TOUGH DAYS IN THE DESERT

When I last left you I was at sea. After arrival in Aktau, Kazakhstan we anchored offshore and waited for an entire day before we could unload. Tom and I cleared immigration at 11:45 pm Saturday night and had to come back the next morning, June 1, to clear the bikes. It was awful.  

First, the ATM ate Tom’s card when we went for cash to pay the fees at customs. Then it took 3 hours and a couple a searches before we were cleared. They went through pretty much everything and confiscated my pin drive. The customs guy later returned it “no problem”. I think he made a copy of the contents, but I cannot tell for sure.

Then we headed into the Kazakh desert. The ride was actually pretty good; and when we got to Shaslik there did not seem to be a hotel. So we rode about 15 Km out of town and found a place to camp. It was actually very enjoyable and a welcome change from the boat.

There are camels in Kazakhstan. They are everywhere. The first one’s called for photos. But after a while it was just another group of camels on the road. 

Monday June 2 was miserable. The road was horrendous. The dust and sand engulfed us. We rode to a town called Beyneu and did find a good hotel. After knocking off the dust we found gas and prepared for the border crossing into Uzbekistan.

 

 

 

 

June 3 trumped June 2.  We figured there would now be a good road to the border. We were wrong. No more had we turned to go on the highway than it became noexistent. The old Soviet style road had disintegrated to the point that rebar was sticking out of the surface. So we went off road in what can only be described as moguls.

This went on pretty much to the border. We filled up at the last station in Kazakhstan and filled our extra bottles with gas as well. It was the last gas we would find for over 600 Km.

Then we hit the border. What a mess. We just took the initiative and went to the front of the line. The Kazakh soldier guarding the gate asked for our passports. Then he let us in. We cleared out of Kazakhstan pretty fast. But it was another 3 hours in Uzbek customs and immigration together with 2 full searches before we were allowed to leave. It was 2 pm and we were 100 miles from the nearest town. We were the first to leave. Truckers had been in line for over 2 days, some with loads of livestock in the heat. 

So we hit the road. The desert in Uzbekistan is every bit as windy and miserable as that in Kazakhstan. But the road was better overall. There were only small stretches of dirt to ride, most less than 20 km.

We were able to find a hotel (at least that is what it was called) a Shaslick. That is my best guess at a Latin spelling. The owner said he would sell us gas. But in the morning he decided not to because it would hurt the bikes. We should have insisted that he sell us the gas. We were barely able to make it to Nukus. We did find 20 liters of 80 octane there. We decided we had to use the 80 octane or apply for Uzbek citizenship because we would be stuck there forever.

In the end we made it to Khiva. So June 4 was about 10 hours of driving and well over 500 Km on some pretty poor roads, some pretty good roads, and worrying about gas the entire time.

Today is a rest day. We went out and toured  the ancient city of Khiva, one of three historic silk road capitals in Uzbekistan. It was known for its slave market where captured Russians were sold. Ultimately the tables were turned and the Russians conquered the Uzbeks. The old city is very well preserved.  

Tomorrow we go another 500 Km to Bukhara, the second capital. We did find gas here thanks to the hotel. We just hope it is good enough quality for the engines.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way, it is true that there is no gas in Uzbekistan if you are coming from Kazakhstan. You will need at least 600 Km worth of fuel before you are able to find any station. But do not count on it. We think it is 1000 Km between the last station in Kazakhstan and Bukhara, where we are promised 91 octane fuel.