Uzbekistan

A 6 weeks trip in Uzbekistan and a few days in Tadjikistan

From Katta Ej to Qizilcha

14 mai

We left the Guest House a little later than planned (7.30am) after an excellent breakfast. Before setting off, we had to deal with the day’s puncture : a micro-puncture on the front wheel of my bike that we would never have fixed if we hadn’t had a bucket of water at the Guest House to find it.
The start of the route was very pleasant, much cooler than the day before with a light breeze, and the road was quite good. But we knew that temperatures were going to rise sharply during the day. We (…)

From Bogdon to Katta Ej

13 mai

We set off at 7am and it was already hot.
A double puncture set us back a long way in the sunshine. Double puncture because as soon as I’d repaired the first one my tyre deflated again. In fact, even though two of us checked the inside of the tyre, we didn’t seem to see a single strand of steel...
The road was in a terrible state for the first 40 kilometres. And the drivers were driving dangerously, overtaking in any way they could.
The road improves after the first big climb and we can (…)

Djizak - Bog’don

12 mai

A cool start !
We finally leave the 4-lane national highway ; at first the road is even shaded by trees, then after a stop to pick up a bottle of water the landscape changes and we feel the desert coming on. As we skirt the Nurota mountain range, the landscape is very different from previous days. On our right, a huge area is fenced in and obviously maintained by a Chinese company. The Chinese flag is slightly above the Uzbek flag^^. A break in the shade of a station building allows us to (…)

Sordoba - Djizak

11 mai

A really cool start to the day, leaving the hotel at 6:30... and the sun is already out but the temperature is pleasant. We headed for the crossroads at the Kazakhstan border, then headed for Djizak. This time the trouble is on my side with a pannier that easily jumps out of its holder. After an adjustment, everything’s back in order. Then it was the front mudguard that rubbed against my wheel, again with a few turns of the wrench. Nevertheless, these stops took some time and the temperature (…)

Chinoz - Sardobara

10 mai

Departure at 7:30 am to avoid the heat.
Always an excellent welcome everywhere. Even a car honks at us on the main road, we wave back, they stop and wave, we join them. Mr. and Mrs. get out of the car, we chat for 5 minutes and Mrs. gives us each a 100,000 soums bill [1] !
A fruitful stopover in the town of Bakht, where we grab a bite to eat, find a bike store and get Daniel to put the missing screw/nut back on his luggage rack [2]. The coffee is very good... admittedly freeze-dried... (…)

Tashkent - Chinov

9 mai

We set off from Tashkent for the first day of cycling. It was a short stage of around sixty kilometers, during which we knew we’d have to make some adjustments.
Breakdowns, incidents, falls...
We stopped several times because Daniel’s rear mudguard touched. It takes a while to realize that it’s actually the luggage rack that’s loose : a screw is loose on one side and completely missing on the other. We repositioned the luggage rack correctly, tightened the remaining screw and that was (…)

Tashkent

8 mai

Departure from Toulouse
Marc takes us to the airport with the big bike boxes. We’re quite a bit ahead of schedule, but everything’s going smoothly everywhere. The Turkish plane that’s due to take us to Istanbul to catch the flight to Tashkent is running quite late : a little worry, but in the end we won’t have to walk much in Istanbul’s immense airport, and we’re wide.
Arrival in Tashkent
The bikes are the last to leave the luggage conveyor. We’d asked for a transfer to the hotel but (…)

Uzbekistan

This year I’ll be spending almost 6 weeks exploring Uzbekistan.
I’ll be traveling with Daniel, who has just retired and bought a bike for the occasion !