Sept 29- end of October update

It is getting more and more difficult to update the blog. Also, it has been a very busy month and I was often too tired or too occupied to write much.

After a successful desert run we made it into Uzbekistan and visited places like Bukhara and Samarkand and experienced amazing hospitality along the way. I will post pictures of all of this as soon as I can but it may take a few weeks.

cheers

Sept 28- the bad road starts‏

Location: from Shetpe to a tunnel under the road, Kazakhstan.

Lots of side wind in the morning. Road not bad, fewer dump trucks. Needed to switch my pedals from the clip in ones to the regular set I had bought because having my feet cliped in on the desert road could be dangerous. We did not have the tool for that but we came across a broken down truck next to the road and the trucker had exactly the tool we needed. After five minutes we were back on the road with my new pedals. Great!
There was a nice stretch of brand new road. A turkish trucker invited us for tea, bread, olives, funny curly cheese bits and watermelon. Perfect lunch! Then came 20-30 km of dusty secondary road parallel to the old road being renewed. Lots of dump trucks passed us and often times we found ourselves completely shrouded by a cloud of dust. Mmm gritty teeth. Stopped by a few big rocks where James had camped two years ago before the road renewal was in progress.
Since we had no tent, we ended up camping in a tunnel underneath the road. The wind was howling through it but we found a big tire near by which we set up as a big wind block along with some tarps. Appearantly this tunnel is a camel passage because as it was getting dark a few camels cautiously approached the tunnel and made the most horrible grunting noises. They seemed really upset that we were blocking their way. Luckily they eventually realized that they can just cross the road instead of going underneath it.

Sept 27- Telephone Operator‏

Location: from near Zhetibay to Shetpe, Kazakhstan

After a hearty breakfast and several vodka shots with Savira and Kairat we set off.
In Zhetibay we stopped at a small grocery store to get a few things. After the purchase the lady followed us outside and gave us four big apples as a gift. I quickly wrote her a little thank you card which earned me a red lipstick smooch from her. Pretty cute.
Two well fed, friendly guys also gave us two Snickers bars and the herd goats roaming around the parkinglot gave this place a quirky touch.
Photographed a few camels along the way up to Shetpe. We felt much more optimistic today and really enjoyed the ride. We had tailwind again and traffic was very light. The road surface was bad but could be worse.
Last time James rode through here he ended up sleeping at the telephone operator's office in Shetpe. We ended up asking there again and it was no problem. We even got to take the bikes inside. And yes it was a real, old school but fully functional telephone operator's office like you see in the movies. We were lulled to sleep by strange ringing and buzzing sounds coming from the operator's room.
It is interesting to see such a clash of technology within the same country because on the streets most people and even the kids have cell phones but landlines still operate in the old-school fashion.

Sept 26- continued‏

In the late afternoon we started thinking about where to sleep. It was a depressing matter because the wind had picked up during the day, there was no shelter in this open space, the next town still far away and if we just slept under the stars we would be covered in dust and sand next morning, not to mention the possibility of another thunderstorm. At one point we just threw the bikes down, James screamed in the wind and I sat beside the road and cried. We felt so homeless. What a crappy situation. In North America or Europe we could just ride to the next outdoor store and buy new tent poles but we are stuck in Central Asia with the nearest decent outdoor shop probably in Istanbul, Moscow or Tehran.
A while later we came past a bright pink house and pulled over for a break. A very nice couple came out to say hello. With broken Turkish, a few words of Russian and gesturing we were able to tell them about our trip. It was obvious that we were a bit down and we mentioned our useless tent. Savira and Kairat immediately offered the unfinished room upstairs. They were so kind. Savira did everything in her power to make us feel better. We got tea and dinner with many shots of vodka and juice.
Lying on our mats that evening, we had to admit that it had been a pretty awesome day. Good wind, sunny weather, delicious breakfast from the buffet restaurant  yesterday, lunch invitation, later a tea invitation and finally a warm, dry, safe place to sleep, a delicious dinner and two cool people to hang out with. Perhaps this trip will turn out alright eventually.
We had been so focused on our "bad" situation that we had failed to see all the blessings throughout the day. Even the early morning rain had contributed to a much more pleasant day by helping to keep the dust down.
THANK YOU LORD FOR LOOKING AFTER US AND FORGIVE US OUR DOUBTING AND COMPLAINING.

Sept 26- Desert‏

Location: from Aktau to near Zhetibay, Kazakhstan

We woke up depressed and upset about the missing tentpoles just to notice that a thunderstorm was passing over Aktau followed by a torrential downpour. O my goodness. Things just keep getting better and better. We thought this was a desert! And we have no tent!
Morale plummetts even further!
An hour later the sky was clear again so we reluctantly got on the bikes and followed the narrow road out of town towards Zhetibay. We had a good tailwind but the cracked asphalt hindered progress. There was lots of traffic, mainly dump trucks, and almost every vehicle honked at us. Aaaaa so annoying.
For a while I was able to shed my frustration about the tent poles and just enjoy riding through the flat, gray landscape of western Kazakhstan which I had been looking forward to for months. The best part were all the freely roaming camels grazing on the little vegetation. They have such an aloof, confident and super relaxed air about them.
We stopped for a break outside of a lonely little roadside restaurant. A few young guys stopped there for lunch and one of them insisted on buying us lunch. We were not sure if the restaurant food could be trusted but eventually we accepted. He bought us a traditional Kazakh dish of boiled meat (probably camel or horse) with chopped onions. It was delicious and cheered us up a bit. Thank you.

Sept 25- Kazakhstan at last!‏

Location: Aktau, Kazakhstan

No this is not an imaginary place eventhough Borat makes you think so. We disembarked around noon and later met three westbound Australians in the customs office waiting to get on the ship we had just arrived on. They are on an overland trip with their car from Australia to England.
We rode into Aktau to get some wifi, food and to get registered. Most ex-soviet countries require foreigners to register, whatever that means. Luckily in Kazakhstan only one registration is needed if you plan on staying in the country for more than five days. We have yet to figure out the purpose of that registration because they already obtained all our personal details at the border. It seems like these countries have a deep affection for bureaucracy involving small slips of paper with big stamps on them.
Aktau had such a relaxed air about it compared to Baku. We felt like we could finally breathe again. Honking was minimal and the cars stayed nicely in their lanes. The beach was lovely too.
 
We sat in a park for a bit when two guys walked up to us. One of them, his name was Bauyrzhan, spoke English and explained to us that his friend Alexander would like to invite us out for dinner. We accepted. He took us to a buffet restaurant and in addition to dinner he even got us two to-go boxes for tomorrow. What a great welcome to Kazakhstan!
THANKS ALEXANDER AND BAU FOR THE TWO DELICIOUS MEALS. IT WAS GREAT TO MEET YOU!
We decided to sleep at the port that night. Some Turkish truckers waved us over for dinner. We were still so full but they just kept giving us more food and vodka. Edo was so funny (in picture next to James). Turkish truckers are great company.
It had been such a great day and we were so happy to be able to continue our trip that we were completely unprepared for what happened next. We wanted to set up the tent when we realized the tent poles were missing! S-H-I-T!!!
After some pondering we figured that we lost them in Baku when we had to quickly unload the bikes to lift them up a steep bank to get around a huge muddy puddle in the middle of the road. Unfortunately this realization came too late because we could not go back and retrieve them. No more tent and stuck in what James calls the ass end of Kazakhstan with a week of desert ahead of us. We could just get on the train to Beyneu but that defeats the purpose of the trip. Morale plummetted to an all time low.
Ended up sleeping on the benches in the customs office which was open all night.

Sept 24- Wow we are on the boat!!!‏

 Location: Caspian Sea
 
Incredible turn of events! Amazing!
Eventhough we boarded the ship last night, it did not sail until around noon today because loading the cargo train had taken longer than expected. The trip from Baku to Aktau was going to take about 20 hours.
It was a great trip. We came past some old oil platforms. The sunset was gorgeous and the boson ensured that the grumpy kitchen ladies gave us some food. Perfect.

Sept 23- Surprise!

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan

This is the poem we wrote for our Norwegian friends this evening:
Dear Friends, we thank you very much
For all the comfort, help, food and such.
Full  of trepidation
We arrived at Immigration.
We paid our fine to no longer be rejected
Luckily it was a bit less than expected!
The thought of packing our bikes for the train
Released another flood of disappointment and pain.
Because we had time we rolled down to the sea
To say one last farewell to the trip we had hoped could be.
To our great surprise, delight and shock
There already was another Kazakh boat at the dock.
Quick decision made,
Tickets paid!
And shortly thereafter, sitting on our bunk
The Norwegian vodka was drunk!
Tonight we may be camped behind a dusty dirt mound
But what's most important is: we're still East-Bound!

Sept 22- Waiting

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan

Ina lent us her computer to do some research for our change of travel plans. She then even invited us to stay for another night. Absolutely super kind. So great to not be treated like criminals. Marko told us that what happened to us is common and many tourists find themselves rejected at the border even if they overstayed their visa by just just a few hours. Clearly we were experiencing first hand how merciless and inflexible the system is in this country in that it fines people for breaking a law that was incorrectly explained in the first place. So frustrating! And there is nothing you can do because they don't care that it was not your fault.

James and I went to the port to try and get a refund for our ferry tickets. To our surprise the lady just handed us the cash back when we presented her with the tickets. No questions asked. So great!
We had a nice evening with Marko, Ina and Evy. They even gave us two little bottles of Norwegian liquor to take with us to celebrate a successful border crossing when we reach Georgia. We could not fully relax though  because we were a bit worried about the visit to the Immigration office tomorrow. Unfortunately in countries like this one you cannot really trust any officials because everything is so corrupt.

Sept 21- cont.

Our Norwegian hosts had said we could come back to their house in case the ship did not sail today. Now that we had been rejected at the port we were not sure if we could go back to their house because this weird regime may punish people who host law breakers like us. So we decided to return to the hotel but called Ina just to inform her of what happened. She invited us back to their house and ensured us that there will not be any negative consequences for them. Wow! So nice! We could not help but shed a few tears. Thank you Lord for sending us these kind friends.

Sept 21- THE TRIP IS OVER!! :-((

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan
After a lovely breakfast with our hosts we rolled down to the port. To our delight we were informed that a ship is scheduled to sail this evening!! Awesome! We purchased the tickets and then waited to be let on the boat. At about 4pm they started calling people over for passport control. We were so excited to soon be sailing across the Caspian sea.
The border guard kept scrutinizing our passports and eventually turned to us with an expressionless face and told us our Azeri visa had expired which means we were not allowed to leave the country until we pay the $400 per person fine and obtain an exit permit from the immigration office. WHAT!!!!
At first we thought it was a joke, then a misunderstanding and after a while we realized we were trapped in a real live nightmare. What a blow! The worst of it was that this was not our fault but the visa information we received at the embassy in Batumi had been incorrect.
We begged the officers to let us pay the fine on the spot but they just looked at us with their condescending, cold eyes, shook their heads, pointed out the door and repeated the word "Immigration".
Great! First of all, it was Saturday so the Immigration office would close in about an hour and the chances of us getting there in time were slim because we did not know where it was and the officer's directions were vague. With a taxi it may have been possible but there was no way we would leave our bikes with all our stuff at the port in the hands of these nasty officers. We gave it a try though and rode into town. There we asked for directions but ended up getting sent to the wrong office by a well meaning individual who just did not know any better. Then the clock struck 6, the Immigration office, where ever it is, closed and would not open again until Monday. We had been told that the exit permit is only valid for 48 hours so waiting for another boat was out of the question because they generally run every 7-10 days and a flight to Kazakhstan would cut too deep into our travel budget for us to continue going east. Our only way out would be a night train back to Georgia on Monday and then a cheap flight to Switzerland.
We slowly started to grasp the fact that the Kazakh and Uzbek visas we had picked up the day before would never have a stamp on them. In other words, our trip was over. This hurt. I have never felt such intense disappointment in my life.
Pictures: sad bikes outside the customs office; the ship we would never get to sail on :-(

Sept 20-Visas

Location: Baku, Azerbaijan

Today was the last morning in the hotel which meant goodbye to our wonderfully airconditioned room. What a treat it was.

We spent most of the day riding all over town to make visa payments at specific bank braches and calling the Uzbek embassy almost every hour to check if our visa confirmation arrived.
We could pick up the Kazakh visa without problems but at 6pm there was still no news from the Uzbek embassy. The extremely patient and helpful secretary there kept telling us to call back in half hour. Supposedly they were having some technical difficulties that day with their system. So we just sat in Fountains Square park and chatted with an Italian couple who is backpacking from Italy to Southeast Asia. With little hope left we made our last call at 7pm and to our surprise we were told to be at the Embassy in 15 min! Wow great but this is easier said than done because we were down near the waterfront and the embassy is up on the hill past the Flame Towers.
It was a crazy ride along which we probably broke most traffic rules just to shorten the way. We rode down one-way streets in the wrong direction, ignored red lights, took shortcuts around the wrong side of  round-abouts, cut-off drivers etc. It was quite exhilirating actually and since Baku traffic is chaotic anyways we basically fit right in.

Drenched in sweat with beet red faces we arrived at the embassy. We were happy we made it on time but we were a bit annoyed that our freshly washed clothes were already soaked in sweat again. It may be days before we can take a shower and wash our clothes. An hour later we walked out with our Uzbek visas!!! Huge thank you to Shahida and the guy behind the big desk for putting in extra hours to get us our visas!
Now off to the store to get about 4 days worth of food and then try to camp down at the port in wait for the ferry to take us across the Caspian sea over to Aktau, Kazakhstan. The cargo ship ferries to Aktau only sail once they are full so there is no schedule.
We dreaded riding across Baku so late in the evening because the streets are full of holes and cracks which pose a real danger to our heavily loaded bikes in the dark. We were about to leave the parking space infront of the store when a lady stopped to ask where we are from and what we were doing. She spoke really good English and promptly invited us to her house for a beer. We said we would love to but unless we could camp in her garden we should get on our way to the port. She said that camping is no problem.
We were led to a big house with a nice yard surrounded by a tall concrete wall. It turns out that the lady, Ina, who invited us is the wife of a Norwegian diplomat who is currently stationed here in Baku. Grandma Evy was visiting at the moment so the five of us had a lovely evening with a few beers and a delicious dinner. Ina, Marko and Evy were so easy going, generous and interesting to chat with that we felt right at home. Ina treated us to some of her freshly baked, European style flaxseed bread which tasted exactly like my mom's bread. Soooo delicious!
In addition to that we were also invited to sleep inside the house which was beautifully airconditioned. How amazing! The air in Baku is so hot and humid that it was a great relief to not have to sleep outside. We also got to shower and do a load of laundry!!!

Sept 19- Chill day

Easy morning. Made us a fantastic super egg sandwich for breakfast with five eggs each. Yum!
Then spent some time on refitting my handlebars in preparation for the desert road from Aktau to Beyneu in Kazakhstan. About 200 km of that particular stretch of road is no more than a terribly bumpy, dusty dirt track which would be difficult to navigate with my narrow drop handlebars. I will do a separate post on Bicyclette's off-road makeover later on.

In the evening, went for a walk through the old town and then along the waterfront which offers great views of the Flame Towers. We got really thirsty after a while so we went into the Hilton Hotel across the road in the hope of finding some drinking water fountains in the lobby. We did not see any so we asked at the reception. The man told us that there were no fountains here but he asked us to have a seat and wait for him to get us some water. A few moments later a waiter showed up with two waterbottles on a tray. Complimentary treat from Hilton Hotels! And we were obviously not guests there. Wow that's generous. The receptionist saw us empty those bottles in no time and immediately got us two more. When we were about to leave he said that he was about to ask us if we wanted some coffee. Complimentary of course. This offer was too kind to turn down and we felt like some coffee anyways. It was so great to sit in this nice lobby for half hour and get treated like royalty.

THANK YOU RAMIL FOR THIS EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE FOR NON-GUESTS. IT WAS A REAL TREAT!

Sept 18- Aladdin Shabanov

After submitting the Kazakh visa we stopped at an internet cafe to check emails. An older man approached us and he seemed so excited that we were traveling on bicycles. He seemed desperate to talk to us. One of two Efes bier sales people who had just made a quick stop at the store next door spoke some English. She told us that he would like to invite us for tea and then show us his cycling museum in his home. This is a bit odd but sure we will come. He insisted on the girl coming to have tea too and then follow to his house so she could translate. It turns out that this man, Aladdin Shabanov, was a very successful professional road cyclist who represented Azerbaijan in over 50 countries at European and World Championships about fourty years ago. His apartment was quite the sight since it was filled with countless trophies, cycling artifacts, bicycle nic-nacs and photographs of him with various presidents and other famous cyclists. Very impressive!

CONGRATULATIONS, ALADDIN, ON YOUR SUCCESS! THANKS FOR THE TOUR OF YOUR MUSEUM.

Since we had received no replies on our couchsurf requests we decided it was necessary to treat ourselves to two quiet nights in an airconditioned hotel room in order to retain our sanity. It was hot, humid and just so busy here. We found a double room at the Azeri Hotel in the old town for $40/ night. A lot of money but a good deal for Baku. It was wonderful to shut out the world with all its honking cars and just stretch out on a bed in a cool room after a much needed shower. Just wonderful.

In the evening we went for a stroll through the old town, over to the Maiden Tower and Fountain Square. Very nice. It's always a treat to go for a walk without the bikes. We can just mingle with the crowd without attracting any attention. Nobody turns their head when we walk past them nor does anyone bother asking us the usual questions: where we are from etc. For the first while getting attention and interest is fun but it soon becomes very tiring, especially in countries where people are so openly curious and just stare in your direction watching your every move trying to understand what in the world you are up to.

Sept 17- Baku...the roller coaster starts...

It was a bit of a rough morning because we struggled finding the way to the Uzbekistan embassy. Baku is an expensive city to stay in so it was important for us to get our visa applications submitted as soon as possible. Navigating the crazy busy, poorly labeled roads where the traffic lane markings seem to serve as mere decorations on the black pavement was not the most relaxing experience either. At one point we pulled over on a side walk and our obvious frustration attracted a small crowd of onlookers. That was even more annoying so we walked off with our bikes and hid in a small alley. One of those men ended up following us which initially bothered us but his kind eyes and calm words made us feel better. We could not literally understand what he said but the careing manner in which he spoke made the actual words irrelevant. He had a pot of tea brought over from the nearest tea house with enough sugar to sweeten anyone's day. Meanwhile he called some English speaking friends who showed up almost instantly to help with the language barrier. We explained our problem and within a few minutes they had located the address of the Uzbek embassy on their phones. Vüsal, the first man who had followed us, then offered to escort us to the embassy by driving ahead of us. Wow, how nice.

THANK YOU VÜSAL SO VERY MUCH FOR YOUR HELP! YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS WERE SO KIND. WE WILL NEVER FORGET THAT.

As annoying as it had been having people come crowd around us when we were frustrated, it was just amazing to see how readily they went to great lengths to help someone in need.
In Europe and also in North America that kind of helpfulness seems to have become repressed by people's busy lifestyle, fear as well as false diplomacy by politely ignoring someone's weakness. In other words, offering to help someone may seem like you are telling the other person that they are incapable of taking care of themselves.

When we finally arrived at the embassy, we were informed that it was closed today! After making a bit of a fuss, we got an appointment for 4pm this afternoon. Since we had so much time we decided to go to the Kazakhstan embassy and try to get that visa application submitted. When we got there it was closed for lunch but we were told to come back at 3. At 3 nobody answered the door. The Kazakh consul did not show up until 3:20 so we had to just leave to not miss our Uzbek appointment. O well. We will just have to come back tomorrow.
At the Uzbek embassy they were so nice and patiently answered the load of questions we had. We stressed the importance of getting the visa by Friday (today Tuesday) and they promised us to do their best. They even brought us water because we arrived hot and sweaty after the rushed ride up from the Kazakh embassy.

Then came the question of where to sleep that night without paying a fortune for a hotel room. A mycologist (fungus scientist) ended up offering us his laboratory in the botanical gardens. It was a bit crammed and stuffy in there so we got permission to camp just outside the lab as long as we pack up before 7 am next morning before people start showing up for work.

THANK YOU FOR THE FREE CAMPING SPOT IN BAKU!

Sept 16- First sight of the Caspian Sea

Near Haciqabul, a few very bored looking police officers were doing some traffic control. As expected they waved us over to "check" our documents because they had nothing else to do and needed a chance to display their authority and power by having us stop at the mere wave of their hand. Then the usual questions followed: where are you from; where are you going; are you tourists; are you married; do you have kids? What, no kids?!

The weirdest question of the above is " are you tourists?". It has puzzled us for months. Since Turkey, people have regularly asked us whether we were tourists as if the fact that we just said we are from Canada/England while displaying minimal language skills and foreign features did not make that clear enough in the first place. When we say we are a tourists, people  naturally then ask where we are from but when we only say where we are from, they then also have to know whether we are tourists or not. What other options are there? Well I guess we could be spies, terrorists or very well camouflaged secret agents. And of course we would openly admit it ;-)

We took a short break at a gas station with an airconditioned cafe. Wonderful. One of the attendants took pitty on my wind-swept plastic flower bouquet on Bicyclette's handlebars and topped it up with some fresh roses and succulent flowers from the little garden outside.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

In the evening we pulled over next to a police station to take a break when a kind officer came out and started talking to us in French. Very unexpected. Before we could even consider asking he already invited us to camp here for the night. We were brought a snack and tea followed by dinner later. Wow! Even more unexpected! So kind. Also, the police station was right next to the sea. So beautiful.

MERÇI BEAUCOUP MONSIEUR!