August 25, 2009

Day30, Aug 16th 2009 – Flat as a pancake!

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: — arun @ 6:42 am

Route : Taldyquorghan, Kazakhstan >>> A random grassland 30kms outside Semey
Approx Distance : 840km

Today was going to be a race against time…we HAD to leave Kazakhstan by tomorrow and it was a shade above 1000km to the border…furthermore, we HAD to get out of Russia the by the day after because Dink and Kristie’s visas ran out and one would not want to overstay Russia! So we were prepping for some all out driving the next couple of days…

Um...yes, it is flat.

Um...yes, it is flat.

We drive and drive and drive…nothing spectacular about the landscape…there were some low hills for a couple of hundred kms and then it flattened out. Pancake flat. Crepe flat. Flat as the word gets…which obviously made driving a bit of a bore. After a while, we could see just nothing above sea level or ground level or whatever that may be…soon even random abandoned cardboard boxes by the roadside started grabbing our attention. I sorta saw in action how the human mind works now…i mean, if left idle, our mind really gets bored. Thanks to evolution we the human race are now at a point where we HAVE to be occupied…more chaos…entropy…we will only have more and more chaos…which is why world peace and all seems to be a bit of a concept and nothing more really..under the assumption that peace reduces the chaos of course. Ok i diverted a bit…back to Kazakhstan…

Soon we saw this train running parallel to us in the distance…was mesmerizing in a way. The train was almost at the horizon and the heat waves threw at us an illusion of the whole train melting away and yet moving…it was so cool that we actually stopped at an overhead bridge (the only point in miles which was above ground level) to watch the train pass below and take some snaps…to be honest, it was not much of a snap…but the break was good.

Chugging on...

Chugging on...

We let the Suzuki pass now and had to catch up…the road was decent enough..so made good speed…we caught up to a BMW in front and were just about to pass when he braked…we braked…and then before we could react, this HUGE bump on the road passed right between the wheels…in the BMW, the effect was a ton of sparks at the under body…for us, a huge scraping noise from nose to tail…! The car was still running…we waited for a while…didn’t seem to have a problem. We were now really thankful for the “Duduk Rally” metal plate which the mechanics at my company bolted on underneath the engine…phew!

We didn’t see any rally cars today…kept going…there was no dearth of gas stations…so were pretty comfortable. Soon the sun was setting and it started chilling up a bit…Raja took over the driving for a while…it was the first time he took over. He was getting a bit restless i think with sitting at the back…he did request that he drive in Turkmenistan in a particularly traffic-less stretch…but i didn’t give it to him cos we were a 5 car convoy then. Now it was a bit dark…but Dink promised to keep an eye on him…so from now on Raja shared the driving responsibilities as well. As long as we were keeping an eye on the road, this was good news for me and Rajesh. I managed to start watching a movie in the back…but couldn’t complete it…

The Kazakh Steppe...

The Kazakh Steppe...

There were 2 huge fresh water lakes in the map en-route. We were wondering if the highway would take us along the coast of these…unfortunately it didn’t. But we realized that we must be close when we saw people selling fish by the highway…imagine, right in the middle of the Kazakh Steppe, people selling fish! They had these fish shaped pieces of cardboard which they just waved at any traffic which passed…and of course, the produce itself usually was to be found either in a motorcycle sidecar or a box behind a bush. It was quite a sudden thing…especially when there were absolutely no other shop (apart from gas stations now and then) for hundreds of kilometers. Anyway, We were stopped at this check post…seemed more serious than a random stop by the police. He really gave our papers a good thorough scan and let us through…but not before giving us a handful of “STOP DRUGS” stickers! We stuck a couple on each car and carried on…as we went on, we realized why the checks were done…the town seemed to be some sort of army base…hmmm…anyway, we kept going on…sunset was complete. It was now totally dark…and just in time, the road got worse..and worse…and worse. Soon we were going through patches of smooth cruising at 60 or 70 kmph broken VERY VERY abruptly by huge craters on the road. We took quite a few bangs on our wheels as we kept going…jarred us to the bone it did. This went on for more than a couple of hours…on coming traffic and the very rash local drivers didn’t help matters much…

We got quite fed up with the roads eventually and gave up on our plan of reaching Semey that day…after some deft searching, we veered off the highway onto the rocky Steppe…couldn’t go too far…and didn’t really want to either. We setup the tents amidst big rocks…was not too comfortable, but had to suffice. The roads really ground us to the bone and we just wanted to sleep. We did that eventually…but not before admiring the milky way and the countless stars all over. The sky was really clear and i could see the universe in all its glory…was the clearest sky i have seen on this trip (and probably in my life) till then…was quite a nice treat after the gruelling day. Zzzzzzzzzz….

Day29, Aug 15th 2009 – The Marriage!

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: , — arun @ 6:34 am

Route : Almaty, Kazakhstan >>> Taldyquorghan, Kazakhstan
Approx Distance : 270km

Today was the day of the marriage. Yes. The marriage.

The fruit girls on the highway!

The fruit girls on the highway!

You heard me right…one of Dink’s colleagues by name Asset was marrying his sweetheart who they call Aseel. Asset weds Aseel. We were all invited by his family! :) The marriage was at this town called Taldyquorghan about 270kms from Almaty. Thankfully it was on our route to Russia…we reckoned we could make it out of Kazakhstan on the 17th (which was when my visa was running out)…so we agreed to really check this marriage out instead of just passing through. We did head back to Cafe Delia for some morning juice/coffee and to do some stuff online…didn’t spend too much time but spent enough to make the drive to the marriage a not too gentle one.

Checked out quick enough and we must have gotten 10m from the hotel when a policeman stopped us…hmmm…apparently we were going the wrong way in an one way street…he took Rajesh’s passport and just started walking away…! Wtf! So it was a a bit weird to see a policeman sauntering in front, a slightly puzzled Rajesh following him and the Peugeot bringing up the rear. Anyway, another car came screeching in…the policeman throws back his passport, jumps into the car and takes off. Hmmm…anyway…

Our welcoming party at the gates of Taldyquorghan!

Our welcoming party at the gates of Taldyquorghan!

The Suzuki was not in sight by then…we called Dink and agreed to sync up later on the highway. So on the road again after 2 days. Felt good to be driving again. We stopped by a fruit shop to pickup an honey melon. The fruit shop people were a couple of girls…as expected, they wanted a photo with us, we obliged. Nice girls. We drove on until we see this water body…i call it a water body because it was split in pieces and very scattered. Water looked calm and deep…very blue. Formed a brilliant contrast with the dull red earth. We saw people sunbathing and swimming in there…later on we see a dam. Ahhh. We stopped at a tree and cut up the melon…delicious. Kris and Dink arrive, more melon..and off we go.

Our table at the marriage!

Our table at the marriage!

The drive was ok…roads not too bad. But it looked increasingly tough to meet the deadline…we pushed it a bit and made it to Taldyquorghan at just about 6..or maybe it was 5…don’t remember. Anyway, we were waiting for Asset to pick us up…he generously offered to do that. We were just outside town…and it was quite obvious that it was marriage season. We seemed like a fish out of water amidst 3 huge stretch limos…a bunch of white Mercedes cars, extremely well dressed people (our clothes have changed color almost by now)! As we were waiting, a coupla marriage processions arrived there as well…with their stretch limos of course. Hehe…looks like we were at the ending point of the standard marriage procession. Made sense though…to drive from one end of town to the other…as we were expecting by now, Asset arrived in style…with his sparkling bride, his and her family and of course, the ubiquitous (at least during marriage season) stretch limo.

Guess what this is...horse meat. The main course!

Guess what this is...horse meat. The main course!

Asset was this shortish guy who appeared as if there were a thousand things on his mind…he shook hands with us but didn’t make eye contact. Maybe he is the shy type…anyway, we didn’t have time to loose. He found a taxi for us to lead us to a hotel and to drive us back to the marriage. We made haste…checked in…freshened up a bit…became more presentable…and drove to the wedding. We were clearly outsiders there…and we got stares from almost everyone. I didn’t feel all that comfy with the whole thing…anyway, we hang around the place for a while. The marriage hall…was actually a smallish hall with a platform where the DJ hung out, some microphones and some rooms on the outside for other purposes.

Part of the package...belly dance!

Part of the package...belly dance!

At the time of our arrival, there was this traditional Kazakh choir playing some local folk music…was very nice. After a while, we were asked the enter the hall. There were medium sized circular tables all round with food on it…but strangely no one was sitting down yet…of course, the bride and groom were missing. Anyway, suddenly this man in a tuxedo made out of what looked like cheap leather jumps out of nowhere with a mic in hand and starts sing-talking something!

A glimpse into the merry making... :)

A glimpse into the merry making... :)

This guy is like the master of ceremonies…compere…or something like that. He was more or less like the director/manager for the whole evening…anyway, a lot of Kazakh sentences later, the bride and groom walk in with some fanfare…a granny even showered them in chocolates! We were announced at some point in time…we had to walk up to a piggy bank kind thing setup in the middle and drop in some money! This was getting interesting…anyway, we were guided to a table and sat down.

It was quite visibly the foreigner table…apart from us, there was Kevin, another colleague of Asset…Paul and Fiona, a british couple. Paul was the boss of Aseels boss. After about 2 minutes, a guy drags a local girl to our table and makes her sit down. She speaks english we knew as we were speaking to her earlier…but the poor thing was deposited at our table in an attempt to make things comfortable for us. Very nice of her father…but too bad for her.

This one has been aptly named "Sudanese Drug Dealer" :D

This one has been aptly named "Sudanese Drug Dealer" :D

She was NOT enjoying it. Anyway, her name sounded like Tolkein..and she was studying business in London. She wanted to come back to Kazakhstan as soon as possible she said…i tried to keep her engaged in conversation for a while before decided to let her be…

Drinks came out…people took coke, juice, wine…and i tried Khumis. The local drink. It is fermented horse’s milk. As exotic as they get. Raja did sample its cousin…horse milk cheese in Kyrgyzstan…he said he would have preferred bilge water to that stuff…hmmm..so its was with a mixture of apprehension and excitement that i tasted it. It was not bad at all…it grows on you i would say….it tasted like liquefied strong smelly cheese of a certain kind. Tolkein said that it was alcoholic..but just mildly…anyway, we started to eat…awesome spread of tons of good stuff to suit most palettes. Apart from the staple drink, there was of course our shot glasses…those are special…reserved just for vodka which was drunk by the gallon that night. Since we were sort of guests of honor, the head guy or women from many families there walked up with their glass, toasted us and waited until all of us dunked our shots! :) I really don’t prefer drinking hard alcohol…but i took it as i didn’t want to offend these very nice people. Rajesh faked it though with some soda every time….

Anyway, we were getting drunk quite nicely…when the cultural program started…it was going on throughout the night. A Georgian all male dance group performed this very fast dance. A folk singer. A local player of a 2 stringed guitar. A more modern pop singer. A solo dance to represent eagle hunting…was very good. Anyway, representatives from every family walked up and spoke directly to the bride and groom conveying their wishes…they did that with a microphone on the stage. To our surprise, we were asked to do the same too…was a bit touching…Kevin, Paul and Kristie had something to say…we of course spoke in English, but whatever we said was promptly translated into Kazakh by a local girl! :)

Last but not the least, us with Asset and Aseel. Congrats to the couple! :)

Last but not the least, us with Asset and Aseel. Congrats to the couple! :)

Then the party started…the floor was cleared…dancing…more dancing…and more dancing…everyone jumped in…from the old grannies to kids! :) Raja set the floor on fire with his enthu…while the rest mingled in glee! It was a bit embarrassing to say this…but my jeans became terribly loose and i didn’t bring along my belt…so dancing was really not an option. I volunteered to be the photographer! :) We were in the end, given gifts…local hats, some coats, sweets, a ton of vodka (it was very good btw), bread, loads of the left over horse meat and more food! :) We felt very very warm at the end of it…none of us expected that we would be treated like this. It was awesome!

Anyway, Asset finds us another taxi for the way back…we congratulated him for the dozenth time and peacefully went to sleep…totally content with the evening. I was initially a bit sceptical about this as i was afraid that it would waste time…but in the end, it all worked out AND we had a ball! No regrets! :)

Day28, Aug 14th 2009 – Reunited again!

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: , — arun @ 6:30 am

Route : Almaty, Kazakstan
Approx Distance : 0km

War memorial at Panfilo Park

War memorial at Panfilo Park

Rajesh and Raja did arrive at 6am…had to drag myself out of bed to guide them to the hotel…they got the cheap 20$ rooms as well. Didn’t say much…everyone was sleepy. Anyway, we woke up at 10am or so…got ready and headed out for breakfast…now that the lonely planet (which was on tow with Rajesh) was back…we had a map in english and some places we wanted to check out. According to the book, there was this Doener Kebap place that deserved special mention…hmmm…we thought we should give that a shot. I was not too impressed by the idea as i am usually right in the middle of a Doener overdose in Germany..but thought why not anyway. As it turns out, this one was VERY different from the ones back home…

City Tram...it had to jostle with the pedestrians as much as we had to at the Green Bazaar!

City Tram...it had to jostle with the pedestrians as much as we had to at the Green Bazaar!

The filling was the standard strips of meat shaved off the big rotating mass of meat…but its further processed with some peas and cooked a bit i think. Then on the Yufka bread comes paprika, cucumber, carrots, onions and some salad leaves…hmmm…then finally ketchup and mayo…hmmm…mixed feeling to be honest. Tasted ok though…we would have liked a more meat heavy one…but yeah, a good breakfast it was. Then we headed for Cafe Dalia, supposed to be one of the best places for pastries in town…and more importantly, WiFi! After some slight struggle, found it still where it was supposed to be…and the book was totally right. I had this chocolate cup filled with chocolate cream, Raja had the same but with mango cream instead and Rajesh had an eclair…wow. Good stuff this. Those 2 left back to the hotel to sleep a bit more…i was hanging around in the cafe for a bit more than 4 hours…felt good. Heard loads of English speakers there…looks like one of the favorites for the allegedly huge expat population of Almaty.

Anyway, as i was headed back for the hotel, a really drunk Kazakh stops me and asks “Why are you so black?” :) This is by no means racism in its negative connotation…but genuine curiosity. So i told him where i was from…something made him think i am a student and he goes “What is your future job?”. I said “We drive to Mongolia!”. I think he decided i was a nutter at that point and left me. Hehe…anyway, didn’t do much the rest of the day until dinner time. We headed for the lonely planet pick…Safran…an Arabic restaurant supposedly. The ambiance was brilliant, prices high, the soup was out of the world delicious but the main course was a bit touchy…the oil had this very weird taste to it…hmmm…anyway, we did get a message from Dink in the meanwhile…they started from Bishkek and would be in Almaty around midnight…good stuff.

Coffeedelia...the best pastries we have had in some time!! Good place.

Coffeedelia...the best pastries we have had in some time!! Good place.

They had a very activity filled time in Kyrgyzstan. In short, their time involved some rafting, some kayaking, getting stuck in the tent during a full blown storm, watching desperate kayak guides dive into the raging river in search of a broken Kayak part, almost miss getting their Kazakh visas (they needed a new one as they used up their single entry one in getting to Bishkek from Tashkent)…hoho! Anyway, they made it alright…they and the car looked fine. A double room for them was booked in the same hotel…and went to crash togehter..as a team reunited! :)

Day27, Aug 13th 2009 – Major Ushakov!

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: , — arun @ 5:41 am

Route : Almaty, Kazakhstan…why leave this awesome city!
Approx Distance : a million in my dreams…0 in reality.

The people in this hotel…Hotel Uyut…were not really the best. They seemed very eager for me to leave and were not too helpful when posed with questions…hmm…a huge difference between the 3 guys from last night. Anyway, Rajesh managed to message me the names of some low cost hotels…got online, got their addresses and some other hotels to check out. Took my time though…so it was about noon when i checked out and loaded up the car. Armed with a map of Almaty in the Russian language, i thought my chances were not too bright at finding those hotels…hmmm…Anyway, there was a smallish parkish space…so sat down for a bit and was trying to make sense of the map…when a guy close by started talking…

Major Sergey Ushakov...he wanted to hitch a ride to Mongolia...

Major Sergey Ushakov...he wanted to hitch a ride to Mongolia...

He was in his mid forties, clean clothes, bespectacled, had a newspaper in hand and was smoking like a chimney. Hmmm…seemed like a nice  guy though…anyway, he offered to help with finding the hotel of second choice…he jumped on…didn’t take too long…a few minutes later, there i was navigating on the wrong side of the road with trams jostling just as hard with the pedestrians as the cars! The green bazaar! The most lively spot in Almaty…pretty much at the city center. I was headed for Hotel Turkestan…cheap room, clean sheets, a shared shower…20$. Not a bad deal…so i settled in…but the guy was still around. He kept saying the word for beer…and i liked him. So i thought why not head out for a beer…it was lunchtime and here i was looking for beer…never did that before. We headed into the Bazaar…it is an awesome place. One can find ANYTHING in there…from electrical items for the household, lingerie, meat, money exchangers and totally random people selling random stuff…i liked it a lot.

Oh btw, his name was Sergey Ushakov. He was a police major…retired…gets 230$ each month as pension…has a 21 year old daughter who is a student…and was totally impressed with the concept of the rally. He SO badly wanted to come along…i had to unfortunately disappoint him. Would have been useful to have a local dude who could speak the language and help us out…Anyway, a coupla beers and some smokes later, we were at Panfilo Park where the all wooden Zenkov Cathedral impressed me a lot. Sergey took me in and made me genuflect a bit…he didn’t seem very impressed when i told him that i am a hindu though. Anyway, we walked around a bit…and i was getting tired of this…might as well use this rare free time to update the blog i thought…so, headed back to the Hotel…another beer with Major Ushakov, made a video of him, took a photo and said bye to him. Nice guy…too nice sometimes…he actually offered me a prostitute which i politely refused. As it turns out, Kazakhstan is a very prostitute friendly country…after Sergey, the hotel reception guy offered us one! The stuff about Borat’s sister seems very believable now eh…

Zenkov Cathedral

Zenkov Cathedral

Anyway, thought i would crash off a bit…but i guess it was because of the weeks or starved sleep and relentless driving, i crashed off for 6 hours! Woke up sometime around dinner time…headed out for some chicken and rice meal. Interestingly, the restaurant which served this meal was run by extremely devout muslims. The ladies were covered from head to toe, pictures of Mecca all over the walls and arabic hymns running in the background…wow…such a huge contrast to the other muslims on the street with hip hugging jeans and stilettos. Was pretty much awake after that…so had a quiet evening in the room with the breeze blowing in, the local MTV as the background…and brought the writing upto date on the blog. Did get a message from Rajesh that he would be arriving at 6am…contemplated staying awake until then…4am…the contemplation gave way to a dreamless and very real stupor. Short but very relaxing day.

Day26, Aug 12th 2009 – Drive, drive, DRIVE!

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: , , — arun @ 5:39 am

Route : No mans land between Uzbekistan and Kazakstan >>> Almaty, Kazakstan
Approx Distance : 920km

Woke up, rushed into the border post and was looking around where to go when i heard “Jimmy Jimmy…come here!” it was one  of the guys from yesterday…hehe…i breezed through the Uzbek side..in all of 15 minutes! Now lets see what the Kazakh side has in store for us. Met up with Dink and Kris who started their process just before i arrived. Slow…slow…very slow…zzzz…then finally after some million minutes we were through without issues.

Just outside the border we halted for a breakfast of greasy eggs, some local sausage and some tea which tasted like soup. We also opened our melon in tow…overripe by now but tasty all the same in this summer heat. Today was going to be a race against time…Kris and Dink had to reach the Kyrgyzstan border before it closes and i had to reach Almaty. Almaty was a good 900 odd kms from where we were…so its going to be pretty much all out driving. So we set out…

Fueling up in Kazakhstan

Fueling up in Kazakhstan

The landscape was at first flat. Kazakhstan is known for its really flat steppes…and it didn’t fail to disappoint. There were some beautiful looking horses grazing about and the sun was shining mercilessly on us. It was so clear that we stepped into another country…the people were dressed differently, they looked slightly different, the roads, the buildings…cant put my finger exactly on what was different but it was something else. Anyway, we drove for about 160kms before we switched drivers…i wanted to drive the Suzuki a bit…and man…the Peugeot was heaven compared to the Suzuki. Dink had put in an extra leaf in the front suspension for off-road…as a result, it made the suspension way too hard and i could feel EVERY small bump on the road. I was bouncing along the whole route…and i am seriously impressed at those 2 for having got this far on this car. I had to constantly look at the road as compared to the roadish horizon when i am driving the Peugeot…was stressful.

We noticed petrol bunks with way too many octane level fuels..was a bit funny to see 98, 96, 95, 94, 92, 91 and 80 octane all at the same bunk. We tanked up on 96 and kept going. Then we entered this small mountain range…the steppes continued and it was beautiful to see. Wish we could have stopped and taken some pics though…anyway, for a good distance, we saw huge snow capped mountains to our right…it was essentially there throughout our drive until the point where we split…on the other side was another country. First Uzbekistan…later on, Kyrgyzstan. Dink was thinking how it would be to simply trek across this mountain and get into the other country… :)

Mepki, where we split up. I went to Almaty and K&D went on to Bishkek...

Mepki, where we split up. I went to Almaty and K&D went on to Bishkek...

Nothing eventful occurred…just plain driving…and at around 6:30pm we reached Mepki. Right, Bishkek..left, Almaty. So bid goodbye to Kris & Dink and was taking a longish break at the junction….when 2 kids walked up. The older one spoke very good English and asked to know where i am from. Once he knew that i was from India, he started speaking in Hindi! I was amazed…till date, i haven’t met a single person in Kazakhstan who spoke English..now heres this 12 or 13 year old who speaks English and Hindi. His name was Mohammed Amin and his friend’s name was Oljas. Apparently he went to an English school (probably an Indian one) in Dubai for a couple of years and even revealed the fact that his father spoke Malayalam! Wow! Anyway, the sun was still up and i wanted to make some good distance while i could drive fast…

Without the Suzuki on tow, i was able to drive really fast. Avg speeds around 120kmph…sometimes even hit 140. I am seriously impressed with this vehicle…one could hardly hear the motor and it soaked up every bump on the road with effortless ease…maybe i will buy a passenger version of this once i am back in Germany. Anyway, i did copy out Dinks map at the hotel yesterday for reference…i didn’t use it much though…i was afraid that i might go on a route which, on the map, seemed to pass through Kyrgyzstan for just a bit…didn’t happen. So it was pretty much all out driving with lots of breaks until Almaty…was pooped at the end of it.

The mountains seperating Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan...

The mountains seperating Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan...

Did SMS Rajesh asking for the lonely planet pick in the budget hotels in Almaty. He sent me the mid range pick instead. Since i didn’t have any other lead and was way too tired to spend time looking, i made for this. Till now, in every country that we passed through one could see signs and boards in the local language and in English. It was Kazakhstan where it all changed…everything was in Russian…everything! So i didn’t even have a starting point…so was asking people where this hotel was and was more or less driving on instinct. finally i stopped at this rather shady looking junction and asked some people…what happened next surprised me. The big fat guy who was obviously in charge comes up…tries to make sense of what i am saying…he couldn’t. So he calls up some lady who spoke English and let her translate my request. Then he tried to tell me how to get there…but it proved too much of a task…apparently too many twists and turns…so he ordered someone to bring out their car. A big shiny new landcruiser…and they lead me to the hotel. After we reach, he didn’t even hang around…just smiled, said bye and drove off. Nice people really. :)

Saw a rally car here…a Hyundai Atos…this was driven by a couple of older english guys…Sam and Henry. They wanted to raise their suspension a bit before the seriously hard part…Mongolia. I have a feeling that the Peugeot will make it…if the tires hold out and we don’t cross too many rivers. Of course, this was a midrange hotel…so they wanted 93 USD a night…woooaaa! I was tired and exhausted, but i cant pay that kind of money for a nights stay…so went to the neighbouring hotel and managed a room for 45 USD. This was still too costly considering that i am going to stay in Almaty for the next couple of days…so i pretty much decided to checkout the next day and scout around for really cheap places. Anyway, i patted myself on the back for the marathon drive…and retired to bed inspite of the stinking curtains and musty carpets…

August 15, 2009

Day25, Aug 11th 2009 – Of Gramophones and wild dogs in no mans land…

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: , — arun @ 6:00 am

Route : Tashkent, Uzbekistan >>> No mans land between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan
Approx Distance : 70km

We headed for the embassy a bit late than we would have liked…and found out that today the visa section is open only from 14:30 onwards. That  gave  us a bit of time…so we went back to Al Delphin…showed Kris and Dink the lovely food and we had a very pleasant lunch…this time under a shady tree. We went back to the embassy soon and met the Consul…we tried some more, pleaded, begged…the gramophone remained stuck. We called up the Consul in Ashgabat and he was very helpful…he informed me that its within the scope of his responsibility to figure this out with the government office which approves these letters. But the gramophone kept playing the same shitty line again and again…that i had to go to my travel agent who made the letter. They needed at least 4 days and 300$ again for a new letter…so…its with a heavy heart that i gave up on the Kyrgyzstan visa. Apart from Mongolia, this is the one country which i wanted to see really bad. Guess it has to be another time…i think i can combine it with Tajikistan (drive along the world famous Pamir Highway) and  maybe Iran too…and just maybe…even Afghanistan! Oh btw, the Consul in Tashkent…a total asshole. Never seen such an irritatingly unhelpful guy.

Kristie...with a real ass. The Kyrghyz Consul was just another normal ass!

Kristie...with a real ass. The Kyrghyz Consul was just another normal ass!

Anyway, it would be unfair on my part to ask Kris and Dink to miss Kyrgyzstan. They were looking forward to this even more than me. So they left. Hmmm…alone again. I like my solitude but not being left alone like this again and again. Grrrr! But yeah, its only fair that i don’t spoil Kyrgyzstan for them. Anyway, i go to a nearby shop and upon return see Dink there. They came back!

Change of plans…they decided to drive to Bishkek (capital of Kyrgyzstan) through Kazakhstan. The upside, faster travel time thanks to the flat Kazakh roads and easier on the Suzuki. The downside, they will miss the spectacularly beautiful drive to Bishkek through the mountains. I was not complaining…at least i will have some company for a distance before we split. We met this Danish student of the Russian language at the embassy now. A very nice guy…hes studying Russian at Bishkek and he traveled to Tashkent all the way from Denmark overland! He had to extend his student visa…and funnily to extend the visa he had to get out of Kyrgyzstan and go to one of the embassies elsewhere….a strange and slightly stupid rule. I hope the Consul would have been more helpful to him.

Anyway, we head out…the Kazakh border is about a dozen kms drive from Tashkent city center. We had enough time to cross over…or so we thought. We get there and find out that the border is closed thanks to renovation of the building! WTF! There were 2 points close to Tashkent where we could cross over and both were closed!! Same reason! Anyway, we find out that there is this border crossing post at a place called Chinoz, some 70kms west of Tashkent. We set the highway on fire to head there…we didn’t have enough time to cross over now…these borders close at 7pm or so usually.

Anyway, we make it…this was a very small post. Just half a dozen trucks and a handful of cars. No rally car to be seen. We had to wait a bit though…meanwhile the usual routine with Jimmy Jimmy and Mithun Chakraborthy!! And it is here that i finally figured out that this Jimmy Jimmy was a song…with someone playing a guitar in it. One step closer to solve the mystery. By now the guards and officials were so deeply into it that they started calling me Jimmy! :) They usually get impressed when i tell them my surname and they call me that (sorta like the good old BITSian days) but this is taking it to another level…hehe! Anyway, Kris and Dink didn’t extend their Uzbek visas…they figured they would pay the penalty at the border. They get in first and start the process…about 5 minutes later i am flagged in…but i never got beyond the gate…

At the Uzbek-Kazakh border at Chinoz

At the Uzbek-Kazakh border at Chinoz

It turns out that i was right about the missing 11th on the visa. The idiot at the airport goofed up! How thick can someone be…even after pointing it out to him! Grrrr! Luckily the chief of the border post understood what happened and he accepted that it was the airport guys mistake.  But he was unable to help me anyway…he said i should stay in Uzbekistan until tomorrow when my visa becomes valid again. :( Meanwhile Kris and  Dink almost made it through…at the last minute an official noticed that Dink’s visa ran out and they were stopped…in fact Kris had crossed over into the Kazakh side of the border with the car…she had to turn back! By now this has turned into a big fiasco…to add more fuel to the thing, it turned out that the papers said that our cars entered Uzbekistan on the 7th, one day before us, the drivers! So more running about…anyway, it didn’t make much of a difference now because the Kazakhstan border was closed anyway by now! Shit! We so wanted to drive some distance today…

Anyway, i told the chief that the Suzuki broke down in Samarkhand and that caused the delay. He was a nice guy in the end and helped  us out. He didn’t charge any penalty for Kris and Dink and cleared the paperwork. Since the Kazakh border was closed and they cannot enter Uzbekistan, they had to crash in no mans land between the 2 countries. Dink crashed on the roof of the car in the end while wild dogs were roaming around…much more interesting than me crashing on the Uzbek side on our spare tires and ice box! Anyway, i couldn’t go to sleep immediately in spite of being very tired because of the people were walking about, driving in and out and the half dozen armed guards patrolling and frequently flashing their torches right into my face through the car glass…sigh…at least one good thing is, i will be the first to cross tomorrow and by now everyone knows me at the border post…so Jimmy says good night to the world and zzzzz….

August 14, 2009

Day24, Aug 10th 2009 – Kyrgyzstan visa and suzuki PROBLEMS!

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: — arun @ 11:26 am

Route : Tashkent, Uzbekistan and frustratingly STILL in Tashkent!
Approx Distance : Some 50kms running about in the city…

Woke up early and made my way to the embassy…the taxi driver was an enthu guy…too enthu. He got lost only a thousand times and after at least 8 u-turns brought me home. The embassy was not open yet so had to wait…luckily some trees around to take refuge under. Met some french backpackers here who wanted the visa as well…they were going around the stans…but unlike us spending more time at each place. Nice people. Meanwhile we heard from Kris and Dink that fuel was leaking again from the Suzuki…damn! So they went back to the mechanic for a quick look see…hmm…

Anyway, the Consul decided to do his job about an hour after he was actually supposed to do it. I get in early and present my case. He couldn’t find my letter of invitation in his files…hmmm…these special letter of invitations are to be approved by the foreign ministry in  Kyrgyzstan and forwarded by the ministry to the Consuls the world over. So mine was missing…hmmm…i showed him the copy of the letter i had with me…he says he couldn’t find it still. Hmmm…now this guy was beginning to get on my nerves. Hes not giving me any clue to what could have happened or what i can do. After some questioning i find out that the letter was sent to Ashgabat…crap! Now how could that be? It says Turkmenistan on the letter…since it was all written in Russian i couldn’t make it out yesterday. Anyway, he asked me to get the letter fixed and come back. I begged a bit to consider this as the actual approval has been given…its just sent to the wrong ministry. He didn’t budge and soon started resembling a stuck gramophone…wish i could have kicked the gramophone on the arse to get it going again…damn!

Anyway, the next few hours were spent in making phone calls, sending emails and trying to find out what happened and how i could make the visa. It turns out that Dink confirmed it as Turkmenistan when he requested his Kyrgyzstani friend to help with the letter. So essentially the travel agency did their job right. Hmmm…i tried to talk to the ministry of tourism…ended up at the ministry of foreign affairs…but then found out through them that i had to get to the airport to extend my Uzbek visa (it was running out today). So did that in the next couple of hours…to give myself a bit more time to figure out this Kyrgyzstan visa. The guy who did this was this big stocky guy…you could see that his brain was working full time in figuring out which limb to move when to get through his day of signing and stamping papers. After some aimless sitting around, we get down to business…i ask for a 5 day extension and paid up. He entered the dates as 12th August till 16th August…hmmm…today was the 10th..so i didn’t really understand why he missed the 11th. I asked him about this…he said no problem…i asked him again…no problem again. Hmmm…weird. Anyway, he was starting to resemble a gramophone…so i gave up. He must know what hes doing i guess. Meanwhile Dink and Kris started from Samarkhand in the evening…they had more issues with the car and got delayed.

I was waiting for a reply from the travel agent and we thought we might as well be prepared for the worst case where i dont make the visa. So we inquired a  bit at the train station about connections to Kyrgyzstan and to Kazakhstan. The LP mentioned something about taxis which leave for the Kyrgyzstan border from the train station. Rajesh was figuring that out while i was as usual being the object of fancy and curiosity for the locals. Since the car was registered under my name, it was the safest option to let the car be with me all the time. So in case i don’t make the visa, i had to drive to Kazakhstan…hence the options being checked out for Rajesh and Raja to make it to Kyrgyzstan on other means of transport.

Anyway, Rajesh found a guy and fixed a price…i figured he would leave the next day after meeting Kris and Dink and also after knowing the final word on my visa. So we start driving out of the train station…then he tells me that hes leaving now. I didn’t even have time to react…on the  one side, i was a bit jealous that hes throwing himself into the unknown and on the other side, the suddenness of it all was not too pleasant. This is not the first time this sudden departure of my travel companion is happening on this trip. Anyway, he and Raja pick up their bags and leave…but not before changing some money at the Hotel Intercontinental (where we were supposed to meet Dink and Kris). I bid a final goodbye….and here i was, alone again.

Anyway, i chill out in the bar there and managed some good work on the blog…the iced tea was exquisite btw. Kris and Dink arrive about 3 hours later after some highly risky night driving….glad they made it safe and sound. We headed back to Hotel Ali Tour. The guy offered vodka again and this time we took it. Vodka and beer all around and some jokes! Good laughs after a  disappointing day! His sister was there…also totally drunk..shes apparently living in Munich…but i wonder if it was true cos her German was terrible. Anyway, more drunken jokes, a million toasts and some very passable bread later, we hit the hay exhausted…

PS: Didn’t really take any pictures today…the embassy or the train station was not the most photogenic spots…especially considering that we were in a semi foul mood thanks to the screw up with the visas.

Day23, Aug 9th 2009 – Wonderful Samarkhand!

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: — arun @ 11:21 am

Route : Samarkhand, Uzbekistan >>> Tashkent, Uzbekistan
Approx Distance : 330km

The bulky Uzbek Som...think that was worth about 50 USD...

The bulky Uzbek Som...think that was worth about 50 USD...

A very good breakfast and some shock over the laundry prices, we split up for a bit. Dink, Kris and the godfathers headed for the workshop to work on their cars. Since the Peugeot is still running  very smooth, me , Rajesh and Raja headed into Samarkhand to see the sights. We found a taxi guy to take us around to the main sights, to act as a guide (he knew some English) and to bring us back to the hotel. We wanted to meet up again with the rest at around 2pm or so.

We went to the main sights…the Registan square, Bibi Khymam Mosque etc in the next 3 hours. It was all stunning…especially the Registan which was a center of learning begun by Ulugbek the grandson of Timur (Tamerlane). Unlike his warrior grandfather, Ulugbek was a scientist and scholar. Its because of him that Samarkhand has its current day architectural jewels. There is no  real point in describing the actual sights…you can find tons of web pages for that. It was a nice quiet little tour…interspersed  with the odd  photo shoot…erm…people don’t see too many dark skinned people here i guess. We were quite the attraction at many places…but sometimes i wonder if the people look at us as in a freak circus orare genuinely excited. I hope its the latter…

Inside the Guri Amir Masoleum, Samarkhand. The calligraphy on the walls are gold plated...

Inside the Guri Amir Mausoleum, Samarkhand. The calligraphy on the walls are gold plated...

Anyway, we got back after tasting some of the Plov at the taxi guys favorite restaurant…was very simple compared to the Indian version. Some carrots, tomatoes, pieces of meat and rice. Not too many spices and TONS  of oil. Yummy! We returned…the others were not yet there. Since i had to get the Kyrgyzstan visa at Tashkent, we decided to head there a bit early to get to the embassy first thing in the morning. Checked email before i went….my letter of invitation arrived just in time. Cool! :)

At the world famous Registan, Samarkhand

At the world famous Registan, Samarkhand

The drive was largely uneventful…good speed since we were alone and reached Tashkent after a couple of close shaves with the police who almost stopped us cos of speeding. We learnt from the local drivers to ignore these police men…they have their cars and all but they never chase you down…its a bit pointless. As we drove on, the idea that Uzbekistan is like  India got reinforced…its SO much like home…really. Anyway, once in Tashkent,  Rajesh was  brilliant with the map reading and without too many wrong turns we made it to Hotel Ali Tour which was a B&B…it was run by this perennially drunk Uzbek guy who couldn’t stop offering Vodka. Later on we heard that he even punched some of the guests!! We saw a rally car here…a Hyundai Atos from England…the drivers were not around to be seen though.

Some golden toothed local aunties selling sweets at a Bazaar...

Some golden toothed local aunties selling sweets at a Bazaar...

We were handed our “registration”. It was a piece of paper which we were supposed to show the police  if we are stopped. We were heavily warned against using the Metro where the police like pouncing on unsuspecting foreigners apparently. Anyway, we freshened up (in spite of the sorry excuse of a shower) and headed out to Al Delphin, a Syrian restaurant. Touch wood! Large beds with comfortable cushions under the starlight and shisha smoke all around giving a pleasant aura to the whole place. The food was out of the world…in spite of the waitress goofing up  with my order…i ordered a Shaworma and she brought something made of of shrimp. Some interesting conversation later, i headed  back to try updating the blog in the net center close by while the other 2 scouted around to change their dollars into the local currency. Couldn’t do it though..net center was closed…the others returned out of breath, apparently they walked a LONG way with no real success. Anyway, we crashed off after that. I had an early morning coming up at the Kyrgyzstan embassy.

At the Shah-I-Zinda...most well preserved of the ancient architecture.

At the Shah-I-Zinda...most well preserved of the ancient architecture.

Meanwhile, Kris and Dink had such an interesting time that it merits special mention. The Suzuki was dying at idle and it took the whole day for the  mechanic to try to figure out the problem. In the end, he ended up taking apart half the car, cleaning every part, driving all around town for parts, and putting them back together. It took so long that they decided to stay back in Samarkhand. Kristie, who was probably getting bored at the workshop went on this bike tour around Samarkhand with the 12 year old daughter of the mechanic. In Kristie’s words, she found a new sister!! :) After sunset, the car was done…and that was not the end of  the day…out came the vodka! Liters of it! The guys (including the Godfathers who also had stuff done on their car)  went through 3 bottles of the stuff in an hour apparently! Then the mechanic took them all in his Mercedes to a spot outside Samarkhand where the guys dove off a 6m tall bridge into a pitch black pool below! Wow! I wish i could have been there…i don’t think i could have dove off the bridge (the Yosufeli river was hard enough)…but i would  have  loved to see it. Anyway, what a story this is! Impressive!

Day22, Aug 8th 2009 – Samsa, Bukhara and Azamat the customs officer

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: , , — arun @ 10:37 am

Route : Farap, Turkmenistan >>> Bukhara, Uzbekistan >>> Samarkhand, Uzbekistan
Approx Distance : 390km

Upsie Daisy…morning sunshine. We didn’t waste too much time in lining up the cars at the border…the Italian Alex even took a bath on the road with his jerry cans! We changed some dollars into Uzbek Som. Its a crazy currency…one dollar was about 1900 Som…that’s fine. But the crazy bit was the denominations of the currency. We ended up with so much notes that it didn’t fit into our wallets anymore! In fact, later on we saw people running about with shopping bags filled with cash…maybe they were on their way to buy a DVD player or something. Nuts!

Some curious guards at the Turkmen-Uzbek border

Some curious guards at the Turkmen-Uzbek border

Anyway, after more standing in the sun and cluelessness at the border, we left Turkmenistan and entered the Uzbek border. At the no mans land between the  2 we saw a coupla rally teams…turns  out that their Uzbek visas don’t start for another 2 days…they have already been there for 3 days! Poor lads…they were camping in that not too great a spot among trucks and dust. Their food ran out and the local canteen charged exorbitantly…upto 4$ for a damn fanta! The Italian Alex took pity on them and gave them some of our water…man…

Anyway, Dink and Kris crossed over first followed by us. As the Peugeot drove into Uzbekistan an uzbek customs official asked us if we could drop him off at his home…he said it was on the way to Bukhara. Hmmm…why not we thought. So we took off hoping to meet up with the rest down the road. The guys name was Azamat and he invited us to his home…unfortunately, we were not in a position to do that cos of the convoy. But what we did was to treat him for lunch at a local restaurant in Karakul, his home town. We read up about Plov and Samsa which were almost analogous to the Indian Pulov and Samosa. We were curious to find out…so we ordered some Samsa and we totally enjoyed it! :)

Hogging the Samsa at Karakul...Azamat is on the left. Nice guy!

Hogging the Samsa at Karakul...Azamat is on the left. Nice guy!

It was almost like a puff…big, round, crunchy at the edges and filled with mince, onions and tomatoes. We got ours fresh from the oven…was exquisite. Azamat showed  us  how to eat them…we had to flip them upside down in the small plates (didn’t really fit in otherwise) and take a bite off the edge…to cool it down and to make an opening to the insides where we pour in some  of the tomato based dip/sauce which was served along with the Samsa. At the end of our second  Samsa, we were stuffed! :) We were beginning to get a bit worried now as no one from the convoy turned up yet…then slowly, one  by one, the guys turned up! They jumped in with us and got stuffed in turn…i jumped on this extra time we had and blogged a bit there while sipping on cool fanta. The kids flocked of course at the sight of the laptop…and the rest of  the guys went in to check out the kitchen and some eagles which they had in a cage at the back! Interesting twas. Azamat ended up inviting us for his marriage next year! :) We promised to invite him for our marriages as well…hehe…nice guy he was. Our first few moments in Uzbekistan was such a contrast to the one in Turkmenistan…we liked the place…

At Bukhara. The crazy world cyclers...

At Bukhara. The crazy world cyclers...

We drove on. The roads were just about ok…the pace was not trailblazing…Bukhara, a historical silk route town and a popular tourist destination was about 70km from Karakul. We made it in one piece. The godfathers wanted to work on their car a bit…so they split up with us. We went to the city center where most of the sights were…we didn’t want to spend more than an hour there as we wanted to go to the better known Samarkhand by today and spend a whole day there. I don’t remember the name of the place anymore…no internet or lonely planet at hand  at the time  of writing of this blog entry…sorry about that. As we parked, we saw these obvious tourists there…one thing stood out about them…one of them had a cycle with many bags attached. Hmmm…we said  hello and it turns  out that they were from London…and they cycled all the way to Bukhara!! It took them 6 months so far! Crazy! They didn’t even start together but met up somewhere along the way….damn! Amazing! One of them was a nice German guy who was a management consultant at McKenzie in London…obviously things are a bit low key for him thanks to the bloody crisis…hes on a sabbatical he said. The things people do continues to amaze me…

We would have sold our soul for a bath right then...obviously...

We would have sold our soul for a bath right then...obviously...

Anyway, we saw some really cool well restored ancient Uzbek architecture with its typical flared blue and white artwork and Arabic calligraphy on the walls. It was a  quiet neighborhood with a rustic but small bazaar. Was nice. We also saw the tallest minaret in central Asia there…the Kalon minaret i think its called. We bought some water at this small shop…there was, of course, a kid there who spoke some English. She must have been 12 or 14 or something…name was Zarina. Very talkative and she lost her breath…literally…when she saw me walking up. Got so excited and was all over the place. Very smart…and somehow she was more adult like  in the way she did business. Of course, we didn’t wanna hang around for too long…so we returned to the waiting Dave and Oscar. We were stunned at what we saw next…

5 more rally cars turned up and now the whole block had just rally cars parked! Hehe. It was the British guys from the ferry…some old faces and some new too…an Irish group among them. One of the people in the group apparently fainted along the way and was suffering from some serious health issues…he also had total kidney failure last year apparently and had just one transplanted kidney…man…begged them to take him to the hospital. This was no game. Anyway, the Irish guys joined us as we headed to Samarkhand while the rest stayed back in Bukhara…so back to being a 5 car convoy! As we headed out of Bukhara…we saw an ambulance…hmm…but something was a bit funny about the thing…it was too colorful. Then we realized that it was actually a mongol rally vehicle!! :) This was a team from the Spanish launch!! They were very fast…of course, with heavy suspensions as theirs, they can afford to be fast on those roads!

The local bazaar at Bukhara

The local bazaar at Bukhara

Of course, they got pulled over for speeding as soon as we got pulled over for the same offense!:) The police officer didn’t seem too concerned that we were foreigners and told us that we were speeding…hmmm…given the  fact that there were no speed limits displayed, it would have been a bit hard to follow the limits! Anyway, our standard trick of total surprise, deliberate idiotic foreigner dumbness and the jimmy jimmy desi factor didn’t work. The guy refused to budge…so we gave him a couple of dollars and he was happy. Damn. Lemme tell you this people…Uzbekistan so far is totally like India…at least south India. I mean the way the place looks…the streets…the people running around…the livestock, the landscape, the amazing similarities between the Uzbek language and Hindi (of course, the Mughals…Babur was from Uzbekistan)…and now the corrupt policeman! We couldn’t help but smile a bit…

Anyway, we got pulled over a coupla times more…this time the dumb smile worked…soon everyone was laughing including the police man and we were finally on our way. The drive itself was ok…nothing of  majority importance to note. We tried to fuel up just before entering Samarkhand…same problem…no high octane fuel in spite of signs claiming of its availability. We could still manage though…so we made it to Samarkhand. We got an SMS from the Italians earlier…they were shacked up at the Grand Samarkhand Hotel. Moderately priced and comfortable they said. So we headed there…but the British teams wanted something cheaper…so we split off after a huge row with a totally confused and yet confident taxi driver!! The Grand Samarkhand was actually a cute little affair and extremely professional, courteous and friendly staff. We totally loved the place…so we got a room, had a happy reunion with the Godfathers and set out for dinner at the local restaurant.

The Kalon Minaret...Central Asias tallest minaret.

The Kalon Minaret...Central Asias tallest minaret.

We were ok with the slightly higher price cos frankly all of were walking stink pots…feet blackened from the Turkmen and Uzbek deserts…man…we needed that shower and how! We exchanged some stories with the godfathers…laughed a bit…gobbled down a very ordinary attempt at a pizza (it was topped with ketchup and mayo..erm..) and hit the happy happy hay! :) We were actually at Samarkhand…the one place which all of us so wanted to be at! :)

Day21, Aug 7th 2009 – The history bug and screeching toyotas

Filed under: THE REAL THING — Tags: — arun @ 9:57 am

Route : A random lake close to Mary, Turkmenistan >>> Farap, Turkmenistan
Approx Distance : 420km

Yeah, we woke up amidst stories from Oscar and  Harry that a long slimy thing crawled up their tent and curled itself up on the walls! Whatever it was, it was not the witch of Turkmenistan…apparently a local legend…a witch who comes out on full moon nights and kidnaps little boys…erm…ok this one is probably a legend at Oscars backyard conveniently imported to Turkmenistan.

Merv...ruined and yet cool.

Merv...ruined and yet cool.

Anyway, we were off in a flash after some morning tea, coffee and bread dripping with Nutella. We were of course a 5 car convoy now with the addition of Dave and Alex from last night. Oh…i think i forgot to mention this…yeah, so last night when Harry and me return with the beers, Dave and Alex were there. Its the 10th wonder of the travel world on how they managed to find us here…we were a km or 2 off the highway! Anyway, the beers were enough to go around…

So, today’s goal was of course to leave this bizarre yet intriguing country and head for better pastures…literally…Uzbekistan! We were expecting some bad roads…but the more shitty things we expected, the better the roads became. Hmm…Turkmenistan has apparently invested on its roads…even Rob got it wrong when he said that the road to Ashgabat from Turkmenbashi was shit. But it really didn’t matter so much…cos of one thing…we were a damn 5 car convoy now. As we were finding out, the speed of the convoy is inversely proportional to its strength! Anyway, we passed Mary…this was an outpost town that the Russians built earlier this century about 30kms from Merv. This town didn’t have much to offer apart from a couple of hotels and a strip club! We made to Merv quickly thereafter…

An ancient masoleum among the ruins at Merv

An ancient masoleum among the ruins at Merv

The main reason why we wanted to stop at Merv is that the city has history oozing out of every pore…apart from being a major lynch-pin in the silk road, this city was one of the big 4 cities of Islamic learning from the 9th century till the 13th century when Genghis Khan and his clan slaughtered all of Merv’s 300,000 inhabitant. The city never recovered since then. Before this catastrophic blow, Merv had always been at the center of quarrels and had its share of blows. Instead of rebuilding on the same spot, the city moved west along with the shifting of the river. So what remains now are some ruins of varying ages decently preserved. Merv is a UNESCO world heritage site btw.

We reached Merv and after some initial confusion managed to find the Ruins. They charged 6$ per person to enter the place. Since i read up a lot about this place i really wanted to check it out…the others didn’t care too much. So i pick up the camera and drive into the site. I needed the car because of its large area…remember the city drifting westwards. Anyway, i was mesmerized by this place…it really wasn’t much in terms of beauty or size. It was neither spectacular nor impressive in its intricacies. But as i was standing there, all alone, among these ruins…i felt the place. I can safely say that the history bug bit me at Merv. I can imagine reading up more history and stuff in the future. Anyway, i had to get back soon as the others were waiting…so in spite of a broken sandal (i slipped on my own sweat…was really hot), i rushed to the older city…the ruins were hardly visible. Most of the city was gone…i met the caretaker of the site there. His name sounded like Birgench. He was very nice…he personally escorted me to the top of a hill/ruin where the view was very good. Could see the spot where the rest were waiting. Took some snaps and then raced back…

The 5 Manat flying donor from Turkmenabad!

The 5 Manat flying donor from Turkmenabad!

It turns out that we were supposed to leave at 2pm and by the time i returned it was about 3pm. The rest went into the city for a Shashlik lunch…ok that was not too bad i thought..until i saw the look Kristie gave me! Man…lemme tell you this…when Kristie looks at you, all smiles, and very simply states what happened, it was a bit scary. She thought it was proper that i apologize to the rest…i agreed. Did just that…they didn’t seem too sore…on the outside. sigh. Anyway, mistakes are ok…once. I gobbled up some Shashlik and got up to leave. The bill came to 250 Manat…that is about 8$ per head. Hmmm…maybe something went wrong with the calculation. So Alex put all his financial advisory skills to the fore and dismantled the bill from head to tail…finally we paid up a fraction of the original bill. Man…these people…they try to pull one on you just cos you are obviously a foreigner. Bad bad Turkmens!

Anyway, after that small fiasco we set off…more good roads and more slow speeds. By now the desert became very visible…lesser and lesser scrubs and more sand…soon there were huge dunes all around…some road burning  effects again and some photos taken along the way. Interestingly, people were selling fresh tomatoes along the road! Tomatoes!! Anyway, we reached Turkmenabad, a big city about 20km from the border crossing at Farap. Then something funny happened…EVERYONE was waving and cheering us on. Every car was honking and every golden tooth was on display and people were genuinely happy to see us. In fact, as we were waiting at one of the signals, a guy at a car at our side reached out and gave us 5 Manat!! Wow! Our first local donation!! We scrambled to get a T shirt for him…but too late…green it was. The whole of Turkmenistan has not been the nicest of people…and now this as were were about to leave! Wow! Maybe it was the proximity to Uzbekistan where the people are supposed to be very nice…hmmm…

The ruthless kids and an out of breath Rajesh and Harry!

The ruthless kids and an out of breath Rajesh and Harry!

Anyway, we decided to tank up with the cheap fuel before Uzbekistan. We went to a couple of petrol bunks…unfortunately none had high octane fuel. So we asked around until someone decided to guide us to one which had high octane stuff. It took an amazingly long time to find this place…and even longer to tank up…apart from the fact that we were 5 cars now, there were at least a dozen cars waiting in front of us to tank up! Man…this was going to be a long wait…hmm..so what do we do now? Play football with the local kids of course!! Atleast Rajesh and Harry did that…naturally, the kids murdered them on the field! Rajesh came back panting exclaiming how ruthless those kids are. Kristie was a bit aghast that Rajesh drank the water which the kids offered to the wasted guys…hehe.

The kids meanwhile got terribly curious and soon the whole neighborhood was there…a  dozen kids of varying ages flocked  around  our  cars  asking questions! The older ones wanted to know the top speed of the car, how much it costed etc. One of them even wanted to drive it! :) The rest were touching, jumping onto the bonnet and in  general very very interested in these strange people. Of course, some jimmy jimmy had to happen once they got over the awe of the fact of meeting real actual Indians! We took a whole bunch of photos, watched the sunset and left for the border in a hurry…

Till date the borders have been functioning whenever we turned up…but this time not. All the delay at the gas station ensured that we missed crossing. We had to wait now…the guy there asked us to return to Turkmenabad to a hotel. Hmm…but we  still saw  cars going through…hmmm…something was fishy. So, me, Dink and the Italian Alex walk upto the  gate and asked if we could pass  through…the guy there  took a look at our passports and flagged us through!! Hmmm…for a moment i was not too sure if we left Turkmenistan! It was was very confusing. We crossed this all metal makeshift military bridge and drove on for 5 minutes before the car behind us flashed its lights…it was the Mongolites…and just them! Damn! No one else made it through…but why! The confusion mounted…anyway, we decided to carry on…the others can find us. We didn’t go for a coupla minutes before a Toyota came screeching out of the darkness with a wildly gesticulating  driver! That was the border guy..he was totally pissed at us. Apparently we had to pay a bridge fee and show him the car documents…which we didn’t of course. He was mad! Of course, we did  argue for a minute  that it was his guy who flagged us through…but anyway, as long as he was willing to take the money there, we were fine. I didn’t want to drive back all the way to the gate…so he took the money, told us something about giving a fish to the rest of the convoy (whatever that meant!?!) and left. It was then that we realized that we were not yet at Farap…it was just the exit of Turkmenabad. Anyway, we reached Farap and the border (which was closed of course) with the help of a nice local with a funked up corolla.

The Turkmen kids...they populated every bonnet of all 5 cars!! :)

The Turkmen kids...they populated every bonnet of all 5 cars!! :)

We found a local cafe (or so the border guard called it) and got ourselves some beer. Nothing like a nice cold one at the  end of a long days drive…really! We made a  bet on how long it would take for the others to catch up…i said  45 mins…Dave said 2 hours! We were both right! The Godfathers turned up in 45 and the rest in 2 hours! They went through more confusion than us…with the payments, the forms…Dink even  drove back cos he didnt get one of the original documents back…man! We had some lovely chorba and shashlik, laughed about the day, changed some Turkmen Manat for Uzbek Som before hitting the hay right there in the cafe. Dave produced hammock out of thin air and i resorted  to the sleeping bag…the rest pitched tent though. The spot was perfect…big  trees and a river flowing…mosquitoes had a  ball though…i let them. Too tired to argue. Anyway, we would be the first to cross into Uzbek tomorrow…yoohoo!?!

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