Uzbekistan – Samarkand, 5 – 7 May 2019

Posted on Thursday, 9-May-2019 by Chris Desmond

I travelled from Bukhara to Samarkand by train, ticket cost 85,000 Som or $10. The travel agent charged me 120,000 Som and he got me a ticket on the slow train (120kph) which takes 2:30hrs instead of the Afrosiyob High Speed train (upto 250kph) which only takes 1:30hrs. My Guest house arranged a taxi for me, the station is 7km out of the city and it cost 30,000 Som. There is security when you enter the station and your bags go through a scanner but they waved me through when I got beeped. There is a money changer at the station run by a bank and I changed some USD, the rates are much the same at all banks. I have not seen any money changers not run by banks though I heard you can change money in the market. This is because USD are freely available at ATM’s and there is no black market for them.
When it was time to board I tried to get on the Afrosiyob and that’s when the conductor told me that I had a ticket for the slow train which was leaving 20 minutes later. Anyway it was a comfortable journey with only two of us in a six seat air-conditioned compartment. The train made a few 5 min stops along the way, depart Bukhara at 16:10 and arrive in Samarkand at 18:45. There are taxi drivers waiting at the station exit and one guy said $5 or 40,000 Som and I agreed, it turned out to be an unofficial taxi which means a beat up old Lada hahaha.

Samarkand is a much bigger city with broad main roads but the back streets of the old city are still the same narrow lanes, clean but pot holed and dusty with an open drain running down the middle, not as charming as Bukhara.

Both Hotels I stayed at gave me a Registration slip, I have them in my passport, no one has asked to see them as yet.

Registan Square

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Posted in Uzbekistan | 4 Comments

Uzbekistan – Bukhara, 2 – 4 May 2019

Posted on Sunday, 5-May-2019 by Chris Desmond

The drive from Mary to Bukhara was interesting, we left at 10:00, speeds upto 140kph over rough bitumen, stopped by radar but got out of it by saying foreigner in a hurry hahaha. Police checks about every km or so but only had to pull over a few times, made good time and arrived in Turkmenabat at 1230. Kebabs and bread for lunch, off at 1330 arrived at the border check point at 1430 cars can’t go any further. Said goodbyes and got on a minivan to go from there to the Immigration building about 1km and got charged 20 manat or US$6, I was soon to learn that this was a total rip-off hahaha. First luggage gets scanned and then I had to fill in a Customs form which was not in English so one of the army guys took my passport and did it for me, next immigration no queue, took 2 min and then out of the building at 1500. Waited for the another minivan to come, about a 2km drive to the border and the guy only asked for US$1, took a pic of the van and he wanted me to delete it, people here are paranoid about photos. Got dropped off at the actual border, walked across to Uzbekistan only a few meters and waited with some Uzbek Border guards who were quite friendly. The minivan turned up after 5 min and took us about 2km to the Quarantine building, cost US$1 again, this seems to be the standard charge. My temperature was checked and the guy said go, about a 100m walk along a paved pathway to the immigration building, no queue, just one woman and her child who had been with me since the Turkmenistan border, 2 min to stamp my passport and say “Welcome”. After that a 50m walk along the same paved path to a gate, another and last passport check and I was in Uzbekistan. The driver I had arranged with the travel agent was waiting for me outside, there are also taxis waiting, either private or shared for around US$15-30, I paid $30 because it was pre-booked and the guy had to come from Bukhara just for me, on the way at 1540, arrived in Bukhara at 1700.

Checked in to my Guest House and found that there was no water coming out of the taps. Apparently Bukhara runs out of water in the evening and you have to wait until the next day for it to start again. Lesson – brush your teeth and shower in the morning.

Went for a walk to Lyabi Hauz which is the main Square with a pond in the middle and it was crowded with tourists, mainly Russian but also some Europeans, British and I heard one American accent. Many souvenir shops and restaurants and a market nearby. First I needed cash and my Visa card did not work in any of the ATM’s so I got hold of a taxi driver and we drove around to a few banks, still no luck but one of them said try the bank opposite, they have a machine that accepts Visa cards. Tried that machine and it said no cash so I decided to select the option to withdraw US$ and it worked, so I took the US$ into the bank and changed it into Som the local currency. This is what I did for the next couple of transactions as well, it wasn’t my card, it was because I was trying to withdraw the local currency, withdrawing US$ worked with no problems. Kapital Bank has Visa ATM’s that dispense US$ and they are all over the country. I also tried to change some leftover Manat but no one wanted them.

Next a SIM card, Beeline was recommended as the best so that’s what I got, cost 75,000 Som (US$9) for 4000 minutes and 6GB Data and it worked straight away with a 4G connection. I did not have my passport with me so the guy in the shop used his ID instead hahaha, anything to make a sale.

Next food, I went into a restaurant and the prices were very cheap, a bowl of meat and vegetable soup with noodles which had a local name cost $2 and a beer $2.50, there was also a 10% service charge. I found there are more expensive restaurants about double the price but still cheap.

Baha-ud-din Naqshband Bokhari Memorial, Emir’s Summer Palace, Chor Bakr, The Ark, Zindan or Prison

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Posted in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Turkmenistan – Mary, 30 April – 01 May 2019

Posted on Wednesday, 1-May-2019 by Chris Desmond

After a restless night freezing in a tent at the Darvaza crater, we drove back to Ashgabat. The train to Mary left at 15:00 and a whole 4 berth compartment had been booked for myself and the guide, total cost US$36. The train crawled and bumped along at an average speed of 60kph arriving in Mary (pronounced Murry as in Slurry) at 2220. A driver was waiting and we were taken to a hotel without Wifi which had seen better days. This place is in complete contrast to Ashgabat, it is normal with all kinds of cars new and old and of many colours and the buildings were just as varied but it still had the army of street sweepers keeping the place clean.

Today we drove to Gonur Depe down some fairly rugged roads, high ground clearance required and we were in a 4WD, the driver, his pal, the guide and myself. After that we stopped at Soltan Sanjaryn’s Mausoleum and the sights around it in Ancient Merv.

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Turkmenistan – Ashgabat, 26 – 29 April 2019

Posted on Monday, 29-April-2019 by Chris Desmond

The first step in travelling to Turkmenistan is to contact a local Travel Agent (I used Oguz Tour) and give them precise details of your plans, they will then apply for your Letter of Invitation. You need to start this process at least 2 months before your planned departure date. They will email you the Letter of Invitation which you must print and that is all you need to get on the plane to Turkmenistan. Cost of the 5 night, 6 day tour was US$830 paid in cash, included all food, accommodation, car and driver (no guide), pickup from the Airport and drop off at the Uzbekistan Border.

Getting to Ashgabat is not easy because not many airlines fly there. My route took me from Perth to Bangkok (7 hrs) on Thai Airways, 6 hour layover and then a 7 hour flight on Turkmenistan Airlines to Ashgabat. The airline does not have a website and I made the booking through their main Agent Deepika Travels in London, you cannot book through the website in the link, you have to call them and they are about half the price of any other booking website.  I had read some funny stories about this airline but it was a very pleasant flight, only about half full, more than enough leg room, wide seats and they served two meals. The Ashgabat Airport looks brand new and everything was immaculate, it was also completely deserted.  First stop is the visa counter where I was the only one and handed in my Letter of Invitation, paid US$99 at the counter next door and the visa was pasted into a full page of my passport. Next Immigration and except for 3 passengers myself included (I was the only tourist) the rest of the passengers were in transit so we were processed immediately, my suitcase arrived soon after and I was out of the airport very quickly, quite a painless experience.

Driving into the city I was confronted by a mass of white, marble clad, blocks of flats and practically no traffic, and no people, the few cars I saw were also mainly white Toyota’s. The streets were very clean, this is one of the cleanest cities in the world if not the cleanest. The old city is gradually being demolished and replaced with these white marble clad buildings. There are also very few signs or billboards anywhere just this unbroken whiteness with a splash of gold here and there. There are police everywhere randomly checking cars, which have to be white or silver and clean, a dirty car will result in a fine hahaha. People are very law abiding, crime is low, education and medical services are free though people who can afford it go to Turkey or India for treatment. There are many excellent restaurants and prices are high for everything, this is not a cheap place to live. All social media is blocked though you can get around this with a VPN but the speeds are so slow it not worth the effort. You must be accompanied by a guide at all times, you are not allowed to wander off on your own, apparently in the name of Safety but aren’t we living in a very safe city with little or no crime hahaha.

Altyn Asyr Market, Kow Ata Cave, WWII Memorial, Gokdepe Stables, Turkmenbashy Mosque.

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Carpet Museum, Monument of Neutrality, TV tower, National museum.

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Netherlands and UK – Veghel, Hastings and Horsham, 16 – 26 September 2018

Posted on Thursday, 27-September-2018 by Chris Desmond

UK to Azerbaijan and Back 2018

Stats – 137 days on the road, 16,145 kms, 772 litres, Cost of fuel €944, Average 21.46 km/l

Schollbrunn to Veghel – Easy ride to Veghel along the freeway, fine, cool and sunny.

When I arrived in Veghel, the annual fair was in full swing, the centre of the town is closed and rides and stalls are set up on the streets.

Veghel to Hastings – Cloudy but the rain held off with many roadworks which don’t slow me down much anymore, I just ride down the emergency lane. For the first time ever in the many crossings I have made using Le Shuttle under the English Channel, the train was delayed by about an hour. So I went into the terminal, another first and had a look around.

Sussex Masters Swimming Championships at Horsham

Besides sampling the English ales and food I went on a day trip to Horsham where the Sussex Masters Swimming Championships were being held and my friend was taking part. The Masters simply means there are different age groups for both young and old.

Posted in Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom | 1 Comment

Germany – Schollbrunn, 15 September 2018

Posted on Saturday, 15-September-2018 by Chris Desmond

Another border crossing from Austria to Germany which I approached with dread and I rode straight through no one there but I was not getting off so easy. A few kilometres into Germany there was a queue of traffic about 10 km long which turned out to be another temporary border checkpoint. I rode down the emergency lane and where ever I could find a gap until I got to the front, cars and especially trucks would have been stuck there for ages, hard to believe I am in the EU without borders hahaha.

Another overnight stop in a village close to the freeway, good ride through the forest getting to it.

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Austria – Vienna, 11 – 14 September 2018

Posted on Friday, 14-September-2018 by Chris Desmond

Vienna – home to Mozart and Freud, population 2.6 million, a million statues and thousands of museums.

Opera, Burggarten, Maria-Theresien-Platz, Museums Quartier, Hofburg, Kohlmarkt, Graben and Kartner Streets.

Naschmarkt, Secession Museum, Rathaus, Wiener Minoritenkirche and I replaced the air filter on my bike, it was full of insects and definitely the cause of the increased fuel consumption.

Prater Park, Hundertwasser House, Kunst Haus Wien Museum

Kunsthistorisches Museum

 

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Austria – Vienna, 09 – 10 September 2018

Posted on Monday, 10-September-2018 by Chris Desmond

Budapest, Hungary to Austria, Vienna, just around the corner, only a 3 hour ride. Fine and cool with blue skies and being in the Schengen area now no border crossing to worry about  today or so I thought hahaha, think again this was the worst one so far. As I neared the border I saw a queue of cars a long way from the border and I thought No, No, No, “an accident” up ahead, this is going to take ages because they won’t let anyone through until the debris has been cleared. Anyway I did my usual and slowly filtered through the traffic, down the emergency lane and when that ended, through the middle until I got to the front and discovered the Austrian authorities had setup a temporary border and were checking cars and pulling some over for further scrutiny. If you are in a car be prepared for long delays, I was told later that this has been going on for a while. The Police ignored me as I rode past taking a picture of them. Lesson – motorcycles are good for crossing borders but useless when it comes to protecting you from bee stings hahaha.

Immediately you cross the border there is a Shell service station, stop here and buy your Vignette, 10 days for a motorcycle cost 5.20 euro. I tried to buy the Vignette online but for some weird reason it can only  be done 3 weeks in advance.

First thing I did was buy a one week pass for the public transport which consists of trains, trams and busses, cost 17.10 euro and for some reason it is a Monday to Sunday ticket only (Quote – Valid for unlimited travel in Vienna within the specified calendar week Mon-Sun. This is not a 7-day ticket!). This worked perfectly for me as I arrived on a Sunday, not so good if you arrive mid-week but there are other options. The ticket machines at the stations speak English.

The fuel consumption on my bike has increased by 10-15% and I am hoping it is due to the air filter getting clogged. So I found a Bike shop and ordered a new air filter and they gave me the bolt I needed for the chain guard free, in fact they gave me 2 sizes just in case.   Bike City gets a thumbs up from me. After that I walked to the nearby Technical Museum, I find these museums fascinating and never miss the opportunity to visit them. This place is huge and had a cafe with very reasonable prices. Entry 13 euro and lunch 6.40 euro, I spent about 3 hours looking around the 3 floors of exhibits.

 

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Hungary – Budapest, 08 September 2018

Posted on Saturday, 8-September-2018 by Chris Desmond

Kragujevac, Serbia to Budapest, Hungary another transit stop in a motel close to the highway on the outskirts of the city. While you pay your tolls on the road in Serbia, you have to buy a vignette for Hungary. This can be done online, there are a number of websites, this is the official one and you have to register and go through the rigmarole but you can pay with your credit card and it works. https://e-autopalyamatrica.hu/en

At the first fuel stop I smelled something burning and looked around my bike and noticed the chain guard had come adrift and was rubbing against the wheel. So I parked and saw that the bolt holding it in place had fallen out. I checked my spare parts and saw I had a bolt of  the right diameter but it was too long, after trying to saw a bit off it with a hacksaw blade I decide it would be quicker to use a temporary solution and buy a new bolt of the right size at the next opportunity, 50 min later I was on my way again. This is the first problem I have had with this bike in 4 years and 57,000 km.

If I thought the queues at the borders were horrendous upto now I was soon to be disillusioned when I arrived at the Serbia/Hungary border. The queue was even longer and the checks more stringent because we are now entering the Schengen area and once you get past this point there are no more border checks, you can go anywhere in the EU. My tried and proven method of getting through borders was really put to the test here hahaha. There were cars everywhere and I had to park my bike and scout around on foot until I saw there was place in the truck lane for me to sneak through. I turned around and started to ride past the stationary trucks in the small space available until I got to a stranded truck that had pulled over onto the divider leaving very little space. I beeped and the truck in the other lane turned his steering and moved just enough to let me through, no place to manoeuvre and then he got out of his cab and guided me through the gap watching that my panniers did not scrape against any of the other vehicles hahaha. When I got to the front all the vehicles were stopped a few hundred metres short of the Hungary border and were only being let through 2 or 3 at a time to the Hungary Immigration booths up ahead, they waved me through hahaha, another half a day border crossing reduced to 20 minutes.

When I arrived at the motel in Budapest I took my jacket off and a bee hiding in the sleeve jumped out and stung the back of my hand.

 

Posted in Hungary, Serbia | 2 Comments

Serbia – Kragujevac, 07 September 2018

Posted on Friday, 7-September-2018 by Chris Desmond

Lyubimets, Bulgaria to Kragujevac, Serbia in reverse this time, almost the same route as when I was coming the other way but they appear to have finished the road works in the intervening months. Managed to go around Sofia on the bypass but not sure if it was any quicker hahaha, after that 2 lanes through the mountains then the border and the road through the gorge. Thousands of Turkish German cars (D) still on the road returning to the EU which makes the borders a nightmare if you are driving. By now I have perfected my border crossing technique hahaha, first rule is ignore all the signs that say “EU passports”, “All passports”, “Busses”, “Trucks”, etc. just find your way to the immigration booth. The fastest route is around the outside of all the queues, if you try to go between them you will get stuck at some point, when you get to the front, poke your front wheel in between 2 cars and they will let you in. This time a Turkish guy gave me a lecture on how he had been waiting for 2 hours and why should he let me in and moved his car forward to block me hahaha, I ignored him and the next guy let me in. At the Batumi border an immigration officer ordered a couple of cars to reverse and let me through. Besides this one idiot everyone has been friendly and done their best to help me get through the mess, sitting in the hot sun or rain in full riding gear is no fun. All up I was through in 20 min, good 4 lane road after that all the way to Kragujevac. Serbia is on EU time so this will be the last time I adjust my various clocks (bike, phone, 2 cameras, laptop). This is just an overnight stop, a place rest my weary bones.

 

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