Day 36 Dushanbe-Iskander Lake 138/10.091 km

Only around 12:00 did Rustan arrive. The name of the park we are staying in was not the name the locals use so he had to do some searching. By that time the ladies had already left because Jeroen came with the message that we could cross the border at Isfara. We still spent another hour getting the gearbox fluid and sending it off by taxi. I hope it arrives safely. Rustan was a great help driving Rudy around and making the arrangements. Many thanks Rustan. With this done we drove out of town in northerly direction. It was a toll road and of very good quality. Along the way there were many restaurants and accommodation along the fast flowing river. Clearly the weekend/summer spot to be. After some 80 km we came to the dreaded 5 km tunnel through the mountain. There is very limited/some no light in the tunnel. The road is very bad. Full of water filled holes where the iron bars stick out. We managed to drive (follow) behind a truck and hobbled through. For Jamaliah it was a relief to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel (an terrifying experience hopefully not to be repeated). The other side was different. There was mining going on and the valley was narrower. After some 30 km we turned off up a valley and drove 28 km towards the beautiful Iskander lake. We drove around the lake and caught up with Jeroen who was already there. Unfortunately we couldn’t contact the ladies so they were not around to join us. Until it got darker and colder, we sat at the lake shore and enjoyed the view.