Another city listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site is Bukhara. I think of it as it is the diamant of Uzbekistan. The historic center is amazingly beautiful. We walked the whole day long exploring this beauty.

We started the day by finding the Chor Minor as this building is a bit harder to find.

Afterwards we walked around in the old center which is like an open air museum.

The only downside I found was the minaret which was closed.

We visited the citadel arc. As you can see, I found a way to get in free. Inside it was not that interesting.

The city has a few ponds which are still there. The others were closed by the Sovjets in the twenties for hygienic reasons.

At the other end of the city is the Somoni Mausoleum.

To all nice stories comes an end, so we had to prepare to leave yet another city. Tomorrow we ride to the mighty Registan in Samarkand!

We left early in the morning to avoid the heat and said goodbye to Zara. The ride was also long, about 400km. We had to cross the desert but a new highway was being built. At some point they were even breaking up the newly made road. Something must have been done wrong I guess.

We made a brief stop at a roadside cafe and had some green tea with bread.

The ride was long and it got hot, around 38 degrees. Later we saw some black clouds and we had some drops of rain, which was very welcome to cool us down!

 
Finally we arrived in Bukhara and we headed for the hostel which had been given to us by the manager of the Meros hostel, namely Rustam Zuchra. Again we had a large confortable room. The lady of the hostel was also really friendly. In the hostel we met 4 nice belgian girls. We would see them again in Samarqand. We also met Gio, an Italian who was writing a travel book. We also met him again in Samarqand 🙂

The location of the hostel was perfect again. Right next to the Lyaubi Haus, which is one of the main attractions. It was also very close to a nice restaurant called Chinar.

We started with some food and a beer in Chinar and then went for a walk around the Lyaubi Haus.

In the evening we went to see a music and dance show inside one of the madrassas around the pond. It was OK, but a bit too touristic if you ask me.

After the show it was getting dark and we were pretty exhausted because of the long ride so we went to bed early.

One of the great cities of the silk road was waiting for us. Khiva used to be a point on the silk road where slaves were sold. It appears to be a lot more than that. It is a real pearl in the desert.

On a resting day we are not really resting but need to do some exercise as well to stay fit. A good exercise seemed to climb the 47m minaret in the morning. Not so difficult, if not for the high steps and the dark stairway 🙂 The top gave nice vistas over the town.

We visited a series of museums, the nature, history, handcraft, and so on. The Friday mosque with its many wooden colons is also very beautiful.

During our walk we saw again a famous face. It was Dgahongir from Tashkent with his colleauges now 🙂 His colleague helped us out with our new fuel problem. We needed fuel for a 400km ride to Bukhara tomorrow.
They also gave us a tip for a nice uzbek restaurant outside of the city walls.

After visiting the bazar, we went to buy the fuel. It was not sold in 5l water bottles like in Nukus, but in an iron jerrycan now. They guy told us it was 20l, of course there was no way to check this. I used an old nylon sock as a prefilter as the fuel is really dirty also. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for the fuel quality 🙂

In the evening we went to the uzbek restaurant named Dilnura. Thanks Dgahongir!

We walked back to our hostel and enjoyed Khiva by night from our rooftop terrace, with a fanta of course 🙂

After two nice days in Nukus, which is the capital of Qaraqalpakstan, we were both at full strength again. Time to ride on!

Luckily for us there was a road in the desert. Our first stop of the day was in Beruni. We looked around for gas, but were unsuccessful again. No problem as I still had left. During the ride we rode over a bridge over the Amur Darya river. This is a very big river feeding the Aral See. We will trace it source as it is coming from the Panj river in Tajikistan. We rode on to Urgench, which is the capital of the Chorasm area. It seemed like a modern nice city. But again no gas was found. We saw a burger king though 🙂

At one of the stops, we noticed a screw had broken off of the rear mudguard. I took out my toolset and unscrewed the other two screws as well. While I was doing that I heard a familiar sound, GS engines!

Three guys road by, I waived and they stopped. It were 3 guys from the Czech Republic. I looked at their bikes and noticed they had no rear mudguards as well. Must be a common problem. I threw the mudguard away in the garbage as carrying it with me seemed useless.

We had only 30km to cover now to Khiva. In Nukus I had made a reservation in the Meros hostel which was located inside the old town or ichton qala. We arrived in the afternoon and found the hostel.

We were given a nice, spacious room with airco, a balcony and a big bathroom. The hostel was perfectly located so we could immediately start discovering the city.

The whole ichton qala is surrounded by ancient walls and you can only get in by entering one of the four gates. We were between the West and North gate. In the evening we visited the citadel which has a very nice view over the city in the evening. We spotted the 3 Czech guys again, they only stayed briefly and were heading for Bukhara in the evening.

As we were strolling around, we bumped into Sasha we had met in Nukus again. He was now with more colleagues from Unicef, so we only talked briefly.

We were told that we should try Plov in Uzbekistan. Every city gives it a different flavour, so you have Khiva plov, Bukhara plov, Samarqand plov, Tashkent plov. The more to the east, the more fattier it would be. We had a nice dish of plov and some green tea. As the old city was full with museums and ancient buildings we would continue the next day.

The hotel room had no windows so it was really dark. Normally we wake up when the sun starts shining, meaning around 5 or 6. But now it was already 8! We went to breakfast and joined Sasha and his colleague.

As I had a meeting with Aydos next, we went to his place. He had a sim card for us, but it would not work right away. We needed some settings which could be gotten in the Ucell shop. So he took us to the shop and all worked out. He told us also about the museum and even went along with us. Inside the museum we got a very good guide named Isultan. She claimed her English was not good, but I think it was excellent. The museum had two floors. The first floor which had the archeologic collection, and the second floor which had a huge Russian avant garde art collection.  All of it was collected by Igor Savitsky.

We spent a long time in the museum, I think about 3 hours, it was so interesting. After an hour or so Aydos had to go to work so he left us. We also met Dgahongir in the museum, what a small world 🙂
I can only recommend this museum. The archeological collection is huge and the central asia history was explained very well. The paintings were also beautiful. We were both nicely surprised.

After this nice morning we went to a small shop to buy some biscuits and icecream. We decided to have a rest the afternoon and stay in Nukus until tomorrow. Sasha had left to Khiva which was our destination for tomorrow. We had exchanged phone numbers.

In the evening we went to buy some more fuel and went back to the nice restaurant.

After a good night sleep, and some weird dreams, we were woken up by our guestlady. She was asking if we were ready for breakfast. Herself she had to go into town early.
So we had a lovely breakfast and thanked our guestfamily.

Our next stop was the town of Moynaq. This used to be one of the most important economical towns in Uzbekistan. It was major harbour, and the locals were living from the Aral Sea. Due to irrigation projects done on the Amur Darya river, the Sea got smaller and smaller. The harbour town was only ghosttown now, and most of its inhabitants became jobless. It’s a tragic history of the town, but the locals still believe the sea will come back.

After a short ride we arrived at the open air museum. It was already quite warm in the morning, and we walked through the desert looking at the beached ships. The administrator told us this is dangerous place at night as wolves are lurking around here. Some ships were even stolen for scrap metal. It is amazing to see how human impact can change the environment.

In the town of Moynaq we made a stop at a small shop and ate some watermelon. We saw three polish tourists here who were walking towards the museum. I asked for fuel but nobody seemed to able to help.

The next stop would be Qonghirat, where we would look for fuel.

After one hour riding we reached Qonghirat and found a gas station. I asked the manager to put some fuel in an empty water bottle. The fuel was white, I smelled it, and it had a strange smell. I poured my jerrycan, which had still octane 93 fuel from Kazachstan inside the bike’s tank. I bought 3 liter from the station just in case.

The goal of today was Nukus, a city famous for its museum. With the fuel we had left, we should be able to get there. We felt lucky as the highway to Nukus seemed new tarmac. It was a nice and easy ride.

We got into Nukus in the afternoon, and started looking for gas and an Uzbek simcard. We ended up eating an icecream only 🙂

We saw about 5 gasstations and all of them were empty. They said next delivery would be on Friday. Today was Wednesday, did we really need to wait until Friday to find gas?

So we went looking for a hotel to get a shower and have a rest. The first hotel we saw, was the one the 3 polish guys were talking about in Moynaq. It was old Soviet style with a horrible bathroom. As we were having trouble finding gas we asked the hotel manager if she could help us. She gave us an address next to another hotel, named ARZ. We found the hotel ARZ16 and also the guy who could help us with the gas. His name was Aydos and he was really friendly.

He took us first to a friend of him who had the benzine. It was supposed to be octane 91, but I am not to sure about that. I think it was octane 80 and that is the only thing you can find around. When there are deliveries for gas there are really long lines of people with cars trying to buy it, until the pump is empty again. I was happy I could buy it from this guy. He told me that a few days ago french bikers also bought with him. So we put in 20 liters. I did a test ride and it seemed OK. After a while the only I noticed was there was some less power.

Then Aydos showed us the ARZ hotel, which had really nice rooms. Our decision was quickly made. We went back to the other hotel to get our stuff and moved into ARZ. Aydos would also help us get an uzbek simcard so we would be able to get online again. We would meet again tomorrow at 9 AM to do the “deal”.

The hotel had a nice bathroom which was very welcome. We washed ourselves and our clothes. Later in the evening I went to the lobby and had a Fanta from the fridge. It was a new addiction for me. The fanta in central asia is so good. I don’t know why but I needed my daily fanta from them on 🙂

I was standing outside at my bike checking things, when a man approached me. His name was Dgahongir and he was a banker from Tashkent. We talked about our trip and life. After a while a jeep pulled in from Unicef. The guy looked at us and come to talk with us. His name was Sasha. He was also from Tashkent and a very frienly guy. I went up to get Larisa, she is of course a lot better in Russian than me. We both came down and the four of us talked some time. Sasha told us about a nice restaurant. He even brought us there and we had a nice meal. The bill seemed enormous 🙂

Back at the hotel we had another chat with Dgahongir and he gave us a tip for the next day. The Savitsky museum is a must see he told us. Good thing, we knew what to do, and went to bed.

We woke up just before 5 AM in the morning as it was getting light. We broke up our camp quickly and started a short ride of 40km or so towards the Uzbek border.

We reached the border very early and could not get in the Kazach side yet. We had to wait for the starshi or older in rank. So we talked a bit to the locals, discussing the roads in Uzbekistan, changing dollars to som, where to find bezine. The latter was a real problem, especially in the Qaraqalpakstan area of Uzbekistan. So we were warned.

After a while a jeep turned in with an officer inside. This must have been the starshi guy. Indeed after five minutes the gate was opened and we could enter. Checking out of Kazachstan was easy. We had to do the usual stuff like exporting the bike, and showing our passports to get the exit stamps. We also witnessed the morning salute as all soldiers were present to great the starshi commander.

Now we had to ride a few meters further until the Uzbek post. There were many people waiting. Among them was a Russian man from Volgograd named Gena. He was so friendly to offer us some water as we were already through our supplies. Gena was heading for Tajikistan to do hiking in the mountains. He told us this border crossing was not his first time and last he had to wait 2 days to get in!

Indeed the process of getting into Uzbekistan is not an easy one. There are many small offices and you have to find out yourself where to go first. Passport check, bike import, custom declaration form, goods inspection. It took us a few hours but eventually we were the first ones of the day to get in Uzbekistan, lucky us. Once the gate had opened, the Uzbek women started running to us to change hard currency for the local som.

The first time you see the som is quite impressive as it is quite a pile of money. At our time the exchange rate was about 270.000 som for 100 dollar.

Our next goal was to see old harbour of Moynaq. This was still a long drive. First we needed to get to Qonghirat and then to Moynaq. On my GPS I could still see the E40 road marked. The road is asphalt here with some big potholes. We saw some shepherds under the way and switched to offroad now and them to chase the camels and horses 🙂

Around 11 am it became really hot and we tried to find some shade. In the desert this is not easy! We relaxed for half an hour and pushed on until we reached the small village of Jasliq. There was a roadside cafe here which had airco. Wow it felt great to cool down here and we had some soup and bread here.

The man of the cafe told us that one week ago there was a russian rally team who passed here also. I told him we were heading for Moynaq. He then said there is a shortcut. Instead of following the E40 to Qonghirat and go from there, there is a turnoff about 1km further to the left, and then there is about 120km offroad to do until Moynaq.

I discussed briefly with Larisa what to do. It was around 1pm by now so we still had plenty of time before it would get dark. We decided to buy enough supplies of water and go for the offroad option. We said goodbye to the man and started looking for the track.

We easily found it about 800m further down the road. We turned left and followed a jeep track in the desert. I switched my GPS to compass navigation and set as a destination Moynaq to make sure we were heading the right way. The track was not on the GPS. It was quite a nice track, we saw horses and camels under the way, but not a human being for the first 50km. In the middle of nowhere there was a small settlement of about 100 people called Komsomolsk na Ustyurte. Just before that there some kind of oil factory. We stopped in town and the locals came out to check my bike.

As we were in the desert and not 100% sure how to proceed we asked the locals for direction and they pointed us where to go. We also asked for a small shop. This must have been a mistake, as we could not find the shop but some strange men. We got out of the town as I had a strange feeling about everything, and started riding the track again. We were riding in the Aral desert where once the Aral sea was. The compass needle was not pointing to Moynaq anymore but more to a northern direction where now is what’s left of the Aral sea. I was not sure if we were going in the right direction…

I had a quick look at the benzine gauge and saw that our range was not enormous anymore. We could ride for another 180km or so.

All of a sudden a russian ural bike passed us at high speed. I could not believe my eyes. In fact it were 2 guys on the bike, and when I looked better the guy on the back was holding a rifle. He carried a lot of bullets and a big knife. My heart started to beat faster a this point, and I started to sweat even more in the desert. I was thinking to myself this is not OK. I stopped my bike, I had to stop anyway as I was riding without gloves at that time and I could feel the sun was burning my hands. The ural bike saw that we stopped and he turned around.

In the front was a guy with blue eyes, and blond hair. He was not uzbek. He started talking to us but I had really no idea what the intentions were. After a while 2 other bikes pulled out of nowhere. They were 2 sidecars with 3 more men with guns on them.

My lips and throat got dry and for the first time on the trip I was really getting uncomfortable. The blonde guy asked us to follow him, he would show us the way to Moynaq. As I did not have many options here I followed him. But he was always asking to ride next to him, meaning there was a gun pointed at us. So I slowed down, after which he slowed down. I accelerated and so he did. I could not shake these guys. They were riding like bats out of hell.

My compass needle was not pointing in the right direction but towards the Aral Sea. After a while we all reached a cliff and the blonde guy rode down, the other 2 bikes were behind me. I also rode down, but it was very steep and we almost fell over. In the slope he stopped, and wanted to talk further. This was the perfect place for an ambush.

My heart was really beating fast now. The other guys pulled up as well and stopped for a smoke. I felt this was a key point. He started asking questions about my bike and wanted to know everything about it, and what every button served for.

Then he started talking to Larisa. I don’t know if this was good or not, but he was also Ukrainian and the mood started to feel less heated. Nevertheless after the stop we had to follow again for another 30km or so. It were the worst kms of the ride for me…

By now we had reached a bigger track and the compass needle was pointing to Moynaq. All of a sudden a big truck appeared. The guys hid the guns and I waited for the truck to come closer. When the kamaz came close, I stuck close to it, and after a while I opened the gas. It was still offroad and a rough track. But now I was riding like a maniac. I kept looking behing to see if they were not following. Because of doing that, and also going too fast, one time we hit a real deep hole which made the bike jump, luckily we didn’t crash… I slowed down now and kept pushing until we reached the first village.

The name of the town was Uchsay. There were people here so we stopped to check on the bike and make all the luggage fixed again. The extra jerrycan we were carrying had become loose by now, and the bags almost had fallen off.

A woman came to us and asked if everything was fine. She was very kind and offered us a place to stay at here place. After our Aral desert adventure we gladly accepted. Her man opened the gate, so we parked the bike safely inside. We got a big room offered. We washed ourselves and got many many food offered.

First tea with sweets, biscuits and bread came. Then another dish; and another. We were treated like kings. The uzbek hospitality was stunning and I will never forget it. I went outside to check on the bike again, and watched the sky. I had never seen so much stars. The sky was really amazing and I kept staring at it for 10 minutes or so.

We were both exhausted and went to bed. I kept asking myself about the guys on the bikes, they were probably just hunters…