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Thanks for all the bday messages! Much appreciated! Spent my bday travelling from Samarkand to Tashkent and there checked into the Hotel Intercontinental. A little piece of luxury (thanks ju), they even gave me a birthday cake!
I enjoyed the comfiest bed in a long time and had no companions in the like of cockroaches or rats (or even donkeys Jinnie).
From Tashkent i embarked on a journey east to the kyrgyzstan border. The shared taxi i ended up taking was a little sick. Our radiator had massive leaks and we stopped roughly 10 times to cool the engine and add fresh water, after which the driver would cunningly nurse the engine by hitting 5-6000 revs and still trying to get a top speed of 140 kph. Eventually we stopped one last time and the car wouldnt restart. Add to this the fact, that i had a completely drunk old russian man half lying on me the whole journey - it wasnt that relaxing!
From the middle of nowhere, i managed to get another cab to take me to the border, where i met 4 old swiss men, who are travelling around on old russian motorbikes + sidecars! a real site! We crossed the border together, where a slight discrepency in my customs form (written in russian) meant i had to fork out a $20 bribe to get out of Uzbekistan..
Getting into Kyrgyzstan was easy and then i grabbed a ride on the back of a motorbike to Osh where i am now. In the fertile Ferghana Valley. Went for a big meal and beers with the swiss (total cost round $2) and crashed for the night. Relaxing in Osh today - the people here in Central Asia are very friendly (although a little perturbed by my beard).
The cars are quite funny too : all are Korean Daewoos ranging in size but most commonly the Nexia - which for $5 will get you halfway across the country as a shared taxi.
Just trying to line up a yurt to stay in near Lake Issyk Kul where i want to go hiking in the east! will keep you up to date!
JD
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