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
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
Nice stick figure Picasso
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