Army day and a night at the opera

The 23rd of February saw two very different sides to Dushanbe, it began at 9 am with army day parade, a national holiday for the creation of the Tajik army and this year was its 20th anniversary.  Speaking at the event was Emomalii Rahmon the president of Tajikistan.

In his speech he called for Armed forces of Tajikistan  to prepare themselves that in 2014 the anti-terrorist coalition forces in Afghanistan are going to depart from this country for good,  Rahmon hoped that Afghanistan will achieve peace and stability with the help of its own forces. He pointed out that the army of Tajikistan has to be ready for protection of its borders against any kind of external threats. The most authentic threats are terrorism and extremism, the president emphasized. Amongst the CIS countries, Tajikistan shares a common border with Afghanistan of 1344 kilometres, one of the largest as compared to others.(Russian Radio)

Tajik troops happy to see us and giving us a wave, and even the toddlers getting involved in the action.

'Eyes right' another regiment takes its place in the parade along Rudaki Street, as the women stand to attention. 



Orange beret's marching, sorry couldn't find out the significance of the orange! and in the last photo the drive by inspection from the General.

After all the military splendor and a plov lunch with colleagues at the University where I am placed it was time for something with less testosterone involved.     


The Opera

This beautiful building was a real surprise not only because of all its elegance and architectural magnificence which left us all with stiff necks, the ticket price was 10 Somoni which is about £1.50!  we sat and watched 'The barber of Seville' from the front row, with the orchestra playing and the casts voices in fine tune it made no difference it was performed in Russian, the occasion was grand.
until next time take care x

Figaro and the gang....