May 12, 2025
12May2025
I woke up at 5 am as the sun was just rising. Last night, staying in Aziz's Chaikanna proved too warm, so I made the decision to sleep in my tent under the stars. Best decision ever. I rode out into a headwind, that I knew would last all 86 km today, and I also knew the road would be dead straight for the whole distance. True character building riding! The heat got almost too much as I rolled into Gazli, where I checked into the UTG (Uzbeck Trans Gas) hostel, a basic place meant for Uzbeck Gas engineers, but takes weary travellers as well. Running water, shared (reasonable) bathing areas and a disgusting pit latrine. Gazlinis nothing much more than an oil and gas mining settlement in the desert. However, it has a decent supermarket, and restaurant, both which I made use of. Phone signal also returned today! Mosquitos were plentiful, and in the absence of any netting, I opted for pitching my tent inside my room to spend the night suitably distanced from them. This is something I have done on numerous occasions... I am so grateful for my tent! I plan another early start tomorrow, with temperatures creeping above 40 by 13:00.
Today's ride: 86 km (53 miles)
Total: 1,013 km (629 miles)
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