Bukhara, Uzbekistan

The ride from Khiva to Bukhara was long and quite scenic, again I had to pack gas (10L) to make the trip.  The terrain was very similar to that found in Arizona, I liked it.  The road was fantastic for 150 miles (brand new two lane concrete) and the old beat to hell road for 120 miles.  On the way over I came across two adventure motorcyclists out of Italy, both on identical new BMW 1200GSAs.  They are on an epic trip that is averaging some serious mileage per day and includes Turkey, Kazakhstan, Russia, The Baltics and Caucuses, and about a dozen other countries.  Oddly, and I am not sure why, they choose the City of Samarkand as their turn around point, but it sounded like a fun trip and they were clearly enjoying themselves.  We chatted mostly about borders, gas issues, and our fondness for the 1200GS. 

The ability to find basic hardware and little things to fix the bike is continuing to be an issue. Little things like missing nuts or a strap are just not available.  I will have to order from the US and have it shipped over.  It is a little frustrating but part of world travel.

Bukhara is like hitting established civilization again, numerous store fronts, and some of them being familiar.   The whole downtown area has been established as a UNESCO world heritage site, and with its small shops, restaurants and cafes, it is a nice place to wander around. The main UNESCO site (see pic below), the one that appears on postage stamps and Uzbek money, is just a stones throw from my hotel.  The tower was used for hundreds of years, not as a lookout post, but as a way to execute criminals by tossing them to their deaths.  I'm going to be honest and say it was kinda weird to stand at the bottom and wonder how many prisoners splatted on that very spot. 






Leg Distance: 283 mi (456 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 24,804 mi (39,890 km) 

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan

Khiva, Uzbekistan

I have arrived in Khiva.  The City has been nicknamed the "Gateway to the Desert," as it was the last stop before crossing the Karakum Desert when traveling west on the Silk Road.  Kiva is over 1,500 years old and served as a market place on the silk road and served as a stop for merchants and slave traders.  Today, there is a healthy tourist trade and I have run into numerous tour buses, mostly full of travelers from Western Europe. 

In my case, the the City serves as an entrance to civilization as I am traveling the opposite direction than the merchants of old.  The ride over from Nukus was just a 100 miles or so.  The road is showing considerable signs of improvement but there were still some areas where the road was just...well...missing.

Along the journey, I came across one of the coolest old floating bridges.  It must have been a remnant from the old Soviet Union.  It was quite picturesque, fishing boats near by, winding river, tree lined banks, so I stopped to take a picture.  Unfortunately, the police, one stationed on either side, were not going to allow that to happen.  The Uzbeks seem to be investing quite a bit to attract tourists and they were not going to allow me to take a picture that did not show them in the a positive light.  Understandable I guess, but I honestly thought it was quite attractive scene.

Next stop is Bukara. Readings suggest that a lack of fuel along the route will again be an issue.  My calculations tell me that I can get by with just one 5 liter bottle of gasoline.  Here's hoping that I have calculated correctly. 

Cool buy of the day:  Regular size, soft-serve ice cream cone.  Cost: $0.12

I was shooed away from here too.

Old Town Khiva

Old Town Khiva

Leg Distance: 106 mi ( 171km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 24,521 mi (39,434 km) 

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan

Nukus, Uzbekistan

I am now officially on the Silk Road, and the road was not very silky nor was it much of a road.  The "road" from Beyneu, Kazakhstan to Nukus, Uzbekistan has no gas stations, no hotels, no food, little pavement, plenty of cavernous potholes, wash boarding, and ruts.  The road is in such bad shape that the cars had carved out an alternative parallel road through the desert, and in some places when alternative road got too bad, a second alternative road was carved out.  As such, the traveling was slow, tedious, and I am sure damaging to poor Greta. A trip that should of taken 5 hours, took in excess of 10 hours, factor in the border crossing, and if I had not stopped, the trip would have extended well into the night.  Due to the deteriorated state of the road, night riding was just not an option if I wanted to stay upright.  As such, I ended up camping in the middle of the desert.  This marked the first time during the trip that I used the tent and emergency provisions in an impromptu situation. With regards to gasoline, I ended up having to pack gasoline in empty water bottles.  I have learned that planning in this part of the world requires flexibility and adjustments to personal riding codes.

With regards to the border crossing, the Kazakh exit, like the entrance, was discombobulated.  The Uzbeks seem to have a much better grasp on things and all went smoothly on their side.  On both sides, I did have priority handling due to tourist status (as opposed to truck driver, or local national).  In total, the border crossing took 4 hours (3.5 of them on the Kazakh side). The Uzbeks, like the Kazakhs, take customs quite seriously.  They went through everything, to include my medication, and wanted to know everything about each drug. Since I am a kidney transplant patient, I have quite a bit of it.  I had to show them prescriptions and a letter from my doctor detailing my transplant before they would allow me to pass.  On this 45 country trip (so far), no one has taken that much interest in my belongings.  As a matter of fact, the Kazakhs were the first to even look through my things, the Uzbeks were the first to look though my meds.  The one thing that amazed me was that neither country seemed to care about my unorthodox way of carrying gasoline.  I am guessing that they understood the situation and looked the other way.

From my reading, the challenging part is now behind me, and the splendor that is Uzbekistan lays ahead.  Next stop, Khiva, Uzbekistan.

Kazakh Road Section

Uzbek Road Section

800,000 Uzbek S'om, approximately 100 US Dollars

*******

Leg Distance: 321 mi (469 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 24,415 mi (39,263 km) 

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan

Beyneu, Kazakhstan

Well, today was a blessing and a challenge.  The second biggest surprise of the day was that the road that had been extensively blogged about for its pathetic condition was 98 percent rebuilt and I was able to make the full run to Beyneu in one day of riding.  The remaining 2 percent served as an indicator that the old road was accurately described.  It would have been a two or three day trip before the rebuild.

The first half of the day was relatively cold (42F/5.5C), very foggy and windless.  I entered into the Kazakh oil fields shortly after leaving Aktau and there were hundreds of nodding donkeys, man camps, and oil pipelines abound.  About 60 miles out of the City, the fog broke, the sun shown bright, and it was one of the nicest rides of the trip.  The scenery was reminiscent of the American West, it was truly a ride of splendor.  The second half of trip things changed.  The weather turned very cold and windy, the sky clouded over, and the beautiful scenery morphed into barren desolate wasteland. 

Now the biggest surprise of the trip.  This part of the world is not flush with gas stations.  Over the entire leg, there was just one station and unfortunately it was not in the center.  The distance from this station to the Beyneu is 184 miles.  The range indicator on the bike was showing 179 miles.  A long agonizing ride later, and in full tuck. I rolled into the gas station with the range indicator showing five miles and my back in allot of pain. 

Tomorrow is going to be worse.  I will be heading into Uzbekistan and all reports are that there are no stations until Nukus, 321 miles away, or to put it bluntly, I will be 150 miles short on range.  There are reports that some Uzbeks are selling bottles gas on the side of the road (much like South and Central America), but the gas there has been cut with whatever they had on hand and impurities like sand have made their way into the bottles, and that's only if you can find someone selling.  Knowing that option was plan C, I went to the market, bought four-5 liter water bottles, dumped them out, filled them with gas and lashed them to my panniers.  Now I will see if I can get them though customs. 

Traffic Jam

Lunch Break

The 2 Percent

Route Map

*******

Leg Distance: 291 mi (469 km)
Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 24,415 mi (39,263 km) 

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan

Aktau, Kazakhstan

First day in Aktau and to avoid the deportation issue I faced in Azerbaijan, I decided to go to immigration and register. The problem was trying to find their offices.  The City does not use road names and building addresses are block numbers, so the address to the immigration office is microdistrict 3, house 123.  Apparently this is a hold over from when the City was originally built and envisioned as nothing more than a man camp for the oil industry.  The problem now is that neither I. nor Google Maps, understand this system.  However, thanks to a hotel clerk that took mercy and emailed the coordinates for the building, I found the office and checked in. Apparently, I didn't need to though, visa free countries do not need to register.  I requested the stamp anyway (corrupt police will try to extort money and not having a stamp is one way they do it), and they seemed to understand.

The City of Aktau is comprised mostly of older apartment blocks that are so typical here in the former Soviet Union.  There literally must be hundreds of thousands of these things.  There is not a lot of construction going on in the City so I imagine things will be status quo for a while to come.  It seems as though the oil money has not yet found it way here.

Greta Getting Some Much Needed Beach TIme

Standard Soviet Housing Blocks

Tomorrow I leave for Uzbekistan.  The nine hour run to the border is barren in terms of population, greenery, and well everything.  There is just one small town and no hotels until well past the border crossing.  The ride should take three days, so it looks as if I will be camping for the next couple of nights.  The weather should be clear but cold.  C'est La Vie


*******

Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 24,124 mi (38,794 km) 

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan

Crossing the Caspian Sea

Warning: This blog entry is going to be a bit more negative than most, primarily because the last few days have epitomized the negatives of international travel.

This is a first to for me, I have officially been deported from a country.  Not merely kicked out, or kindly asked to leave, but full on deported and I have the paperwork to prove it.  Apparently, an Azeri 30-day visa is initially only good for 10-days and must be extended by going to an immigration office and checking in.  I was not aware of this, overstayed the 10 days and was about to be fined a healthy sum of money for this oversight when I casually asked the question, “How much to just deport me?”  The response, “deportation ….well that’s free.”  My response, “Draw up the paperwork," apparently it is time to knock something else off the old bucket list...deportation. Six hours later, I was out of the country for good, and when I say “for good,” that means I am allowed back in one-year.   

Well I made it across the Caspian Sea on a what was billed as a cargo ship but was little more than a prison barge.  But more on that later.  The ship was quite large.  The cargo deck was expansive enough to carry dozens of trucks, railway cars, palatalized goods, and of course my dear Greta.  As far as passengers go, there were two travelers, myself and a guy from Switzerland named Stephan, and about 20 truck drivers and container minders (no idea there was such a job).  I have been on multiple ferries and ships throughout the Greek Isles and Turkey.  Those ships have bars, restaurants, convenience stores and pursers.  This ship had none of that.  The food was horrid, the truck drivers got into a fight (Turkey vs Russia) and my mattress looks like the last traveler was not only incontinent but rejoiced in it.  Needless to say, I took all the bedding they gave us, used it as a barrier between the mattress and I, and slept in my sleeping bag.  Stephan I pretty much concluded that this type of travel was not for the faint of heart.

The crossing itself was supposed to take 18-22 hours but took about 52.  We had to dock just off the coast of Baku until the wind died down.  Yup the wind needed to drop from about 15kts to about 10kts. The swells on Caspian Sea appeared to be more than 30cm on rare occasion. Never heard of a sea fearing vessel being crippled by mildly windy conditions, but it was and there we sat. Stephan I were talking to the passengers that unloaded while we loaded, and apparently they were stuck off-shore for 5 days…with that horrible food.  I can not stress this point too many times, the food just sucked.  

We did eventually arrive in Kazakhstan and the customs procedures to get Greta into the country were painfully long and drawn out.  What at most borders takes less than 5 minutes, took over three hours. It entailed allot of running of documents to various departments, just to get there and wait for 20 minutes while they chatted, played games on their phones or watched soccer on the internet, sometimes all of these activities at once.  My original plan was to enter into Uzbekistan, and then go back into Kazakhstan and stay a bit in Almaty and ride the canyons north of the City.  That plan has changed, I have no desire to cross another Kazakh border as long as I live (note: I am just annoyed with them at the moment, I will probably will cross into Kazakhstan again when the time comes).  

****

Total Distance Traveled by Motorcycle: 24,124 mi (38,794 km) 

Countries/Territories Visited: USA, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, Canada, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Slovenia, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Transnistria, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan