Finally to the Capital

When I set off this morning shortly before half past eight, it was already 23 degrees Celsius. After a short while, I was back on the M34 road. I could also have taken the larger M39 toward Tashkent, which would even have been two or three kilometers shorter, but the M34 had much less traffic. On the other hand, the condition of the road was once again catastrophic in some places. Those short stretches that shake me violently even at low speed appear almost every day. Today there were not too many of them, and they were rather short.

After a little more than half the distance, I took a short break and stocked up on water and a sweet drink. My goal of reaching my guesthouse shortly after 1 p.m. still seemed realistic. In the second half, the traffic gradually became heavier and heavier, which was hardly surprising since I was approaching a city of millions.

At some point it became obvious that I had arrived in the big city: three or sometimes even four lanes in each direction. I was the only cyclist far and wide and weaved my way through the traffic at every traffic light. It actually worked quite well, and I reached my accommodation at around 1:15 p.m. By then the temperature had risen to 34 degrees, though I had hardly noticed it — the dry wind had probably kept me cool.

I didn’t have much time to rest because I wanted to join a guided tour at 3 p.m. in order to get to know Tashkent a little better as well, which meant I had to leave again at 2:30. On the tour, I once again met some fascinating people. In particular, I quickly got into conversation with Till and Elke from Cologne, Germany. The tour through the modern and green city lasted until around 6:30 p.m. Afterwards, I continued talking with the two Germans until 9:30 in the evening. I think I have rarely — or perhaps never — touched on so many profound topics so quickly with people I had only just met. That is always wonderful because it gives you a new perspective on life. From the way it felt, I think we will probably meet again someday.

But now I wanted to return to the guesthouse because I hoped to leave early tomorrow before the major heat arrived. The forecast predicts 36 degrees Celsius tomorrow afternoon — fortunately I am no longer in Bukhara in the south, where temperatures are expected to climb to 41 degrees tomorrow. Incidentally, it had already exceeded 40 degrees in Bukhara before I arrived there — once again I was lucky with the weather and avoided the worst of it.