Check out the corrugated windscreenThe 105 Day Compass Expeditions London to Magadan – Road of Bones tour is continuing on full steam ahead with the expedition members now entering Kyrgyzstan after a hot and culturally fantastic part of the trip through Uzbekistan and the Silk Road.

They visited Bukhara, Samarkand and Tashkent and now they are rolling onwards to some amazing scenery and getting closer to Mongolia.

Week 7 Blog

The Registan, UzbeistanThe Silk Road is a route of legends dotted with oasis towns crammed full of ancient antiquities with Samarkand and Bukhara the most legendary of them all.

We left the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, bound for Samarkand the city built by Timur the Lame or Tamerlame as he is known in the west. This historic Silk Road city is a must see and is home to one of Central Asia’s most striking antiquities, the Registan. The mighty Registan is one of those “must see before you die” places yet is so far off the beaten tourist track that it is still rare to see another tourist, something that is amazing in this day and age. A city tour was organized and we visited the Guri Amir Mausoleum where Tamerlame is buried and the impressive Bibi-Khanym Mosque to name a few places that make up this amazing Silk Road Oasis.

While it must be said that the riding in Uzbekistan is far from inspiring it is the incredible Silk Road history that makes this country more than worthwhile visiting, it adds another element to the expedition.

Leaving Samarkand we were soon in the deserts more renown for the blazing heat than anything else yet we have been immensely lucky as we rode in mild 33 to 35 degree Celsius temperatures. We rode onto the second most renowned Silk Road oasis town of Bukhara, the old town seems to not have changed that much in centuries although signs of progress and tourism is starting to appear and it won’t be long before this city too falls victim to mass tourism!

Another city guide was organized and again the day was spent off the bikes exploring the famous Emirs Ark, with a gruesome history, and the Kolon Minaret, declared so beautiful by Genghis Khan, that he spared its destruction as his terrorized Central Asia all those centuries ago. A few of the riders went in search of the famous Bukharan Rugs and walked away a few dollars poorer while the others spent time, as countless others have over the centuries, eating around the Laubi Hauz, an ancient pool surrounded by 400 year old trees and not so old restaurants.

Our first night back in the mountains of KyrgystanThings were starting the heat up riding wise as we rode east again toward Tamerlames hometown of Shakrisabz. Riding into “shak” we all wondered if a recent earthquake had hit it such was the destruction of the downtown area. Ignoring my GPS I rode to the hotel that have stayed at many times before, a beautiful hotel with marble floors, restaurants and in- ground pool, to my amazement the hotel was halfway through being demolished. We later found out that the Uzbek government had decided to totally rebuild Shakrisabz from the ruins up; they had actually flattened the entire old town and promise to have it totally rebuilt within 2 years, nothing was spared from the bulldozer!!!!!! We eventually found the hotel an older place that had escaped the bulldozer.

We rode back to Tashkent the following day and experienced our first cool ride in 2 weeks as we crossed a small pass. The following day out of Tashkent saw the bikes stopped by police as we were told that no motorbikes were allowed to ride the main rode out of town past Parliament House! A short detour ensued. This minor delay was nothing compared to the fiasco that awaited riders 10 years ago. We actually had our bikes confiscated back then and put onto a truck and delivered to our hotel. The legend goes that the president of Uzbekistan had an assassination attempt on his life many years ago by gunmen on motorcycles, hence the rule “no motorbikes in Tashkent” thankfully the authorities don’t have a long memory and we could at least ride around most of Tashkent now except past Parliament house.

Uzbekistan is getting better, fuel was available almost everywhere, the roads are improving and the cash shortages are not as bad, within a few years Uzbekistan will have caught up with the rest of the tourism world, all that remains is the utterly disinterested border guards to come to life that may take a LOT longer!

With Heindenau tyres fitted to all bikes now we were ready to take on the mountains and dirt of Kyrgyzstan.