Against the clock (Turkmenistan)

A Turkish, son of his mother, ran over me on a road. A broken pannier and some torn bags. I tried to repair it but it torn again. I welded
it before arriving in Mashhad. The day I was leaving the town I had another
accident. I was not injured but Kogadonga was. Again the back pannier broken and some other things.

The bike is strong because at 60 km per hour it would have been more damaged. I spent my last night in Iran looking for some light to repair my bike, no food at all, I had to repair the bike before starting my race to Turkemenistan, alone 500 km of desert. By10.30 pm I had repaired most of the damaged and asked at a hospital for a shower. Clean life looks different.
Turkmenistan was waiting for me, more than 50 C and some irrigation channels set up during Sovietic age and creating the cotton monoculture resulting in the disaster of the Aral Sea. Thanks to my filter I could drink some water, drinking, even if it just a beer, alone is as sad as watching a movie in an empty movie theater. So, I decided to wait to meet again Andi and Salva in Bukhara (Uzbekistan) where we
would toast to Sabine, the Swiss cyclist run over in Iran, to Homeini, the desert and our own health. Health is important.
Another mistake by Satlink, has not allowed me to listen to the messages left my friends on my birthday. But I have read them on the forum, thanks a lot and I do hope your dreams also come true. Thanks a lot for being there.
Now I am negotiating with Toursa from Oviedo to get the parcel sent by Bike Tech to repair the bike and move on, next to Samarkanda and then Taskhent, Uzbeka's capital. I will have to sit down and see to the next plans and the winter and the visas to get: Kyrgikistan, Kazahastan, China, Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Afganistan,
Tajikistan, Kyrgikistan, Kazahastan, Rusia, Mongolia (summer2009), is an option.
Kyrgikistan, Tajikistan, Afganistan, Pakistan, India, is another.
And well, who knows , plans I make and then remake because of a drunk driver or a beautiful Asian face that makes me feel butterflies in my stomach again.
From Bukhara, Uzbekistan, day 1341 Peace and Well Being, the biciclown

This desert needs a Nubio (06/07/2008)

As wind increases, hospitality decreases. In the North it was incredible: impossible to step in a supermarket without getting thousand offers, to sleep, to eat.... On the route 44, silk route linking Tehran and Mashad, things are different . And it is funny because it is an arid and dry area and hospitality could be the asset. But the North of Sudan was worse, just sand and no lanes, total uncertainty and sophocating heat nearly 55 C (At least in July).Here in Iran it only gets to 50 C. But in Sudan people were really nice and hospitable, and made all the trip worthwhile. That is something I miss now.

Maybe in the past things were different, when there were no cars but just carts pulled by camels and people sharing stories and pieces of advice. Currently, cars go too fast, they do not even stop to fill up the tank. They sound their horns as crazy. You have to stick within the white line, otherwise... hit by the wind and the trucks passing by, they play with you as if you were just a tiny stone inside a balloon.
Days pass by without much excitement. At midday I have to stop for 4 hours till the heat comes down, we have eaten for less than 2 euros (rice with some meat or meat with some rice). A place to sleep in the desert and exposed to the wind? A diffficult task. Rice comes with lots of sand and hours of non sleep. I think we have become older, the sun effect. Mashhad seems older. Sabine will not get to Mashhad. We had planned to meet her and Andi in this city, to cross Turkmenistan and to toast with some beer after some months of ?no alcohol? in this country. Sabine and Andy left on Sunday towards Tehran, she had recovered from an accident, a car had run over her. But just as she was leaving Tehran another driver hit her from the back, some teeth broken, the nose injured and some bones on the face fractured. Sabine had planned to reach Malasia. Now she will have to go to Switzerland after surgery in Tehran.
In the section with videos you can see one when I met Sabine . In the section Links, Travellers, there is a link to her website. I leave here Andi?s mail. (Andreas.Griessner@uibk.ac.at) in case you do not speak English, I leave here a message in case you want to send it to give them your support, the only thing we can do after a car has spoiled her dreams.
Hi Andi and Sabine
I am friend of Alvaro, the biciclown. He told us about the accident and we are very sorry. Hope Sabine will be soon ok and she can ride again on the bicycle.
Please say hello to her and we wish all the best for you and Sabine

Salva and myself will arrive in Mashhad in July 8th. I have to get some new equipment, the new back pannier that Bike Tech and Toursa have sent me to Mashhad. The 7th of July I will play my silver San Fermin, a gift by my friend Portu in Amman (Jordania) last Christmas. Ten days after San Fermin, 17th of July, I will become 41!!!. Any age is good and welcome as long as I am fulfilling my dreams, and I am.
From the silk route, day 1325, Peace and Well Being, the biciclown.
Congratulations to the people from Pamplona, today the BEST PARTY WORLDWIDE STARTS, VIVA SAN FERMIN (this year without Portu).