September 12th
149km (445m vertical)
Our first morning in Tajikistan and we are already leaving. We were supposed to enter a few days ago and ride fewer days in Uzbekistan, but the road we would have used is under construction. It was also under construction last year – which says a lot about the speed that things get done in this part of the world.
We rode 90km to the border, and enjoyed a slight tailwind for most of it. After lunch at the border, we started to make our way across. Left Tajikistan easily, but got stopped entering Uzbekistan. They weren't letting anyone in when we arrived, so we sat under a tree chatting with some friendly guards. They eventually started letting people through – 1 person every 15 minutes. We stood in the hot sun, pushing and shoving with all the local ladies that were sneaking into the line in front of us. All told, it took 2 hours to get through everything and back on the road. Strange to spend 6 hours trying to enter and exit a country, and only 24 hours inside.
Got lost trying to find the home stay tonight. We weren't given directions, and had to rely on flagging tape to show us the route. Unfortunately, some local kids must have taken down the tape, because Nicole and I missed it and ended up lost. As we tried to call for directions, Fred joined us. A few minutes later, Trine, Louise, and Stewart showed up. We got a taxi to lead us to our street...but that just got us more lost. Eventually we all sat by a huge statue and waited for the local support guy to come and lead us to the home stay...8km away.
"Fully loaded" cycling means something different in this part of the world:
Ladies picking cotton in the fields. This was the primary crop mandated by Moscow for the region:
A small roadside stand to buy cold drinks and snacks:
Nicole and Louise getting swarmed by children as we wait for the local support to show us where the home stay is:
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