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February 26, 2005
"Kitaiski adam bar ma?"
It has been the period of the Chinese New Year and we were desperately wishing for a Chinese dinner. Almost every city we came by, we'll pop the question "Chinese people have or not?" ...
(Uzbekistan ... 10.02.05 to 10.03.05)
Along the road heading to Samarqand city center, this sign was too hard to miss, Zong Xi Yi Yi Liao Zong Xing (Oriental-Western Medical Centre). Since then, we never managed to cycle to the city center.
Doc Dai & his wife, Shulan, have come to Uzbekistan during the Soviet era. After a great deal of struggle & hardwork, they started the centre together with their son, daughter-in-law, daughter and son-in-law. Currently, it has 55 rooms and is one of the biggest private limited in the region.
With their earnings, the doctor bought pieces of land some 20km from the city. This plot with a pool has became their daily retreat from city life. Doc Dai said the rest of the land, "for my grandchildren". A total of 12!
The face of Mrs Dai showed astonishment & she had every reason for it. She was cooking dinner in the dark as We were without electricity for a few hours. The light returned just in time! Finally we can see what's cooking! :D
This night in their countryside bungalow, we're having our 1st Chinese New Year dinner at last! It was the 9th day of New Year. Together with us are their 2 housekeepers, the elder man is called Rahmatulor.
A step into their house revealed a wall painting of ancient Chinese figures. Some years ago, the doctor's friend painted it for him.
The dog's fur carpet has been made by their son-in-law, very unique and elegant. He is a doctor as well as en engineer, for the house was built by him too!
Their daughter has met her Korean husband in Russia during their studies. From there love flourished and now this is their family. Thankfully for their children, we were able to make some conversation in English.
This is what they enjoy doing in their free time now; feeding chickens, turkeys, ducks, rabbits and tending to cow & donkey. Simply lay back, relax and lead a peaceful life.
The Registon of Samarqand. One big smile for the camera!
Posted by a2e at February 26, 2005 07:51 PM
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February 26, 2005
Have you seen a 'somsa'?
This day the weather turned sunny and road got better. After riding away from Navoiy city, we learnt that not many villages lie ahead. Sherali's house together with about 30 others form a small community. As we understood, each household works like a firm, having a plot of land to grow mainly wheat. Once harvest, each firm is allowed to sell 100% of it to the markets. Normally they would be required to sell 30% of it to the government at a lower price. Sherali is playing on an Azerbaijan instrument, Tor, and singing a folk song for us.
(Uzbekistan ... 10.02.05 to 10.03.05)
On the opposite road, we came upon this man on a 'horse' & a boy on stilt while 2 other musicians played on. The man sang happily with much expression as if telling a tale. Some passersby gave them some 'som' (the Uzbek currency). Looks like a street performance in town :)
This is another rice dish cooked in milk and topped with butter. Like a pudding, but slightly salty ... and tasty *slurps*
Bahtiyor's house, that of his brother and their parents encircled a small field where they plant fruits and vegetables. The field also housed some livestock and the toilet. They are one of the many cotton growers in the country.
This village seemed to have sprung up from no where. There are probably less than 50 houses, all double-storey and built the same. Farau and his friend, Hamid, (and their wives too) were employees for the Chicken factory nearby during the Soviet times. When the factory shut down, people stayed on and took up farming or taxi-ing to keep a living.
Coincidently, a France couple on bicycles like us, spent the night with them last Summer. They couldn't communicate much, relying on the dictionary from the French. We were a little better off, as told by Farau and his wife. *grin*
Normally, we would enter a big city early in the day so that when required, we could make it through before dark. Chazhin village is barely 12 km from Samarqand & here we saw many mini cafe, selling only 'somsa'. Muqaddas and 3 other friends are busy preparing for the start of the day.
The traditional clay-oven is heated like the way they make 'nons' (bread).
Unlike to our Chinese dumplings, 'somsa' is baked in the oven, instead of steamed or deep fried.
The Uzbek Somsa Women :)
This is the latest, yet of ages old, gadget that we've discovered. Putting our feet under the table & cover all around with the enlarged table cloth, any cold feet will grow warm in a short while. No magic, just a heater underneath to bring a shivering man back to life! Introducing, 'Shandari', the feet warming table :)
Here is the owner, Xasanov & his friends Nurmahmad & Toher. We enjoyed a nice lunch-break & a chat through his daughter who speaks quite good English.
Posted by a2e at February 26, 2005 07:50 PM
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« Last town, Farap | Main | Have you seen a 'somsa'? »
February 26, 2005
Coming into Uzbekistan, into the religion center of the Great Silk Road
Camels, the Great Silk Road trademark. For centuries, these animals served the lively trade route, bringing merchants across the arid land to thriving cities that to this day many still maintain their glorious days along the golden roads. For us, we don't have much to trade, but we shall revisit some of these cities on our shiny aluminum steed along the asphalt *grin*
(Uzbekistan ... 10.02.05 to 10.03.05)
As we rode pass the custom, a stretch of blankness & this signpost greeted us. It generally summed up our to-be journey in this country.
Ah...food :) How can one not smile at the sight of these delights! Our 1st homestay in Uzbekistan & it came with a twist too. The house we have approached took us in & we had 'chay' (tea). While waiting for dinner (it was to be their national dish, 'osh', a rice dish cooked with carrots, potatoes, lamb's fat & meat and finally sprinkle with fresh onions), our host took us for a walking tour of his village. We saw fields for wheat, cotton & paddy still quite frozen under the wintery sky. On returning, his brother told him that their mother had wanted us to leave at once. No other details, we took our barang-barang & headed off.
His name is Oltiboy from the Olot district. His house sits on the next lane from the previous one. He knew we had come from there, but welcomed us with warm out-stretched arms anyway. His family was very excited to meet us and in no time, lay out the wide spread of dishes for us. Shortly, other neighbours arrived to see the new kids in town.
Stack of bloody cow skins piled on the floor. In the cold season, they gave off little smell. It's our 1st such RA sight and I felt a sense of uneasiness. The owner bought skins of lamb from the local farmers too and trade them to buyers who would in turn sell them to factories in China. Can our spot a couple of leather boots, handbags and jackets on them?
This morning snow had drifted down, giving our bikes an edelweiss touch "..small and white, clean and bright. You look happy to greet me.."
"..Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow.." we headed on, fresh spirited towards the ancient city of Buxoro (the Uzbek 'x' is pronounced as the English 'h')
The impressive entrance of Nadir Nasruddin Medressa. Notice the colourful & detail tileworks, you can imagine the hardwork & patience of the craftmen.
The 3 boys who gave us the city tour, Akmal, Farruk and Otabek. They were eager to show us around and practice their English. Here we have climbed onto the statue of Hoja Nasruddin sitting on this donkey. If I'm not mistaken, he is the guy we know as 'Afandi", a mullah & a Sufi renowned for his wisdom and sense of humour. Ah we meet at last!
An old blacksmith still lively at work in his museum-like workshop.
It takes less than 5 mins to walk from their home to the Labi hauz. If not for Farruk, we might not have the privilege to spend the night & see so much of the old city. Here is his mother and his younger brother.
No, we've not come for repair in this bicycle shop near the bazaar at Vobkent town. Evidently, the Uzbek made much more uses of the 2-wheeler in their daily travels.
Azim droved us around in his gas-driven Russian 'machine'...it broke down on the way. Well, out of gas...heehee...fortunately, it still runs on petrol!
Posted by a2e at February 26, 2005 07:49 PM
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« Changing of seasons ... snow to rain | Main | Coming into Uzbekistan, into the religion center of the Great Silk Road »
February 25, 2005
Last town, Farap
Pensioners crowding to get their monthly pension in Farab, the town sitting on the frontier with Uzbekistan.
(Turkmenistan ... 09.01.05 to 10.02.05)
Workers of the Ismailow family loading sacks of special cow food onto a truck for distribution to other markets.
SK with a microphone but fortunately he was not singing. We were invited to the birthday party of our Farap host's nephew and niece. As invited guests, SK was asked to give blessings to the twins in mandarin and english, and also broken Turkmen.
The grand birthday celebration held for the twins. They even hired a band and a singer to spice up the night. Women and children were dancing in the hall while the men were drinking (vodka) in the next room.
Lights out, candles blowing, Happy 11th birthday to the twins. Thanks to them, we were so stuffed with food that night (we had 2 dinners). In some way, that was also our Chinese New Year dinner!
With our last Turkmen family in Farap. It was drizzling snow the day we left for Uzbekistan.
Posted by a2e at February 25, 2005 07:10 PM
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« Last city, Turkmenabat | Main | Last town, Farap »
February 24, 2005
Changing of seasons ... snow to rain
Hey ppl!
We're in Uzbekistan! Actually in a week's time we should be reaching Tashkent, the capital. In the days that passed, we've cycled in snow weather but that has come to an end. Winter is leaving and Spring ishappily welcome. Just a short update before we might get more airtime in the capital.
What's in store ... coming to a monitor near you :)
1) 10 000km Tech Talk
2) Release of Quiz #1 answers - this is your last chance!
3) Photos for Azerbaijan
so in the meantime, stay alive! and Happy Birthday to those whose day are near and passed (like my cycling companion!)
Posted by a2e at February 24, 2005 03:09 PM
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Heya guys... Just read about your trip... I think it is so cool... All the best ya... ;)
Hope you have a safe journey.
Posted by: Jill at March 1, 2005 06:07 PM
Guess what.. I surfed over to Mr Brown's website (a popular SG blogger. He also writes a weekly column for Today) after checking your site for updates, and promptly sees a writeup on A2E!!! Seems like your friend, Keat, has provided Mr Brown with the link and he has put it up on his blog too :)
Posted by: Wei at March 1, 2005 11:53 AM
hey hey yo.....
1 march 2005.....a2e turns 7 months!!!....more than 10 000km covered...winter is over n spring has come.....keeping on paddling...keep the spirits UP!!!.....n we await ya stories!!!!......take good care.....jiayou jiayou ya!!!
til equator & beyond,
dunlin : Þ
Posted by: dunlin : Þ at March 1, 2005 12:00 AM
You guys rock, man. Have a safe trip home, and keep us updated on your great journey!
Posted by: mb at February 28, 2005 02:28 PM
hi guys! nice to hear from u again hehe..yeap..cant wait to hear more adventures from u! :)
Posted by: clarrie at February 24, 2005 04:15 PM
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« Along the desert railway | Main | Changing of seasons ... snow to rain »
February 15, 2005
Last city, Turkmenabat
Turkmenabat, formerly known as Charjou (Чарджуи) in the Soviet days. It is the 2nd largest city in Turkmenistan after Ashgabat. We had a mission in Turkmenabat - to look for Chinese people in the city. It was 8/Feb, the eve of our Chinese New Year when we rode into the city.
(Turkmenistan ... 09.01.05 to 10.02.05)
Serdar, the English teacher from Mary who stopped to offer his help during our previous encounter with the 3 robbers on the desert road. We eventually met him again in Turkmenabat, in the Turkish High school where he teaches English. Only 23, he just started teaching for a year. Eager to polish his english, he hopes to go to England for sometime. However, he is 'tied' down in Turkmenistan as he is already married and has a 1 year old daughter.
Gulham making manty in her kitchen
With the Aydogdyyeu family in their 2-stories house. Coincidentally, the children of grandpa Tanry were visiting him and there was quite a feast prepared for the occasion. Since it was also the eve of our Chinese New Year that day, the dinner was even more meaningful, our version of a 'reunion dinner'.
The manty from Gulham, filled with mutton.
That is how the locals make the flowery patterns on their choret before baking them in the tamdyr
Posted by a2e at February 15, 2005 07:09 PM
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« Our careless mistake! | Main | Last city, Turkmenabat »
February 15, 2005
Along the desert railway
The stretch of desert road leading to Turkmenabat was not as desserted as it seemed to be. There were in fact several small communities living in this remote area. One thing in common for these villages ... they are all built along the desert railway.
(Turkmenistan ... 09.01.05 to 10.02.05)
With our friends from Peski, our 1st dessert village. From the TurkmenGaz workers, we learnt of the existence of little villages every "10km" along the dessert railway. Peski is one of such village built around a small railway station. Annaberdi (2nd from right) was the guy who 'picked' us up from the railway tracks when we rode into the village, enquiring for a roof for the night.
Annaberdi and his friends took us to see their dessert. In these dessert villages, no crops or fruit trees can be grown. The villages have to buy them from suppliers who specially come a few times weekly on trucks.
Annaberdi's mother making thread from sheep's wool
A Kazak origin family that we met on a lunch stop. Tahi's grandfather had come from Kazakhstan during the Soviet days to work at the railway. They eventually settled down in Turkmenistan.
Razyezd 51 village. There were only around 10 houses built along the railway in this village, mostly of Kazak families. Tahi's house is the 1st one on the left. This is the typical desert village that we would come across along the 150km dessert road to Turkmenabat, the northernmost city near the border with Uzbekistan.
With our Kazak hosts in Razyezd 50 village. As in previous families that we met along the railway, the man in the house also works in the railway repairs. Kanakat (old lady in right) invited us to her house for the night and treated us to a meal of camel organs. The meal was cooked from the little stove infront of her.
Kanakat making thread from camel fur while her daughter knitted and watched. She made camel fur socks and waist warmer to sell on trains everyday. Everyday, Kanakat would travel with her friends to the next village 16km away and hops on the train towards Razyezd 51. During the short 15mins in the train, they would try to sell their handmade accessories.
Most of the families have camels, cows and sheeps for their meat and milk
Sanat, a neighbour's son, brought us on a cross dessert ride on his motorbike. We had a little version of the Paris-Dakar when he rammed his bike across sand dunes and slopes in the dessert. Very shiok leh ...
The desert becomes the playground for these kids growing up there. 2 boys on a downhill ride on their stripped down version of a motorbike, only the skeleton. They would push the 'bike' up the slopes and zoom down, always flung out of the 'bike' when they crashed.
The underground 50T water tank. Water is transported from Turkmenabat city 40km away by train every week. Though they have water holes recently, the water is not enough for the animals and villagers. In summer, there are 2 trips per week to meet the needs of the village.
The kids on the railway that has become part of their life. These kids from the various railway villages all study at a government boarding school in Turkmenabat city. Every monday morning, they will take the train to the city and study, only to return on saturday afternoon to their villages, by train. Thus in fact, many of them knew each other from the different villages, even the families.
Posted by a2e at February 15, 2005 07:04 PM
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« Another desert crossing | Main | Along the desert railway »
February 15, 2005
Our careless mistake!
This is the photo that led to the theft of my Nikon digital camera.
I was approached by a tall young man in camouflaged army uniform when i was registering at the Lehap state border checkpoint. It was noon time and the young man wanted to invite us to his place 1km away for lunch. That was along the desert stretch of road to Turkmenabat and the next village might probably be another 10km or more.
We agreed and followed behind his Lada car into the small village along the railway, a short ride from the checkpoint ...
(Turkmenistan ... 09.01.05 to 10.02.05)
The village was a cluster of small houses around the railway. He drove us to a house end of the road right beside the railway. There were 2 ladies and a man with features different from a Turkmen. He introduced them as his family members of Kazak origins. He also brought along 2 friends, a plump guy in army uniform and a young, tan boy in sports attire.
Once inside the house compound, he welcomed us liked a good host and asked if we have a fotograf apparat (russian for camera).
When I took out my camera, he asked for it, wanting to take a picture for us as a memorial. We told him we would take together, with everybody including his family members. I even explained that the camera has a timer and I could also be inside the picture. But he strongly insisted that he would take the photo for us. His friends and family members however, declined to join in. We tried to reject since there would only be 2 of us but he insisted. And so we let him took the shot. That was the picture taken by the young man.
After he took the picture, I took back my camera and put it into my handlebar bag. He was standing just beside me at that time. As per typical Turkmen host, he gestured and repeatedly urged us to inside the house for lunch. We went in as invited but did not bring with us our handlebar bag.
Inside the house, bread and soup were brought out. While we were inside with his 2 friends, the young man was nowhere to be seen. Sean then went out to 'get something'. When he returned minutes later, the young man also joined in from outside.
"The young man seemd to be touching your handlebar bag."Sean whispered to me in mandarin unnoticely.
The moment the young man sat down, he and his friends opened a few bottles of Turkmen vodka. They poured into small cups and offered them to us.
We repeatedly rejected the vodka, citing reasons that we did not drink and we would have stomachaches, etc. The guys simply ignored our plea and insisted on drinking the vodka with us. We got so angry eventually and took our bread, stood up and left the room. The 3 guys immediately rushed after us.
When I went to my bike, I saw that my handlebar bag was unbuckled. Immediately I opened my bag and had a shock - my Nikon digital camera was missing!
We confronted the guys, especially the young man. But they simply acted blur. The young man even threw a blank, innocent face at us and kept repeating that he did not understand what we were talking about!
We tried searching their bodies but found nothing. They must had hidden somewhere. We also tried asking the 'family members' but were shocked when they said they did not even know the 3 guys! We were totally pissed off by then.
The 3 guys tried to leave in their Lada after we repeatedly confronted them about the whereabouts of my camera. We blocked them from leaving in their car, opening their doors, the car boot, the engine cover and even pulling things out of their car. Sean went to the extent of removing their car keys!
They did not give up, neither did we. The young man eventually managed to wire start the car but we continued to disturb them, pulling the battery cables, removing the car seats, plucking anything possible from the engine. That lasted for maybe an hour before the young man and the boy managed to run off to find another car in the village. The plump guy stayed however, saying that the 2 had left to bring the Police back in order to prove that they did not steal my camera.
The 2 guys eventually returned with a middle-aged Police officer from the checkpoint. However when we tried to explain about the theft, he merely looked at us smiling cheekily. I suspected that they were into it together.
At that moment, the young boy gestured to me to follow him. The Police officer merely acted as though he saw nothing. Outside the house compound, the young boy told me that he had my CAMERA. Next moment, he pulled out a black thing from his jacket - it was my camera!
He handed it to me and immediately i checked for damages. I opened the battery compartment and found that the battery was missing. But thankfully, the most important compact flash card was still there.
Sensing that I found out about the missing item from my camera, the boy said to me, "I have ALL your Turkmenistan photos." (loosely translated from Turkmen)
In my heart, I was actually laughing. He had thought that the battery was my film and wanted to negotiate with me!
I looked at him, sighed and shoke my head and walked back towards the house. I went to the Police officer who was still smiling cheekily and told him that everything was alright, I had my camera. As swiftly as he had come, he returned to his waiting car and went off.
The young boy continued to pester me, asking me to name a price. I turned to him, "Bir dollar? On dollar? Meng dollar?? Biz pur yok!!" ($1? $10? $1000? We have no money!!)
After discussing with Sean, we decided to leave the village asap. The 3 guys were abit shocked but we simply ignored them, pushing our bikes to the asphalt path. On the way out, I asked Sean.
"What happened to the car keys?"
"Oh, I already threw them away long ago."
It was not the end. Just minutes after we hit the main dessert road, the white Lada came after us and stopped infront of us. The boy came out and asked Sean for the car keys. He told the boy he had already thrown away. They did not believe. The boy then tried to negotiate for the 'film'. I told him to keep it. We had no money to buy back. The boy shouted back to the guys in the car about the outcome. We did not wait for them to react and continued riding again.
Once again, they chased us down and stopped infront of us. This time, the young man also came out with the boy. Somehow they had found out that the 'film' was actually a battery. The boy pleaded this time for me to give him our 'film' and he actually gave me back my battery! We were surprised and suspected that they might have taken some photos and scared that they might be a threat to them.
We ignored their demand. This time, their faces changed. The young boy held on to my arm and tried to act tough, putting up an angry face. At that moment, a truck was coming in the opposite direction and Sean immediately waved to the driver. The driver waved back. Unfortunately, he did not stop. He might have thought that we were waving for fun. The young man was very angry at Sean's attempt to get help and he started to come nearer to us.
At that moment, another car came from the opposite direction and Sean waved again. The car stopped! Sensing trouble coming, the young man returned to their car and made a u-turn. However, the boy was still holding on to my arm.
A stern, old man came out from the back seat. The way he exited from his car, shoved his hair and walked towards us really looked liked a 'big boss' (Da-Gou). The boy was startled. Sean shouted to the old man, telling him that we were tourists and we had some problems with the boy. The old man walked to the small boy, pulled him aside and shouted to the guys in the white Lada whether the boy was their friend. The young man shouted from their car that there was no problem and the boy hurriedly ran back to join the car.
We thanked the old man for his help. Only after seeing the white Lada leaving did they continued on their way. As soon as they left, a Toyota car stopped infront of us. A young man dressed in shirt and tie came out from the car.
"Are you tourists? Can I help you?" he said in english.
We explained what happened and the help we got from the other car.
"I'm very ashamed of my countrymen. I'm very sorry for you that you met these bad people in our country."
The young man was Serdar, an English teacher in a Turkish High School in Turkmenabat. He was on his way to school when he saw us on the road. We agreed to meet him again in Turkmenabat and he left hurriedly to catch his class.
We were alone on that dessert road again. Riding towards the next village, we did not utter a single word, deeply immersed in the thoughts of the encounter merely 2hrs ago.
Just before entering Peski village, we stopped by the road. We both admitted that we were too careless with our belongings, especially leaving the handlebar bags outside. It was the first time we left our bags outside the house but it was no excuse. We have been too engrossed with the hospitality in these lands that we became too comfortable and simply overlooked and ignored the possible dangers that might pose to us.
This time we got back our camera. We were lucky. But the incident really shoke us up. It was a good lesson for us!
Posted by a2e at February 15, 2005 07:02 PM
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February 15, 2005
Another desert crossing
We were cautious about the route from Zahmet onwards. Along the way, we were repeatedly told that there were only few villages and water was scarce for this 150km desert stretch of road until the northernmost city, Turkmenabat.
(Turkmenistan ... 09.01.05 to 10.02.05)
Akmurat pouring abit of his homemade spirit for our sampling. According to him, it was 60% alcohol content. Just a sip and we were flushing red cheeks. The family grows grapes in their house. In his house, we were surprised that the whole Zahmet village had no gas supply. It was our 1st time in a village with totally no gas supply. Natural gas is abundant in Turkmenistan and almost free (they pay around US$1~2/year) so it puzzled us that Zahmet did not have gas.
Just barely 12km out of Zahmet, we came to this desert work site. It would be a good opportunity to gather more information about our later route from the workers.
Enjoying a cup of hot tea with the workers at the desert site.
Workers welding a pipe. We learnt that the men were actually connecting a 40km gas pipe from Ravnina to Zahmet, the village we had stayed the previous night!
TurkmenGaz, Turkmenistan national gas company.
The bride in traditional bridal costume and the groom, a colleague of the TurkmenGaz workers. Coincidentally, the wedding of their colleague was in that evening so the foreman invited us to tag along with them. And so we travelled 1-1/2hrs in their bus, spent 1-1/2hrs of sumptous dinner and dancing and eventually returned to their quarters by 10pm.
The colourful neon lighting decoration typical of every wedding stage where the band and MC would be.
Our new friends from TurkmenGaz. Thumbs up to these guys who have to brave strong cold winds working in the desert!
Posted by a2e at February 15, 2005 06:49 PM