last one they check is the one with the issue? We thought we had sailed through and most of the group was outside waiting to head off. Unfortunately, there was an additional digit on his passport number on his visa. As Brian asked “so what do we do now?” I wasn’t really sure what would happen. This was uncharted waters and language was definitely an issue.
Luckily it was at this time that our guide from the Tajikistan side appeared to greet us. He had somehow gotten into the border crossing zone to meet us. We informed him of what was going on and he assured us that this happens often and that he would see what he could negotiate.
After some discussion he was able to negotiate that Brian could enter the country but would need to forfeit his passport to the border until we could present a valid visa. We would have 24hrs or else Brian would need to leave the country. Talk about stressful!
Zafar assured us that if we could get the visa expedited, that his passport would be safe and that he would arrange for the transport of his passport to Dushanbe for the following day where we were flying from.
It seemed like our only option so off we went to his office in town to see about getting a new Visa. Our guide, Zafar, in addition to running a local hostel, is also the tourism head for this region. We lucked out with having him on our side as he had connections we would need to get this visa expedited.
So once all of this was negotiated, we headed outside of the final barrier to load into our van. I should mention that during the border crossing process, Cadence had mentioned to me that she wasn’t feeling well. Remember my fatal error? Argh...it was letting her sit in the back of a bus knowing that she gets carsick sometimes.
During our mile walk across the border I had dug out some gravel for her and suggested that sitting at the back of the bus probably hadn’t been that wise. Unfortunately, as we loaded our bags in front of the Tajikistan border building, I turned just as Cadence started to throw up. I gather that the men sitting on the front steps weren’t happy about this type of arrival into the country, but as any mom would in this situation, my focus was on Cadence and making sure she was ok.
We were in a bit of a hurry to get to the town to apply for a new visa, so once she was stable enoough, we got her clean pants and shoes and did the best we could with baby wipes, it would have to do until we could get to a bathroom. We have a long drive today so I’m feeling pretty nervous.
We get to Zafar's office and he and Brian made an online application for a new visa. It took us over a week to get ours the first time, so I'm not sure what our chances are here. Once it’s processed and paid for again online, Zafar starts to make calls. We decide that we should get some lunch while we wait, and I managed to wash out Cadence's poor hair (and my sandels) in the bathroom sink so at least she's feeling a bit more clean.
We aren’t sure whether to hit the road or wait and see what happens with the visa. If something goes wrong. He would need to leave, and if we get too far down the road it will make things more difficult for us. There are a lot of unknowns here, so eating seems like a good way to pass the time for now.
Zafar takes us down to a Restaurant by the river and we eat bbq kebab and soup and bread. It’s quite a lovely spot, but I wasn’t able to google vet it which makes me nervous. I flat out refuse to eat at anything less than a 4.0 google rating while travelling. It’s kept my family healthy on past trips and I don’t want everyone sick. Call me “unadventurous” (my brothers rag on me about this) but my goal for eating is always a "as high as possible" google rating and I read reviews!
As we wait for our food, as we had suspected, getting a new visa would come down to money. Zafar got a call that someone could expedite the visa within the hour for $50usd. It seemed like a good deal so we took it. Apparent typical processing time, even expedited was a couple days, and we only had a couple of days in this country!
We decided to push on with our itinerary, and after lunch got driving.
We were headed to Iskanderkul Lake where we had booked a guest house stay with a local. Tajikistan is a small Country that is made up of over 50% mountains over 3000m. It has some of the highest mountains in the world. It is therefore difficult to provide infrastructure, but provides amazing landscapes, beautiful lakes and it’s a hot spot for multi day treks, hiking, biking and other outdoor activities.
The countryside was beautiful, but the roads were rough and windy.We make a stop on the side of the road to buy fresh apricots from some local women. They are lovely, and a man gifts us another bag and welcomes us to the country. People are truly amazing here.
Cadence hasn’t eaten anything for lunch and I have her another gravel and we sat her near the front.
As we climbed towards our destination, and wound corners, and our driver wasn’t making it easy on poor Cadence. Its a fine line as we don't want to arrive where we are going at 10pm, but I would also like to survive the drive!
We stopped at a natural waterfall along the side of the road, and poor Cadence was sick again. Thankfully we had access to lots of fresh water to clean her up and get some drinks. It's going to be a long day.
After several hours of spectacular scenery we arrived at the lake. We decided to stop for a break here and stretch our legs and there was a small boat on the lakeshore which Zafar organized for us to take a couple of trips in.
You can’t swim in this lake, they claim the undertow is too dangerous, but it was beautiful and we loved getting out in the boat. The owner even let Avery drive the boat back and she did a pretty darn good job!
We headed out and understood that we were close to our stop for the night...on the map it looked close! What I didn’t realize was that the road would get progressively worse as we climbed to our destination. I'm pretty sure the whole van was wondering where the heck I had booked us for the night.
Fortunately as we emerged into the Sarytag valley, the scenery would not disappoint. It was spectacular with high mountains on all side. Our guest house was probably the furthest one in the valley along the winding dirt road, something that would prove to be a theme for us, but we could see the big house nestled in the distance. It was cool and calm and I was delighted to see this part of the country and experience a guest house stay.
These guest houses are summer homes and in the winter they move into the nearby village. Apparently there are dangerous wolves in the winter which come down from the mountains and make this particular region to dangerous to stay in.
We get settled into the guest house after a warm greeting from the owner. Brian, Emily, Robert and Erik stay in the main guest house and the rest of us stay in an outbuilding off in the distance. It’s not glamorous, but it’s authentic, and I like authentic. I want to see and experience how people live while we travel, not just stay in hotels and get the tourist perspective. The beds here are terribly uncomfortable, my back is majorly protesting at what I’m putting it through. The price you pay for authenticity!
In the distance we can see the highest peak in Tajikistan, Chimtarga peak, which sits at over 5400m. It’s pretty amazing. It's moments and places like this, after a long day, that make it travel worthwhile.
We have a late dinner on the terrace and they build a nice fire for some of us that can manage to stay awake...which is not me! Cadence had gone to bed almost as soon as we arrived, as had Robert.
I crawl into my bed and after 5 mins or so, move Fiona from the floor mat into the bed. That bed is killer...I'm hoping the floor will be better and Cadence had Dave's spot in the bed, so he was on the floor too.
We would find out in the morning that Robert had been violently ill during the night and likely woke up everyone in the main house, I too had a rough night. I’m putting money on that lunch and unfortunately our tummy problems would start around this time. I knew getting sick here would be a possibility. We did pretty well so far, and it’s nearly impossible to trace this sort of thing. We will just continue to try and be as careful as possible with our food.
We survived the day though, and tomorrow will be a fresh start!
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