Advice on Visiting Tajikistan

I started to write a long email to my friend on what he should expect when he arrives next Monday, and then decided to share it here for anyone Googling "Travel Tajikistan." Of course there is infinitely more to say, and there are websites with much more, but this is the very short what you need to know upon arrival in Tajikistan:

You are now able to get a 2-week tourist visa on arrival at the airport in Dushanbe, but I had a friend who was lucky enough to arrive in a week when there were "technical malfunctions" and so he had to stay in Istanbul for three days to get a visa there and wait for the next flight. (On the bright side, when you get a visa in Istanbul, you get a sweet tourist map and postcards of Tajikistan). [more visa details written by my friend at the bottom of the page] You don't have to register if you are staying less than 30 days (be grateful - this is an un-fun post-Soviet habit). On the other hand, the U.S. government would advise U.S. citizens to register online with their Smart Traveller Enrollment Program.

Most people from the west fly Turkish Air through Istanbul. The flight goes twice a week, Sunday and Wednesday nights, and arrives in Dushanbe at 3:45 am the next morning. Don't worry - things will be open by the time you get out of the airport at 5 or 6 a.m. 

Mosque in Istaravshan.

Why does it take so long? It is a small airport. Because the mass of people shoving towards passport control is chaotic and suffocating and there are no lines. As a foreigner, you need to grab two forms on the right when you come in. One of these is a long rectangle with the same information on the right and the left. There is a colorful advertisement for one of the phone companies on the back. At passport control they will rip the paper and keep one half and give you the other. You must not lose this paper - they will ask for it when you leave the country. I staple it in my passport. The other piece of paper you need to remember is the baggage-check slip that they gave you when you checked your bag wherever you originated - after you have perhaps waited a long time for the luggage to appear, on your way out of the airport they will collect your luggage tag. 

You will emerge into a swarm of people waiting in the morning sun. If you are lucky a friend will meet you - if not there are plenty of taxi drivers ready to relieve you of your bag. 

You probably want money - I find it is easiest to withdraw from the Bankomat (ATM). You can withdraw somoni everywhere and USD in some places (I use USD only to pay my rent).  There are also many money exchange places on the street. Credit cards are useless.

Finding things like bankomats is easiest if you take some time to learn the Cyrillic alphabet - or at least a few minutes to look it over (Learn in 5 minutes for Russian or this chart for Tajik/Latin/Persian comparison).

If you need to bring a gift for an American, coffee is appreciated (this is another way of saying: prepare to drink Nescafe for the duration of your stay). 

Хуш омадед!

Tajikistan culture visible: курта (kurta - national dress; mine is made from атлас (atlas - national fabric), дастархон (dartarkhan - table cloth/spread), кӯрпача ( kurpаcha - mattresses/beds), general guest-ing

For more:

This guy seems to have very helpful and up-to-date information: http://caravanistan.com/travel/tajikistan/

I know someone working on this website, which is trying to become a more helpful guide to Dushanbe (if you're coming for longer, read this post on everyday Tajik customs: http://menu.tj/en/posts/culture-un-shock/)

More visa info from said friend who just got his visa in Istanbul: 

1-All the Tajikistan government web stuff says that if you are coming in from a nation that has a Embassy or Consular office you need your visa prior to entry. The guy I talked to in Istanbul at the consulate said the same. 

2-You can get 30, 60, or 90 day tourist visas. The 30 day is 50 USD (only USD accepted). Perhaps the 2 week visa is still availabe at the airport. 

3-If you are trying to do this in Istanbul it is hard to find the consulate. The train station/neighborhood it is in is called Florya. But there is no train station working right now  - it looks like it is under renovation. I can put togeather a google map+street view if you want. 

4-Bring your passport and a couple photo copies and a few passport-sized photos of yourself. It also helps to print out and fill out two copys of the visa application available online after some searching.

Postcard from Almaty; or Airport (mis)Adventures

I am on my way back from our Fulbright ETA conference in Nepal. I was planning on starting a post about Nepal with something brief about our itinerary: Dushanbe - Almaty - Abu Dhabi - Kathmandu. How amazing and crazy it is that we can fly to three different airports with three different non-Latin alphabets in three days. On the way back, I began Sunday evening with tourists in expensive outdoor clothing in Kathmandu, then flew to Abu Dhabi in order to spend 13 hours in the airport overnight and was a little crazed despite the free WiFi, western coffee chain, and beautifully tiled ceiling. On Monday I flew to Almaty for a 16-hour layover - which is now extended indefinitely, since I missed my Tuesday flight to Dushanbe.

This is definitely the biggest travel mistake I have ever made, whether measured in time (no flight until Friday), money ($300 to switch my flight plus the $195 visa I thought I could get reimbursed for but cannot), or visa wrangling (in few other countries would it be so legally problematic to miss a flight). After being gone for almost two weeks, I had been really looking forward to arriving home in Khujand. I was distraught.

I was most upset about the blow to my pride. Missing the flight was entirely my fault - I was in the airport, at the gate - but the wrong gate, and I realized it five minutes too late. The fact that the flight was held as they called my name and I didn't hear it in their Russian announcement makes it worse. I didn't realize how much I thought of myself as someone who wouldn't do something like this, who wouldn't miss a flight for no reason. Pride comes before a fall.

But people quickly helped me put this fall into perspective. I was reading The Snow Leopard on the plane, and Peter Matthiessen's quest for Buddhism and natural science in Nepal reminded me that I have to accept what is. Others told me that I'm lucky to see another county, to enjoy the adventure, to make lemons from lemonade, and that everything happens for a reason. As I'm still in the lemon-squeezing stage, I'm not yet sure how the lemonade will taste, but I know that I am thankful for the support and the time to stop and think.

I am grateful to the many people who have taken time from their lives - full of other things to do - to help me, including my Fulbright coordinator in Dushanbe, the Fulbright coordinator in Kazakstan, and the travel section at USAID who are helping me to get my exit visa. Mostly I am thankful to the ELF here in Almaty, who has welcomed me into her (warm) apartment and talked with me for hours about everything from teaching TOEFL to how hard it is to shop for pants. Last night she took me to a coffee shop so trendy that I would have marveled at it even in NYC. She drew me a very helpful map so I can walk around and explore.

Almaty is a big city (the biggest in Kazakstan because it used to be the capital). Cars actually stop for pedestrians. Streets are lit at night. Women walk alone even when it is dark. The Kazak bills are so colorful. I know no Kazak and my Russian stops just beyond 'devushka' and 'spasiba', so I have gotten practice at smiling and making hand gestures. To use my English I visited the American Corner, and walked in just as a discussion club was supposed to take place and an American did not show up to lead it, so I did. They told me about Kazak history and holidays. It felt a bit like home, since everyone was so friendly and genuinely pleased to see me.

Today I have had the luxury to sleep, and write, and visit the coffee shop again. It is snowing. It is beautiful as it falls.