Asalam[o1]  aleykum from O’bekistan (Ubekistan)

Khiva sign showing the silk road

the 'fools' of Buchara, they escaped death by tricking the rulers

and lived to plan another day

 The terrain when we first arrived was more desert – although red this time. The Kyzylkum Dessert which was still very hot!! Our mexican air con on the calypso means hot air only with hair in face and sunburn shoulder hanging out window. Near the entrance into Uzbekistan we had to cross over the Amu Darya River which they have just built a bridge over. Up till now the traffic had to go north thru Kazakhstan or south thru Turkmenistan just to cross the river. But you cannot take any pictures of the bridge and the army is stationed on both sides to protect it. Haven’t a clue what they think will happen to it but…..

not much food for the livestock here, note the yurt family home

wall muriel of the countryside

train crossing signs

        We spent the first couple of places seeing more crumblies ( ancient temples ).  This country definitely has more tourism and advertises itself as the beginning of the real silk road. The vendors tell you their price in US$ or euros, at a slightly exaggerated rate ie. 21 postcards for $10 or a wooden bookend made from one piece of wood for $65 – 150. Now the cym (Uzbekistan currency)  only had 1,000 or 500 cym notes plus a few smaller ones.  When we went out for supper ‘Russell’s wallet had to be full of their currency as it costs at least  40,000 cyms for a good meal. Therefore my cargo pocket in my shorts held the extra money just in case we found something we had to have or buy an extra beer or wine for the room. In fact they have money exchangers on most street corners or you would have to push a wheelbarrow full of money to buy anything. Plus they round up or down to the nearest 100’s so if you were to lose out they give you a candy. That way everyone is happy.

beautiful temples, many restored ( note the sculpting on the roof)

    Didn’t see any camels in the wild anymore and once there was irrigation the terrain changed drastically. More green and lush and also more tolerable heat wise. 

transporting bread to the market from the shop (2000+ loaves)

When we were in Bukhara they had a spring water hole that has run water since ancient times but they had a few restaurants located around the water.

Mulberry tree planted in 1400's around the water hole

 In the evening when it cooled down what a great place for a laid back supper of kebobs, salad, chips and wine of course. After the crumblies places of Khiva, Ashgabat and Bukhara we visited Tashkent the capital (read very Western city). Here we actually went to an Aqua Park and acted like kids playing in the wave pool and running up the water slides. With all the hot weather it was so nice just to play in the cooling water. All the streams run brown to black in colour and are full of garbage and used water bottles.

tombs placed around the mosques if you die in the city

tall wheeled carts to cross streams along the silk road

the oldest mosque in Khiva, note how you hold up the roof, each pillar is carved

and had to be carried for hundreds of kilometers on the carts

     Here I also came out of retirement as one of travelers became very sick and we had to go to the doctor’s office. We were asked if we wanted a GP or a specialist.  I said definitely a specialist – which we were in to see within 5 minutes. They did blood work and an ultra sound immediately plus I had gone to the chemist ( pharmacy ) for drugs – the lab tech gave the shot of narcotic and we were back home within 2 hours. We revisited the specialist the next morning and then we were off with me giving the next “IM’s”” for the next couple of days. With coming out of 4 years retirement he didn’t even jump off the bed!!!! The ultrasound only cost 20,000 cyms +/- $10 US the whole bill was for $70 including Dr., drugs, lab etc. Try and do that at home. The truck mate is doing great and can keep travelling which was the main thing.

silk ready to be made into everything and anything

kids with a block of ice making snow cones on the streets

Salemtsiz be from Kazakhstan

    We only travelled through here for 3 days. It’s a bit more mountainous here – plus it’s the 9^th largest country in the world. We saw Bactrian camels here –( two hump camels) on the side of the road. We travelled through quite quickly and for a country that is supposed to be quite wealthy their roads are shite!! The reason we drove through is that  the mountain pass thru Kyrgyzstan is closed to tourist because of inter tribe fighting. Our truck had quite the check to even get into this country ie x-ray, visual walk through – but no wine taken this time. Laugh!! And of course the never ending paper work as we sat in 40C heat with no shade. Jim the driver is getting quite clever at accidently parking calypso, our truck, so that we take up two lanes and we get processed quicker. But at the same crossing cargo trucks had been waiting up to 3 days to cross – so we are very lucky because they still don’t know if we are a truck or a bus!!!

very elaborate entrances to the mosques

Why?  Do all the big cities have locals sitting on the sidewalks with a bathroom scale for people to weigh themselves?? One way to earn some money and nobody has a scale ??

Traffic lights go green – straight to red and then orange to green

Or they flash green twice then change to red and when you see a green walk sign it really doesn’t mean you get to walk be prepared to run!!! And dodge the cars aimed right at you like flying missiles.

thousands of cyms just to buy a drink

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 [o1]

Azerbaijan / Turkmenistan

Salom aleykum from Azerbaycan  (Azerbaijan)

    For all the trouble we had getting our visas for this country it was an easy border crossing. You could tell this country is far richer than Georgia immediately.

     Drove into Sheki – which is becoming quite the toursist area of Azerbaijan. We stayed in a hotel called Caravansay. One of the original spots on the Silk road. The bottom storey was for the animals while the people stayed upstairs. They have done a great job of converting it into a hotel but definitely still needs more work. The entrance was huge to allow the camels to enter into the stables and then there was a market on the first floor. Traders would only travel a short section of the silk road then trade their ‘goods’ to other traders and head back the way they came. If you travelled the whole silk road it would take more than 200 days none stop.

                                               main entrance to allow camels to enter caravansay hotel

                                   room layout for the travellers, upstairs travellers, downstairs shop,
                                                         lower level animals

     Azerbaijan is rich in oil and gas – you can see the profits everywhere, right down to the snazzy gas stations. The houses now have backyards that one would relax in. Although you can still see the cart drawn by either a horse or donkey carrying their wood or crops. 

                                              you don't go too fast with the donkey cart

      We had a great bush camp in the mud volcano area. Actually two fell in – they were just on the edge, when the bottom gave way  and fell backwards, luckily, but  no catastrophies – didn’t sink out of sight but they did get very muddy!!!

mud volcanoes

                                                        beautiful stars at night with no one around

     Next we drove into Baku, the capitol of Azerbaijan, which is where we would get the ferry across the Caspian Sea. This city does have an old town area but the rest is definitely pro Western. There is a beautiful promenade for miles along the Caspian Sea done in marble with stainless steel railing!!! Mighty impressive! Also has many restaurants and a theme park with a ferris wheel and other attractions. Downtown is an open mall street area with every designer big store you can think of – all the countries being well represented. Found a regular supermarket so Russell has his baking powder for pancakes.  A very posh city!!  But it does make you feel you could be in a big city anywhere, just the writing looks weird!!

                                                   water front on the Caspian sea

should be Ashgabat white marble buildings

      We were really lucky that we were able to catch a boat across the pond as quickly as we did. Some people wait days to get across the Caspian Sea. This boat is an old ferry that has been converted to carry train oil tank cars and will allow a few others on board each trip. We were told we would be on board at 0330 – so up at 0200 and out waiting. Got caught up in the hurry up and wait awhile routine. We actually pulled out at 1330. We all managed to get a room to sleep in (they weren’t all nailed shut) but once we saw it we weren’t sure we wanted one. Thank goodness we brought our foamies and sleeping bag so that at least put a layer between us and the mattress. Then once I saw the bathroom I had to force myself to drink plenty of fluids so that I had to use the loo. Next life I’m going to get a man thing!!! Once we arrived at the other side at 0530 and with our friendly lady telling us we landed (read a big bear of a woman yelling - get off, get off, we are now in Turkmenistan)  we waited in the lobby for 2 hours to actually get off the boat. Then rush up to the customs agent and sit again. The puzzling part was we already did the custom thing before leaving the Azerbaijan side. Finally Calypso (our truck) was out as well and by 1330 and we were off, down the road in Turkmenistan.

Salom from Turkmenistan       Water is a Turkmen’s life, a horse his wings, and a carpet his soul

camel monument to riders of the silk road

   Here the country is 85% dessert (Karakua) and very hot 35 -45 at this time of the year, supposedly 50C in the summer, and very dry of course. A few days earlier we were in snow and freezing rain, where did the acclimatization get a chance to set in. You could feel the moisture being sucked out of your skin. Let alone how dirty your feet get bush camping. Just after we had washed our sheets – Russell went to bed before me and when I washed my feet before climbin into bed, and I of course (being a good wife) did his. He kinda came awake very abruptly and couldn’t figure out what was happening – but the sheets stayed cleaner!!!

      Ashgabat the capital of Turkmenistan was quite a different city. The Russians built the longest irrigation canal (687 miles) in the world. They diverted two main rivers from the Aral Sea to the Caspian Sea going right past Ashgabat. Otherwise this town had essentially no water. This is depleting the Aral Sea- as it is now only 1/5 of its original size and a well known fishing/tourist village is now 150 kms from the sea. Anyway this canal makes Ashgabat a very green city with a multitude of water fountains and water falls with all their brand new statues and buildings. In 1948 an earthquake demolished the city and then the Russians just leveled it and started rebuilding it with most just completed now in the last 10 years. It is also called the white city as most of the new buildings and monuments are all built out of white marble. We found it really strange not to see any people in the street even in the night time - markets and restaurants were hard to find. Anyway we all thought it was either a heartless or a souless city presenting a façade of wealth. Really different!!.

monument to previous rulers built in 2005

lots of waterfalls, water,water everywhere in this city

                                                 open air markets

                                                animal markets as well

                                                     fresh chicken for the pot at the market

      Managed a few more bush camps – one being at the Gates of Hell. We had to drive up to it in a monster truck over the desert floor and at night (can you hear the girls screaming! In the back of this truck). A geologist drilled for oil but found a poisonous gas well instead. They made the decision to light the gas and it has been burning in this crater since 1971. With the black sky and bright stars and then the glow of the crater it was an awesome sight. The pictures do not do the scene justice, it really could be Dante’ inferno. In N.A. it would be all blocked off but here we walked right up to the edge and peered over. It he edge gave way, you wouldn’t have had a hope. We finally all smartened up and moved back, good thing it wasn’t after the fact of someone falling in.

                                              awsome heat and fireworks

Truck lore: the gals that needed coaching in putting up their tents, copping a squat to pee and other bush stuff now prefer the bush loos because they are always clean and the tent is their private domain. What a change!!

Have really noticed in the last many countries the men sit on all the street corners smoking and drinking coffee while the women are out working in the fields or making rugs, whatever to sell.

Roads really vary, some so rough you need seat belts to prevent banging you head on the roof and others four lane highway where some of the cars pass you like your standing still. The truck has Mexican air conditioning which takes a lot of energy out of you but we all look forward to our supper and the crews have been putting out some really good meals. Shopping local may make us feel loco, but you get different meals when you can’t find what you are used to buying.

Our camp sites now need a little warning for scorpions and vipers found in your stuff left outside at night. We found 3 scorpions under one tent in the morning and had to move the tent 10 meters away to roll it up as we couldn’t convince the scorpions to find another place to crawl under.

Camels are all over the place and they are even bigger than our moose at home, leg length. If you hit one they would definitely be coming through the windshield as you would only be kneecapping them with the top of the hood on a car. They also sure aren’t bright as they seem to enjoy standing in the middle of the road to feel the breeze as the cars zoom past them and at night they like to lie on the road soaking up the heat from the tarmac. Amazing they still survive.

                                         sand reed traps along the road to stop the drifting sand

   Next stop will be Uzebekistan. Getting used to the heat and the sand but will be in hotels for a bit (read showers YAHOO!!!)