Last days in Dushanbe

As mentioned earlier in a post we managed to get our Uzbek visa in Dushanbe. The embassy was as busy as last time when we had gone there to apply for the visa. We came inside and said "visa, visa". The man answered "ruski, ruski" or something but he took our passports into another room. We considered this as a good sign and waited outside. Two hours later a name was called and everybody starred at us. We were the only foreigners. Our passports were ready. They charged us 75 USD per person and we were happy to leave the embassy with the Uzbek visa in our hands. Things could have been more difficult as reported by other travellers trying to get an Uzbek visa in Dushanbe.

For the trip to Samarkand we wanted to get some dried fruit. While we were strolling through the busy bazaar, I ran into a scam. A guy behind me showed me that I would have some slime - whatever it was - on my left shoulder. I turned my face to have a look and there was something slimy indeed. I didn't pay more attention to the slime because I felt that the zipper of my right pocket with my wallet was being opened. I don't know how the other guy did it but the zipper was opened with such an easiness. Luckily I did notice it and turned away quickly, so both went away with nothing. Still it kept us annoyed for a while.

For the last day we planned to go to a restaurant. The French group that we met here and there again recommended a good restaurant. The place was great. A big terrace with a great view on water fountains. The menu did not offer any vegetarian dish for Sarah. So the waiter suggested to take "fried potatoes with mushrooms". What was brought to the table was a big surprise. Indeed, it was french fries with mushrooms ... off the can and all that without any sauce or spices. Anybody could have done better! Chers amis de Paris, si vous lisez ca, le resto n'était pas exactement ce que nous avons attendé :-) But no blame on you, you didn't know that Sarah is vegetarian.