Category: PENNY TO HELSINKI

Today was crazy because of what we all decided to do not what happen at the border crossing.

We all arose yesterday at 5.30 ready for the early breakfast at the dig site, then into town to meet the guide that was too escort us to our border camp site for the night ready to do the crossing into Kazakhstan early the next day.

We were a few minute late for our meeting after we worked out that we were waiting at the wrong roundabout of the 2 roundabouts in town plus we had our third flat tyre for the trip on the way to the correct roundabout. Eventually we got on the way for the 600k trip to the border.

On the way up to Nukes we went over a small line of hills before we crossed the Amudrayo River in town for the last time before it makes it way to towards the Aral Sea. We had crossed the Amudrayo the previous day on the trip to Kiva which was 200k further upstream and I was amazing how little water was left in the river after it was all used for irrigation further upstream. We have travel with the Amudrayo since the Afghan border days were it was called the Panj River and far bigger then down this end due to the water usage for farming.

After Nukus and leaving the irrigated farming valley we entered a flat desert for the last 400k to the border. Halfway along we stopped and some people toped up with black market fuel were the price has nearly doubled in the last 300k as we go even more remote. While I’m talking about black market fuel I’m fairly sure that it is not all petrol and that it is mixed with other cheaper hydro carbons like paint thinner and the like. I’m very glad we didn’t need to use that fuel for the climbing of 4500 metre mountain passes, we would not have made it.

On the approach to the border it was very cold and incredibly windy so we decide not to camp in the exposed desert and to go through the Uzbek side and camp in no mans land between the borders. We knew that our Kazakh visa didn’t start till the next day.

Departing Uzbekistan was slight less trouble then the entry but the customs still have a fascination with prescription drugs that we all carry. I decided to be on the end of the queue this time, which seems to pay off, by the last car the boredom has crept in and I was not searched at all.

On getting through the Uzbek border we came upon Reg and Mitchell who had left us early the previous day hoping to get into Kazakhstan early. They had been waiting in no mans land for 30 hours at that stage and said that we would be able to enter after midnight.

We settled down to wait and all cooked dinners, which were shared by all. While dinner was cooking we all put more and more clothes on as the temperature dropped towards zero with quite a wind chill.

After getting some sleep in the cars till about 11.30 we where all ushered into the border area at midnight to start that process. It turned out to be very painless exercise with everyone in Kazakhstan by 1.30am.

Reg and Mitchel headed off on the 520k drive to Atyrau for our next 2 nights lay over. Three of the cars decided to camp just down the road till the morning. I decide that I would drive as far as I could then sleep in the car for a bit then drive and sleep till I got to the hotel. We were dressed for the outside temperate and it was actually warmer when we stopped then driving, so sleeping was no problem in an open car. After a couple of sleeps and a morning cuppa we arrived in town at 9.30am to find our room ready so it was a shower, breakfast then into bed to catch a few more Zeds for the day.

The road after the border was 80k of roughish dirt road till we turned onto the main road to Atyrau. This was 450k of the best pavement for the trip I think. The rough bit wasn’t too bad, as it had no broken pavement or rocks so it was just wavy and not sharp jarring bumps no a far speed could be maintained.

The others have just arrived as I’m finishing writing this post.

We departed Bukhara for the drive up to the Dig Site just out of Beruni

The drive started out of a less then average road that was failly rough, as we progressed up the road we started to travel through road works. Then in the middle of nowhere we come upon to the best 4 lane concrete highway for the trip in the middle of the desert. This lasted fro 150 kilometres and then ended as abruptly as it started. It was a great relief for both the cars and the drivers.

On our arrival in Beruni the search for fuel began. In this part of Uzbekistan you can’t buy Petrol from a service station for some Governmental reasoning as most of the cars are on CNG. We asked a person on the street that then lead us to a house in the back of town to buy Black market fuel for a 20% premium. Never mind at least we had the fuel and it was still a lot cheaper then we will be paying when we reach Europe.

On arrival at the dig site we visited the site with Alison Betts the Archaeologist from Sydney Uni running the research project. These places are always so interesting when you are with some one who fully understands what everything is and has a true passion for the work. The site was occupied from about 300 B.C. to 200 A.D. the interesting thing is that when the digging is all finished the site is then recovered with sand to keep persevering it.

At dinner Reg and Mitchel announced that there would not be staying the two nights here and would be leaving for the border in the morning to cross into

Kazakhstan early and would wait in Atyrau for us to arrive on Sunday night.

The rest day at the dig site included a day trip to the Town of Kiva about 80 kilometres away. Kiva is on of the three very historic cites in Uzbekistan along with Samarkand and Bukhara for the ancient history of the country. Al of those that went had an enjoyable quite day in the Old Walled Town. The journey home include a top-up of fuel ready for the 600k trip too our camp site on the border   tomorrow

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We left Samarkand for an easy 280k drive to Bukhara were we had a city tour arranged for the afternoon.

The drive today was through farming land for almost the entire trip so we had cotton harvesting everywhere and plenty of roadside grape and melon stalls. It is 4years since I drove through this road on the 2010 P to P but I have noticed that the quality of the farming has improved greatly especially with the cotton.

The highlight of the drive for a couple of tech heads was the fact that we drove past 2 planes in pieces packed on trucks going some where to be put together I guess.

On our arrival in Bukhara we spent 540,000 local Som on filling with fuel. This sounds a lot but in reality it was only $180.00 for 165 litres so cheap in fact. The attendant’s are always surprised at the amount of fuel we purchase each time; luckily we only do it every 2 or 3 days.

After lunch we departed on the city tour with our local guide to visit the important cultural and historic sites of Bukhara. I enjoyed the tour today a lot more then in Samarkand as yesterday I was too tired to understand and follow what was being said.

We started at a Mausoleum that was constructed in the late 9^th and early 10 century. And at one stage had been buried in sand to stop it being destroyed by raiders. The tour went on to various sites dating from all different times from the 4^th century mostly being Mosques and Madrasas. Then we ended the trip walking home through the Bazar and looking at some silk rugs being woven and mountains of them for sale.

It must be weeding season in Uzbekistan, as everyday there is wedding parties in the parks. Yesterday we saw 5 wedding parties in the one park and I saw on today in Bukhara while I had my Camera.

I let the photos talk about the day before we head of further west and north to an Archaeological dig site that Frank worked on a few years back.

This will be a  2-day report.

Yesterday

After a great night in Dushanbe we headed out for the quick drive to the border with Uzbekistan.

The Tajikistan exit was extremely painless and all over in about 15 minutes. The great thing was we had expected it to be a busy border with lots of queuing and waiting. This was the quietest border except mountain pass borders I have been too.

The Uzbekistan border was going well with everything proceeding although slowly with it looking like a great experience. How quickly things can turn to crap around your ears. We had finished all the paper work and it was then time for the customs people to start, and did they start in a big way. I was the first car in the line so it was no time when the entire back of my car was spread out on the ground behind the car with three or four people going through everything in the first aid kit asking what each sheet of tablets was for and not just once for each sheet, but for every time a sheet was picked up the same question again and again. This whole process for me went on for meat least an hour and a half.

The main focus of the search seemed to be drugs, weapons and porn with people going through everything I owned including going through my Ipad and all the photos more then once.

The end came eventually when the boss bloke called off the search and I was free to go. The big problem was we think that as the border was quite they had nothing to do.

We eventually all got away from the border at 1.30pm for the drive to Qarshi for our overnight stop. With a couple of small geographical errors and a couple police checks requiring all the Passport data to be hand written in books that will most likely be never looked at again and crosschecked we arrived in town about ½ hour after dark.

For the last 3 days we have had no Alternator for battery charging and no time to fit the new belt from Dushanbe so our battery was getting low to run the lights well. Thanks to Garry who drove in front of me and Peter behind I didn’t switch on my light till a couple of block from the hotel.           On arrival at the hotel Maurie and I decided to fit the belt in the morning, as it was a short day to Samarkand.

I woke at 5.30 then woke up Maurie ready for the job. I had everything set up ready to start when he and Mitchel arrived at 6.00am. we reckoned we shoule be finished ready to leave soon after 8.00am so as not to hold up the rest of the group too long.

You are thinking why so long to fit an Alternator belt? Well on Penny the Alternator is driven from the back of the clutch so fitting the belt requires the removal of the gearbox and all the peddles then refitting them again. That is why the job had been delayed due time shortages and fatigue.

As we had removed the gearbox only 2 weeks ago in Hotan the process went like a F1 pit crew job. We all knew what each other had to do and the job was finished and packed up ready to for us to sit down at breakfast with the others at 7.15am.

It was so great leaving town this morning with all our electric running and not have stuff switched of because we need to save battery for the ignition.

The run up to Samarkand was a short 150ks with a quick stop for a cuppa to arrive at our Hotel for 10.30am.

We had a pre-booked city tour that we started at 11.30 to the main sites, which we broke up with a lunch stop.

After lunch I returned to the hotel for a rather large Poppy nap to catch up from some sleep after busy days at the steering wheel in all the mountains. I have woken from that rest felling like a new person and I’m catching upon the blog stuff.

For the last 2 day we have driven past thousands of acres of cotton with the harvest in full swing. In some fields there are 100’s of people all hand picking cotton

Till next time with Internet this is it. If we don’t have internet tomorrow night you wont get a report till we reach Atyrau in Kazakhstan on the 28^th September.