On the Silk Road to Bukhara
Yes, I'm still here! Still on the road, and still OK. There are few opportunities to get onlnie during this section of the journey, so if you haven't heard from me lately, don't be surprised.
This will be another text-only Blog: I just don't have the time to add photos, due to my mistake of not bringing an AC power supply for my laptop. By the time I've downloaded the pics from my camera to the laptop, then made a DVD of them, the battery has run out. I then have to wait until the next day to re-charge on the truck. Moral of the story: bring an AC and a DC power supply if you are intending to bring a laptop on the truck. All i all, though, I'm REALLY glad that I have it with me. Its not often possible to find a shop to do the job of transferring photos to a DVD - the only alternative is a STACK of memory cards.
Mail - I made a pickup in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. One letter was received, from Margaret Makins. Thanks, Margaret - I have sent you a postcard. It was fun tracking down your letter - they don't use the Poste Restante service very much in Ashgabat, but a nice girl at the main post office tracked it down - it had been received just 1 day before I got there!
The truck, and I, are currently in Bukhara, Uzbekistan. We are having a great time, with lots of stunning things to see. The cities here: Khiva, Bukhara, and Samarkand, are one of the main reasons why I came on this journey, and they are NOT disappointing me at all.
Also, the weather has improved a lot, and we now have plenty of sun. I guess the temperature must be in the high 30s, so am finding things to do inside during the heat of the day, venturing out in the late afternoon to take advantage of the gorgeous desert light.
This Blog is a little un-prepared, as I was not sure whether I could get online or not today. Soooo, I'll just jot a few things down that occur to me, ad add more at a later date. Since my last entry, we have crossed the Caspian Sea to Turkmenistan, on a very old train ferry. Quite an experience - my photos of the toilet will probably receive an '18' certificate, but the bunks were comfortable enough, and the ferry not too crowded. Only a couple of other road vehicles - the ship was mostly full of freight trucks. We shared the ship with 2 groups of cyclists travelling from Greece to Beijing in time for the Olympics - the Germans were well organised, as you would expect, but the Lithuanians were rather less so, as not all had passports with them. At the other side, we spent AGES trying to get through customs and immigration - we were even charged for PARKING the truck whilst we went through the formalities, and that for TWO days as the processing went past midnight!! There was also an unloading-fee, as we took our own bags off the truck to go through Customs - what a cheek!!
Turkmenistan is a very unusual country, with a very unusual capital city. The last president features everywhere, usually in statues plated with gold, and we are constantly reminded of his status as 'Father of the Turkmens' - figuratively speaking, of course. He even has his own manual published, that tells his people how to live their lives: rather like the other Little Read Book. Ashgabat is an imposing city, with wide avenues, more statues, but a surfeit of people. Where have they put them all, one wonders? Driving out to the desert provides no clues - we saw very few 'real people' there either.
Uzbekistan is much nicer. Even the border officials were smiling and waving. The women here are very friendly, graceful and beautiful - what a shame that I don't have more room in my back pack. I'm enjoying the cities a lot here, so won't say much more right now: there's a lot of photos still to take!!
Love to everyone. Do send a note to say what's happening - its always nice to hear from you.
