NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

It has been a long time since I have been able to write. I am sitting in the Biy Osco Hotel in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. I am eleven hours difference from Omaha and basically sitting on the other side of the world. This post will be different from the others because a lot has happened since Khiva, Uzbekistan when I was last able to post. 

The people in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan are wonderful until they get behind the wheel of a car. Then their personality changes to aggressive egomaniacs. I thought I had seen some poor driving habits in Central America. Central Asia has now taken the lead. 

Uzbekistan 

Tom and I escaped Uzbekistan. The place is a police state with a lot of left over Soviet thinking. The cities of Khiva, Buhkara, and Samarkand can each be seen in 4 hours if you are interested in the leftovers from the Silk Road Era. But be prepared to be stopped and exhibit passport and bike registration at all internal police checkpoints. No one was ever rude, but it became apparent that all foreign travelers would be logged as they made their way around the country. 

 

I could not enter Tajikistan until June 14, so we ended up sitting on our duffs for a couple extra days in Samarkand. That was a waste. But the Emir Hotel/Hostel was good. We finally had enough and headed for the border.   

A word about money in UZ. It is hard to come by US dollars. But that is the currency of exchange. I found one working ATM in the entire country at Kapital Bank on Busigina Str. in Samarkand. At least I think that is the name of the street. An employee at another bank wrote it down for me and I gave it to a taxi driver. I was able to get US dollars and refresh my supply. But there is a rub. When you enter UZ you must make a customs declaration that includes prescription drugs, motorcycle, and all foreign currency. Then when you leave you must make the same declaration. If you have more currency of any nation or EU going out than coming in there is a big problem. Read the US consulate warning and country information in this regard.  

For example, if you declare $2000 coming in and declare $2001 leaving, then there are fines and confiscation. And there is no mix and match. So, if you come in with 500 Euros and USD 1000, you cannot leave with Euros 600 and USD 100; even though you have less value in foreign currency. We found that out the hard way at the border leaving. The guy let us “amend” our declaration. Otherwise I would be writing this on toilet paper from an Uzbek cell. 

Kyrgyzstan 

On June 12 we left UZ and entered Kyrgyzstan. We were searched on the way out of UZ. The guards took my hard drive and it took about an hour before they returned it. So it took two or three hours to get out of UZ. It took about 15 minutes to clear immigration and customs in Kyrgyzstan. Then we entered Osh, which is just chaos for driving. 

After about 2 hours of going around and getting separated, we found the hostel. The next morning we checked in at Muztoo Central Asia Travel Company. Patrik Zimmerman is a Swiss national running an adventure motorcycle tour company in Osh and also stores and repairs bikes for travelers. www.muztoo.com or contact Patrik direct at patrik@muztoo.ch. He has a full stable of good Yamaha endure motorcycles and can arrange tours of the Pamirs. His prices seem very reasonable for what he provides. Also, Osh is cheap to get to. The flights connect through Istanbul.

MuzToo

We left our computers and any other unneeded items at Muztoo and left for the Pamirs. I had developed a bad steering bearing, and the part would come in on June 22. So I figured I would just ride the Pamir highway with the little catch in my bearing, which I did. It never became worse. And  I actually got used to it. But at the time I was scared and worried that the Pamir would defeat me, and the bike, and I would have to haul both of us back in a truck. 

We headed down the road to Sary-Tash in KRG. When we got to the town ot Sopu-Korgun the locals had blocked the road in some type of protest. We talked to them, and they were friendly enough and did not treaten us at all. But it was also apparent they did not want traffic coming through because that defeated their protest. 

Welcome to the Pamirs

So we went down on the river bank and did a little off road riding with a water crossing. I eventually got on the other side of the bridge that was blocked and scooted between some Yurts that were set up in the middle of the road. Tom took the embankment and came up between some cars. But we both made it and went to Sary-Tash. 

In Sary-Tash we met Helge from Norway and Werner from Switzerland. Also Marc from Spain. We would travel with Helge and Werner for the next 6 days. Lots of great pictures. Helge is on the BMW R1000 with the sidecar. Werner is on the Honda Africa Twin. Marc is on a bicycle! I am in awe of the bicycle riders doing this route. They are tough and smart, and lucky. It takes them 5 days to ride what we do in 1, but they have no support. And they have to carry all the food and gear too. 

Sary-Tash

Tajikistan

On June 14 we entered Tajikistan – the hard way. We came up over the high pass. There really is no road for the last 15 km on the UZ side of the border. There is only a semblance of road for the next 30 km on the Tajik side. And much of the road is horrible washboard that just beat me to death. The road had an asphalt surface once left by the Russians, but it has got to hell. It was so bad that we changed our plans. Tom and I thought we would just do a loop in the Pamirs and come back the way we came. Neither of us wanted to go back over that crappy road again. So we went on to Dushanbe via Khorog. 

In Khorog we stayed at the Pamir Inn, where I had to set up my tent on the veranda because it was full of bikers and backpackers. 

We left there on June 17 for what turned out to be the hardest day ever. It started raining. There were water crossings where none existed a couple of minutes before. The mountains have no soil and shed water directly across the road. As I was dodging a hole and a rock, I clipped a rock outcrop with my right pannier and it was ripped off. It did not dump me. The pannier kind of survived with 2 cracks. 

 

We were headed to Kalik-Kum. That is a mere 230 km in a day, 130 miles. It took over 10 hours. It kept raining. Then there was a major water crossing. The water was gushing over the road. I took the lead and made the crossing. Then, I was headed for an embankment and did not have momentum to turn. I dumped the bike. All was well or could be fixed easily. 

But the road was taking a terrible toll on Tom and me, and our bikes. We had not eaten all day. And then my gas canister just broke off the bike from the constant vibrations and beating. 

The good part was travel with Helge and Werner and Tom. I could never have made this trip without Tom. And Werner and Helge were godsends on the Pamir. All these guys are way better on the bike than I am. I just give it gas and pray I come out on the other side. 

June 18 looked good. There was actually real asphalt road – for about 3 km. Then we hit the water crossing. The road got bad, which became a relative term.  “Bad” in my parlance now means potholes, water over the road, occasional muddy run, and barely enough room to clear an approaching truck. “Horrible” means I am scared to death, the bike is sliding in the mud, and a Chinese truck is bearing down on me with nowhere to pull off. The road got horrible. It started to rain on red clay. It was skiing on snot. I just prayed I would finally find some stone surface or broken asphalt. There was none. Then the rain stopped and the clay adhered to the bikes and us. 

We pulled into Dushanbe at about 6 pm after taking a wrong route through a closed tunnel looking like drowned rats (More later on tunnels).  

We stayed in Dushanbe the next day. I found a car wash and we blasted the red clay from the bikes.  

On June 20 we headed for the Kygyzstan border again, and the Tunnel of Death. Yes my friends there is such a place. On Tajik maps it is shown as “dangerous tunnel”.  There is no light. It is over 5 km long. There is no ventilation except one fan in the center. The roadway is nonexistent in some places and it is filled with water. There are holes big enough to break a bike and throw the rider off. I was lucky. I hit a hole that sent me to the wall, but I was able to recover. Not by skill, by terror. I have it on video. I will post it later. Helge got me on his GoPro while following. I got it from my perspective. I am going to post some of the still shots of this hell hole. I never want to ride there again. At lunch Helge said with reference to the tunnel “did you ever see the movie “No Country For Old Men”? “. I have seen the movie and this is it. 

Tunnel of Death

June 21 we crossed back to KYG. There is only one problem. Uzbekistan maintains islands of territory in Kyrgyzstan. We had to find a dirt road and skirt around UZ territory. I was a bit shaken because I never want to go back to UZ. My gps showed I was in UZ territory on the road. It turns out the gps maps are wrong. The road is all Kyrgyzstani. We popped out at a Kyrgyzstani border post, and were let through with no problems. 

So I though all was well as I headed towards Osh. Then the worst happened. Two stupid Kryg drivers passed me then Tom at the same time just flying. It was all ego and poor judgment, along with poor driving skills. There was oncoming traffic. One guy hit the shoulder and lost control. He skidded sideways and then came across the lane, where he collided with a family in an oncoming car. 

Tom missed the collision by luck. He was ahead of me and got stopped. I stopped and said we had to render aid. By now people were coming to see the wreck. The family climbed out of the car and plenty of people were there to help. Then we decided to move on before the guy who caused the crash decided to blame it on the foreigners. It was the right decision. In places like this people do not carry insurance, and it is very convenient to blame someone like us. The authorities just hold you until it is sorted out (means foreigner pays).

My bike - ouch!

 

So I am back in Osh. My bike went to Patrik’s. I have new bearings. I have patched my panniers. And I am on my way to Bishkek KRG, then on to Kazakhstan again. It may be some time before the next post. Stay tuned.