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.
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