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From Hull to Everywhere Else
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From Hull to Everywhere Else

My trip from Hull heading eastwards. The aim is to reach Turkey overland, then into the 'Stans. Thence to India and further east. . After that who knows? But I'm not overplanning. Just going to see what happens. En savoir plus
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  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseVoyageur

    Delhi, exploring the Old Town

    16 octobre 2024, Inde ⋅ ⛅ 33 °C

    Spent the day exploring the old with Sebastian and Kay. Got a tub tuk over and got dropped off by the mosque. short walk. got breakfast at street food place. then a desperate search for a toilet - got one at the atm/bank. wandered trough the rice area. then stopped for an impromptu game of cricket at a park. started looking fora sit down restaurant. harder than you might think. crossed the bridge over the railway and found - a McDonald's! stopped there to rest, then restarted on tour. crossed the bridge during rush hour when scooters and some bikes decide to invade the pedestrian pavement bit. then spent the evening exploring more of old delhi - the tap and bathroom fittings area. got completely lost. found the road back to the mosque where we had got dropped off. seb wanted a haircut so we all stopped. in the end all three of us had head and back massages too. crazy tuk tuk ride back to the hostel. full day!En savoir plus

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  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseVoyageur

    Karakol to Bishkek via Barskool

    27 sept.–11 oct. 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Wow. I'm behind with my blog entries. This is 13 October. It's been two weeks since my last entry. That's a bit rubbish. I came down with flu/covid in Karakol, so while Lisa went hiking in the montagnes I spent the days hanging round the hostel sneezing and coughing. Didn't even mange any blog entries. At the end of the month L+ me heading to Barskoon to meet up with her friend Emy. From there we did a little bit of hiking - firstly in Skazka Canyon and subsequently at Barskoon waterfall. Evenings were spent playing Ligretto (a game by the makers of Uno). Emy won way too many games. I am suspicious. After three nights there we all caught a mashrutka to Apple Hostel Bishkek. I have been here ever since. James (from the Pamir) turned up just after we arrived having cycled and taxi'd from Osh. He stayed for a few days then headed off to Almaty from where he is flying home. I'm heading there tomorrow to fly to India. While here we headed to Chicken star where I had phall temperature korean chicken. Gotta get in the practice for India!En savoir plus

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  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseVoyageur

    Bishkek

    26 septembre 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Spent the morning at the Chinese visa centre in Almaty only to discover that it is not possible to get a visa for china from here unless you have residence in Kazakhstan. I had heard this might be the case via the WhatsApp group but not from any official sources and it seemed that the rules may have changed in August. So having filled out the forms last night, before I submitted them I went to the to check and also to enquire as to what might be the correct answer for some of the questions - as it wasn't always clear and I thought better do what I can to get it right first time. Also the express service was about $200 and I didn't want to pay that and then get rejected. So off to the office I went. Got to ask my questions with the help of a nice lady behind me in the queue that spoke english. But from the off I was told of the residence requirement so all of my subsequent questions were moot. So Almaty was now off. Back to Bishkek.

    Walked the 3/4 miles back to the hostel. Had coffee at a coffee shop on the way. Served by a crazy Russian lady who had no English but communicated very effectively by crazy sign language!.

    Got the afternoon bus and arrived at Bishkek in the early evening in the pouring rain. Summer is definitely over.    En savoir plus

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  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseVoyageur

    Almaty

    25 septembre 2024, Kazakhstan ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    So 12.00 bus to Almaty from Bishkek to hopefully get a visa for China. Spent a little time getting an acceptable photo to upload to their online form (which is designed terribly) - it took many goes to load. Then left the hostel to the bus. As the bus was departing i realised I'd left my fancy Bose headphones behind. Phone call to the hostel. They couldn't find them. Then an email an hour or so later saying they had. Phew! Uneventful trip to Almaty including an unmemorable border crossing. Don't even recall it! Got to the backpackers hostel in Almaty - dorm was a huge room with 7 bunk beds - mostly russians I think. Spent the evening trying to fill in the chinese visa application form. Not an easy task as it asks some questions that don't make sense or are strictly speaking unanswerable. For example it asks you entry destination into China. My plan was into Kashgar, but that wasn't one of the options - I'm guessing it only shows cities with airports? Anyway, not possible to answer honestly and yet you don't want to lie on these forms - especially not where China is concerned. So I left a few questions unanswered in the hope that I could get advice at the visa centre tomorrow when I hope to compete the application.

    Went for a nice meal at the Mendal Restaurant as advised by Alex the Russian I met in the hostel.    En savoir plus

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  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseVoyageur

    Ala Archa - again

    22 septembre 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    So with a couple of days to kill in Bishkek before I try to apply for a Chinese visa we decided to go to Ala Archa again. I'd been here a month ago with a cold and had struggled. Didn't quite make it to the waterfall. This time there was a group of four of us - Me, Lisa, Noah (Australian/Japanese) and Lucia (Chinese/Hong Kong). We set off a quite a lick and made it to the waterfall (and back) with 3/4 of an hour to spare before the taxi arrived. The rivers were much lower than they had been previously and the scenery was much more autumnal. Given that it is now autumn I guess that's not too surprising. On the way back we took a much steeper descent route and my legs were killing me for a couple of days afterwards.En savoir plus

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  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseVoyageur

    Chinese visa shenanigans

    21–26 sept. 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Spent 3 nights in Bishkek back at the Apple Hostel. First day didn't do very much at all. Second day headed to the Chinese consulate only to discover that arriving at 2pm meant that they were shut. Third day arrived at the right time between 9-12 only to be told that they could not process an application for me there. I'm not a citizen and don't have a residence stamp so no. Don't understand why that's necessary when EU citizens have a 15 day visa free option. Wish we had that. But Brexit. Oh dear. But it looks like I might be able to apply from Kazakhstan as the online form through which you apply for a Chinese visa gives Kazakhstan (Astana and Almaty) as two cities where you can submit documents. Since it's only a six hour / six dollar trip by bus, I might as well give it a go. All I lose is a little time. So that's the plan for the 25th.

    Managed to meet up with Fintan and Sophia who Lisa and I picked up on the way to Osh. It's crazy the way you keep meeting people again.    En savoir plus

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    Osh, Kyrgyzstan

    17–20 sept. 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Spent two full days in Osh to recover from the Pamir. Found a reasonably decent hotel for about $20 a night. Eco House. I presume the Eco part is why the electricity went off during the day for both of the days I was there?! Who knows? Anyway, on day 1 did very little other than changing some money, getting a Kyrgyz sim card and meting Lisa for lunch. Day 2 we checked out the bazaar and ascended Sulaimon Too (I think) which was an upland area near the centre where there were good views of the city and a James Bond villain style museum carved into the side of the mountain.En savoir plus

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  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseVoyageur

    Murghab to Osh

    17 septembre 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Lisa had arranged the entire journey from Murghab to Osh and had got a great price of $100 each for a very long day's journey. We left at 7am and arrived maybe about 10pm. The bit that stood out in memory for me is the border crossing. From the exit of Tajikistan to the entry to Kyrgyzstan was about 30km in no man's land. And it was very high (4500m). And it was the end of summer. There was a blizzard - horizontal snow - and the roads were very snowy as well as having a very poor surface - I guess no man is responsible for maintaining them. At both ends the customs guys were in military uniform and we had to swap 4wd's in the snow somewhere in the middle because the cars didn't have permission to cross. In fact we had to do so twice. All in all it felt incredibly soviet and we were spies being exchanged.

    Having said that everything went smoothly. No hold ups at the exit or entrance. And they were friendly to me - "you're coming back to Kyrgyzstan? Welcome, welcome!".

    From there an uneventful journey to Osh. We picked up a couple of hitch hikers ourselves this time - how could we not? An english couple - mid 20s called Finton and Sophia. If you meet him, remind him about the guy on the internet shouting Fenton at his dog - apparently he can't get enough of that.

    I say uneventful. Sophia saw her first yak and yelled "YAK!" at the top of her voice. It broke the ice.    En savoir plus

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    Murghab, Tajikistan

    16 septembre 2024, Tadjikistan ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Langar to Murghab

    So we decided that the price to Murghab was too much. 3000 (about $300 for the car) so we eventually settled on 1200 to the junction with the Pamir. There were four of us - Lisa and I, James and Alberto. To the junction in a 4wd the journey was still very, very bumpy. And then dropped off at the junction planning to hitchhike the rest and no traffic in sight. Would we have to spend the night on a very cold desert road with no traffic? Well, no (sorry for the lack of suspense there but some people get easily stressed).

    We were picked up by lorries after about 10 minutes. Lisa and I in one going to Murghab, Alberto in another going to Alichur and James remounting his bike carrying on to Alichur. The lorry driver didn't charge us but we paid for his lunch. Travelling in the cabin of the lorry was comfort itself after the bouncy 4wd but it was slow - the roads weren't up to the lorry going fast. I would estimate that we were going around 20kph most of the time. But it didn't matter. Just very comfy. We stopped for lunch at Alichur then arrived at Murghab at abut 10pm hoping to cross the border tomorrow. Hopefully there will be no problems this time. Remember I'm on an evisa that is a bit dodgy (in that the computers at the border didn't seem to like it for some reason despite it being in perfect order). So I hope (a) that they let me out and (b) that Kyrgyzstan let me in - your name needs to be on a list as you enter the country due to the recent contretemps between the two countries (I won't call it a war). We both should be on that list but until you're across your'e never sure.    En savoir plus

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    Langar, Tajikistan

    15 septembre 2024, Tadjikistan ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Lisa and I spent the night of 14-15 at the Akim Guest House in Yamchun. It was one of those places where there wan't much to do once the sun went down, so early nights for both of us. I think I watched a Poirot as I have them all downloaded onto my laptop. However, I should say that the family were all incredibly friendly and hospitable, especially Akim the patriarch who apparently studied at Moscow University during soviet times - I think he said he was a historian.

    In the morning we were picked up by our mad taxi driver who took us up to the nearby fort. Spent maybe half an hour exploring there. Absolutely no health & safety here.

    Met a couple of dutch brothers who were also travelling - one of whom was managing to do so despite being partially paralysed down his left hand side. We would meet them again when we were dropped off for the hitchhiking phase of our trip.

    Then up to the hot springs with the taxi driver and his son. The baths were separate for boys and girls. Taxi driver, his son and me and then some others turned up. The waters were so hot. And so relaxing. Especially so since the shower had been skipped this morning at the guest house due to the water being cold.

    After this back down the hill and picked up the dutch guys to carry on to Langar. This is not Langar the famous UK skydiving centre... but Langar the village in the Wakhan Valley of Tajikistan.( I know, I know ... easy mistake to make. Much debate about the next stage of the journey.

    On arriving at the guest house I spotted a bike I recognised. It was James's. We found him lying in a room looking a little sorry for himself. He had come down with the famous Pamir illness - apparently everyone who travels the Pamir comes down with food poisoning or some other illness at some point. Not entirely true as I escaped but clearly a high proportion do.

    He was therefore falling behind Becky and Ed and decided to come with us in the car the next day to catch up or even get ahead.

    The next stage was to Murghab but we were quoted an astronomical price. Fortunately there was a Spaniard across the road at the nearby hostel looking for a share we agreed to liaise tomorrow morning.

    Had dinner and bed. I need to get more flexible to east crossed legged at these tables they have.    En savoir plus

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    Ishkashim, Tajikistan: The Afghan Market

    14 septembre 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    The reason we stayed a couple of days in Ishkashim was to attend the Afghan market which took place on the Saturday. It was a couple of miles back along the highway and we (Lisa and I) got picked up by a taxi on the way there. We met up with an Argentinian guy called Fernando (at least he said he was called Fernando, but I’m not so sure - he couldn’t hear any drums!).

    To get to the market we had to cross a bridge which led onto an island in the middle of the river. there was an entrance to it from the Tajik side and also from the Afghan side. We had to show our passports on the way in but they were not checked on the way out so I’m not sure what was gained.

    The market itself was a mixture of all sorts of different things for sale as is always the case with the bazaars here. From mechanical parts for cars and agricultural vehicles to local clothing and jewellery, to fixtures and fittings for the home and of course lots of food. Naturally, being a poor backpacker I wasn’t in the market for anything and I think that was the case with most of the western tourists there. Fernando bought a very small piece of jewellery - a small blue heart but other than that the three of us bought nothing. Except chai for us (tea) and a shashlik for me.

    The Afghans were all wearing the traditional clothing that everyone will be familiar with. It seems that we westerners have lost something by not having a national costume. We all just look a bit… scruffy. Me especially. Many of the girls round this neck of the woods - by which I mean the ‘Stans - seem to dress very well. (Also, by the by no one has yet picked up on me referring to a country called Laurelstan… come on people, pay attention.)

    Lisa said that there were times she felt a little uncomfortable being stared at. I think the Afghan men must be unfamiliar with women not being covered. Anyway they were, as with everyone else around here, very friendly, hospitable and talkative. No sign of extremism - why would there be? Most people are just normal. It’s just the people who want to be in charge who are weirdos - if we could just get rid of them, everything would be fine. And they were proud of their country saying how beautiful it was. I will have to give it a go - hopefully in the not too distant future. Although of course there are ethical issues going to a country with an extreme authoritarian religious government that discriminates against women. But then I suppose Trump hasn’t won just yet.

    Anyway after the market we met back up with our taxi driver who took us to Akim Home stay in ???? for 200 somonis (I think. I'm writing this a week later so may have gotten the amount wrong).    En savoir plus

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    Ishkashim, Tajikistan - hiking

    13 septembre 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Went for a hike with Lisa from the guest house to the nearby mountains after breakfast. Breakfast consisted of basic fare: a plain omelette plus bread.

    As we were walking along the main street and about to turn off into the road leading to the mountains, a street dog who had been playing with another dog appeared beside us. And he stayed for the four hours of our hike through the mountains. We headed north ascending and then descending on steep rocky terrain eventually emerging onto greener land where farms with a single tethered cow and the odd rooster seemed to be the order of the day.

    The dog (I shall call him Fred) became our friend, comfort and guide throughout the walk and his presence got me thinking about the nature of friendship, companionship and how those emotions can arise so easily in a wordless relationship. I think when it comes to feelings the moment we try to articulate them we lose rather than gain something. I thought that it was so easy to feel affection for this languageless dog in a way that would be impossible for a human.

    Occasionally he would run off and I would wonder if we would ever see him again. And that made me think about loss. And then I would feel a wet nose nuzzling in the crook of my knee and he was back. This happened a number of times throughout our walk.

    When we had descended the mountain we crossed the road and found ourselves walking towards what turned out to be an airfield. We wanted to reach the river. I wasn’t sure that we should have been on the airfield although it seemed completely deserted. Anyway Fred running ahead of us reached the river and jumped in. I was worried that we would be swept away but he was fine. When he finally got out, he had one of those crazy five minutes that dogs and cats both sometimes have running around like a mad thing.

    Still he accompanied us as we walked back to the guest house but then on the left he ran into a garden and we were separated by a wall. At the end he seemed to find a dead bird which he seemed delighted with and I thought that was it - that we should leave him there as we would have to say goodbye at some point - but as we were approaching the gate of the guest house he reappeared and accompanied us into the garden. The owner asked me if the dog was mine - obviously not. So she (and her son) shooed him out. As of course was their right it being their property. But I found it almost unbearable that the last time he would see us was being shooed away after a lovely day together.

    After the evening meal I went for a walk into the village and found him sleeping in the middle of the road. I was of course worried about him but also suspected he knew what he was doing. In any case I managed to move him to the side of the road and we said goodbye properly. This time as I left he stayed behind curled up asleep.

    Other news, I got a voice message from Oles, who I met at the Rahmon in Samarkand that he too was in Ishkashim, so in the afternoon popped over to see him. He was travelling with two Austrians he met in Dushanbe in a camper van. I had hoped to meet him there too, but because of my border problems by the tie I turned up he had left. But we did meet again on the road and hopefully will again. Lovely guy.    En savoir plus

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    Ishkashim, Tajikistan

    12–14 sept. 2024, Afghanistan ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Today we were driving down from Khorog to Ishkashim. This time it was just Lisa and I as Ed, James and Becky had headed on by bike a day earlier. We got to the shared taxi stand reasonably early in the morning - say about 9.30 but we had to wait 2-3 hours for the taxi to fill up before we left.

    As ever the views were amazing, the river dividing Tajikistan from Afghanistan running along our right hand side. We spent a few hours on the road and then shortly before Ishkashim we passed Ed Becky and James on their bikes. Having reached the guesthouse we walked back to meet them and encountered them as they reached the village pointing them in the direction of the guest house where, when they arrived they set up their tents in the orchard. There were apple and pear trees in the orchard bearing fruit of the highest quality.

    The guest house provided dinner and breakfast. Dinner was a kind of plovy like thing. The second night we cooked mantis (for the uninitiated, that is the plural of manti - a kind of dumpling - and not the singular of an insect known for praying) instead. I think our meal was better.    En savoir plus

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    Khorog, Tajikistan

    11 septembre 2024, Tadjikistan ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Ed and Becky went on an early ride to check that their bikes had survived the journey. They had. They planned to set out for the next stage of their ride today - as did James. While Lisa and I were going to have a rest day and head on tomorrow. I bought some new sunglasses as I had lost my second lot. This time I got some genuine RayBans from a shop immediately beneath our hotel for 45 somoni or about £3 - that’s how I know they are genuine. I had a walk up to the Pamir Lodge (not the mountain lodge where we were staying) as I figured they might have more information on travelling. I was still keen to hire a motorbike. But as it turns out that wasn’t a possibility here. I later found out that one could hire them from Osh in Kyrgyzstan. - and a CB125 at only $35 a day. So will definitely look into that when i get there.

    I also walked up to the shared taxi stand just so I knew where it was. And on the way I passed Yakburgers. I had been warned about Yakburgers by a biker in Green House hostel in Dushanbe. He said he got sick when he went there the first time and that he got sick when he went there the second time. So of course I had to go. I thought the Yak Burger I had was very nice. The meat had a heavy gamey rich taste to it. My first YakBurger. At least to my knowledge. And three days later I am yet to get sick.

    Hanging round the hostel in the morning on the TV was the US presidential debate between Kamala and Donald. He was talking about immigrants eating cats and dogs. What an idiot. Why would they when yakburgers are available? I ask you?    En savoir plus

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    Stopping for lunch. You can see Ed, Lisa James and not Becky whose head is obsured! And our driver

    Pamir highway -start

    10 septembre 2024, Tadjikistan ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    Ed, Becky and James and I met up with Lisa who I had made contact with via the Pamir WhatsApp group at 6 am at the Pamir highway taxi rank. Despite being on bikes they are doing this stage by taxis due to the roadworks road closure after (town whose name I can’t remember). Writing this at lunchtime. Amazing scenery and we’ve been skirting the Afghan border which is defined by the river.

    This was a loooong day. Got up at 5.30 and left by taxi to the shared taxi stand for traffic to Kourog at 6am. After I arrived Ed and Becky then James by bike and finally Lisa who I had met through the WhatsApp group.

    Immediately as I stepped out of the taxi I was accosted (if that’s the right word) by a taxi driver looking to take us to Kourog. He had a large 4 wheel drive Toyota. We agreed on a price of 3200 somoni between us and then we were off. At least once the bikes and lughage had been put on the top of the car. I’m not sure the three cyclists were too happy about the bikes being stacked horizontally on top of the car but there was no alternative. At least they had something to separate them so that they didn’t scratch each other too much. But they would have inevitably been bounced around a fair bit.

    Nevertheless we set offf. The road between Dushanbe and Kourog was closed at certain times during the day for large roadwroks as the chinese resurface the Pamir. It was hit or miss whether we would get through without being stopped by the roadworks which close sections of the road between 9-1 and 2-6.30. In the event we were stopped for about 3 hours.

    We stopped for lunch at a small village and tea after the roadworks. Tea was cold chips for all of us! Not the best. The road was hard and bouncy pretty much all the way. The driver did a great job. He was hard, old and grizzled and wouldn’t have looked out of place playing a hard man in a gangster movie.

    The views along the route were amazing. How many times have I said that? Most of the time we had on our right hand side the river separating Tajikistan from Afghanistan - and across the river were mountains all the way.

    We arrived thankfully into the Pamir Mountain Lodge guest house in Kourog at about 11pm and fell thankfully into bed soon after.    En savoir plus

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    Dushanbe

    8–10 sept. 2024, Kirghizistan ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Failed in my quest to hire a motorbike. Mostly because the place I hoped to do so at was shut due to it being a Sunday on the Sunday and it being Independence Day on the Monday. So hung around the hostel. It was nice just to chill, chat with the other guests and learn a little bit about the upcoming Pamir trip.En savoir plus

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    Tajikistan

    6 septembre 2024, Tadjikistan ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    So have just crossed the border into Tajikistan. There was some issue with my visa - a computer says no sort of thing. The guy on the desk was apologetic about it as he could see that it was genuine. After about half an hour hemming and hawwing and the odd phone call he gave me back a signed and stamped visa and a stamp on my passport. I am in! Now waiting for our shared taxi to fill up despite as I thought agreeing to pay 200 somoni for one person. Taxi drivers. Off to Dushanbe. The route took another four hours or so to Dushanbe through the spectacular Zarafshan mountain range.

    There is a 6km tunnel between the border and Dushanbe. It is notorious. On entering it, it was dark as pitch. There was no lighting at all which made it scary. The only light was from car headlights and they showed up fog. Except it wasn't fog in was exhaust fumes. I heard that if people break down here they can keel over from CO poisoning and can well imagine that is true. The taxi did a couple of overtakes in the tunnel - squeaky bum time there. Towards the end of we were behind a lorry which was leaning to the right - perhaps its suspension had gone and it was hitting the top of the tunnel dragging sparks along with it. Was glad to get it behind it and see it pulling on the side of the road at the exit. Scariest thing I've done since travelling started.

    Arrived in Dushanbe about 8pm and checked in to the Green House Hostel. They only had private room availability but at £15 a night equivalent that's fine by me. Nice room with one of the comfier mattresses I've had on my travels and a/c and a kettle.

    Dedided to spend the next day relaxing and getting my bearings. The main thing was to decide on a way to do the Pamir. The options are to hitchhike. Cheap but slow. Shared taxi. Getting in on a tour. Or renting a car and finding extras to share the cost. Or to hire a motorbike. The last seems most appealing so I'm going to investigate that. If that doesn't pan out then it's either shared taxi, hitch hike or an organised tour. We'll see. The first bike option didn't have any. Went to an alternative today but it being Sunday evening they were shut so will try tomorrow (writing this on Sunday 8th September) but tomorrow is Independence day so not certain if they will be open. But I've decided come what may I want to head off on Tuesday.

    Becky and Ed from Hotel Rahmon in Samarkand arrived Saturday night covered in soot from the ride. I don't envy them that part of it!

    The hostel is very friendly and relaxed and is the most "this is set up for people touring" type of hostel I think I've come across. There are a lot of cyclists a lot of bikers and a lot of people with 4WDs (all seemingly with broken suspensions / drive shafts etc). But very many friendly people and lots of tips on doing the Pamir.

    Spent a lot of my spare time on my Russian studies!    En savoir plus

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    Stopped at the border

    4 septembre 2024, Ouzbékistan ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    So I had planned to cross to Tajikistan to do the Pamir Highway. Except no one seems to have told the border guards. I turned up at he border with my passport and my evisa and was refused entry in Tajikistan. Why? Well there's a tale. And I may not have it entirely right due to the chief border guard having no english and therefore grabbing a random guy (simply a traveller) crossing the border who spoke a little english and getting him to act as an impromptu translator.

    As far as I can tell the problem was this: on my passport my name appears as follows:
    Last name
    First name

    On the evisa form it appears thus:
    First name
    Last name

    Both are correct, the order is simply different. However, what I think happened was due to this reversal of the order, someone at the border had put my names in the wrong field in their database and this led to a refusal. The chief, while apologetic, was adamant (crossing his arms across his chest to indicate that I couldn't go in). I did wonder if he was looking for a bribe but didn't want to risk it. I did ask if there was anything we could no but answer came there - "no."

    The question now was, would I be allowed back into Uzbekistan or would I be doomed to wander evermore in the no mans land between the two which only had one cafe and one toilet?

    Well again, to absolutely ruin the suspense they did let me back in and I shared a taxi back to Samarkand with a nice Italian couple.

    What to do? Had I lost my last chance to do the Pamir? I asked on the Pamir WhatsApp group and strangely there was a guy I already knew from the UK who had been an instructor on a motorcycle course in Wales. He had got into Tajikistan on a fake evisa. He had got a pdf of the real thing and amended it to his name and put some random numbers in the place where random numbers appear on forms and had got in. Apparently he was bricking it when going in and also I guess going out but it worked as they don't seem to check them on a computer except when going in (or at least that was the case for me). So after some umming and aahing. I did something similar. ie I amended the pdf on my evisa from this

    First name:
    Last name:

    To this:

    Last name:
    First name:

    which accorded with my passport. Would this work? I would I end up rotting in a Tajik jail charged with forging a document that was already valid? Who knows.

    Well two days later back at the border and I recognise the frown on the border guard as he realises there is something wrong. But it's not with me rearranging the form - it's the same problem as before. This time however, after thinking about it, he allows me in. This one speaks a little more english - he says the evisa is fine but that some computer problem is showing up. Anyway, after a delay he stamps my passport, stamps my visa form and I am in. Will I be able to get out? Tune in later to find out...    En savoir plus

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