November 30 Distance / 距離： 110.63km Time / 時間： 6h 32m Average speed / 平均速度： 16.9km/h Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 415.73km English Summary: Smooth, easy riding today. Got free hot bread from a bakery. Maximum -3 degrees in middle of the day. Tried to get across the Turkmenistan border […]
Monthly Archives: November 2006
UPDATE: I take it all back. I have found a really fast internet place, so have updated the last few days of action. Therefore I have also decided to stay in Buhara today. Will be a big day tomorrow to get to Turkmenistan border, but no worries. She’ll be right. […]
Day 130 – Snowy Buhara
Another long day into a chilly head wind – 120km again. I do love these long straight roads though. You can just keep pedalling and pedalling and pedalling…but then it gets dark, which is rather a pain. Just when you’re getting into it at around 5pm, everthing goes dark. And […]
Day 129 – Navoy to Buhara
The thermometer read minus 3 degrees at 7:30am when I finally mustered the courage to emerge from my sleeping bag. Nothing I guess compared to Rob Luxton’s minus 20 morning recently in northern China A very flat day with a slight headwind towards the end of the day saw me […]
Day 128 – From 40km towards Kattakorgon to Navoy
I spent most of the morning today searching, with the help of Kolima’s brother, for a stainless steel thermos. We searched in two bazaars, and along the streets of the center of town in Samarkand. However all we could find were cheap Chinese glass-lined thermi (?) that would last only […]
Day 127 – From Samarkand to 50km towards Kattakorgon
A big thanks to Komila and her family for putting me up today at their place. Great food, friendly dog, warm bed. Thanks also for letting me use your computer. Hence I was able to stitch together a few more panoramas from Tajikistan…
Day 126 – At the Rakhimova’s
While in Tajikistan, I slept out in the open one night. Problem was that it was dark when I put my sleeping mat down. In the morning I pulled out two big thorns from the mat, leaving some nice punctures. I did however have a thermarest repair kit with me, […]
Day 125 – Thermarest repaired
I replaced the seals and regreased the insides of my rear suspension (DT Swiss SSD 225 air shock) yesterday. Fantastic shock by the way. Not a hint of dirt or wear inside. This is the first time I have serviced the thing in 7000km. The Lizzard Skin suspension boots have […]
Day 124 – Bits and bobs
Now that I was not expecting… The snow here in Samarkand is forecast for tomorrow also. I just hope it clears up in the next week or so. Great weather for taking your bike’s suspension to bits, but not so great for riding and sleeping in a tent! For now I […]
Day 122 – Snow in Uzbekistan?
Yeah, so I am still here in Samarkand. It was raining the last couple of days. Ok, I lie. It was beautiful weather yesterday, but I decided instead of heading out that I would take my bike to bits and clean it. My chain is soaking in kerosene, and my […]
Day 120 – Ahem
Out of that noisy city that is Tashkent and back to the niceness that is Samarkand. I do not plan on being here for long however. Tomorrow I head for east of Samarkand. About 200km east is a national park…I will get back to you on the name of it, […]
Day 117 – Back to Samarkand
Quick update from Tashkent. Applied for my Azerbaijan visa today. Arrived at the embassy at 10am, filled out the forms, and was told to come back on next Monday. Luckily, the Azerbaijan Embassy did not need to keep my passport. That means that I can apply for my Turkmenistan visa […]
Day 115 – Tashkent (capital of Uzbekistan)
Just spending most of the day playing here in the internet cafe. Check out some video footage of the Anzob Tunnel in Tajikistan below: (This will take you to my YouTube.com page) Also uploaded recently was footage of a cool water powered flour mill I saw while in Langar in […]
Day 112 – UZBEKISTAN: Samarkand
After a quick 2 hour ride, I am now in Samarkand, the famous ancient Silk Road city. It certainly does not disappoint with the architecture. I am staying at Bahodir’s Bed and Breakfast, a nice youth hostel in Samarkand that gets many foreign travellers. At present however it is almost […]
Day 111 – Samarkand!
English Summary: Had another run in with border guards today (the last time was when leaving Kyrgyzstan). The Tajikistan customs official wanted US$10 for registry entry. I told him that I had not been charged for such a thing in the last five border crossings so why now? Upon hearing this […]
Day 110 – From Tajikistan/Uzbekistan border to Taylak Village (English ...
Infuriated at the slow internet at apparently the best internet joint in town (the Telecom building), I left Penjikent at around 2pm after spending four hours just to do a few days worth of updates on this website. I hope New Zealand gets it’s act together and sorts out some […]
Day 109 – Penjikent to Sarazm Village
Distance / 距離： 80km Time / 時間： 07:30 – 15:00 Ascent / 上り： 700m Descent / 下り： 1065m Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 4060km Great day of cycling.
Day 108 – From just past Ayni to Penjikent
Distance / 距離： 60km Time / 時間： 06:30 – 17:00 Ascent / 上り： 570m Descent / 下り： 830m Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3980km日本語要約：一日狭い谷に走っていました。途中に小さい町がたくさんあって、食べたいものが以外に買えました。今日もテントなしで寝ています。 I didn’t pitch my tent last night. I just slept in an apricot orchard under a leaf-less tree. Therefore I woke up in the morning with […]
Day 107 – From near Anzab (Anzob) to just past ...
Distance / 距離： 80km Time / 時間： 07:30 – 22:00 Ascent / 上り： 1465m Descent / 下り： 1165m Distance to date / 今日までの積算距離： 3920kmEnglish Summary: Somebody shoot me. I seem to have this reflex action that atracts me to dangerous places. Or perhaps I am not alone in this. If […]
Day 106 – Through Anzob (Anzab) Tunnel on a bicycle ...
Right’o then. Off I go. In the direction of Penjikent, the last major town in Tajikistan before the Uzbekistan border. My Uzbek visa starts on the 10th of November, so I’ve got heaps of time to get myself over the 3300m Anzob pass (Dushanbe – my present location – is at […]
Day 105 – Leaving Dushanbe
Distance / 40km Time / 13:30 – 17:00 Ascent / 595m Descent 165m Distance to date / 3840kmArgh. My speedometer (bike computer) won’t read speed! The cadence ensor works fine, but the speed sensor is kaput! I tried many things, including swapping the sensors over, removing all the wire except […]
Day 105 – From Dushanbe to 40km towards Anzob Tunnel
Dushanbe is a great city. Tree lined streets, western food, friendly locals… There is a darker side however. That side dwels within the police force. If you ever needed a recipe for corruption, just look at how the Tajikistan system works. It is remarkably simple. Step one: Pay your police […]
Day 104 – In the Dush’
I have discovered a threat to civilisation. This picture was taken at my great bodily risk: The suspect also made a beeline for my bike. However this young terror has been bagged. A big thank you to Achmed for putting me up for the night last night. It was most […]