Blog

First goal for the day was the border from Uzbekistan to Tadjikistan. After leaving Samarkand we could see a change in the landscape. Instead of the endless flats of the last days we could see the mountains rise in the distance. Unfortunately, the ride to the border was more of yesterdays' "100 - 60 - 50 - 60 -100" speed limits. Also, it was very windy which made the ride quite annoying. The actual border crossing was quick and easy. From our accomodations in Uzbekistan we…

In the morning, Chris was feeling OK again. So we decided to continue on our way. This would lead us to Samarkand which wasn't too far away. So, todays ride should be a short one. During breakfast we met two cyclists from Hamburg who were on their trip from Germany to Singapur. Their plan was to move to Singapur, so you could say that they were in the process of moving. When we met, they were on the road for 16 months already! After we packed,…

As we had arrived very late yesterday, we did not have time to do some sightseeing in the famous old town of Xiva. So we got up early in order to have a look around before our breakfast. This had the additional benefit that the turnstile that is normally used to check the tickets wasn't operational yet. So we got in for free. A little ironic, since there is an "ungated" entrance 100m to the south. But nevermind. The core of the old city is part…

In the morning we awoke early. We didn't sleep that well for multiple reasons. Firstly, as mentioned, our "room" was a dining room of the restaurant. Therefore we slept in our sleeping bags on top of the "pillow mats" that covered the floor. That itself would not have been too bad. What was more of a problem was the fact that at 10pm dinner guests started to arrive. They continued to eat and drink on the veranda until around 2am. Our room had a "window" to…