Eurasia Trip 2026: Part III

Monday, 1 June 2026

I woke up to perform morning prayers then had a short kip. We landed at 05:55 and I was shocked to find the impatient passengers already standing up to get their bags the moment the plane touched down. Such uncultured people!

I went to freshen up and my bag was out by the time I was done. I changed USD25 for 300k Som and walked out of the airport. Actually, I tried to change some AUD but the moneychanger wouldn’t even look at it. From the airport, I rode bus no. 94 to Mirzo Ulugbek metro station and then rode the metro to Qo’yliq station. The two metro lines were not connected which meant I had to exit the metro at Chinor, walk a few metres and up the stairs to enter the metro at Qipchoq station - and pay additional fare. At Qo’yliq station, a private taxi driver approached me and agreed to bring me to Oybek for 200k Som. he wouldn’t budge from this price.

It took 75 minutes to reach Oybek and the passport control on both sides including the walk across the border took less than an hour. I saw one bloke who I recognised was in my flight from London and it turned out that he could speak English. He helped me get a shared taxi to Iskanderkul, changing at Soydar. I ended up sitting in the sweltering car for minutes while the driver waited for it to fill up. Strewth!

I left the taxi, retrieved my bag and walked away in a puff. That’s 90 minutes of my life wasted right there. I walked on and a bloke who spoke English helped translate for me and I got a ride after five minutes. We agreed on 250 Somoni including the ride to Iskanderkul and that I wouldn’t have to pay extra even after changing taxis in Sarvoda. 

I finally managed to get a taxi and agreed for the cabbie to bring me to Sary-tag Village. I ended up staying at his place for additional cost. In all, it cost me 240 Somoni. I argued that I was told I needn’t pay any extra to get to Iskanderkul but my argument fell on deaf ears plus there was the language barrier, of course. The cabbie stopped to get some bread and then to get some provisions before we continued on to Sary-tag. We turned right from the main road after a while and crossed a bridge and the ‘road’ turned bumpy and gravelly after this. We stopped across from the President’s dacha and I performed prayers at a resting place. We then continued on the journey and it took about twenty more bumpy minutes before we reached Sary-tag.

There was a resting place which is where meals are served and then the main room. The bathroom is in the main house while the WC is at another building and is just a space with a hole dug in. Whoa.  I had a quick shower, performed prayers and had my dinner at 21:00. I finished my book before turning in for the night. It was cold at first but gradually got warm under the blanket.

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

I woke up at 04:15 for morning prayers then had a kip. I set the alarm at 06:00 but got up at 07:00. After freshening up, I was ready for a walk around the village; however, it started raining so I had breakfast instead. The rain cleared quickly and I was off after 20 minutes. I walked up to the beginning of the village and enquired at a guesthouse. I was told there were guests there who’d left at 08:00 for Sarvoda at 08:00. The fare should be 20:Somoni and there is a money changer in Sarvoda.

I returned to the guesthouse and got my bags and set off for Guesthouse Shahboz. I waited 50 minutes before I got a shared taxi to Sardova. It took us at 100 minutes including traffic jam at Sarvoda and cost me 50 Somoni. I took out 20 Somoni but the driver insisted on more. Strewth.

After securing a ride to Dushanbe for 100 Somoni, I changed USD30 for the ride to Dushanbe and then waited 15 minutes in the car. Again, the moneychanger didn’t even want to look at AUD. They only wanted USD or GBP or Euro. We left at 12:05 and picked a few passengers along (and out of) the way. We passed a few tunnels - the country is mountainous - and I dozed off after a while. We reached Dushanbe Terminal at 14:15 and it was apparently my last stop, although none of the other passengers alighted there. 

I didn’t want to take a taxi so I went to find someone who could advise me whether to take a bus or marshrutka. Alhamdulillah, after struggling against the blustery winds, I found someone who told me to take bus number 3A. The fare was 2.5 Somoni. The ride took 45 minutes. I stopped at a pharmacy to ask for directions then hurried to the hotel as it was threatening to rain. I reached Soro Hotel just as it was starting to rain. There was a power outage shortly after I arrived and another one at 18:15. I stayed in and didn’t venture out after checking in.

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

I woke up for morning prayers and then waited for breakfast which was served from 08:00. After breakfast and enquiring at the lobby, I walked to Ayni Street to a bus stop and waited for bus number 8 to Zarnisor Bazaar. The ride took about 45 minutes and the bus was getting warmer with each km we travelled. I finally got a seat and the girl next to me happened to be a Dutch and also heading for Hisor.  

We got down at Zarnisor Bazaar (the name remains although the bazaar no longer existed) and waited for marshrutka number 270 to Hisor. The Dutch girl went down a stop before the terminal in Hisor, saying she was going to a tea house. I continued on and at Hisor, asked around where I could get a shared taxi to Hisor Fort. I finally got one. The ride took less than 15 minutes.  It was getting very hot by then. I went to see the two madrasahs first before returning to the fort. The ticket is now 20 Somoni and no longer 10 Somoni as I’d read on a few sites. There was a group of Chinese visitors arriving then too.

Well, I must say I found it underwhelming. There hardly remained anything in the fort, only new buildings of souvenir shops lining the street inside the fort. I decided to follow a footpath leading away from the street and shops and pretty soon, I was away from the crowd and enjoying a bird’s eyeview of the surrounding areas.

I left about 70 minutes after arriving and took a shared taxi back to Hisor. From there, I boarded marshrutka number 270 to Zarnisor Bazaar and we arrived just in time for me to board bus number 8 back to the city centre.

Back in the city, I walked past the Parliament building to the Monument of Ismail Somoni, down to the National Library and Independence Monument. Then I turned and walked to the Flagpole. There was a police car so I surmised the area around the Flagpole was out of bounds. I continued to the National Museum but it was undergoing renovation so I turned back.

I walked on to Victory Monument and decided to have late lunch at a nearby restaurant. I had olive and tomato salad, oyster mushroom salad, dumpling soup and hot black tea. It was a hot day today. I walked back to the hotel, passing the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan and Ayni Opera House on the way.  Back at the hotel, I started feeling unwell. It could be the hot weather (an electronic board in Hisor displayed 40C as the temperature when I was there and I would believe it). I decided to have an early night and had some paracetamol.  

Thursday, 4 June 2026

I woke up feeling less feverish but still not 100%. I forced myself to have something for breakfast because I didn’t want to get gastritis - my tummy was already very windy. After breakfast, I brought my bags down and checked out. I left my bags in the lobby and walked to the National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan. The ticket cost 50 Somoni for foreigners and visitors must put on covering on their shoes (although I didn’t see the museum staff doing the same). I spent about 70 minutes in the museum before returning to the hotel. https://ombt.tj/en  I finished my current book and performed prayers. The owner called for a taxi at 14:05 and it took less than ten minutes to reach the airport. It took a while to check in my bag though. And guess what, there’s no WiFi at the airport.

We took off on time and landed at Almaty Airport. I went through the transfer process and having completed that, went to the prayer room to perform evening prayers. There was WiFi supposedly but I couldn’t seem to connect.

We had to board a bus to the plane. Again, I was lucky that the two seats next to me were vacant so I managed to stretch out a bit. The cabin crew were not the most friendly though.

To be continued

Eurasia Trip 2026: Part II

Wednesday, 27 May 2026 / Eid Al Adha

It was a sleepless night for me. The seat was uncomfortable and caused some pain. I went to perform morning prayers then we went in. An Indonesian man came to us asking for help but we couldn’t do much for him as we were rushing for our gate then.

The plane took off on time and we landed at 08:20. The queue to clear passport control for non-EU citizens was long but we finally cleared passport control and even had time to freshen up before making our way to the bus bay for the National Express coach to central London.

We got down at Marble Arch and took the tube to Queensway. We initially wanted to leave our bags but our room was ready so we were allowed ro check in before 12:00 noon. Syukur Alhamdulillah!

We left after afternoon prayers and took the tube to the museums. The queue for Natural History Museum looked daunting so we crossed over to V&A Museum instead and spent almost two hours there.

The Circle line was slow and we ended up waiting close to twenty minutes for it. I was meeting Atifa, my MBA mate, for dinner and she was already waiting at Bayswater station. I rushed back to the room to get some goodies I’d brought over from KL. We took the tube to Temple station and walked to Somerset House for Aram by Imad restaurant. We left at 20:30 and parted ways in the tube.

Thursday, 28 May 2026

This morning, we took the bus to Paddington station before taking another bus to Trafalgar Square. After some photos, we waited for another bus to get to The Garden at 120. I’d wanted to book some tickets at The Horizon, SkyGarden but they were fully booked so we settled for The Garden at 120 instead. We were not disappointed though and enjoyed the view.

After an hour, we walked down to Tower of London and crossed the Tower Bridge. We then walked along the south bank all the way to the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Then we took the bus to Piccadilly Circus and walked down to Leicester Square and Chinatown before taking buses back to the hotel. Oh, we did stop for a while at a Primark store at the top of Oxford Street.

We finally returned to the hotel in the late afternoon and stayed in.

Friday, 29 May 2026

This morning, we took the tube to Bond Street then walked along New Bond and Old Bond Streets. We emerged at Park Lane and took the tube from Green Park to Knightsbridge for Harrods. La Niña spent some time here. Next, we took the tube to Arsenal and I was happy to find other fellow Gooners there.

I went to find fish and chips and had it for lunch. After lunch, we walked to Holloway Road station and rode the tube to Kensington. This time, we queued for Natural History Museum. It took about ten minutes before we were in. Not bad at all.  I spent almost two hours in there before walking back to the hotel via Hyde Park.

Saturday, 30 May 2026

Today is shopping day. We took the bus to Regent Street and browsed Liberty. Then we had gelato at Venchi before walking down Carnaby Street and Soho to John Lewis as La Niña wanted to find books at Waterstones.

Then we walked down Oxford Street to Selfridges and Primark. I darted in and out of Selfridges to other shops while waiting for La Niña. We had jacket potatoes for lunch before taking the bus back to the hotel.  La Niña went out to the nearby shops to find last-minute gifts while I tortured myself with commentary from the Champions League final.

Sunday, 31 May 2026

An early start for us. My flight this evening was retimed to leave 75 minutes later. We were on our way to Heathrow T4 when niece checked her email and found that her flight was retimed to depart at 10:30 instead of 09:30. That meant she may not meet the connecting flight back to KL. We took Central line then changed for Elizabeth line. La Niña dropped off her bags after changing seats at the counter.

I left and made my way back to the hotel. I stayed in the room until 10:55 before checking out. I sat in the lobby until 11:45 finishing my book before taking the Circle line to Victoria.

And oh, there were so many Gooners out and about and especially at Victoria station. I wished I could’ve joined them too. I walked down to Victoria Coach station and waited for my 13:00 National Express coach to Gatwick. I didn’t realise the coach was also going to Heathrow T2&3 en route to Gatwick.

At Gatwick, I checked in at the counter as I was unable to check in online. I then sat down reading until 18:00 when I decided to go in. The machines couldn’t scan my boarding pass so I had to return to the counter for the lady to come to the gate with me. Duh!

The gate info was only released at 19:40. We boarded shortly after. I was happy to find no one else sitting with me so I got to stretch out and lie down during the flight. Dinner was quite generous. Syukur Alhamdulillah.

To be continued