Bicycle Check In Tajikistan

Could this be the last bicycle check during the trip? Well I hope so! The wobbly rear wheel gets straightened yet one more time, after getting treatment in Mashhad, Bukhara, Samarkand, and now in Dushanbe. It is still not perfect but I think the mechanic tried his best for the 25-Tajik-Somoni-job. Now I hope the … Read more

7484 km in Dushanbe, Tajikistan

7484 km in Dushanbe, Tajikistan! This is the total number of kilometres I have cycled across 13 countries so far during the trip from Germany to Pakistan. In 2011, I cycled 4354 kilometres from Rostock, Germany to Sivas, Turkey. During the last two months, I’ve cycled over 3000 kilometres from Sivas to Dushanbe. I still … Read more

Greetings From Dushanbe

Greetings from Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Yesterday I cycled 105 kilometres from Denau to reach Dushanbe. Going through the Uzbekistan immigration was a pain in the arse. I was the only visitor at the check post and seemed the border authorities had nothing to do so they decided to kill some time by checking all my stuff. … Read more

Greetings from Denau

Greetings from Denau! My last five days were spent cycling in the mountains. The route turned to be surprisingly stunningly beautiful, one of the best in the whole journey so far. The greenish landscape with tall mountains looking down at the road provided refreshing views especially after having cycled desert-like Turkmenistan to Bukhara route. However … Read more

Sheep Shearing In Uzbekistan

As the summer has arrived in Uzbekistan, I saw two sheep shearers on my way to Samarkand removing a sheep’s wool. It was interesting to see how they used blade shears to remove this sheep’s coat. Next when I was battling against the headwind, a shepherd asked me to stop and wanted his picture taken. … Read more

The Bicycle Master In Samarkand

For about one week, my bicycle was having a serious problem with the lower gear shifting and the rear wheel was once again a bit wobbly. After searching for a while I found a bicycle shop in Samarkand today, but the mechanic told me that he would not be able to fix the gear problem … Read more

Samarkand

After three days of hard cycling and covering 270 kilometres I reached the historic city of Samarkand today. Though I was totally exhausted due to today’s ride, I still spent like over four hours walking in the city. I mainly stayed at the Registan square where the city’s most iconic ensemble of buildings are located. At … Read more

Nasreddin Hodja

Nasreddin was a sufi satirist known for his witty anecdotes which contained bits of wisdom. His jokes and stories have been translated to many languages including Urdu language where he is known as Mullah Naseer-ud-din. Uzbek people believe he was born and lived in Bukhara. Here are a couple of anecdotes about him. One evening … Read more