Early in the morning, we headed to Samarkand from Bukhara. While the roads in Uzbekistan weren’t as bad as in Turkmenistan, there was little overall improvement. Suffering with the low height of our car, the little amusement we had came in seeing old Ladas loaded with anything from melons to furniture. I mean LOADED:
If melons were involved, there would often be so many melons that the driver barely fit in the car! All the seats and the boot would be full of melons, and the poor Lada would scrape the pavement in back due to the extra weight. Unsurprisingly, this did very little to slow them down.
This was hardly restricted to furniture and fruits. It was not uncommon to see cars no larger than a classic Mini stuffed with 6 or more people! One such car passed us on the highway filled with 8 adults, some of whom were so squished that, when they tried to wave at us, their hands could barely move and their faces were smushed. It was pretty adorable.
Nearly all the cars we encountered on the road in Uzbekistan loved to wave or honk or otherwise signal greetings to us on the road. We didn’t stop waving any time we were driving, such was the attention we got!
Keeping up the waving is a little difficult on Uzbek roads. The state of the roads in Uzbekistan is only marginally better than Turkmenistan. Between pot holes large enough to destroy our car, over-enthusiastic drivers, and a nationwide fuel shortage like it’s the 1970’s ensured that we quickly became sick and tired of our low ridin’ Polo.
We did manage to reach Samarkand in good time, and we sought out the Jahongir Bed & Breakfast. Finding the place in of itself was an adventure, and we coaxed the car over miniature mountains made of tarmac in the middle of large roads, massive ditches, tiny alleyways and dirt roads, but finally we arrived. The trek was worth it, as the building housing the b&b was built in the true Uzbek fashion with a massive garden courtyard in the center surrounded by grapevines literally dripping with grapes.
The main building was full, so the owner Odil hooked us up with his neighbour across the street who had a lovely house available for visitors. It turned out that his neighbour was a charming Tajik woman who was looking after the property for her parents, and we were treated with access to the entire ground floor of the house as well as the courtyard (this one sadly lacking in grapevines but still nice). She was so thrilled that we spoke Persian, as her English was extremely minimal. Certainly one of the best places we had stayed at!
That evening, we had shashlik kabob and veggies with bread at a local’s not far from the b&b. It honestly felt as if we were simply in a person’s family room as guests. While delicious going in, it didn’t feel nearly as nice 6 hours later when both of us were afflicted with what I like to call “surprise poops.” For the next full day we couldn’t eat anything substantial, but after that we recovered. Could have been worse!
After the trauma of navigating Uzbek and Turkmen roads with our low ridin’ Polo, we decided that enough was enough. Fearing that we had damaged the exhaust in Turkmenistan, Mom asked Odil if he knew a good mechanic that could help us out. His English was superb and he was immensely helpful. He connected us to a mechanic in Samarkand, and accompanied Mom to the garage to serve as a guide and interpreter. Being in the car while Mom navigated the crater-filled “roads”, after five minutes he told her, “Wow, you’re amazing! You’re better than Schumacher!” Mom is still proud of this compliment.
At the mechanic’s, we learned that the exhaust was in fact perfectly fine. We had gotten lucky with the underside of our car: the oil pan on the Polo sat behind and level to the engine, with the cap on top rather than facing the ground. Had the cap of the oil pan faced the ground, we almost certainly would have been in dire straits in Turkmenistan! Bless German engineering.
The mechanic also informed us that, due to the low clearance of our car, fitting a sump guard would not be feasible. We finally asked the big money question: can the car be raised? Their answer: we’ll see what we can do.
Bolstered by the possibility of a raised car, we went out and explored the Registan. Stunning doesn’t cover it!!
We also stumbled upon a huge wedding reception about to take place near the Registan. The area was packed, and it looked like it was the place to be seen by the Samarkand high society. The reception seemed to have elements of a traditional wedding (Mercedes Benz’s and DJ aside):
Later in the afternoon, we received word that the car was ready! Mom and the b&b owner went back to the garage and hurrah! They raised the Polo!! They unclamped the springs so the car was finally at a normal height! Riding in it was much smoother, driving it was so much easier, and finally we no longer buttclenched in fear every time we saw a bump or ridge. Hallelujah!
Odil was such a huge help while we were in Samarkand! Everything from helping us exchange money to finding a mechanic to improve our car, he was a godsend. We cannot recommend the Jahongir Bed & Breakfast highly enough for a stay in Samarkand!
Due to the delays brought on by Turkmenistan (being deported is quite a pain), we decided to change our entire route and “cut out the fat” so to speak. This meant that, much to our regret, we would miss out on Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan entirely but head directly to Kazakhstan.
The next morning, excited about the higher clearance of our car, we set out for the Kazakh border to Almaty.
Kia
September 3rd, 2014 11:03
surprise poops - LOL. Everyone knows that you can eat the meat if its fully cooked, but never touch the raw vegetables! Having said that, I did get the Aztec two step on a trip to Mexico once! Beautiful photos!