World Tour - Europe, Asia, North and South America - Entries for: Uzbekistan
41° | sunny | km 102
Spontanous recreation
on 2016-06-01 in Uzbekistan
We were greeted by a sign on the Uzbekistan border that clearly stated that the import of drones was prohibited. First the first time we even had to remove our duffel bags to get them x-rayed. They checked all bags and cases thoroughly... except for the last case - Fabi's top case. Feeling incredibly lucky we headed out of the border checkpoint and towards Bukhara to pick up some Lari from an ATM.
Just when we arrived at the center, we were greeted by a swiss-american couple. We canceled our current plan to sleep in a tent outside of Bukhara as soon as we heard that the night in their hotel only cost 10$ per person. After almost one week in the tent and the last "shower" in the Caspian Sea we figured we had earned it.
We had planned to stay for one night but in the end because of Fabi's swollen foot and some stomach aches we stayed for 5 nights. The hotel turned out to be the meeting place for many over lander and in the time we stayed there we got to know many like minded people. One of them was Josef, he travels for a good cause with his BMW to India. We spent a nice evening with him and a couple of beers, cheerfully exchanging past memories. He also writes about his travels in German on http://www.seidenstrasse-2016.de/.
Bukhara, with its oriental feeling, turned out to be the perfect place to recover from the past days and we really enjoyed our stay there. Rejuvenated we set of to Samarkand and to cross to Tajikistan the next day... little did we know at that time that we would soon be very exhausted again.
Just when we arrived at the center, we were greeted by a swiss-american couple. We canceled our current plan to sleep in a tent outside of Bukhara as soon as we heard that the night in their hotel only cost 10$ per person. After almost one week in the tent and the last "shower" in the Caspian Sea we figured we had earned it.
We had planned to stay for one night but in the end because of Fabi's swollen foot and some stomach aches we stayed for 5 nights. The hotel turned out to be the meeting place for many over lander and in the time we stayed there we got to know many like minded people. One of them was Josef, he travels for a good cause with his BMW to India. We spent a nice evening with him and a couple of beers, cheerfully exchanging past memories. He also writes about his travels in German on http://www.seidenstrasse-2016.de/.
Bukhara, with its oriental feeling, turned out to be the perfect place to recover from the past days and we really enjoyed our stay there. Rejuvenated we set of to Samarkand and to cross to Tajikistan the next day... little did we know at that time that we would soon be very exhausted again.
39° | sunny | km 876
Paradies and Hell
on 2016-06-06 in Uzbekistan
We had heard some rumors that the border at Samarkand might be closed. Our research at the department of foreign affairs did not come to any conclusion so we decided to try anyways. The mountains and lower temperatures after the Samarkand border were too tempting to pass up.
Since we were too late to reach the border the first day we decided to look for a nice and quiet spot at a nearby lake. Some locals told us it would not be a problem to stay there, it was only possible that some wolves might be close by.
Sadly the fact that we would stay there for the night spread like wildfire in the nearby village which in turn lead to a large crowd gathering around us whilst we set up camp. We tried to explain to them, that we would like to go to bed now and get some rest. Most of them went home at first, but soon there were others coming over to take pictures and so on. Suddenly the local military showed up, checking our passports and bikes. They insured us that everything would be all right and they would keep an eye on us. Sadly they explained to us, that the border really was closed which in turn meant that we had to ride 450 km to Denov in order to cross the next day. Even after we had gone to bed people were stopping by that night knocking at our tents and calling our names. They did not get that all we wanted to do is get some sleep!
We got up early the next morning to leave as fast as possible to Denov. As soon as we got out of the tents there were already 5-10 people watching us like zoo animals. We have never packed up so quickly and left.
As usual we decided to take a shortcut the next day to make the boring 450 kilometers more exciting. The navigator showed us a way across the mountains that looked good. At first we found ourselves on a surprisingly good maintained paved road. We wanted to take it easier than usual because Fabi's leg still hurt from his accident and he had to take it easy to recover for Pamir. We rode through a beautiful canyon and were quite pleased with our decision to take a route of the main road. Slowly the road started to have some gravel patches until it turned into a good dusty road. Still without any problems we continued, the navigator showed us the way and we kept going through the beautiful countryside. We passed some pine trees and amazing fields. We were very surprised of the beautiful nature in Uzbekistan. We rode alongside a crystal clear lake and we felt close to paradise. The street turned into a path and it started to be exhausting to ride. But as usual we managed, even with his hurt foot Fabi was able to keep up. We sort of lost track of the time and when we looked at the navigation system we saw that crossing the border that day would be a close call again. We tried to push a bit harder until we reached a small shed with a gate and some people in front. It turned out to be a checkpoint of the provincial border. Nobody was wearing any uniform but they asked for our passports. They assured us that it was no problem they would just quickly have to make a call and register us. We waited for more than an hour without getting any new information.
Finally some policemen in a Lada showed up and told us that we had to follow. They took our passports so passing them was no option. We followed them through another canyon, that was even more spectacular than the first one. It turned out to be one of the greatest highlights we had seen so far.
We followed the police to the next city and into the police station. At this station Denis was interrogated for 1,5 hours. He had to explain each date and night we had spent from the beginning of our journey!! The reason for the whole charade was the fact that we were not supposed to leave the main highways in Uzbekistan. Apparently our travel organization or the guys at the border missed to tell us this quite important fact. He assured us that it was all right to camp on the side of the main road though.
When we were finally allowed to leave the sun was already starting to set and the border was already closed for quite some time. We decided to grab something to eat in the next village and try to find a spot to camp thereafter. Suddenly a cop from the station who apparently had followed us drove up and told us not to ride over 100 km/h. Annoyed from the constant controls and the interrogation we longed for a lonesome night in our tents. We found just the right spot at a field just far enough away from the main road. Just when we were finished setting up our tents we saw a couple of lights moving towards us. Yet once again it was the police. They explained to us that we were not allowed to camp here and had to go to Denov the next city 20 km away.
It apparently was not enough to tell us this and see how we packed up our gear and got ready to leave. No we had to wait for another 30 minutes until the local english teacher arrived to tell us what we already knew. We headed through two other checkpoints each taking their time to slowly copy our names and license plates into their books... In Denov we were brought by another officer to the only hotel in the city. Since there was no alternative we booked the room, little did we know it was about to be the worst place we had ever stayed in. The rooms where very shabby. There was one toilet and one shower for the entire floor. As soon as we hit the bed everything started to itch. Fabi and Denis decided later that night to get their silk travel sheet and the mosquito net. Basti used our anti mosquito spray. There was no air conditioning and from time to time there was a smell of dead rat or something. Even though we were extremely tired we did not get much sleep that night.
Our only goal in the morning was to get out of the filthy hotel, out of Denov and finally leave Uzbekistan. Luckily some very nice and funny border officials brightened our mood and made us rethink our final opinion about Uzbekistan. One of them had the dream to go to Germany to get to know some of the beautiful German girls. When Denis mentioned to him that there were a lot of Uschi, Barbara, Sandra and Claudias in all colors and sizes he was more than enthusiastic. We sealed the friendship with a round of arm wrestling. At first they had actually looked quite thoroughly through our luggage. Including looking through all the cameras and even our laptop - in the search of pornos. Luckily at the end they quit searching right before Fabi's top case again and therefore the drone was luckily undiscovered once more!
Since we were too late to reach the border the first day we decided to look for a nice and quiet spot at a nearby lake. Some locals told us it would not be a problem to stay there, it was only possible that some wolves might be close by.
Sadly the fact that we would stay there for the night spread like wildfire in the nearby village which in turn lead to a large crowd gathering around us whilst we set up camp. We tried to explain to them, that we would like to go to bed now and get some rest. Most of them went home at first, but soon there were others coming over to take pictures and so on. Suddenly the local military showed up, checking our passports and bikes. They insured us that everything would be all right and they would keep an eye on us. Sadly they explained to us, that the border really was closed which in turn meant that we had to ride 450 km to Denov in order to cross the next day. Even after we had gone to bed people were stopping by that night knocking at our tents and calling our names. They did not get that all we wanted to do is get some sleep!
We got up early the next morning to leave as fast as possible to Denov. As soon as we got out of the tents there were already 5-10 people watching us like zoo animals. We have never packed up so quickly and left.
As usual we decided to take a shortcut the next day to make the boring 450 kilometers more exciting. The navigator showed us a way across the mountains that looked good. At first we found ourselves on a surprisingly good maintained paved road. We wanted to take it easier than usual because Fabi's leg still hurt from his accident and he had to take it easy to recover for Pamir. We rode through a beautiful canyon and were quite pleased with our decision to take a route of the main road. Slowly the road started to have some gravel patches until it turned into a good dusty road. Still without any problems we continued, the navigator showed us the way and we kept going through the beautiful countryside. We passed some pine trees and amazing fields. We were very surprised of the beautiful nature in Uzbekistan. We rode alongside a crystal clear lake and we felt close to paradise. The street turned into a path and it started to be exhausting to ride. But as usual we managed, even with his hurt foot Fabi was able to keep up. We sort of lost track of the time and when we looked at the navigation system we saw that crossing the border that day would be a close call again. We tried to push a bit harder until we reached a small shed with a gate and some people in front. It turned out to be a checkpoint of the provincial border. Nobody was wearing any uniform but they asked for our passports. They assured us that it was no problem they would just quickly have to make a call and register us. We waited for more than an hour without getting any new information.
Finally some policemen in a Lada showed up and told us that we had to follow. They took our passports so passing them was no option. We followed them through another canyon, that was even more spectacular than the first one. It turned out to be one of the greatest highlights we had seen so far.
We followed the police to the next city and into the police station. At this station Denis was interrogated for 1,5 hours. He had to explain each date and night we had spent from the beginning of our journey!! The reason for the whole charade was the fact that we were not supposed to leave the main highways in Uzbekistan. Apparently our travel organization or the guys at the border missed to tell us this quite important fact. He assured us that it was all right to camp on the side of the main road though.
When we were finally allowed to leave the sun was already starting to set and the border was already closed for quite some time. We decided to grab something to eat in the next village and try to find a spot to camp thereafter. Suddenly a cop from the station who apparently had followed us drove up and told us not to ride over 100 km/h. Annoyed from the constant controls and the interrogation we longed for a lonesome night in our tents. We found just the right spot at a field just far enough away from the main road. Just when we were finished setting up our tents we saw a couple of lights moving towards us. Yet once again it was the police. They explained to us that we were not allowed to camp here and had to go to Denov the next city 20 km away.
It apparently was not enough to tell us this and see how we packed up our gear and got ready to leave. No we had to wait for another 30 minutes until the local english teacher arrived to tell us what we already knew. We headed through two other checkpoints each taking their time to slowly copy our names and license plates into their books... In Denov we were brought by another officer to the only hotel in the city. Since there was no alternative we booked the room, little did we know it was about to be the worst place we had ever stayed in. The rooms where very shabby. There was one toilet and one shower for the entire floor. As soon as we hit the bed everything started to itch. Fabi and Denis decided later that night to get their silk travel sheet and the mosquito net. Basti used our anti mosquito spray. There was no air conditioning and from time to time there was a smell of dead rat or something. Even though we were extremely tired we did not get much sleep that night.
Our only goal in the morning was to get out of the filthy hotel, out of Denov and finally leave Uzbekistan. Luckily some very nice and funny border officials brightened our mood and made us rethink our final opinion about Uzbekistan. One of them had the dream to go to Germany to get to know some of the beautiful German girls. When Denis mentioned to him that there were a lot of Uschi, Barbara, Sandra and Claudias in all colors and sizes he was more than enthusiastic. We sealed the friendship with a round of arm wrestling. At first they had actually looked quite thoroughly through our luggage. Including looking through all the cameras and even our laptop - in the search of pornos. Luckily at the end they quit searching right before Fabi's top case again and therefore the drone was luckily undiscovered once more!