We woke up at around 6:30 and headed out of Biskek, towards the border which we reached by 8:00. For Kyrgystan they just had one guy in a little office who looked at our passports, smiled, and opened the gate. Then through the no-mans land towards the Kazakhstan side where we were told to park the car down the hill, walk up get the stamps in the passports, walk back down, show those guys the stamps, walk back up to that same office, ask for another stamp, get denied, walk back down and tell them, get shown to another building where everyone is being processed out of Kazakhstan, get to the front of the line, get turned around to a little office, get told that it’s 8:15 and they don’t do the customs check until 9:00, go back to another office, try to sit down, get told to move along, move along, try and sit down on a window sill, have the cleaning lady tell us to stand up, twiddle our thumbs for 45 minutes and go back to the office to have them puzzled over the Carnet de Passage for the car, saying they don’t really need it anyways, but decide to stamp it after half an hour, get sent back down and tell the guys that we did it, they barely check the forms and tell us to move along, and then we got into Kazakhstan. Easy peasy lemon squeezy…
We weren’t 50 km into the country when dad got pulled over for passing on a solid line. The cop took our papers, looked at them, tried to tell dad what he was doing wrong (in Russian) get fed up that we couldn’t communicate and finally told us to move along. 50 km later, a police checkpoint. Again they stopped us, we were doing 25 in a 20 zone or something like that, and they insisted on giving us a ticket. Then they saw that a form in our passports wasn’t filled out right and oh-man did they like that. They separated dad and I, brought him to an office and me to a tiny little room with a burly Kazakh border guard who was nice enough but had all the signs of a shake down. They finally brought the two of us together, gave us a phone with a translator on the other end who tried to tell us what was wrong and we tried to tell her that we didn’t even fill out the form in the first place so they should be fining the border guard. Then they take us out of the room, walk around say ticket ticket ticket, bring us back to the room, back out, back in, ticket ticket ticket. And we tell them to write it down, and they say ticket and we say that we don’t understand. They have us sit, someone else comes up and asks if everything OK? We say no, Straffe niet OK (ticket not ok) they laugh and move on and finally they realize that we must be border-line retarded because we don’t understand anything and wave us on our way, past some big guys with some big guns and onto the road for Almaty. Less than an hour in Kazakhstan and we’ve been stopped twice, not a good sign.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
August 4
We awoke to a group of cattle herders trying to drive their cows through our campsite. So off we went from our campsite by the river by 6:30. Around 8:00 we were able to drop by a little town for some breakfast, plov again. Don’t get me wrong, the rice and meat is a nice way to start the morning, it’s just that the oil is a little taxing. Trying to get the meal was another challenge. We started out trying to get eggs, playing the same little game of charades that generally accompanies most meals. However, this time, halfway through ordering a woman at a table behind us came to our aide with a little book for drawing, a little English and a lot of Russian. It turns out that the woman, Tonya, was travelling through Kyrgyzstan and had missed her bus. She was in her late forty’s and had a pet dog and needed a lift to Biskek, so we figured, sure why not have a hitchhiker tag along. After a lot of re-arranging of the gear, we weren’t able to lift the backseat up but could at least make a level area for her to sit.
So the three of us headed off into the Tian Shen mountain range. This is a beautifully picturesque range that started with dry, scrubby desert-like mountains and levelled at a plateau that could have been in the steppes of Mongolia, complete with yurts and mare’s milk (which we were only too happy to try- verdict: ehh…it was nice to try it). Then it was a few more hundred metres up until we reached the peak, lush and green, and cloudy with spots of snow and a mountain spring rushing down beside the road. Absolutely beautiful!
Then the mountain range ended and we began to see the signs of Biskek. It turns out that Tonya lived here for a few years and was able to direct us to a nice little hotel where we can sleep indoors for the first time since Turkmenistan. Then it was off to see the sights of Biskek- one of which is a statue of Lenin that used to be at the centre of the largest square in town but has since been moved to a slightly smaller square behind a museum. The town’s alright. Sure it’s a post-soviet state, complete with drab buildings and poor construction but being the capital means that it has some very nice large marble buildings that are the equivalent to the White House and houses of parliament. We had a chance to take a mini-bus as well, which was a unique experience in itself.
Tonight we rest in our hotel, tomorrow the Kazakh border. So far we haven’t had any real trouble with borders, the Uzbek/Kyrg border was super lax coming in, and we’ve heard good things about the Kazakh border so we’re optimistic.
So the three of us headed off into the Tian Shen mountain range. This is a beautifully picturesque range that started with dry, scrubby desert-like mountains and levelled at a plateau that could have been in the steppes of Mongolia, complete with yurts and mare’s milk (which we were only too happy to try- verdict: ehh…it was nice to try it). Then it was a few more hundred metres up until we reached the peak, lush and green, and cloudy with spots of snow and a mountain spring rushing down beside the road. Absolutely beautiful!
Then the mountain range ended and we began to see the signs of Biskek. It turns out that Tonya lived here for a few years and was able to direct us to a nice little hotel where we can sleep indoors for the first time since Turkmenistan. Then it was off to see the sights of Biskek- one of which is a statue of Lenin that used to be at the centre of the largest square in town but has since been moved to a slightly smaller square behind a museum. The town’s alright. Sure it’s a post-soviet state, complete with drab buildings and poor construction but being the capital means that it has some very nice large marble buildings that are the equivalent to the White House and houses of parliament. We had a chance to take a mini-bus as well, which was a unique experience in itself.
Tonight we rest in our hotel, tomorrow the Kazakh border. So far we haven’t had any real trouble with borders, the Uzbek/Kyrg border was super lax coming in, and we’ve heard good things about the Kazakh border so we’re optimistic.
August 3
Jalalabad, Kyrgyzstan
We were awoken around midnight by the caretaker and at first I thought he was angry. He told us to come up on the porch and then he showed us the inside of the mosque and asked if we wanted to sleep inside or out on the carpets on the porch. Again, great hospitality towards travellers. We chose the porch and spent the night on the carpets with our foamys on top. In the morning we headed to Samarkand, another great city on the Silk Road. We found a beautiful mausoleum that we walked around and then a complex of palaces and other buildings where we sat in a park and ate half a watermelon each for breakfast. We then searched around for an internet connection eventually ending up at an internet café where Calen was able to upload the latest blogs and pictures. From Samarkand we headed to Toshkent and then Andijon where we spent the night camped out near a farmer’s field. This was in the Fergana valley a lush and fertile area which helped Uzbekistan establish its culture. In the morning we continued on toward the Kyrgyzstan border stopping at a market for some fruit and eating along side of the road. In the afternoon we stopped in a small town that was having a festival with lots of rides for the kids, women dancing together and a great assortment of food. We enjoyed a lunch of plov a traditional Uzbek dish of meat and peppers and rice all mixed together and then finished up with somsa a pastry wrapped confection of meat and onions. The food here is fantastic. The people also continue to amaze us with their generosity and hospitality.
We arrived at the border around noon and within 1 hour we were on our way. The Kyrgyzstan border was the easiest yet and all of the border guards and military guys were all very friendly. Soon enough after changing some money into the local currency we found the road towards Jalalabad. It took us about 3 hours to get to Jalalabad and we were really looking forward to the hot springs and massages that our guide booked talked about. Unfortunately the guide book isn’t any good at providing the local names and locations of these attractions. We tried to ask people and demonstrate with sign language that we were looking for a bath and massage and eventually we ended up at the local pool, not at all what we had in mind. Luckily a young girl at the pool spoke enough English to be able to decipher what we were looking for and gave us the name and general direction to where we wanted to go. We did find the place after some searching but we were too late for the massage, it was already closed. We were however shown to the tubs. This place used to be an old Soviet era sanatorium and as we walked through it we were reminded of every movie depiction of an insane asylum. The walls were all covered in blue tiles, the floor was concrete and here were these enormous claw foot tubs lined up one after another with blue tile walls dividing them. An old lady turned on the taps and showed us where to get undressed and then we were each offered a tub of hot mineral water. After not bathing for the last few days in this hot humid weather this was just what we needed. Forget the horror movie depictions of the place, we were in heaven. We over stayed our welcome thinking that we had 10 more minutes when in fact it was supposed to be 10 minutes total so we washed up got dressed and headed back top the car. We are now camped out beside a river alongside the road. The car has the cover on it so it doesn’t stand out and Calen and I are ready to hit the hay.
We were awoken around midnight by the caretaker and at first I thought he was angry. He told us to come up on the porch and then he showed us the inside of the mosque and asked if we wanted to sleep inside or out on the carpets on the porch. Again, great hospitality towards travellers. We chose the porch and spent the night on the carpets with our foamys on top. In the morning we headed to Samarkand, another great city on the Silk Road. We found a beautiful mausoleum that we walked around and then a complex of palaces and other buildings where we sat in a park and ate half a watermelon each for breakfast. We then searched around for an internet connection eventually ending up at an internet café where Calen was able to upload the latest blogs and pictures. From Samarkand we headed to Toshkent and then Andijon where we spent the night camped out near a farmer’s field. This was in the Fergana valley a lush and fertile area which helped Uzbekistan establish its culture. In the morning we continued on toward the Kyrgyzstan border stopping at a market for some fruit and eating along side of the road. In the afternoon we stopped in a small town that was having a festival with lots of rides for the kids, women dancing together and a great assortment of food. We enjoyed a lunch of plov a traditional Uzbek dish of meat and peppers and rice all mixed together and then finished up with somsa a pastry wrapped confection of meat and onions. The food here is fantastic. The people also continue to amaze us with their generosity and hospitality.
We arrived at the border around noon and within 1 hour we were on our way. The Kyrgyzstan border was the easiest yet and all of the border guards and military guys were all very friendly. Soon enough after changing some money into the local currency we found the road towards Jalalabad. It took us about 3 hours to get to Jalalabad and we were really looking forward to the hot springs and massages that our guide booked talked about. Unfortunately the guide book isn’t any good at providing the local names and locations of these attractions. We tried to ask people and demonstrate with sign language that we were looking for a bath and massage and eventually we ended up at the local pool, not at all what we had in mind. Luckily a young girl at the pool spoke enough English to be able to decipher what we were looking for and gave us the name and general direction to where we wanted to go. We did find the place after some searching but we were too late for the massage, it was already closed. We were however shown to the tubs. This place used to be an old Soviet era sanatorium and as we walked through it we were reminded of every movie depiction of an insane asylum. The walls were all covered in blue tiles, the floor was concrete and here were these enormous claw foot tubs lined up one after another with blue tile walls dividing them. An old lady turned on the taps and showed us where to get undressed and then we were each offered a tub of hot mineral water. After not bathing for the last few days in this hot humid weather this was just what we needed. Forget the horror movie depictions of the place, we were in heaven. We over stayed our welcome thinking that we had 10 more minutes when in fact it was supposed to be 10 minutes total so we washed up got dressed and headed back top the car. We are now camped out beside a river alongside the road. The car has the cover on it so it doesn’t stand out and Calen and I are ready to hit the hay.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
August 1
August 1st, Swiss DayLast night in Turkmenabat we stayed in one of the worst hotels I’ve ever seen and that is saying a lot. They wanted $30 for the room which although it was a large 2 room suite, it was in terrible condition with a bathroom you would rather avoid. I managed to talk them down to $20 and took the room. Being covered in sand from the evening’s adventure, I was really looking forward to a shower but in this bathroom was a large steel tub with a small hose attached to the faucet and the water just trickeled out. Fortunately there was some warm water so by climbing into the tub and hosing myself down I was able to wash off most of the sand. In the morning we made a hasty exit and headed off for the border. It took us about one and half hours to clear the Turkmenistan side and get clearance to leave the country and about the same amount of time to get through the entrance requirements for Uzbekistan. We were shuffled through several offices but surprisingly we didn’t have to visit any banks so it didn’t cost anything to get into the country. Right after clearing customs and driving away we were approached by several money changers at the side of the road. We exchanged $20 for 30,000 soms, the local currency. As they were 500 som notes we received quite a large wad of bills. Forget trying to use a wallet in Uzbekistan, I carry my money in a sack.
We drove on through the morning stopping for meat and eggs and chi at a roadside restaurant and arrived in Boukurah in the afternoon. Bookurah is an ancient city which was an important stop on the silk road. The city is an outdoor museum. Everywhere you look are ancient walls, fortresses, mosques and madrasses. We spent time visiting some of the sites and stopped at a bazaar to purchase a fur hat for me and a police captain’s hat for Calen. Later we jumped in the car and headed for Samarkand an other historical location on the silk road. This place is amazing for its history and architecture but most of all for its people. We pulled the car over onto a curb to raise the front right wheel enough for me to repair some minor damage underneath and a crowd of 6 or 8 young guys gathered immediately to see if they could help. They were eager to talk to us and give us directions to some of the best sights in the area. It was the same last night when we were stuck, the first car we flagged down came to our assistance and he flagged down another person eager to help and so on until were out of the sand. At gas stations the attendants pull out their camera phones and want to take pictures of us with them. The people we have met at every stop have been incredibly friendly and hospitable. What a great way to travel. Tonight we found what looks like the construction site of a new mosque, We pulled in off the highway and cooked up some rice for supper and we are just waiting for the caretaker to come by so we can ask if we can sleep on the porch. Tomorrow we head for Samarkand.
http://picasaweb.google.com/teamcangolia/Aug1#
July 31
July 31Today we left the ostentatious Asgabat and headed a few hours toward Merv. However, before we got there we had a chance to stop for Samsas: little pieces of pita folded over and stuffed with beef, onions and mystery materials. Delicious and filling, especially for $1.25.
Merv is an ancient city thought to have been the inspiration for the tales of ‘The thousand and one nights’ a metropolis that rivalled Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo as a great centre of Islam in its day. That was until, yet again, the Mongols destroyed it. The story apparently runs that Mr. Khan, in his bid for power only wanted grain taxes and a pick of the city’s most beautiful women. The mayor of the town not only refused but killed the tax collectors sent by Jenghiz. Three years later, Jenghiz Khan’s most brutal son Tolui returned at the head of an army and accepted the peaceful surrender of the inhabitants, which in turn made it a lot easier for him to slaughter all 300 000 citizens and burn the city to the ground.
Now the city lays in ruins but they are nice ruins. One of which is the mausoleum of Sultan Sanjar, who died of a broken heart after returning to Merv post-Khan. The mausoleum is a cube building with a dome on top, very modest, but so impressive to the sultan that he had the architect executed to ensure that he never built another building to rival the tomb.
After Merv we continued through the desert which almost resembles the area surrounding Port Franks beach, minus any trees; just sand and rocks and scruffy little thorny plants and, of course, more camels.
From Merv we headed towards Turkmenabat, the second biggest city in Turkmenistan, and only a stones throw away from the Uzbek border. As the sun was setting the gas light came on, then it started blinking. We had already been searching for a gas station but to no avail. Now it seemed we would need to dip into our reserve containers which hold about half a tank. But before we had to think about finding a spot to pull over, the road we were on ended and we had to follow another driver make the transition across a small dip and onto the road running parallel. So the guy in the truck went across, then we followed his path - halfway. Huh. Bad spot to cross, can’t reverse, can’t proceed, probably a bad spot to have crossed because of the loose sand underneath that had swallowed our tires and caused us to get stuck in the desert in the face of the approaching dark. After a few minutes another motorist passed and we managed to flag him down, he was nice enough to come over and try to get us out but being stuck in a dip meant the front end was submerged right to the fibreglass body and the only option was to get towed back up the hill and onto the road that had ended. So he jumped in his little soviet jeep and gunned the engine for all it was worth but to no avail. Then we got another car loaded with 5 more Turkmen to help us push. Still no good. Then we found a transport truck, who began to drag us out until our nice thick yellow brand spanking new heavy duty tow rope snapped. Then he left, but at least our front end was dug out enough to get the re-tied rope secured to a passing dump truck who snapped the rope but waited for us to re-re-tie it and finally, after spinning the tires, nearly burying the car, trying to dig it out, putting down branches for traction and me getting completely showered in sand after choosing an unwise spot to push from, we were free, back on the road! And still without gas. So we ended up using a 10 litre container to buy us a few more miles found a gas station about half an hour later who filled up the tank and pointed us toward Turkmanabat where we eventually found a rather odd hotel tucked in behind a very swank (by the standards here) hotel.
So that makes the getting stuck count: 1 and the coming so close that you’re worried you’re going to run out of gas but don’t actually do but use a gas can just in case because we have yet to run out of gas and won’t really until we get home: 1.
Sleep tonight, border tomorrow maybe Uzbekistan too.
http://picasaweb.google.com/teamcangolia/31July#
July 30
July 30, Ashgabat, TurkmenistanWhen we arrived at the customs building it was rainy and cool. A cloud had settled over the mountain so we pulled in under a shelter and cooked up some breakfast while we waited for customs to open. Soon after, 3 other teams all from Spain arrived. This was the first time we had run into any other teams since the Iranian border. It took us only 45 minutes to clear the Iranian side of the border and we were permitted to enter the Turkmenistan side.
Clearing the border on this side was a bit more of a task. We ended up shuffling our paperwork through a total of 6 offices and 2 banks over the next 2 hours. It cost us $231 USD in total for visas, insurance and other unknown charges. To give you and example, I went into one office with three guys at their desks. I gave my papers to the first guy; he told me to sit down, looked at the paperwork and told me to take it to the second guy. The second guy wrote down my information in a big book, issued me yet another form, stamped everything and pointed me to the next office. The third guy was playing video games on his computer, the only one in the room. We were quite happy and a little relieved to clear customs and immigration and enter Turkmenistan.
20 Kilometres later we entered the capital, Ashgabat. What an unusual sight this was. The capital is a monument to the first president since the fall of communism, Turmenbashi, or leader of the Turks. There are huge marble buildings, fountains, monoliths and golden statues all over the city and all bearing the resemblance of Turkmenbashi. The scope of it is almost too much to take in. We drove north through the city to the Tulkuchka Bazaar a huge sprawling mass of steel shipping containers turned into market stalls. I’m sure you could buy anything in the world in this market from electronics to Persian carpets to spices to camels. It was fascinating to walk around and see the variety of goods for sale. The people were so much different that the people of Iran. Much more of an Asian influence in the faces and dress of the people and obvious Russian influences as well. It was quite an experience to just wander around and take it all in.
Afterwards we checked in to the Ashgabat hotel and made our way to our room. I was really looking forward to a shower after a night spent on the roof of the car and hours walking in the 50 degree heat. I went into the bathroom and lifted the lid on the toilet and it came off in my hand, it wasn’t attached in any way. I tried to hang a towel on the towel rack and it crashed to the floor. I turned on the tap at the sink and water streamed from the drain onto the floor. And when I turned on the shower a trickle of water came out so slow it would take all day just to fill the tub. I just had to laugh, what we are used to is nothing like our present reality.
After a nap Calen and I went out and explored the city and parks. Calen was driving when he was signalled by a police officer at the side of the road to pull over. Of course we don’t speak Turkic or Russian so we don’t know why he pulled us over but after he looked at our documents it became pretty clear. He pulled out a note pad and wrote $15 on it. We still pleaded ignorance and I guess we outlasted him because after a while he told us to move along. We decided that we had made a mistake in the first place just by pulling over so the next time one of those officers at the side of the road tried to flag us down we smiled and waved as if he were waving hello. Later we had a great supper at a Chinese restaurant. This morning we head east for Mary about 400 kilometres from here. From what our guide book tells us we expect to run into police checks every 50 – 100 kilometres so it should be an interesting day.
http://picasaweb.google.com/teamcangolia/30July#
July 29
July 29 Bajrigan, IranYesterday morning while Calen took advantage of internet access at our hotel in Sabzehvar I took the car to a local garage for an oil change. I took a little time to get across what I needed but once they understood Ali, the garage owner was very helpful. Not only did they change the oil but they also replaced a burnt out bulb and a few other minor things. Once I got back to our room and Calen finished the uploads and we got to speak to Rosie at home through Skype. It was so great to hear her voice and catch up. We were amazed that we could talk to each other over the internet from a hotel room half way around the world.
Afterwards we headed east over the Koppe Dag Mountains. This was an incredibly scenic drive over an ancient mountain range of rocky peaks and deep valleys with strange and beautiful views in all directions. The road was narrow and twisty but traffic was light and we took our time and enjoyed the scenery. We arrived at the Iranian side of the border at 4:05 only to find that the border closed at 4:00. We were told that we had to wait until morning but when we tried to leave the border area to find a place to camp we were told that we had to stay within the gates. We set in the parking lot, cooked some dinner, played a game of chess and as it got dark turned on our flashlights to read. A little while later we were visited by a couple of young guys in army uniforms wondering what we were doing camped out in the border area. They looked at our passports and rummaged around in the car for a while then demanded that we go with them. They jumped in the car and took us on a circuitous route throughout the border area stopping to talk to some other army guys and we eventually ended up at the front gate. The guard at the gate wouldn’t let them take us through so they jumped out and we went to park nearer to the gate. Calen slept in the car while I slept on the roof. It is now 7:00 am and the border opens at 8:00 so we are going to head up to the customs building and try to be first in line.
http://picasaweb.google.com/teamcangolia/29July#
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