Taking A Look Around Dushanbe, Part One

Lots of little things to look at in Dushanbe. Construction, sculptures, random signs of life are all on display.

Big cranes at a fantastical bridge. Curvy.

Creative (and matching) windshield cover. Dry fountain, now a rock garden.

Park ambassador. Curious.

More construction. Expansive excavation. Auto relaxation.

Small stadium. Colorful.

Getting Stuffed At The National Museum Of Tajikistan

One of the highlights at the National Museum of Tajikistan is the expansive display of animal taxidermy. Lots of local fauna is featured in natural looking, a bit crowded habitats. Time to go hunting.

Big sheep with big horns. "We know we're cute."

Falcon with a little lunch. Bloody. Half moose. A nice bit of trompe l'oeil. You work with the taxidermy you have.

Everybody into the pool. More is more, even if some animals would never be seen together. Looking a little like an over-stuffed Bruegel painting.

More sheep, giving the view of their best side. Butt out. Big growl of a wolf.

A little mountain chase between a leopard and sheep.

Exploring The National Museum Of Tajikistan In Dushanbe

National museums can act as a collective attic and the main Tajikistan museum in Dushanbe is a typical example. Some archeological artifacts, old textiles, some taxidermy, painting, busts of important figures, maybe a koran, some mining information. Time to explore.

The building is new and impressive. Lots of display space.

Starting early, the great cave man hunting party. Pensive dog, sad sheep. A hefty horse, roped off.

Important folks come in threes.

Proud paintings. There's a wall of WWII, Great Patriotic War portraits, looking a bit like folk art. King cotton, the crop so successful that mounds the size of mountains are created. Socialist triumph!

On to the Ice Age. A room re-creating arctic conditions. Chilling.

Strolling Rudaki Park In Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Dushanbe is the capital of Tajikistan and the country has created a nice, central park to celebrate its heritage and to provide a little green space for its people.

Photo-bombed by Ismail Samani, important amir from the 900s.

More pieces of grand ambition, a triumphal arch entrance and a super giant, marble map of what Tajikistan looked like in the 9th, 10th centuries.

Cosmic. Rudaki, a great author, writer, poet from the 8th century. The park is named for him.

Jumping about 10 centuries, a monument to current Tajikistan independence. Tall. Unfinished business. Awaiting renovation, Your Century Here.

Rudaki park is a nice respite from the urban grid of Dushanbe, especially the large lake area.

A Cemetery Outside Uchkuduk

Somehow Uchkuduk, a tiny mining town in the middle of nowhere, is big enough to locate its cemetery about 10 minutes out of town, way in the Kyzyl Kum Desert. Buried beyond the middle of nowhere.

Approaching the cemetery. Nothing, and then graves.

Arms race of appealing family mausoleums.

Inside a typical mausoleum, the traditional, simple Muslim grave mound and markers.

Cemented details. Soda bottles, permanent flower vases. Tea set, mounted.

Plenty of room for growth (death).

Around Uchkuduk, Part Two

Continuing the tour around Uchuduk, concentrating on some lovely details.

Uchkuduk translates to Three Wells and there's a big monument, sculpture to that theme at the edge of town. The Soviet band Yalla also wrote a famous song devoted to the city that everyone in Uzbekistan knows. Welcome again!

Methane fuel station. Walls between pumps are to limit explosions. Wall at station's edge is to keep out the infinity of the desert. Surreal sunshade.

Tetris-looking, mixed-use apartment building.

Whitewashing. Tree protection and a down day at the local market stalls.

Behold the great mine! Operating since 1967! Several surrounding hills proudly display extraction accomplishments.

Around Uchkuduk, Part One

Getting to Uchkuduk in Uzbekistan is a bit of a feat. The small mining town is waay out there, not a place for tourists and not on the way to anything. Let's go!

Big Welcome sign. Uchkuduk is in the middle of the Kyzyl Kum desert. If you're on the road to town, you won't miss the town.

A model city. There's a tiny museum at city hall, more a set of rooms with development accomplishments. A large mural at a school. Studying is for winners!

A sculpture to the past. Life size look at a typical Silk Road-era camel caravan.

Uchkuduk is a low rise, dusty town filled with Soviet-era apartment blocks. And little kiosks painted in curious colors. Plum is in.

Schoolgirl at the mini mart/fabric emporium.

A Traveling Zoo In Uzbekistan

Sometimes the zoo comes to you. If you live in a small town in Central Asia, there probably isn't any sort of zoo and you never get to see live, exotic animals. Until the zoo rolls into town.

Bright colors in a drab landscape. The traveling zoo hits Zarafshon, Uzbekistan.

The setup is nothing more than a series of trailers, cages with a side that opens up. Lonely lion.

The trailers are arranged wagon train style, in a U shape, creating a sort of inner courtyard, some privacy to the attraction. You gotta buy a ticket to see the animals.

It's a sad spectacle. An old-school, small cage existence for the animals, causing a bear to pace and a lion to zone out.

Put those animals anywhere. Maybe you see an ostrich, camel, llama, a goat.