19May2025

Riding out of Samarkand, as the run rose and I pushed the pedals one stroke at a time, I couldn't help feeling that my journey was passing by too quickly. In just over a week I had experienced the beauty of 3 Silk Road cities, and loved every minute, but time was flying. I certainly was not flying, with a persistent head wind keeping my speed at bay. It was a lovely morning, and I was riding well within myself given the three long days ahead to Tashkent. The road climbed steadily for 60 km after which the scenery changed dramatically from flat green farmland to rocky hills with valleys between them. It was refreshing to have a change of scenery and I took it as a sign of things to come. The wind would often rustle up mini dust storms in dry patches, and I resorted to my snood to protect my face from the stinging sand. I stopped a couple of times to eat a Samsa and refill my water bottles, and I met a Kazakh cyclist going the same way as me. He spoke no English and I spoke no Kazakh so we rode along in silence taking turns to lead against the head wind. I must say that drivers in Uzbekistan are not very competent when driving around cyclists. They don't know how to handle the rare occurrence of a cyclist on the road. As a result I often get cut up both, left and right, regularly, and have to keep my wits about me in anticipation always - Experience makes this an easy task. I finished for the day in Jizzakh, the next town of any significance after Samarkand. After dinner, I did my ritual supermarket shop, and then sat in the town square reading, while children of all ages, and their Mums (strangely no Dads) played with footballs, skateboards and bicycles all around me.

Today's ride: 98 km (61 miles)
Total: 1,482 km (920 miles)

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