I had a look around the Karakalpakstan art gallery in Nukus. It's a bizarre location to have such a good art collection. A soviet artist called Igor Savitsky collected it all and set up the musuem. I particularly liked the crazy wood carvings of people's heads using the roots as the hair!
I left Nukus about midday and bumped into Marc and Camille on the way out. I directed them to my hotel, which was cheap, only smelt of mild urine and I didn't see a single cockroach, not bad for the price! The area around Nukus is irrigated and it was great to be cycling in fields and trees again. Lot of people were out and about and children were swimming in the irrigation channels.
I stopped at a market to buy some stuff for dinner and entertained a group of local people. They were unbelievably ugly (not a trait I can link to Uzbekistan in any way it was just this village)! For some reason the women drew monobrows onto their foreheads with makeup and I met a man with hair all over one half of his face! Anyway they were lovely people and I got some free fruit from them.
I carried on and went to a shop to buy the stuff I couldn't get from the market and they invited me to sleep there that night. I gratefully accepted and they showed me to a raised platform around the back where I could unroll my sleeping mat. They cooked me eggs and sausage for dinner (seems to be a staple here) and then the neighbors asked if I was still hungry and came back with a second meal of pilov, a rice dish (the other staple). I haven't been blown away by Uzbek food yet but it was great to be shown more hospitality.
The next day I got to Khiva by the early afternoon. It's an amazing place, an ancient Silk Road trading city but it's in incredible condition due to a Soviet restoration programme. The buildings are stunning, amazing tiled mosaics, minarets, domes, huge city walls and archways. The atmosphere of the place has been sapped away though, its like a big musuem.
I had planned to spend another day there but its quite small and I didn't fancy wondering around the museums so I left the next day. After a morning ride I was back into the desert. This time the road was terrible though. It was sometimes tarmac that had been ripped up, sometimes melted tarmac and sometimes no tarmac at all. Sand had been blown across in drifts and it was really hard work. It was even hotter than the last desert, up to 44 degrees and there was absolutely no shade. It was also sandier and drier, my mouth was constantly parched no matter how much water I drank. I got into a routine of cycling 2.5 miles, taking a swig and then getting moving again because the only was to cool down was by moving so that I was creating a breeze. There were also loads of flies to make things worse, oh and a headwind for 3 days!
I met a Uzbek cyclist going from Tashkent to Nukus and back. He was in a bit of a rush! He stopped me for a photo, didn't speak then sped off mentioning something about an interview!
I got ill on the second full day after Khiva. I don't know if it was something I ate or drank or just exhaustion. There was lots of water available in Chaikanas (teashops) so I just drank as much as possible. I was still dehydrated though and there was nothing I could do about it. I was sick in the afternoon and was running on Coke cos I couldnt eat anything solid. I didn't eat that night and finished riding just before dark before collapsing into my tent.
Thankfully I felt better the next day and my appetite was back. Shame I only had stale bread and chocolate spread to eat! I had eggs and sausage and a soup and bread in the first Chaihana I found. I ate and drank so much that day and felt much better although absolutely shattered by the afternoon.
Finally the desert ended. It was a kind of mental torture for 3 and a half days. I didn't enjoy it at all but it was great to overcome the challenge. I get some satisfaction from putting myself through that sort of thing for some reason! I could have gone slower or stopped once I got ill but I'm determined to make it round the world only using a bike and I have to get a Tajik visa in Tashkent so time is ticking!
I arrived at Bukhara at around 5 and checked into the cheapest hostel in town. Only $5 a night and not bad at all. Looking forward to a day off tomorrow then I'm off to Samarkand and Tashkent to hopefully get some visas.
I left Nukus about midday and bumped into Marc and Camille on the way out. I directed them to my hotel, which was cheap, only smelt of mild urine and I didn't see a single cockroach, not bad for the price! The area around Nukus is irrigated and it was great to be cycling in fields and trees again. Lot of people were out and about and children were swimming in the irrigation channels.
I stopped at a market to buy some stuff for dinner and entertained a group of local people. They were unbelievably ugly (not a trait I can link to Uzbekistan in any way it was just this village)! For some reason the women drew monobrows onto their foreheads with makeup and I met a man with hair all over one half of his face! Anyway they were lovely people and I got some free fruit from them.
I carried on and went to a shop to buy the stuff I couldn't get from the market and they invited me to sleep there that night. I gratefully accepted and they showed me to a raised platform around the back where I could unroll my sleeping mat. They cooked me eggs and sausage for dinner (seems to be a staple here) and then the neighbors asked if I was still hungry and came back with a second meal of pilov, a rice dish (the other staple). I haven't been blown away by Uzbek food yet but it was great to be shown more hospitality.
The next day I got to Khiva by the early afternoon. It's an amazing place, an ancient Silk Road trading city but it's in incredible condition due to a Soviet restoration programme. The buildings are stunning, amazing tiled mosaics, minarets, domes, huge city walls and archways. The atmosphere of the place has been sapped away though, its like a big musuem.
I had planned to spend another day there but its quite small and I didn't fancy wondering around the museums so I left the next day. After a morning ride I was back into the desert. This time the road was terrible though. It was sometimes tarmac that had been ripped up, sometimes melted tarmac and sometimes no tarmac at all. Sand had been blown across in drifts and it was really hard work. It was even hotter than the last desert, up to 44 degrees and there was absolutely no shade. It was also sandier and drier, my mouth was constantly parched no matter how much water I drank. I got into a routine of cycling 2.5 miles, taking a swig and then getting moving again because the only was to cool down was by moving so that I was creating a breeze. There were also loads of flies to make things worse, oh and a headwind for 3 days!
I met a Uzbek cyclist going from Tashkent to Nukus and back. He was in a bit of a rush! He stopped me for a photo, didn't speak then sped off mentioning something about an interview!
I got ill on the second full day after Khiva. I don't know if it was something I ate or drank or just exhaustion. There was lots of water available in Chaikanas (teashops) so I just drank as much as possible. I was still dehydrated though and there was nothing I could do about it. I was sick in the afternoon and was running on Coke cos I couldnt eat anything solid. I didn't eat that night and finished riding just before dark before collapsing into my tent.
Thankfully I felt better the next day and my appetite was back. Shame I only had stale bread and chocolate spread to eat! I had eggs and sausage and a soup and bread in the first Chaihana I found. I ate and drank so much that day and felt much better although absolutely shattered by the afternoon.
Finally the desert ended. It was a kind of mental torture for 3 and a half days. I didn't enjoy it at all but it was great to overcome the challenge. I get some satisfaction from putting myself through that sort of thing for some reason! I could have gone slower or stopped once I got ill but I'm determined to make it round the world only using a bike and I have to get a Tajik visa in Tashkent so time is ticking!
I arrived at Bukhara at around 5 and checked into the cheapest hostel in town. Only $5 a night and not bad at all. Looking forward to a day off tomorrow then I'm off to Samarkand and Tashkent to hopefully get some visas.
Glad you enjoyed the ride to here. I loved Georgia and Bukhara...
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