Got up, not feeling my best, but we packed and headed for the border. About 250km of not so great roads which doesn't do a crook gut much good. Dave was starting to feel a little crook as well and the heat on top of all this. Finally got to the border and told 'no, border closed' Locals were crossing, but not us. Another 40 or so km and we get to the next one after being stopped for a long time at a road block while they copy all our personal and bike details.
Then to the actual border. About an hour or two, including the bike luggage search. Then thru no-mans land to the Tajik entry. Fill in the forms and hand them in. "Problem!" It seems that the guy in Istanbul who issued our visas put 2012 instead of 2013 in one section and that ruled out our entry. clearly it was a typo, but no. "not my department" They ejected us from their side of the fence back into no-mans land. We were reluctant to move as we'd left Uzbek and not sure if they'd let us back. Ben went and spoke with Uzbek., they said OK, but we'd have to re-enter. Another set of forms for us and our bikes, etc, etc, etc. Then a 90km ride to Tashkent so we could sort it out. Another police check in the blazing heat for a hour or so. 90km took about 2.5 hours. Dave getting crooker by the minute.
Found a guest house and Dave and I took to our beds whilst Peter and Ben had a couple of vodkas and beers with Ari. Peter arranged for some rice, tea and bread for me while successfull fighting off the attention of several females. The food was great and I started to feel better, so back to sleep only to be woken from a deep sleep with one of Peter's friends standing over my bed offering a 'massage. Of course I declined. She insisted. I strongly declined and she left me to my sleep.
Anyway, woke up feeling better and we should pick up our visas this arvo and head back to the border to do it all again. Went for a walk around Tashkent, found the railway museum. Thier attention to detail in the restoration left a bit to be desired.
Finally up to date!
Then to the actual border. About an hour or two, including the bike luggage search. Then thru no-mans land to the Tajik entry. Fill in the forms and hand them in. "Problem!" It seems that the guy in Istanbul who issued our visas put 2012 instead of 2013 in one section and that ruled out our entry. clearly it was a typo, but no. "not my department" They ejected us from their side of the fence back into no-mans land. We were reluctant to move as we'd left Uzbek and not sure if they'd let us back. Ben went and spoke with Uzbek., they said OK, but we'd have to re-enter. Another set of forms for us and our bikes, etc, etc, etc. Then a 90km ride to Tashkent so we could sort it out. Another police check in the blazing heat for a hour or so. 90km took about 2.5 hours. Dave getting crooker by the minute.
Found a guest house and Dave and I took to our beds whilst Peter and Ben had a couple of vodkas and beers with Ari. Peter arranged for some rice, tea and bread for me while successfull fighting off the attention of several females. The food was great and I started to feel better, so back to sleep only to be woken from a deep sleep with one of Peter's friends standing over my bed offering a 'massage. Of course I declined. She insisted. I strongly declined and she left me to my sleep.
They do a really good railway station in the former Soviet Republic. The police stopped me taking more pics. He demanded to see my camera and check the previous pics. He saw the ones from the railway museum and put me down as another crazy train spotter from the west.
Finally up to date!
Hi Paul, looks like the adventure is really starting now!! I am surprised that the border/visa date problem couldn't be fixed with a few dinars in the right hands.
ReplyDeleteI see the spot tracker has you heading south now, to places we don't know.....can't wait for the blog update. Looks like you camped out last night (thursday) in a national park deep in a barren mountain range. Regards to you and the guys....Actionman.
Wow....they have hit 3,340meters/10,300ft altitude today(Tuesday 17th). The bikes ( and riders) would be struggling at that height.
ReplyDeleteLucky its not winter, but I still reckon it would be bloody cold.
I have no idea of where they are going, maybe they are heading to Kyrgyzstan via the back door.
I just had a good look at the satellite pics. They are riding in a valley at 3340m, which means the surrounding peaks are around 5000m. Sir Edmund Newbold??
ReplyDeletePeter forgot to turn his Spot tracker on this morning.... or else he is having a lie in.
Heat, vomiting, whores, borders - it's all there. How come this never happened to Ewan and Charlie? The blog and the dot thing make me feel like I'm there, except instead I'm drinking my third glass of (good) red, the heating has the house at a comfortable 20 degrees and I'm about to get 10 hours in a comfortable bed.
ReplyDeleteGeeze you left Istanbul in a mess. Can you follow the news? Australia qualified for the soccer world cup tonight, the coach of Melbourne got sacked, research says Gillard will lead the Labor Party to a spectacular loss but Rudd would give it a 50/50 chance, my right hand is out of bandages and I can type again, Cam had a disappointing IoM but got a second in the superbike race despite four laps without rear brake pads because they fell out during the tyre change!
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Hey, ActionManMelb, we need to catch up.