Dushanbe
Getting a taxi from Kumkyrgan was incredibly easy, super cheap and we ended up treating our driver and fellow passenger to a last meal in Uzbekistan of plov, bread and salad and chai (4 people, $4!). Out of Uzbek they do a pretty thorough check of your photos and everything in your bag - but apart from feeling a bit invasive, it was fine and we were outta there!
Getting a taxi in Tajikistan on the other hand proved to be much more troublesome and we had to wait for a few hours before the driver realised we weren't going to pay more than we were supposed to (we asked the Tajik guard how much it should be!) and we were on our way to Dushanbe.
Our hostel (Green House) was really nice and full of really interesting people on their way to the Pamirs - many with bikes (most of whom we know most likely didn't make it across - explained later!).
In Dushanbe we basically just chatted, got dragged for 3 somoni beers with some crazy locals, bought pricey but rubbish sleeping bags, wandered through a few fountain filled parks and ate some tasty grub (and some less tasty local cuisine - see photo above!).
With a tent borrowed for free from the hostel we headed to the Fan Mountains (north of Dushanbe)...