Kent to Tashkent

OBJECTIVE & PLAN

My last few foreign trips have been on a BMW R1150/1200RT. They are excellent for use 2-up and on good roads, but this trip I shall be riding 1-up and anticipate some bad roads. I have chosen a BMW F650GS which is much lighter and easier to manhandle. I have kept to BMW because of their reliability and comprehensive service network.

My check-out trip to Le Mans for the MotoGP proved to be a very good test………………at least for my waterproofs!! It drizzled on Friday and Saturday and was more or less constant during Sunday race day. Monday was drier but affected by fog on the run from Dieppe to Calais with visibility down to 100 yards in places. I saw the sun at last – as I emerged from the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone.

This was the driest part of the week-end - on the shuttle returning home to Folkestone

Well the big day has arrived!!

Day 1 - Had a pleasant trip to the Channel Tunnel. After all the rain it was marvellous to get up to sunshine. It turned out chillier than I expected and I was glad of a warm coffee at Folkestone. The shuttle was running 1/2 hour late as a result of a problem earlier in the morning. Once onto French soil it was a blast via Lille, Charleroi to just south of Luxembourg to a little village called Dudelange for the first night. Chose the hotel because it was a Logis which normally has good food, but the restaurant was closed for the week-end.

Day 11 - I crossed the Bosporus today leaving Europe (and 2,100 miles) behind me and ventured for the first time into Asia Minor. That was quite a task in itself. Istanbul was full of signs to various suburbs but almost no signs to Ankara which is what I wanted. I tried to navigate by compass and gut feeling but failed miserably the first time. After 45 minutes of trying main arterial routes and a number of back streets I discovered I was back exactly where I started !! Second time round I found the bridge I wanted and off I went.

I returned on Wednesday morning and noted a greater number of waiting lorries and cars. There was no one there to give information but I sensed a ferry might be departing later that day. I returned to my hotel packed my belongings and headed back to the port. As the room at the hotel was pre-paid for Wednesday I asked them to keep it for me in case my gut feeling turned out to be a false alarm.

Day 36 - Just on 200 miles from Samarkand to Tashkent on relatively good roads in a pleasant temperature of 26C. I arrived in the city at about 2.30 and then spent over 3 hours trying to find my hotel!! One taxi driver took me to a similar sounding name hotel which was 5 miles away. Another brought me to the general area and left me to locate the hotel. I got within 200 yards of it and enquired of what I thought was a local. He sent me on a wild goose chase. I thought he was wrong but as he seemed so sure I decided to give it a try.

I departed for the Kazakhstan border which is a short distance from the centre of Tashkent. As I went through a police check I asked if I was on the right road to be told the border crossing was closed to vehicular traffic and I would have to go to the Chinoz crossing some 60 miles away. Amazingly at Chinoz there were no signs pointing to the border and I had to enquire of a local lorry driver who pointed me to a small country lane saying it was just 3kms away. I was a bit dubious whether such a country lane could lead to the border but as it was only 3kms decided to give it a try.

Having found my passport I headed for Saratov on the Volga river. Coming into the city you cross a modern bridge . It's a great sight as the river is very wide.

Saratov is an old city and I headed down into the centre to find a hotel. It was rush hour making things difficult to ride and look at the same time. There was little sign of taxis but eventually I found one and asked the driver if he knew of a hotel with parking. I followed him at breakneck speed through the city and pulled up at his chosen hotel. I paid him off and went to reception only to be told it was full.

Day 48 – I left the hotel Belgorod and tried to find my way out of the city. In the absence of signs I made an educated guess and pulled up at traffic lights next to a 30-something taxi driver. I asked him if I was going the right way and he said follow me which I did. He drove to the outskirts and stopped and I went to thank him and offer payment which he refused. There are some nice people everywhere.

On the way to the border I saw a sign for insurance, stopped and bought some, 400 roubles (£8) for 15 days.

Day 51 - Made an 8am start from my hotel to the east of Szeszow and headed west. Before leaving I checked the nuts and bolts on the rear subframe and all had loosened requiring tightening up.