After a very relaxing and pleasant night and a nice breakfast, we left from Alec’s home. Today we only planned to cycle 85 km to Hovos so that we can reach the Tajik border comfortably the following day.
Wonderful cycling conditions
While yesterday we had to fight a lot against the wind, today the wind was very weak and sometimes even came from the back, easing our ride a little. In addition, we had beautiful weather allowing us to spot several mountain peaks above 5000m of the Fann Mountains in neighboring Tajikistan. In a few days we will cross those mountains and see those peaks from much closer.
Search for accommodation
Very often we were lucky when looking for accommodation and after a few minutes there was always someone who invited us into their home. Unfortunately this did not work out today in Hovos. Hovos in a border city, only 1 km away from the Tajik border, and things are a bit more tense here than elsewhere in the country. One guy that wanted to help us went with us to the police post. The officers were very friendly but told us, as a tourist we must stay in a hotel. It is forbidden in Uzbekistan to camp or stay at local people’s home. The next hotel however is around 40 km away, and there was for sure not enough time until sunset to reach it, besides it would have been in the wrong direction. So we assured the police officer that we would go to this hotel, but in reality we left town and set up our tent on farm land nearby which at the time of arrival was empty.
What we did not know is that all farmers will return their animals to this land in the evening, so one hour after installing ourselves between some concrete walls which were in the middle of this land, we had to move our stuff, but luckily only 100 m away. In the end we found a beautiful spot for camping and could watch the even more beautiful sunset while setting up our tent.
Detailed Track
Max elevation: 432 m
Min elevation: 355 m
Total climbing: 420 m
Total descent: -431 m
Total time: 07:39:59
