Countries visited: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
Cycled mileage in August: 1,770.9km
Cycled mileage per country: 648.3km Kazakhstan, 1,122.6km Uzbekistan
Total cycled mileage incl. August: 6,894.9km
August mileage not cycled 1,489.5km (walking, taxi, ferry, train)
Days per country: 2d - Azerbaijan, 10d - Kazakhstan, 19d - Uzbekistan
Days cycling: 16d
Technical failures: 3 Punctures
Link to this month's route
We reached Azerbaijan's capital Baku last month and successfully applied for Uzbek visas. When the month ended we were still waiting for a sailing of the ferry to Aqtau in Kazakhstan.
We called the ticket office every day and finally we were told there would be a sailing later that day and that we should come to the office immediately to get a ticket. We grabbed all our stuff and rushed there. Buying the tickets was a matter of minutes. We then learnt that the ferry wouldn't leave from Baku. Instead we were supposed to go to Alat, around 70 kilometres south of Baku. We had heard rumours about that before and we had also heard that the ladies at the ticket office would be able to help with finding cheap transport from Baku to Alat. There was no point in cycling there as we were advised that the ferry would leave in about 3 hours.
In fact the friendly lady called a car for us and later a second car when our 2 bikes wouldn't fit in one car. Off we went and arrived to Alat an hour later.
The ferry was already there, seemingly ready for boarding. But nothing happened. There were heaps of trucks and cars and we expected a long waiting time. When we told the officers that we only had bicycles we were allowed to board immediately.
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| Aboard the ferry to Kazakhstan |
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| Waiting for the vehicles to be allowed boarding |
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| The end of a boring day |
We spent most of the day somewhere on the ferry but it wasn't until nightfall that the first vehicles were allowed to board. The boarding continued all night and we didn't leave until 6am. Bummer! We could have easily cycled all the way from Baku.
We shared the cabin with some Mongol Rally participants, pretty interesting guys. They were driving a crappy old car from the UK all the way to Mongolia. And they thought we were crazy!
The next 24 hours went by uneventfully. There wasn't much to do, no entertainment and sitting on the deck wasn't too nice with smut raining down from the exhaust pipes.
In the early morning we reached Aqtau. We were among the first to leave the ferry and had quickly cleared customs and immigration. On our way out of the port a young bloke in uniform seriously asked for paperwork for our bikes. We just stared at him and couldn't resist laughing out loud. The guy looked embarrassed and turned away. We took our chance and sped off.
We spent a day in Aqtau sorting our resupplies and recovering from the rather restless night on the ferry. Eventually we set off. There's a 500 kilometres long stretch of desert to the Uzbek border and we were a bit nervous about it.
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| As touristy as it gets in Aqtau |
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| Evening walk along the coast |
We didn't have a good start. The headwind was unrelenting and the first bit of road was badly corrugated. Later stretches of old, bumpy road changed with newly constructed stretches. We called it a day when we reached Zhetybay, one of the few villages along the way.
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| Stretch of the old, bumpy road to Shetpe |
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| Smooth surface of the new road |
The next day we reached Shetpe and stopped there for the night. Shetpe would be the last settlement for the next 300 kilometres or so and we treated ourselves to a comparably expensive hotel room.
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| Hotel in Shetpe |
The next 3 days went by rather uneventfully. The road quality improved after Shetpe and it was smooth riding. The headwind didn't stop, though, and the heat was oppressive. There are chaikhanas (tea houses) every 30-70 kilometres and we stopped at most of them, either having a nap during the hottest hours or just enjoying a cool drink.
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| Chaikhana on the way to Beyneu |
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| Lunchtime! |
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| Passing the hottest hours of the day in a chaikhana |
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| Yet another chaikhana |
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| Accommodation in a chaikhana |
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| Desparately waiting for our breakfast |
We have compiled a small guide to the Aqtau - Beyneu road for those interested in taking the same route.
5 days after leaving Aqtau we reached Beyneu, a quite significant town at the Uzbek border. Uzbek visas are date-specific and ours would only start in 2 days. Beyneu is a pretty lacklustre place so we used the time to do some research for the route ahead. There was a lot of concerning stories about the border crossing at Beyneu and also about the 700 kilometres of road from there to Urgench. Many people suggested taking the train for this stretch rather than cycling. We argued for a bit but then agreed to book train tickets.
Everything worked out well and we got on the night train late on August 10th. The bikes were stored in a small space between two carriages. After midnight on 11th we crossed the border to Uzbekistan, just 1 hour after our date-specific visas started. Score!
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| On the train from Beyneu to Urgench |
We reached Urgench in the afternoon and found a cheap hotel room. After a good night's rest we leisurely rode the 30 kilometres to ancient silk-road city Khiva. Two days were barely enough time to explore everything.
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| Old town of Khiva |
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| One of numerous mosques |
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| Ramparts of ancient Khiva |
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| Setting off from Khiva |
From Khiva we backtracked to Urgench and then headed towards Bukhara which is another 500 kilometres away. The road from Khiva to Beruniy was pretty much okay. After Beruniy the A-380 deteriorated drastically and particularly after Turtkul it had more potholes than tarmac. To make things worse the road led back into the desert after Turtkul meaning the potholes were often filled with deep, soft sand. Around 10 kilometres before Miskin they have started building a new road and the smooth new surface lasted all the way to Gazli. There were dozens of Chaikhanas along the way, usually no more than 30 kilometres apart.
After Gazli the road deteriorated again and didn't improve until Bukhara.
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| Cotton fields between Khiva and Urgench |
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| Lunchtime in a chaikhana |
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| Smooth new surface of the A-381 after Miskin |
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| The river marks the border between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan |
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| Endless road through the Kyzylkum desert |
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| Monotonous riding |
We were pretty proud when we had bashed out the 500 kilometres between Khiva and Bukhara in only 3 days including a 212 kilometres day!
Even though it was very touristy we spent 2 days in Bukhara and it was completely worth it!
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| Gate near Lyabi-Hauz plaza in Bukhara |
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| Maghoki-Attar in Bukhara - this 9th-century mosque... |
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| ...is supposedly Central Asia's oldest mosque |
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| Mir-i-Arab Medressa in Bukhara |
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| Ismail Samani mausoleum is said to be the oldest religious building of Bukhara |
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| "Ark", the former royal district of Bukhara |
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| Kalon Mosque |
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| Sunset over Lyabi-Hauz plaza |
From Bukhara we followed the M-37 all the way to Samarqand. The road wasn't in good condition but ridable. On the 300 kilometres we only stopped once in Navoiy that featured dozens of hotels.
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| Still 242 kilometres to Samarqand! |
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| There was a lot of police in Uzbekistan... |
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| ...even though this policecar was just a dummy |
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| Fixing a puncture on the way to Samarqand |
There is only one word to describe Samarqand - Beautiful. We'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
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| Siob Bazaar in Samarqand |
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| The famous Registan |
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| Sher Dor Medressa on the east side of the Registan |
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| Sha-i-Zinda, the "Avenue of Mauosleums" |
Originally we had intended to head from Samarqand to the Tajik border and to tackle the Pamir Highway from there. For various reasons we dropped that idea. So far we hadn't been able to obtain a Chinese visa. It seemed unlikely to get one in Tajikistan, either. Even in Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan we expected it to take a while. Thus spending a further month or so on the Pamir Highway didn't seem too advisable particularly with the cold season approaching and us fallen behind schedule during the last two months.
Instead we decided to head from Samarqand to Tashkent and to get to Kyrgyzstan via Kazakhstan.
The ride to Tashkent was done in uneventful 3 days. The Uzbek capital wasn't of much tourist interest but it was a good place to socialize and to recover before heading to Kazakhstan. We even spent a night out in Tashkent's allegedly most subversive night club - who would have thought it's the Elvis Bar!? Police almost arrested our group when we went back to the hostel in the middle of the night.
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| Hotel "Uzbekistan" in Tashkent |
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| Chorsu Bazar |
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| Another hall at Chorsu Bazar |
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| Tashkent TV tower |
Our departure delayed as Dominik was sick once more. Things got a bit urgent when Uzbekistan's president Karimov was delivered into hospital in serious condition. Quickly there were rumours he had already died but authorities wanted to postpone the announcement until after the upcoming 25th independence day. The independence was another reason why authorities were more nervous than usual anyway.
Some locals suggested that the borders could be closed any time with Karimov hospitalized and the independence day ahead. We subsequently decided to leave the country sooner rather than later and cycled to the border despite Dominik still not feeling all too well.
We made it into Kazakhstan without any problems even though our paperwork was not at all in order - our registrations were incomplete and we didn't have a valid customs declaration.
When we were at the border it was already closed for oncoming traffic and reportedly it was actually closed the day Karimov's death was announced. From what we've heard some travellers got stuck.
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| (Incomplete) paperwork required to leave Uzbekistan... |
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| ...things are much easier in Kazakhstan! |
From the border it took us two rather boring days to get to Shymkent. A good place to finish an eventful month!
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| Shymkent road just after the border |
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| Heading towards Shykment |
