Today, yet another border crossing ....
Left the hotel, with Jeremy just clipping the gate this time ! Then headed for the Zibkek-Joly border crossing that was only 20 mins away. Going through one of those police checks, well, the traffic was moving, and I had a roll on. I heard a whistle blow, but was it as me ? ...don't know, so head down, and zoom off. For the next 10km, drivers were motioning and shouting things at us ... no idea why.
Then we reached the border ... CLOSED ! Some educated Muslim girl explained that it had been closed for some time, and we had to ride back about 60 miles (100km) to the nearest one that was open. Bugger .. we had virtually driven past it the day before. And then I seem to remember reading a blog post from one of last years Mongol Rally competitors, about this crossing... should have paid more attention, I guess.
So, not wanting to go though that Police checkpoint again, and incur the wrath of the Copper I possibly ignored, we worked out a route past it ... only to run into another one. But at least this was pleasant, and after they wrote our details down, we even had time for a selfie.
And then in our haste to make up lost time, we went a bit quicker than we should and got pulled for speeding. Not seeing any speed gun, we simply played dumb and said we were not. They eventually relented and let us go without any money exchanging hands.
The border into Kazakhstan (now the second visit) was quiet and we passed through without any hassle. We were expecting another full search leaving Uzbekistan, but this time, it was just a cursory glance at the open panniers & top-box. Nevertheless, another 2-3 hours taken from our day.
The plan was to make Shymkent and if time permitted, ride further on if things went well. Clearly with the earlier delays, and the onset of some inclement weather, pushing on was not an option, and agreed that here was a good place to stop. Found a hotel at random, which turned out to be quite nice, and it's reassuring when then let you leave the bikes outside reception, being visible throughout the night.
Left the hotel, with Jeremy just clipping the gate this time ! Then headed for the Zibkek-Joly border crossing that was only 20 mins away. Going through one of those police checks, well, the traffic was moving, and I had a roll on. I heard a whistle blow, but was it as me ? ...don't know, so head down, and zoom off. For the next 10km, drivers were motioning and shouting things at us ... no idea why.
Then we reached the border ... CLOSED ! Some educated Muslim girl explained that it had been closed for some time, and we had to ride back about 60 miles (100km) to the nearest one that was open. Bugger .. we had virtually driven past it the day before. And then I seem to remember reading a blog post from one of last years Mongol Rally competitors, about this crossing... should have paid more attention, I guess.
So, not wanting to go though that Police checkpoint again, and incur the wrath of the Copper I possibly ignored, we worked out a route past it ... only to run into another one. But at least this was pleasant, and after they wrote our details down, we even had time for a selfie.
And then in our haste to make up lost time, we went a bit quicker than we should and got pulled for speeding. Not seeing any speed gun, we simply played dumb and said we were not. They eventually relented and let us go without any money exchanging hands.
The border into Kazakhstan (now the second visit) was quiet and we passed through without any hassle. We were expecting another full search leaving Uzbekistan, but this time, it was just a cursory glance at the open panniers & top-box. Nevertheless, another 2-3 hours taken from our day.
 |
| What, no queue ! |
The plan was to make Shymkent and if time permitted, ride further on if things went well. Clearly with the earlier delays, and the onset of some inclement weather, pushing on was not an option, and agreed that here was a good place to stop. Found a hotel at random, which turned out to be quite nice, and it's reassuring when then let you leave the bikes outside reception, being visible throughout the night.
 |
| Shymkent rush hour traffic |
 |
| Sanctuary |
Off to bed, then, with the knowledge that thunderstorms had been predicted for the following day.
