It was sad to leave Ollie and Seb and continue my journey without them, but after over a month of travelling with people, I needed some time alone. The journey out of Samarkand was challenging but not too dangerous and I was soon on the country lanes thanks to Komoot’s algorithm.
The journey was broken up perfectly by small cafes and shops but this soon disappeared as I got closer to the mountains and I now needed to think about my food supplies. It was nice to be cycling again by myself and found I could stop and camp wherever I liked. Stopping for lunch, I was invited to join others with a flick to the neck. A sign that they were offering vodka. I declined. Cycling and alcohol do not mix!
The fields were mainly agricultural with little left for camping or trees! Irrigation systems are everywhere; no space for animals to roam freely. Quite often they were tethered to the ground. I guess it saves not having to employ a herdsman. Although the children, often younger than 10, were there to keep an eye on the animals.
Broken pedal stops play
Cycling along a flat, broken asphalt road I heard an odd crunching sound, my pedal then made an odd lurching movement and temporarily stopped moving. It then comes off with my foot and my bike lurches in the opposite direction. I managed to remain on my bike and steer it to the side of the road. Then I realised the issue I had. The pedal came off the spindle, which was still attached to the bike. It wouldn’t screw back on and I was in the middle of nowhere.
Do I hitchhike to the nearest bazaar in the hope I can find a replacement or try and pedal with it broken? I chose to pedal! My inner thigh would have to keep the pedal on the spindle. There was a bazaar over the hill I was about to start climbing. Part way up there was a mosque and pilgrimage site; hopefully, I can set up my tent in their grounds.
Mosques with warm showers?
When entering the grounds I cycled past some workmen building a new building. I didn’t realise that this was the new washing facility for the mosque. It was also a new build mosque. But it also had a guestroom further down. After a quick chat with the Imam, he allowed me to stay and showed me the new wash facilities. They had a shower, unexpected. Plus warm running water. A luxury for cycle tourers!
After dinner, the Imam joined me in the guestroom for tea. I provided some dates as a snack. We discussed a little about the surrounding area; however I couldn’t help but notice his son was allowed to join me in the guestroom, but his daughters were standing outside. The subjugation of women starts young. It is something I was noticing more and more in Uzbekistan.
Hope in a bazaar
I climbed over the hill with the pedal and now came the descent. Surprisingly, this is harder with a pedal which can come off. Especially as the bumps in the road, this is an Uzbek road – falling apart, lift your foot off the pedal regularly. I drop into Yangikishlak and find the bazaar in full swing. There is also a memorial taking place for the soldiers of WWII, known as the Great Patriotic War in the old USSR countries.
There is only one stall selling bike parts and they are all second-hand, but they have some pedals. Unfortunately, they are 2mm too small for the bike cranks and won’t work. I’m left with few choices now. No exploring mountains. I need to keep to the main roads in case of the pedal fully breaking and I need to hitchhike. I’m also hoping Tashkent will have the pedals I need.
An unexpected surprise on a long boring road…
I’m afraid this part of the story is dull, punctuated by just one interesting airfield. The roads are long and dull and full of traffic. Whilst looking for somewhere to camp I spotted an old grass airfield with a lot of planes from the 60s and 70s. These were Antonov AN-2 bi-planes and whilst they were originally passenger planes they were adapted later in life for spraying crops in Uzbekistan.
I cycled over asking the owner, a farmer, for a chance to camp in the field with the planes. I was originally given a yes but on the proviso that no pictures are taken. How disappointing. But later it changed to you can have a room in my house, I wanted to camp but he was having nothing of it. I also joined them for a few drinks in the evening.
Tashkent, a sprawling city with some highlights
Tashkent was a chance to get some equipment for the bike, repair and do some maintenance. New pedals first though. I also contacted the original manufacturer, Funn Mountain Bike Components, and explained the issue. They were excellent and promised to send me a new set of pedals. They will be delivered to Tashkent, ready for when I go over the Pamir knot. I was amazed at the service!
I also had a chance to visit some of the sites of the city. Firstly the House of Photography, was free but mainly paintings, which sort of makes a mockery of their name! It wasn’t worth it. I also visited the Museum of the People of Uzbekistan, the anthropology museum. It covered a large range of history and was very informative but the second floor came across more as an attempt to promote the current regime in Uzbekistan.
Whilst on the way back from another bike shop, VeloMarket (I highly recommend this shop), I visited the mosque at the Islamic centre, whilst not old, is very impressive in the intricacy of the interior design. They are also building another mosque down the road but this will dwarf the size of the Registan in Samarqand. It seems excessive in today’s cash-strapped world, but I guess dictatorships don’t care about that.
Finally, the best attraction in Tashkent is the Chorsu Bazaar. Whilst it was originally just one building in the middle it has sprawled outwards and taken over a huge area. The central building now holds the meat, dairy and nuts. It has the bakery and fruit section to the side. Fabrics, shoes and kitchenware continue even further out. It never seems to end, if it wasn’t for GPS I would’ve got lost! They have a whole section devoted to cooking shashlik, meat kebabs. It was amazing and I feel you could spend days exploring and still not cover it all!