Ka Pai Kiwis

First thing I took the bike in to have a fork seal replaced, luckily I brought 2 sets with me. The man was very nice and I could tell straight away he knew what he was doing just by the way he handled his tools. I offered to prep the bike by removing the fork leg but he was having none of it. Made a really good job, bike all back together 200 Somoni or $31NZ and would not take a penny more. So big ups to Aziek Rabiev of Bike House Dushanbe. We spent most if the rest if the day with chores. Robyn started to wash some of our clothes and decided to include the bike gear. Filled up the bath and watched the water turn into a black hole. The cleaning lady arrived just then and saw the bath. No no no no. I will do that for you. So out of the bath comes this black sludgy thing and this afternoon returns brand new bike gear. Two months of road grime adds up, especially in this part of the world. We then went off in search of money and SIM cards. ATM in the Hilton hotel, why aren’t we stay...

Nice ride today but we have entered the hot lands again. The first 170km were awesome, nice smooth roads. We pulled into a roadside cafe for a cold bottle of water and to enter our now routine wet t shirt competition. This routine is a lifesaver, literally. Lovely lady supplied us with really cold water. She washed a glass for me to use. Pulled out a seat for me to sit on . ( Robyn) So looking forward to the next 130 km to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan on nice smooth roads. How wrong was I! Most if the way felt like we 2 up on a Pogo stick. Absolute rubbish road, I would have thought the capital would have had good roads. We have had our first fill of 80 Octane petrol. I added a good slug of octane boost and the Tiger is running well. So sign of "pinking" which is a relief. It has taken us almost 6 hours for 300km, very hard to get anywhere quickly here. Storks nesting on top of lighting, powerlines, anything high up. The temperature is in the 40...

It has been a big day. We got away just after 7, filled up with with 91 octane, hooray. Headed south to Tajikistan border. There are two borders within about 80 km of each other and the southern most one looked the shorter route and maps.me concurred that this was the best route for us.  We passed the first crossing point and about 20km later stopped for a cold drink and to use the bathroom. The usual banter began with a few locals and soon there was a bit of concern coming from them. After a couple of phone calls and a game of charades we figured out the border crossing we were heading to was pedestrian only!  So the way we showed our appreciation was applying copious ladles of water to each other from a tub by the entrance. They fell about laughing when I pulled Robyn’s t shirt at the neck and poured a huge ladle of water down her front. So we backtracked 20km and had a fairly straightforward border crossing. Who knew laminating could be so powerful. I don’t unders...

Yes you read it right. Another momentous rookie mistake. Up and away to the Tajikistan border. We got the bike all processed out of Uzbekistan and also into Tajikistan. Then it was our turn to go to passport control. Got out of Uzbekistan ok but no way would they let us into Tajikistan. Our visa time of 45 days doesn’t begin until the 17th. Doh. A very nice guy called Alexander from Russia, he was big and so was his bike, rocked up on his bike and tried to help us out but unfortunately it all came to nothing. Robyn tried to look very tearful but still to no avail. (Actually she was tearful because Alexander left) Everyone was very nice about it and they said we could go to the first town and stay there but we must leave our passports at the border and come back on the 17th. We hummed and haahed about that but in the end decided to return to Samarkand. So we had to say goodbye to our Finnish friends and we wish them a safe journey on the Pamir Highway. They assured us that t...

We got away just after 7. Our fantastic hosts prepared our breakfasts while we packed up the bikes. Our hosts have been just lovely. The extended family has taken an interest in us and we all ate dinner together last night. The Plov was delicious. A simple enough dish of rice, beef and few veges but the flavour of the spices they used was brilliant. So after stops for air and gas we set off. Mercifully it is not as hot on the open road but Samarkand is really hot. There were many opportunities today unlike earlier days to stop and buy cold water. Some to drink and some to pour over us. I reckon about 50ks from a dripping wet t shirt to bone dry. I have also carried out a scientific experiment, I believe sparkling water is not as efficacious as non sparkling water. Perhaps Catherine you could explain this to me.  ( maybe the temperature had just gone up a notch Mark) Robyn We arrived at our accommodation, had a bit of a rest then we went exploring. The main a...

A leisurly breakfast under the grapevines in the courtyard of our guesthouse. We then had a wander around the old town area. Lovely Madrasas and squares. This is tourist central except there aren’t too many as the sensible people come in August and September when it is cooler. The place is spotless and well kept, the stall holders are not pushy, locals are friendly. They have their tourism act together. Most of the buildings are restored but all in a way that salutes the past.  This was used as a bath in ancient times - but the water wasn't changed and people caught diseases - so they stopped it being a bath. We toughed it out until 1:30 and have now retreated to our room for admin and planning. Later in the day we took a taxi to the summer palace of the last Tzar ,then back into town to visit the Bukhara Fort. The summer palace is quite small but nice. It has not been restored  and also the gardens which were once obviously very ornate....