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