Uzbekistans capital seems to be asleep in July. Too high temperatures, always above 40 degrees. Taschkent has many high roads and few cars. Some streets are well paved. The day I got here my intention was to rest. But Tanya, the angel hostingg us, did not think the same. She took the day off to cycle the city. More than 40 km altogether. Andie and Salva enjoyed it.
The three of us got here together bearing the heat. Because of the problems resulting from Russian domination, the road from Samarkanda to Taschkent was partly awarded to Uzbekistan and partly to Kazahastan. As we had not a visa we had to take an alternative route to reach Taschkent.
A great city with a free of charge swimming pool: a lake, to refresh. People go there for a swim, to play chess or just to drink beers. Not many women though. Make up has done away with their smiles, though they are really pretty.
Embassies opened on Friday again, we went for it. We had to wake up at 5.30 to reach the one of Kyrgyzstan by 7. We had to make the Chinese believe that we were flying there, so we had our flight tickets with us and hotel bookings. We paid 80 USD and got the visas to enter the great Chinese giant..
As for Kirguizistan, it takes longer, but for 55USD you can ensure a whole month of mountains, lakes and yoghurt. If you pay more you can get the visa on the same day, but we were not in a hurry. We went with Tania and her friend to the mountains for the weekend, it was great, at 1500m of height
The spare parts for Kogadonga have arrived although they opened the bok at the airport, in Moscow, and something was missing. I hope to go back to cycling on Thursday, with Andie (the Austrian guy) as Salva wants to fly ?alone? again, we will probably meet in India next year. We hope to reach Tibet by the end of September, then, Nepal in December and towards India, depending on the snow conditions. Thanks to a contact I made in Nairobi I hope to do one of my shows there, I cannot wait.
And... I have reached FIFTY THOUSAND KM. To reach 100,000 I will have to wait another three years. thanks to Toursa, Oviedo, and Bike Tech for the last parcel with spare parts.
From the capital, day 1352 and 50000km by bike, Peace and Well Beingg, the Biciclown.
