24. TRYING TO MAKE IT TO THE KRYG REPUBLIC!!

We needed to stay on schedule and drive to Tashkent the capital of Uzbekistan after stopping at the Beg Observatory in the morning. Then the next day we would cross into Kazakhstan with a brief visit to the Kryg Republic and back to Kazakhstan the following day heading North with a multi-day drive to the Russian border.

The usual unmarked roads started our drive as usual.  The roads were better than we had been experiencing.  It was a 300 kilometer drive in moderate heat with the usual humidity. 300 KM may not seem like much by U.S. driving standards, but we are driving on two lane roads with many slow ups along the way.   We arrived in Tashkent in the early evening.  A reservation had been made at a local hotel.  A cab driver was paid to lead us to our hotel.  After three hotel stops and the cab driver making several stops for directions, we finally made it to our "Do Drop Inn" for the night.

The hotel was in more of an ally than a street, but we didn't have much traffic to worry about.  We walked to a local restaurant that appeared to have just been opened.  The staff was young.  Everything was very new and clean.  I asked for a beer.  Three unopened bottled brands were brought to my table on a tray for my selection.  Now that is service!  The food was fine, and service couldn't be improved upon.  I wish the owners a lot of luck because they are really doing their best to please.

The next morning Robert toured the city with a guide until noon.  I stayed in the room and worked at the computer.

We left the city in the early afternoon.  Traffic was slow, and we had our usual problem of finding the correct road out of town.  About an hour or so out of town, we went through a police check point.  The officer asked us where we were going - well we understood what he was asking sort of.  We were going to cross into Kazakhstan not far down the road.  He asked to see our map, which we didn't have - flying blind from city to city as the map had been left in Chicago.  We understood him to say that that crossing was only for people on foot not for vehicles.  The officer sketched out a map for us that lead to a border crossing that would accept vehicles too.  The detour was back in the direction from the cities we had just came from before Tashkent, but it was the only way to go.

About 85 miles and 3 hours of driving, we arrived at the new border crossing at about 6:30 P.M.  Even with no great delays or  problems and the two border posts, it still took another hour of waiting and moving from one office to another along with the usual vehicle searches to arrive in Kazakhstan.    Now it was near 7 P.M.  We would never make it to Shimkent our planned overnight stop today.  Asking at the border, the nearest town with a hotel was Sari Agach approximately 50 miles away.

With continuing bad roads, we made it to our night stop near 9:00 P.M. A man at a gas station showed us the way to a local hotel down the road and to the left.  The hotel was next to the railroad yard.  The noise was just like home when I was a kid.  We were shown a room.  The price was $68 U.S. at first.  The lady in charge and someone who looked like her sister had been eating a half a watermelon (from the melon itself) in the room they were renting us.  They were watching the local "Home Shopping Network" on the TV.  We were asked to take off our shoes even though the room wasn't that clean overall.  The bathroom had a bad odor too, but we were tired and just needed a place to stay for the night.  Robert paid the lady the $68 in cash.  Three $20s, a $5, and 3 $1 bills.  She falls to her knees and begins counting the money and looking puzzled.  Then she says she wants $80 for the room.  We say no and start to put our shoes back on.  Then Robert takes the 3 $1 bills off the floor and lays down another $5 bill for a total of $70 and she is satisfied with that.

The hotel has a restaurant and it is still open so we go for something to eat.  Nobody speaks English as usual.  We just motion that we want something to eat.  Just bring us something - and I'll have a beer too!  (Everybody seems to understand when you want a beer.)  After some waiting we are each brought a large plate of meat, potatoes and some bread.  A young married couple is at the next table.  The lady is eating a hot dog. The man is mostly drinking beers.  They have grocery bags on the table.  The husband strikes up a conversation with Robert  - sort of.  After a few minutes, they ask for another plate, and put four wafers on it for us as dessert.  We thank them.  While Robert tries to eat and talk at the same time, I concentrate on not biting  into anymore bone chips than I have to from the meat.  They don't use a saw here to cut the meat.  They just pound away with a meat clever. When we have eaten all we can, we put our untouched portions of meat and potatoes on a plate and offer it to the the couple.  They will not accept it, and insist that we take the excess food to our room to be eaten later which we do.  In the room again, I take a fast shower, but I don't want to wash my cloths for fear that I may drop a piece on the floor and have it contaminated from whatever is smelling up the bathroom.  The water backs up on to the floor from the floor drain as I am showering.

The next morning, I finish off most of the meat from the night before as there is no breakfast offered.  We pack our stuff in the ambulance ready to leave when Robert remembers that the two cold salads he had purchased the day before were left in the room's refrigerator.  He retrieves them saying that the "landlady" wasn't happy to have to unlock the room which was upstairs. Then he remembers that he has left a camera battery and charger in a wall socket in the room.  He now has to go back and ask for the room to be unlocked again from the "nice lady".  He comes back with his battery and charger saying that he was really spoken loudly to by the woman and at the end of her brow beating the woman ceremoniously hit him a few times.  The only thing I can figure out is that she must have been trying to buy something on the "Home Shopping Network" when Robert knocked on her door the first time, and when she came back they were sold out.  No Michelin Award on the wall at this place for sure.

So now we have to make up for lost time today by driving past our destination that we didn't reach last night and on into the Kryg Republic to its capital, Biskek.  We left at 8:30 A. M., but even after driving all day we still didn't make it into the Kryg Republic until 7:30 P.M because of poor road conditions (again).

At 9:00 we made it to Biskek.   Located a taxi driver to lead us to a hotel (of his choice).  The hotel was a Russian era building with typical accommodations to match.  After checking in, the cab driver tried to find us a restaurant for a late night meal.  Many of the places he stopped didn't serve food or were crowded.  Finally we stop at a small outdoor place.  The food was O.K. and the Russian vodka was cheap - and smooth.  We finally made it back to the room at 1:30 A.M.