The day off in Bukhara was fantastic. What an amazing place! The buildings are incredible, huge Medrassa and minarets and an old fortress. Unlike Khiva, Bukhara is a bustling city, full of life, although it has a great central square with a large pool with restaurants all around it. I spent the day wondering around the amazing buildings, eating good food and I had a couple of beers too. I met a few other travellers in the cheap "B&B" I was staying in. I used quotation marks because there was no bed or breakfast. You sleep on a mat on the floor and the owner seemed surprised when I asked if breakfast was included! He was an interesting guy though an ex-Soviet olytmpic sprinter and trainer.
After a day off I was feeling great again and I managed 105 miles towards Samarkand. It was a fairly uneventful stretch although I met a team of amazing Chinese runners. They are currently running the silk road from Istanbul to Xian, China. It will take them 5 months and they are averaging 70km per day. I chatted to their Aussie medical support team for a while and it sounded amazing. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to run 70km in 45 degree heat every day. Those guys were seriously fit - good luck for the rest of the trip, their website is http://www.runsilkroad.org/home/en.
That night I stayed in a Chaikana (tea house) and provided entertainment for 6 kids who were amazed to see a crazy dirty smelly British cyclist turn up at their quiet village tea house! I ate tasty Jasliq (sheep meat kebabs) and slept in a back room. The toilet was the worst one yet though and I had to hold my breath when I used it!
The following day I had about 50 miles to get to Samarkand and it took me until 2 o' clock despite setting off at dawn. I fought a headwind all day and climbed through some hills along a beautiful road. I was getting frustrated because I needed to get to the train station in Samarkand in time to get a train to Tashkent that evening. It was Sunday and I needed to go to the Tajik embassy on Monday (I'll take the train back to Samarkand and continue riding from there next week). I was in a very bad mood when I arrived in Samarkand, mainly thanks to some absolutely extraordinary driving. Blind overtaking around corners, swerving randomly across the road, pulling alongside me for a chat and holding up a line of very impatient angry drivers who are forced to make a dangerous overtaking manouver rather than waiting 10 seconds for a safe overtake - not to mention the constant refrain of horns doing their best to deafen me. The Uzbeks have definately won the 'worst driving in the world award' so far, but I hear the Chinese will give them a run for their money!
Anyway - I got to Samarkand train station about 2:30 and bought a ticket for a train at 5. It was supposed to take 3 1/2 hours so I should have arrived at 8:30. After a 5 hour breakdown, I got into Tashkent at 1:30, without a hotel booked. They train journey was very interesting though, I sat in a carriage of very friendly Pakistanis, one of whom spoke excellent English and we were able to talk for about 3 hours! I was welcomed as their guest so I wasn't allowed to pay for any drinks or food on the train - amazing people. I talked to Amjedali about Pakistan/UK relations. He told me that in general the UK was viewed well in Pakistan although there are a minority of extremists who are very anti-UK. The Pakistanis are grateful for the infrastructure the British built during colonial times and many older people remember a better life back then. Unfortunately due to corruption in Government, the country has gone backwards since then. They are looking over their shoulders at much more successful India and frustration is growing with the current regeme.
He also told me of the problems that relations with the west (particularly America) have caused. Terrorist attacks are common from Afghan and Pakistani extremists due to collaberation with NATO forces and the country has become much more unsafe due to them working in partnership with NATO during the Afghan war. He found it incredibly unfair that Pakistan have had bad press over the possible sheltering of Osama-Bin-Laden, but admitted it was very unlikely that someone in Government didn't know he was there.
We talked about America and the opinions in Pakistan. Some of the things he was saying about America were the result of anti-american propoganda, which he acknowledged but in general the view of America in Pakistan is basically hatred. I found myself defending America and although I'm against the war, I talked him round to agreeing that we do need a way of policing countries if things turn bad, i.e. Libya and that George Bush had to do something after September 11th, even if what he did do was possibly not the best casuse of action.
Enough of that - but it was a very interesting chat, I enjoyed learning more about Pakistan, which is a country I'd love to go to if things settle down in the future.
The breakdown of the train was hell! There was no information of how long the wait would be, I was getting worried about turning up in Tashkent after midnight and having to find a place to stay and secure the bike. The worst bit though was that the air conditioning was turned off. The power saving didn't stretch to turining the appalling Uzbek pop music off though so I was sitting in a sweat box with an assault on my ear drums for 5 hours.
Eventually the train started moving with a round of applause from the much-more-patient-than-me other passengers and we pulled into Tashkent at 1.30 am. Luckily there was a very cheap hotel in the train station ($7/night) where I stayed for the next 5 days. I got to sleep about 2 and planned to get up at 7 to go to an internet cafe to print of the visa application forms and cycle to the Tajik embassy for 9.
After a day off I was feeling great again and I managed 105 miles towards Samarkand. It was a fairly uneventful stretch although I met a team of amazing Chinese runners. They are currently running the silk road from Istanbul to Xian, China. It will take them 5 months and they are averaging 70km per day. I chatted to their Aussie medical support team for a while and it sounded amazing. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to run 70km in 45 degree heat every day. Those guys were seriously fit - good luck for the rest of the trip, their website is http://www.runsilkroad.org/home/en.
That night I stayed in a Chaikana (tea house) and provided entertainment for 6 kids who were amazed to see a crazy dirty smelly British cyclist turn up at their quiet village tea house! I ate tasty Jasliq (sheep meat kebabs) and slept in a back room. The toilet was the worst one yet though and I had to hold my breath when I used it!
The following day I had about 50 miles to get to Samarkand and it took me until 2 o' clock despite setting off at dawn. I fought a headwind all day and climbed through some hills along a beautiful road. I was getting frustrated because I needed to get to the train station in Samarkand in time to get a train to Tashkent that evening. It was Sunday and I needed to go to the Tajik embassy on Monday (I'll take the train back to Samarkand and continue riding from there next week). I was in a very bad mood when I arrived in Samarkand, mainly thanks to some absolutely extraordinary driving. Blind overtaking around corners, swerving randomly across the road, pulling alongside me for a chat and holding up a line of very impatient angry drivers who are forced to make a dangerous overtaking manouver rather than waiting 10 seconds for a safe overtake - not to mention the constant refrain of horns doing their best to deafen me. The Uzbeks have definately won the 'worst driving in the world award' so far, but I hear the Chinese will give them a run for their money!
Anyway - I got to Samarkand train station about 2:30 and bought a ticket for a train at 5. It was supposed to take 3 1/2 hours so I should have arrived at 8:30. After a 5 hour breakdown, I got into Tashkent at 1:30, without a hotel booked. They train journey was very interesting though, I sat in a carriage of very friendly Pakistanis, one of whom spoke excellent English and we were able to talk for about 3 hours! I was welcomed as their guest so I wasn't allowed to pay for any drinks or food on the train - amazing people. I talked to Amjedali about Pakistan/UK relations. He told me that in general the UK was viewed well in Pakistan although there are a minority of extremists who are very anti-UK. The Pakistanis are grateful for the infrastructure the British built during colonial times and many older people remember a better life back then. Unfortunately due to corruption in Government, the country has gone backwards since then. They are looking over their shoulders at much more successful India and frustration is growing with the current regeme.
He also told me of the problems that relations with the west (particularly America) have caused. Terrorist attacks are common from Afghan and Pakistani extremists due to collaberation with NATO forces and the country has become much more unsafe due to them working in partnership with NATO during the Afghan war. He found it incredibly unfair that Pakistan have had bad press over the possible sheltering of Osama-Bin-Laden, but admitted it was very unlikely that someone in Government didn't know he was there.
We talked about America and the opinions in Pakistan. Some of the things he was saying about America were the result of anti-american propoganda, which he acknowledged but in general the view of America in Pakistan is basically hatred. I found myself defending America and although I'm against the war, I talked him round to agreeing that we do need a way of policing countries if things turn bad, i.e. Libya and that George Bush had to do something after September 11th, even if what he did do was possibly not the best casuse of action.
Enough of that - but it was a very interesting chat, I enjoyed learning more about Pakistan, which is a country I'd love to go to if things settle down in the future.
The breakdown of the train was hell! There was no information of how long the wait would be, I was getting worried about turning up in Tashkent after midnight and having to find a place to stay and secure the bike. The worst bit though was that the air conditioning was turned off. The power saving didn't stretch to turining the appalling Uzbek pop music off though so I was sitting in a sweat box with an assault on my ear drums for 5 hours.
Eventually the train started moving with a round of applause from the much-more-patient-than-me other passengers and we pulled into Tashkent at 1.30 am. Luckily there was a very cheap hotel in the train station ($7/night) where I stayed for the next 5 days. I got to sleep about 2 and planned to get up at 7 to go to an internet cafe to print of the visa application forms and cycle to the Tajik embassy for 9.
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