I take a car to Dushanbe in order to leave enough time to get my Iran visa and book a flight to Tehran. The car ride drags on for longer than I thought it would and I arrive in town just as it gets dark. A quick 10km ride through the city and I find Vero's house.
Veronique is a warm showers host and opens her house and garden to countless cyclists that pass through Dushanbe. I arrive to find four cyclists just about to sit down for dinner. They kindly gift me a beer, a plate of pasta and baked apples for desert. I happily accept, a little overwhelmed at their generosity. Two more cyclists arrive a couple hours after me.
I spent a lovely week at Vero's, I won't bore your with the details of my day to day activities but here is a list of highlights and lowlights.
Highlights
Being able to stay in an amazing house complete with kitchen, couches, bathroom and patio area. Also a washing machine
Making friends with other amazing and inspiring cyclists.
Girls week - eventually we managed to get rid of all of the males except Neil for a few days, we baked and sewed and cut each others hair, you know, girly things.
Pizza making dance party
Afternoon beers
Picnic in the garden complete with home made raspberry cordial, mixed with sparkling water, drunk out of champagne flutes (yes, we are that fancy)
Fruit salad
Roast vegetables
Baking loads of chocolate and raspberry cake
Eating said chocolate cake without using our hands.
Amazing communal dinners
Party time on Friday night. Massive dance session and cocktails.
Beer towers and cheese at Victoria Park.
Meeting up with Barbara for the fourth time in a couple of months. For sure we will bump into each other again somewhere.
Meeting two other Aussie female cyclists. Jude and Astrid were great to hang out with.
Lowlights
I got sick again. I think it was something I ate at the bazaar. At least the 24 hours it lasted were as comfortable as possible with a couch to lie on all day and movies on Neil's laptop to watch. Also a western toilet.
My LOI for my Iran visa got rejected. No idea why. Luckily I can get a visa on arrival in Tehran, although it only lasts for 14 days and can only be extended once, leaving me a little short on time in Iran.
Shopping for an Iran appropriate shirt/dress. Tajik women, why are all your clothes so outrageously hideous? I should have taken photos of the options but the whole shopping experience was too traumatic. I am lucky that I had fellow Aussies Jude and Astrid with me to provide support and debrief counselling.
All in all it was a wonderful week and I can't deny that I was a little teary when I left on Sunday morning. Thanks heaps to everyone that made it so memorable, especially Veronique and Gabriel, what wicked hosts. Hopefully I can meet up with Astrid, Jude and Barbara sometime next year in Europe.
20/9 - 27/9: Total km in Dushanbe: 57km, ODO 2612km
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