November 27th, 2006 | categorizilation: all categories,Uzbekistan
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 break 120km over about 7.5 hours by the end of the day. A long day.
I didn’t get into Navoy until about 7pm tonight, and it was tough work to find a spot to sleep. Eventually I spied an under construction petrol station along the road. Upon investigation, I decided to set up my sleeping mat under the eaves around the back of the service station.
Thing is, I was half way through my dinner of bread, cheese, butter and raddish (I love this cold weather – I can now carry butter), when two people rounded the corner at the back of the service station. They hadn’t noticed me, and were checking some wiring, when I decided it was best to say hello.
Hello there.
A startled grunt from the bigger of the two, and then the expected “What are you doing here?”
It turned out that this was a couple that was working on the interior of the service station – a man and his wife. They had come to do a last check for the day before heading back home.
I explained that I was heading for England, and I had nowhere to stay in the town. To be honest, I was tired and would rather have slept there despite the cold (it was a relatively warm 3 degrees at that stage). However they would have none of that, and insisted that I come and stay at their place. Their logic prevailed, and I wheeled my stuff over to their place, and crashed there for the night. Of course not after entertaining them with conversation about me until about 10:30pm…shattered.
look at the groovey dudes dancing on the sign wicked! I bet their listening to techno-popo on stan FM.
I need a beer it's all too much…
Is it colder there now than it was up those passes in Western China? Are the gortex sox able to keep your toes warm? What you need are some layers of merinomink (possum plus merino wool)to keep you warm. Garments/gloves/sox made out of this are very light and pack up into very small bundles but are extreemly cosy.
Hey Rob,
Do the people you meet in central Asia generally speak English? I don't recall reading anything about you being able to speak Uzbek. 
