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 [1] 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 regain our strength. A group of Uzbek women come to chat with us and we take turns posing for photos.
Shortly afterwards, Daniel has a puncture. Repaired quickly, but we lose a bit of energy on this roadside in the middle of a cagna.
Then it’s my turn to have problems : my front panniers aren’t holding up well and on this road full of holes they often threaten to fall off... and sometimes do... Also, my wheel has been warped since yesterday, but I don’t know why, and that worries me...
We take a final break about ten kilometers from Bogdon and first go to the hotel. Spotless.

At the end of the afternoon, we make a few adjustments to the bikes, then set off in search of a repairer for my warped wheel. A couple of youngsters approach us with an offer of ice-cream, but we decline. Then, thanks to a translator, I ask them if they know a bike repairer. Yes !! One of them takes me to an unlikely place we’d never have found ourselves. Behind an unmarked gate we find a small bike workshop with dozens and dozens of bikes of all kinds. The guy checks that, apart from the wheel, the rest of the bike is in good condition, then he fixes the wheel for me, using his thumb as a gauge to measure the warp ! Before handing the bike back to me, he looks at it from every angle, admiring this beast for which there’s probably no equivalent.
After a final stroll around the market, we end the day with a quick bite to eat, thus rounding off a very busy day.