The big sofas of Central Asia: Khujand

Tadjikistan, Khodjent, Rue Shark, Mosquée Seikh Mislikhiddin, © L. Gigout, 2012

Rue Shark à Khojent. Au second plan, la mosquée Seikh Mislikhiddin.

Wednesday, September 26th. Duchanbe-Khujand by taxi with three women and three men. I am next to a braggart as there is always one in any group. Often, he sighs "La ilaha illa Allah !", the first words of the Muslim prayer. He wears yellow plaited leather shoes with pointy heels which seem to make him suffer. He is not a bad guy but he insists too much to talk with me while I do not understand half of what he says. When I tell him that I was staying with a French-Tajik couple in Dushanbe, the discussion begin. I record.

- The girls are more and more stupid, says the woman. They marry anyone. I know one who even got married with a Chinese !
- Oh-oh, answers the man.
- And I know an other who left her husband to live with a foreigner.
- The traditions get lost. The son of Djurabek, when he returned from the United States, his parents decided to marry him. His wife left with him and, when they got there, she discovered he was already married with an American girl. This idiot had told nothing to his parents.
After a long silence, they begin to speak about an other matter, more sensitive.
- Before, we had problems with Russia, says the man. The Russians apprehended the Tajik migrants. They said they had AIDS. Fortunately, things worked out.
- Our president needs Russian money. But the question, nowadays, it is with the Uzbeks.
- Oh-oh. The Uzbeks control everything. Look at Alisher. It has became one of richest businessman in Russia. He has earned a lot of money in the metal industry. He even bought an English soccer team. He is a harsh and bad person. He was put into prison for fraud and pardoned by Karimov after the Independence. It is said that he will be the future president in Uzbekistan because he is a very good friend of Gulnara (Uzbek président daugther). They are doing business together.
- Uzbek people do not like us. Karimov is discontent because of Roghun. He says the dam is going to modify the course of Amu-Darya river and that our project is stupid. He does not want our country develops. He installs roadblocks and cuts off electricity in winter.
- And he demands visas for Tajiks who want to go in Uzbekistan. He has closed the border at Penjikent. It is necessary now to go through Khujand.
- Karimov and Emomalii even fought one another. I hope there will be no war between our two countries.
- Inch Allah.

Un court aperçu du voyage vers Khodjent sur la M34.

Tadjikistan, Khodjent, M34, © L. Gigout, 2012

Vendeur de miel sur la route M34 entre Ayni et Khodjent.

The road, good at the beginning, becomes a rocky track in the mountainous part. It is often covered with a thick layer of dust which requires us to keep closed the windows when we cross the Chinese trucks. There are now several small tunnels which enable the avoidance of high passes. They look like gates for hell. Inside, the pavement is deformed, pitted with large pools, there is no light, the ventilation is bad and the heat intense. The noise becomes din when approaching the rare blowers which are trying to clean up the air saturated by CO2. There are however still some passes at more than 3000 meters before finding again a good road and arriving to Khujand at about 18.00 p.m., after six hours on the road. Before entering the city, all the drivers stop at a car wash. In Central Asia, the cleanliness is a genetic disposition.

I settle at Leninabad Hotel, so was also the name given to the city by the Soviets. The city was founded by Alexandre the Great in 323 BC with the name Alexandria Eskhate (Ultimate Alexandria). Beyond, began the lands of nomadic warrior tribes which Alexandre has never dared to face. The street naming reflect the soviet influence : Lenin Street, Fiftieth Anniversary of USSR Avenue, Gagarin Street, etc. The President Rahmon portraits, with his good father face and his Brejnev hairstyle, are everywhere. The hotel is a large concrete block near the Syr-Daria river. It is fairly ruined and only the first four floors are opened. Others are destroyed. The Syr-Daria river is not very appealing. Grey waters, muddy or cemented banks, there are not any fishermann and no skiff on the former laxarte. That is at this place, at Khujand, that the river leaves the mountains to meander in the fertile plain before entering the Kyzylkum desert and being divided in many branches which are finally reaching the Aral Sea.