Uzbek Desert Crossing 2.0: The Ustyurt Desert

The urban centres and more populated farmland of the East of Uzbekistan finish at Bukhara, as civilisation gives way to the Kyzylkum Desert. Although some significant towns along the Amu Darya River separate the Kyzylkum desert from the Ustyurt, it is still nonetheless largely desert for the couple of thousand kms between Bukhara in Uzbekistan, and the Caspian Sea in neighbouring Kazakhstan. That's further than the dreaded Nularbor Crossing in Australia, probably the worst bit of cycle touring I've ever done. Yet, this stretch is nowhere near as grim. The fact that you start at one of the great Silk Road cities in Bukhara, have another one (Khiva) to break the journey, one of the most interesting Art Galleries in the world in Nukus, the fascinating and thought provoking site and memorial to one of the worlds worst ecological misadventures at the Aral Sea, and several small towns along the way, just breaks up the mental fatigue of endless flat unchanging straight desert roads, whilst in contrast, the Nularbor is without relief.

I've got half way across this wilderness now. The Kyzylkum is behind and the Ustyurt lies ahead.

Nonetheless the stretch which lies ahead should be the toughest bit of cycling between here and the UK. Many cycling bloggers describe this as the worst road they have ever ridden, dirt road and wrecked tarmac roads conspire with weather ranging from freezing winters through blistering summers and raging winds to make life difficult for those who would dare to pass on two wheels. Countless more riders either catch the train across the whole thing or get part way and hitch a lift the rest of the way. Blogs can be out of date, but a couple of different cyclists that I've met recently, coming the opposite direction, have described getting caught in heavy rain last week. The dirt road sections turned to soup. A few other cyclist I met recently took the public transport option, so great was their fear of this road.

So, I set off from Kungrad, expecting a big challenge. Instead I'm greeted with lovely weather. It's sunny and warm without being unpleasantly so. There's hardly a breeze, and a brilliant new road with well laid tarmac takes me all the way to the last post of true civilisation - an outlier cafe that I knew was going to mark end of the good road. Ahead of me is 300kms with just a single truck stop, and a cafe or 2 at the border post. I know of 2 other places along the way Jaslyk prison (another rider had no idea this was a prison and told me how upset he was that they wouldn't let him in to fill up his water!), and towards my end of the road, Kyrkkyz natural gas extraction plant (the same cyclist also reported not being allowed in there as well).

When I reached Kyrkkyz, I get talking to one of the staff, who tells me that there is a hotel on-site, I ask if it's possible for non-staff to stay. A quick phone call and I'm allowed in past the guard!

It was early afternoon and a long way short of the mileage I had intended to do, but if I stayed here, it would set me up nicely to reach the truck stop tomorrow evening (and another real bed). It was (by middle of nowhere desert standards) an oasis - clean, modern, hot showers, cooked meals. This tough section of my tour might not be so bad after all!

Next day I set off in similar conditions (good weather, no wind), but the wonderful new road I'd been lucky enough to be on ended here. Ten or twenty kms of really horrible dirt road (basically just riding on bare unlevelled dirt), next to road upgrade works, eventually joined back onto the old road. From here to the first big town in Kazakhstan, was not nearly as bad as the reports suggested. By no means a perfect surface, I was still able to roll along at a good speed for 70-80% of the way. In places it was smooth with occasional potholes that could be easily avoided on 2 wheels, in other places the surface was uneven and bumpy but still fairly rideable, and in only a few sections, most of them short, there was either dirt road or unavoidable badly broken up tarmac. So I made it, with relative ease, along the 110kms through totally empty wilderness to the next outpost, a truck stop beside Jaslyk prison, in very good time. Like yesterday, I could have ridden a lot longer, but the opportunity to sleep under a roof won the day!

The prison lies just a few hundred metres away, across a patch of littered open desert. I have read about this place and it is fascinating and also disturbing to be here in person. It was at the centre of allegations by Craig Murray, the UK ambassador to Uzbekistan during the war on terror in Afghanistan. During that period Islam Karimov, one of the worst dictators in recent history, kept international criticism at bay by allowing the Americans to use Uzbekistan as a base for bombing raids. Karimov was particularly hard on Islamism and Jaslyk was the scene of the death of Muzafar Avazov, allegedly boiled alive. It's hard to have strong feelings of pity for those who adhere to some of the brutal ways of ISIS and the Taliban, but if we back, even tacitly, equally repugnant behaviours, we are no better. Besides, Karimov's regime were not particularly known for their fair trials and rule of law, which makes this sort of punishment even more odious. Shortly after speaking out, Murray was, sadly, removed from post.

I made a fairly early start onwards from Jaslyk, not super early but not so late, and after a km or two, I met 2 French cyclists coming the opposite way and talked with them for over an hour. They felt that the 100 miles to the border was impossibly far to do in a day. It was now mid-morning, and whilst I wanted to get as close as possible, tended to agree with them. 

It was another flat day, and today a light breeze was blowing in my favour, so it might well be possible to at least get close to Kazakhstan. I rode until darkness, with the only long stretch of really bad road being the last 30kms or so before the border. Light rain was starting to fall by then, and I knew worse was forecast for overnight, so rather than camp in the now very damp sand, I dug deep and made it the 102 miles (163kms) all the way to the border. This kind of marks my return to a decent level of fitness. It's a big challenge to ride 100kms on a heavy, fully laden expedition touring bike, unless you're in decent shape, especially on far from ideal roads.

My Uzbek money was running low, and the hotel at the border wanted quite a bit more for a bed than at the truck stop the previous night. It was going to have to be either a bed; or dinner & breakfast I opted for the latter at a small cafe, also at the border, who let me sleep in their cafe (in the main room) for free. It wasn't a good nights sleep, with people coming and going all night long, but it was for free!

The overnight rain had indeed been heavy, and so the decision to ride till nightfall rather than stop and camp had been a good one. It was a mudbath - the whole road clogged up, and so I waited at the cafe and decided on a late start, to allow the sun to work at improving the situation.

Truck drivers and locals with cars/vans doing the Russian goods run - ie driving back and forwards to Russia and loading up the inside, roof and often a trailer too, with all manner of Russian made goods, made up the bulk of my fellow road users. We queued to get out of Uzbekistan. Because I had to do a few visa runs when I was recovering from my spine injury in Uzbekistan last year, and also rode in and out of Tajikistan a few weeks ago, I was now a pro at crossing the Uzbek border, but this would be my final exit. Given how tough this country was to travel 2 years ago, the border crossings are a breeze now, usually with a smile or a cheery "Welcome to Uzbekistan!", and a cursory glance at your baggage. This was maybe the least friendly/most thorough of all my crossings, from an unsmiling border guard, but even this was really quite straight-forward.

So that was it, my Uzbekistan adventure finished. A much, much longer than expected stay, caused by a serious spine injury, but made amazing by incredibly warm and hospitable people, great historical/cultural treasures and experiencing a country in the midst of radical reform. I've been very lucky to see this transformation - from one of the most oppressed/least-tourist friendly countries in the world, Uzbekistan's new president is keen to embrace the opportunities mass-tourism can offer his people. I really hope that continued reform in all aspects of democracy and freedom in Uzbekistan continue to blossom in this country. There is still quite a journey ahead, but let's hope they continue along this path. As for me, my spine recovery has been quicker than many, many people with similar issues, and I hope for continued progress too! In leaving Uzbekistan, especially finishing with some strong riding, I feel like I can start to put behind me the most difficult health episode of my life.