This morning things took a bit longer again, so I only set off at 11:15. The kind hotel owner gave me plenty of water, bread, and candies for the road, so at least I didn’t have to go shopping for supplies.

It was already very warm at the start—finally it felt like summer! After a few kilometers I was back on the main highway, and from then on navigation was very simple: straight ahead! A few boys stopped me and wanted selfies—so of course I took one with them too.

I’m starting to notice some differences between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Before my trip, I only knew that one country was much larger. But the mentality also seems slightly different. People here feel a bit more reserved, in my impression. And many people ride bicycles—I saw plenty of locals cycling, from schoolchildren to the elderly. The bicycle still seems to be a common means of transport. For example, I often saw large clusters of bikes parked in front of schools.

The road was good, but today was still quite monotonous. Combined with the heat and dryness, I didn’t have to worry about drinking too little, because every few minutes my mouth felt so dry that I had to take another sip. Still, 32°C didn’t feel extremely hot, as the constant light headwind at least had a cooling effect.

It’s no longer quite as barren as before—there are small roadside shops from time to time. In one of them I bought two 1.5-liter bottles of water for just over 30 cents in total—the price level here is even lower than in Kazakhstan.

After about 72 km, the four-lane road suddenly turned into a two-lane one, and the surface quality dropped significantly while traffic increased—that was the only somewhat unpleasant part of the day. So I decided to leave the main road earlier. The “shortcut” was in even worse condition, but there was hardly any traffic.

Soon I was back on the original route, and it started to feel more urban. I was also surprised by how many rivers there were to cross—on one of them I even saw competition rowing boats. I arrived at my accommodation shortly after 6 p.m. Today it was again a guest family, but unlike the last time, there was hardly any interaction—it felt more like a regular hotel or hostel.

The ride went well today, but I’m still quite tired—I probably need some time to get used to the heat. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow.