Rubbish Friday, pretty good Saturday in Istaravshan

I woke up yesterday morning with a blistering rash down one side of my face and chin. It looks gross, is making it difficult to see out of my right eye and itches like hell. We have no idea what it is... top suspects are whatever washing powder was used on the pillow, bed bugs, or a pack of cleansing wipes I bought in Osh.

Then I tripped and snapped the strap on my flip flops. I got them fixed in the bazaar (the cobbler was so excited to be serving tourists that he wouldn't let us pay!) but the new strap rubs and is giving me blisters. No idea where to buy decent new ones; we're hoping Dushanbe will be developed enough to have decent shops.

On the positive side we finally bought a Russian-English phrasebook, which kept us amused on the drive to Istaravshan with what the Russians consider to be essential vocab. It contains such gems as:

- Do you have anything to declare?

Only possible answers:

- No

- I have vodka

...and...

Does the room rate include breakfast? How about 'personal services'?

Today was a much better day. We explored Istaravshan town (old, and not at all 'old-town-ified'). The main sight is a mosque that is now a medressa. Unsurprisingly, lessons came to a rather abrupt halt when we showed up outside with a camera:

Then on our way to see another mosque, we asked directions from a man who said he'd show us the way aftrer we'd taken tea in his house. So we went into his house, where four generations of family were hanging out on a day bed, drinking tea and eating local fruit (apricots, watermelon and apples). They insisted we stayed for lunch and we rolled out a couple of hours later. It was all a bit weird, but they were very excited to have foreign guests. We didn't see any other tourists in Khojund, and there's only one other in Istaravshan, so I don't think the novelty has worn off yet.

They also made Trevor wear one of their traditional hats so that we could all laugh at him, which seemed like fair payment for a free lunch!

Gemma