Day 19 Tuesday 13 September 2011 Khorog & Afghanistan

We took everything out of the car in preparation to look at the head gasket which the consensus appears to be the problem. Jim went into town to see whether he could find a compression tester but no luck there.

Four of the others went into town to see the Afghan Consul so that they could get visas to walk across the bridge into the Afghan village on the other side.

At 11.30 five of us walked to the Tajikistan checkpost, then walked across to the Afghan side. Whilst we were getting passports & visas checked, the Commissioner of Police introduced himself. He was seeing off a brother who was returning to Canada. He then arranged for a driver to squeeze the 5 of us into a Toyota and drive us up to the village. It was much further than we expected. Once there we were taken to an eating house, shoes off at the door & sitting on carpets on the floor. We were then given a mutton stew, bread & tea. After a while, a musical instrument was brought in & a jolly tune was played for our amusement. One chap had on a glittering Boss black jacket. No women in sight.

As we arrived schoolgirls walked by, dressed all in black with white headscarves. They quickly hurried away.

After lunch we said goodbye to the hosts & wandered down to the bazaar.

First stall was sides of meat handing in the air with wasps buzzing all around. All the little shops were looked after by men. Again no women in sight so we must have looked very strange. I don’t think many tourists take this path judging by the passport control ledger.

Back to the hotel to see how car repairs were going. Head gasket replaced and worked late into the night welded & plate patched the chassis on both sides under the firewall.

Chassis was torn 80% of depth.   

Welder did not turn up as promised, so I offered $50 USD, next minute, mobile phones on the job and 30 mins later, a car turned up with a welder and his equipment and a couple of mates / helpers.  Did a very competent job, despite welding equip running on two bare wires poked into a double adapter.  All this done in open air beside hotel, under a large beach umbrella.  However, did not find evidence of head gasket failure when dismantled.

Day 18 Monday 12 September 2011 Kalaikhum to Kharog

Up early to take the radiator out of the car & refit the exhaust. A few metres down the road was a welder who arc welded back the brackets which had come adrift.

Working on cars in grounds of Homestay, Kalaikhum

Exhaust refitted we headed down to the petrol station to fill up. The petrol was carried out in large buckets & poured into a funnel.

After another 30kms of bad roads we started to overheat again. After a few stops to refill & check the distributor functioning, we decided that we wouldn’t get far & that maybe the problem was the head gasket.

Towed again, shocking roads, another moonlight trip along the Pang river to the hotel.

Not so many soldiers tonight & no checkpoints.

We arrived at 11pm, showered off the dust through which we’d travelled all day & fell exhausted into bed.

Big day for repairs coming up, roads still hard to believe.

Schoolgirls in blue uniforms

Day 17 Sunday 11 September 2011 Dushanbe to Kalaikhum

Up early & drove through the city as it was dark when we arrived last night. The most striking feature of this city is the pink & grey buildings.

First stop was for petrol. Petrol is dearer here & harder to find. It cost us 365 somani for 55.3 litres. We also bought oil which came in a Sprite bottle.

We saw lots of wedding cars today, all decked out with colourful ribbons & flowers.

One wedding car was stopped by the roadside so we stopped to have a look. The wedding party were all interested in having their photographs taken, especially with the car. The bride didn’t look so happy though. ( groom will also not be happy when he first sets eyes on his bride !!!!!!)

Some wedding cars we’ve seen today were preceded by a tray truck & the whole procession was being videotaped by a guy standing in the back of the tray.

The road to Kalaikhum was our worst nightmare, mostly gravel with large stones. First one of our exhausts came adrift & after tying it with rope, it was still dragging on the rough road so we took the whole thing off & it sat on my lap for the rest of the day.

All day we drove alongside the Pang river with huge mountain ranges on both sides.

Afghanistan was across the river and we could see walking tracks along which people & animals were travelling. ( Marco Polo trail, hundreds of years old ) The villages were mud brick & apart from the trees blended in with the mountains. At one stage we had to get across water on the road. We waited until a local drove through & then followed suit.  Water up through floor boards, or at least what is left of them

Pang River (Afghanistan on left side)

The Morgan then started overheating again & we were towed by the Landrover for the last 70kms, over the very bad roads. There was some passing traffic & a few herdsmen with sheep & goats but mostly we just continued on in the moonlight.

Every so often we came across a group of patrolling soldiers but unlike the other Stans we were not stopped by any authorities.

After 388 kms of the worst imaginable roads we arrived at the Homestay at 10.30pm.

Outside shower & toilet, basic room but friendly proprietor.  Very difficult to be towed for those distances on road like that. At least there was some vodka available to soothe the nerves.

Day 16 Saturday 10 September 2011 Samarqand to Dushanbe, Tajikistan

A drive over the mountains in the cooler weather. Not much traffic on the road but interestingly in a short space of time we came across 3 stalls selling fresh meat, with the sides of meat hanging in the open air.

Down the other side we stopped at a bus stop where about 6 women were selling turkeys. More gold teeth & colourful dresses. They were all happy to have their photographs taken & I think the senior woman wanted to hand her daughter over to Phil. They also tried to give us 2 turkeys!

There is a lot of cotton grown around here & the women are all out harvesting it by hand. They put the cotton in large slings & then it is loaded on to trucks.

The Tajikstan currency is the somani and we get 4.89 somani  for one dollar.

Pamir Highway

A luxury hotel tonight (Hyatt) before a Homestay tomorrow night.

Car still overheating, several stops needed for cool down and top up water.  Worrying

Day 15 Friday 9th September 2011 Samarqand

A bit more sightseeing today. It is certainly cooler weather here than we had in Bukhara.

First up was the Bibi-Khanym Mosque. This was once the biggest mosque in the Islamic world. The cupola of the main mosque is 41m high. Apparently it partially collapsed in an earthquake in 1897 and wasn’t rebuilt until the 1970’s.

Bibi Khanym Mosque

Bibi-Khanym was Timur’s wife who requested the building works whilst he was away. Legend has it that the architect fell in love with her & refused to finish the works unless he could give her a kiss. The kiss left a mark, Timur had the architect executed & decreed that henceforth all women would wear veils so as not to tempt other men.

In the courtyard of this complex there is a large stone Koran and locals believe that any woman who crawls under the stand will have lots of children.

From Bibi-Khanym to the Siob Bazaar. As with other bazaars in this part of the world ,this one is also a  riot of colour. The ladies wear bright full length dresses with non-matching scarves in different hues. Many have gold front teeth. The bazaar had all types of vegetables, fruits, spice , dried fruits & even snuff.

Finally we went to the Shah-I-Zinda. This is a revered place & has the most stunning tilework in the complex of mausoleums. Wandering into the holiest shrine the call to prayer sounded & we were immediately surrounded by locals crowding in. After 5 minutes of chanting & hand gestures, everyone filed out.

For dinner Dina & Bernard found a local restaurant which did suckling pig.

It was served with salads, breads & pilaf.

Day 14 Thursday 8 September 2011 Bukhara to Samarqand

Another early start for the 270 km drive to Samarqand. Initially the road was quite good. Lots of people about.  It is noticeable in Uzbekistan that the people don’t have mobile phones like they did in Iran. Every car that passed us in Iran a passenger or even the driver would pull out a phone & photograph us. Here they toot the horn & wave. As elsewhere anytime we stop, a curious crowd swarms around the car.

About 11am we stopped for something to drink & found a roadside stall which was selling tea & what looked like pasties. These were baked within a stone oven & clung to the side in grooves. A pastry covering was filled with meat & onion so we ordered two & some tea.

At a table next to us were 4 locals getting into the vodka (2 bottles were consumed whilst we were there). I don’t think there are any drink/drive rules here.

Stone oven pasties by roadside...delicious!!

Once again the police were interested in us & we were pulled over 3 times. The first & third were just curious about the car & us & the middle one tried us on for speeding. Passports handed over and yet another stand-off.  Eventually he got sick of us & motioned us on.

Further on about to enter a town we came across a tin cut out of a policewoman (have yet to see any female police!) in the middle of a pedestrian crossing, complete with baton in hand.

Policewoman cut-out to deter speeding motorists

There were lots of towns on this stretch of road and school children seemed to be heading home (or out for lunch). The girls were all dressed in black skirts & pristine white blouses. I think I forgot to mention that the school girls in Turkmenistan wore long green dresses with braid trim & looked very elegant. The younger ones had lace bows in their hair.

Arrived in Samarqand about 4pm and ready for .some sightseeing It doesn’t seem as hot here as in Bukhara.

Car on entry to Samarqand

Samarqand is one of Central Asia’s oldest cities, and a key Silk Road city. First to the Gur-E-Amir Mausoleum, a short walk from our hotel. This is where Timur, a ruler from the 1300’s and some of his descendants are buried. His stone was once a single slab of dark green jade. The story goes that Nader Shah (see entry for Mashad) carried it off to Persia where it was accidentally broken in two. From then on Nader Shah had bad luck so at the urging of his religious advisers had the stone returned to Samaqand.

Dome of Gur-E-Amir mausoleum

Next was the Registan, a magestic complex of leaning towers, turquoise mosaics & an ensemble of madressas. Most of the buildings have been rebuilt after falling into disrepair. One of the madressas has a very good photographic display of how the complex was before restoration. The Tilla-Kari (gold covered) madressa has a gold leaf ceiling. Unusually the ceiling is flat but its tapered design makes it look domed.

Registan

Gold ceiling in Tilla-Kan madressa

Dinner was Uzbek Italian with pizza & pasta with beers & a very ordinary merlot.

Day 13 Wednesday 7th September 2011 Rest Day Bukhara, Uzbekistan

(Morning all. Overnight received 18 days of blogs to post from the Puce Goosers. What can I say, the silk road is not that smooth and all has not gone quite to plan! No photos as yet, read on. Noel)

A sleep-in, breakfast & then we were off to see whether we could find a business which could weld the broken bracket from the front mudguard. A taxi driver said he knew of a place so we jumped in & soon found ourselves in a residential area. Pulling up, there was a welder complete with garage pit. Bracket was handed over & he got to work. $US10 dollars later our bracket was ready & we drove back to town.

Welder welding front mudguard bracket

We found out that the official rate for $1 is 1700 som & the black market rate is 2,500. As taxi drivers know these things, I was asked to stay put & Phil was led down a side alley. The door was opened slightly, a hand came out & took the US dollars & wads of som notes were handed back in return. The frequently used note is 500 som so we seem to carry around large bricks of notes.

We then went to have a look at the Kalon Minaret. When it was built in the 1100’s it was probably the tallest build in Central Asia. Kalon means great .It is 47mts tall with 10mt foundations, including stacked reeds for earthquake proofing. Genghis Khan was apparently so dumbfounded by it that he ordered it spared. It has different ornamental bands all the way up. Locals can climb the tower, but foreigners cannot.

Kalon Minaret which so impressed Ghengis Khan that he spared it

On then to the Ark, Bukhara’s oldest structure, dating from the 5^th century.  Inside there are former living quarters of the Emir’s Prime Minister, courtyards, royal stables etc. There is also a reception & coronation court which lost its roof to a Russian bombardment in 1920.

Ark, in front of which, Conolly & Stoddart were beheaded

In front of the Ark in 1842, Colonel Stoddart & Captain Conolly were marched out from a dungeon cell, made to dig their own graves & in front of a large crowd & the sound of drums & reed pipes, were beheaded. Stoddart had arrived 3 years earlier to reassure the Emir about Britain’s invasion of Afghanistan. Conolly arrived 2 years later to try & secure Stoddart’s release but the Emir believed him to be part of a British plot so he too was thrown into a cell.

Behind the Ark is the Zindon, the gaol which is now a museum. It has several dungeons including the gruesome bug pit (lice, scorpions & other vermin) where Stoddart & Conolly languished for all that time.

We walked around the old town & there are stalls selling all sorts of things. Headwear made from all types of skins, sheep, fox etc. Phil bought a Russian flying helmet (just what you need in a Morgan), as well as a Uzbek cap. I bought a silk scarf.

On the way back to the hotel we came across a hairdresser. While it appeared to be for women, Phil motioned that he’d like a beard trim & haircut. No problem, he was soon in the chair being pampered. Whilst this was going on, women were having their eyebrows plucked. I thought I’d give that a try. A lot of the plucking was done with 2 strands of cotton. All very painless and the cost for both was $12.

Phil's haircut in salon with pictures of camels on the wall.

It is very hot again today. One local told us it was 38 degrees and it is like this for most of August. 

Dinner was very pleasant up on the open rooftop terrace (salad, barley vegetable soup, & beef stroganoff with rice followed by fruit.