Bukhara & Bukhara to Samarkand; 28/05 - 31/05
Tuesday 28 - Friday 31 May
Tuesday and Wednesday was largely spent at the B&B, which is built around a central courtyard with vegetables growing in a small plot. We unpacked all our panniers and cleaned out the sand, and did our laundry. I think I’d worn my trousers for about 4 days in a row and they were beginning to get stiff probably from the salt.
I changed the rear chain as the chain wear tool indicated it was more than .75 stretched. I think the chain can be kept on for longer as the gearing uses a Rohloff with a single sprocket, but since we had the spare chain from Japan I thought I’d change it anyway.
We took a trip to one of a few bike shops in Bukhara. There weren’t many parts that would be considered touring quality in the UK, so I didn’t pick up an additional chain. There are many men cycling around here in multi speed hub bikes though, to go about their daily business, so maybe the parts are actually of sufficient quality.
As my hands are starting to hurt when cycling, I ordered, in the UK, a new pair of grips, and better tent pegs to address the de-pegging issue and a few other items to my mum, who re-packed these into one package to be sent to Dushanbe.
Bukhara is a lovely town. We visited an Italian restaurant a few times which served a great margarita pizza and tiramisu.
On Friday, the group took left Bukhara for Samarkand. One of the guys is on a schedule, so wanted to skip this portion. MayLyn and I decided to join them as the leg didn’t look particularly interesting on the map — not desert, but mainly built up towns connecting Bukhara and Samarkand.
However, I slightly regretted the decision on the train. I had a window on the right hand side of the carriage and could see a lake which is swimmable as well as largely hilly scenery for the first time since leaving Aqtau, which may have been quite enjoyable to cycle through.
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