August 5, 2016
to Taskomur: Two milestones today: 20,000km in 500 days
“People wait here all day hoping someone will stop to buy. Then they give their produce away.” Jo says as we continue cycling after stopping to buy red peppers for tonight’s supper.
Lining the road on both sides, people have set up small stalls or spread a blanket out displaying their vegetables for sale. Most are watermelon, tomatoes and onions. Today we are seeing red peppers. Rachel stopped and indicated to the lady she wanted three peppers and asks how much. The lady picks out 6 peppers and shakes her head indicating no money. She then adds tomatoes.
We all sleep well under the dining shelter. In Tajikistan and also Kyrgyzstan many restaurants and homes have a raised platform in their gardens, mostly made from badly welded pipes and a wood deck. There often is a roof and curtains on the sides, with lots of pillows and carpets cushioning the area around a low table. There can be ten people or more seated in one of these things, the problem for us is folding our legs so do not interfere with eating.
We pack up our gear and thank the family for their hospitality. Rachel gives the mother a scarf she bought in Kashmir, India. We were halfway expecting a request for money, but the people were genuine in their offers of hospitality. Just two kms down the road, we pass the 20,000 kilometer mark, coincidentally on day 500 since we left Boise. We remark it was a good thing we found the house to stay at, it would have been an anticlimax to have walked across this milestone last night in the dark.
The road keeps following the Fergana Valley, for a section we are right alongside the Uzbekistan border with two rows of barbed wire fencing separating the countries. The road is awful, very rough and with uneven paving, and lots of traffic. This is no fun. We curse the cyclists in Sary-Tash who told us this route was beautiful cycling. Not that there are many alternatives though, the only other option is the route through Kazaman which is a bad gravel road with lots of climbs.
On top of that it is hot, we stop several times for icecream and cold drinks. When we are only about 15km from our intended camping area we are given three watermelons in quick succession. Too much to carry, so we eat one on the spot. When we reach the area where we saw potential camping spots on Google earth we find more houses and farms than expected. There are not a lot of other options though, we really want to be near the reservoir and desperately need shade. So we head down and try our luck at one of the farmhouses. The guy isn’t very friendly and sends us down the road.
Just then Jo notices another flat tire and broken spoke, we backtrack a little and try our luck at another house. Better luck! They show us a yard next to an abandoned house where we find shade under a walnut tree. A nice swim in the lake makes us feel a lot better.
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Today's ride: 74 km (46 miles)
Total: 1,410 km (876 miles)
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