Dushanbe

Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan


Dushanbe is a young city, officially founded in 1925; according to Wikipedia, before 1929, only the walking paths led to this capital. Despite the title of the capital, Dushanbe, moreover, has been politically competing with Khujand for quite a while. In addition, it is not so easy to reach the capital from other cities or countries: the local transport is…

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Bratislava

Bratislava: Prague in miniature?


Probably, many of you remember a country Czechoslovakia. At the end of the 20th century, namely in 1993, Czechoslovakia collapsed being split into two independent countries: the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Many travellers admire Czech Prague, but little is heard about other capital – Slovakian Bratislava. In May 2014, Victor visited this beautiful and cosy city. Today he will tell…

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How to Get from Tanzania to Burundi and from Burundi to Rwanda: visas, transport, and funny experiences


We started from Tanzanian Mwanza to Burundian border at 4AM. Our couchsurfer Dorocella had forgotten to pay for the electricity, which is why we had to pack in darkness. In Africa, electricity works on the basis of prepay system: if you do not have money on your account, you do not have electricity. Dorocella had ordered pikipiki for us in…

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Khujand

Khujand: The Second Unofficial Capital of Tajikistan


Formally, Khujand has never been a Tadjik capital. However, due to its proximity to Uzbekistan, size, and economic success (compared to Dushanbe), Khujand had a leading role in Tajik Soviet politics. Called Leninabad in the Soviet times, Khudjand supplied the Tajik government with most of the high officials, which gave it the status of tacit domineering. By the way, Khujand…

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