September 11th
80km (478m vertical)
First of three consecutive border crossing days. We got through the Uzbek exit process easily, walked over to the Tajikistan, and were told that the border was closed. "Come back tomorrow." After a few phone calls, we figured out that the Tajik president had been in the area, so they closed the border. We just had to wait a few hours for it to re-open. We arrived at the Uzbek side at 7:30am and left the Tajik side around 11:30am.
The whole process was a joke –we filled out numerous forms in duplicate that are then stamped and initialed and signed and stamped again...and then put into a pile where no one will ever look at them again. One rider had lost an“essential exit card" and the officer just shrugged it off and let him through anyways. They stamped our passports in bulk, without comparing the people to the passport photos. (That kind of defeats the point, doesn't it?) Similarly, the Tajik medical check cost $3 each...but the doctor only met with Miles. Our big van filled with rider bags was not looked in at all.
Leaving the border, the sun and heat hit us. It got up to 102F on the road, as the landscape quickly returned to the desert conditions that we had seen in Turkmenistan. I thought we were done with this heat! We got our first taste of the tailwind that we're counting on to carry us the 175km into Osh. It was great to cruise along at 50km/h for much of the afternoon.
Nicole was feeling a lot better today, but I felt a lot worse. I've started another round of anti-biotics and I'm also trying some pro-biotics as well. (Dr. Joan tells me that these two don't counteract each other.) We did a poll at dinner and found that only 2 people on the trip had managed to avoid stomach problems so far. One was a nurse, with a healthy immune system, and the other is a sectional rider that joined in Azerbaijan. Even Ben, the tour leader, got really sick the other day and couldn't ride. And after dinner, the nurse got sick!
Staying in a home stay tonight, sleeping on the floor with 4 other guys. There's only 2 toilets for the entire group, which might be a problem. Dinner was a feast though, and we have air conditioning in my room, so its not so bad. Long day tomorrow. Hope I sleep well and feel better soon.
First look at Tajikistan:
A small town in the middle of nowhere:
Riding through the desert again...at least the road surface is good:
Tajik feast on the floor of the homestay:
No comments:
Post a Comment