Mongol rally

On August 11 I went to the Iranian embassy in Baku only to find out that they lost my application. Ten days waiting for nothing. They offered me a new form to apply again, only had to pay 65$ and wait an other 10 days and then they might let me into Iran. I decided to make a dash for the Kazakh embassy and apply for a Kazakh visa, which I knew I could get the same day. I filled in the form, handed over the 40$ and my passport and was told to pick up my passport at 5. In the meantime I could visit the harbor to find out when the next ferry to Aktau, Kazakhstan would leave. The departure times of the ferry are some what of a secret and are only disclosed a few hours before departure. I was told to return at four and then they might tell if it would depart the same day. When I returned to the harbor at 4 I met some people of the Mongol rally, I had seen before a week before at the velotrek hotel. They had been waiting more than a week for the ferry to depart. They were able to tell me the ferry most likely was setting sail to Aktau the same night. Now I had to hurry to the embassy to fetch my passport, then to the hotel to get my bag and then down to the harbor again. I had a football match scheduled with some Afghans at seven, which I was invited for by Mozes. I had met him on the department of foreign affairs of Azerbaijan when I got my Azerbaijan visa extended. Unfortunately I had to call this off, although I had been looking really forward to my first match in months.

In the harbor it was not straight forward to get a ticket. The boat had not sailed for quite some time so many people wanted to be on it and space was limited. After waiting a couple of hours I got my ticket for me and my bike, for which they charged me a ridiculously high amount. In the harbor I was welcomed by the guys and girl participating on the Mongol rally. They had been sleeping there for the last week. After a while a man came by to tell me I had to pay an extra amount of money for my bike. No one was really able to explain me where the money was for, but they advised me to pay it anyway as I would not want to risk my boarding. With huge regret I coughed up the few extra dollars. We boarded at around one in the morning but only left around seven. Originally I shared a cabin, with Tommie, one of the 'Mongols', but we were evicted for a family. I ended up in a cabin with 3 Kazakhs. The next day at 04:00 we arrived in Aktau, after a lot of waiting and inefficient operations we were able to leave the ship at 11:00. Then we had to go through customs and past border control, which took another few hours. The 11 'Mongols' were going to put 2 cars on a truck to go through the desert. They feared the 2cv, rover metro and the motor cycle would not survive the trip. I was invited to put my bike in the truck as well and I gladly joined. With me joining it was a little bit more crowded than expected, but with four in the lada and sj, two in the 2cv and three in the back of the cabin of the truck it worked out quite well.

In the first night the sj broke part of the rear suspension, but the guys managed to repair it on the spot. The next day we reached the Uzbek border. An exiting moment for me, as I had no visa for Uzbekistan. I tried to find out from the border officers if I would be able to get an Uzbek visa at the border. They said it never had been done and they told me I could not pass. I decided to go to the office responsible for the crossings and gave them my passport. Without looking for visa they stamped for my exit and I was free to cycle out of Kazakhstan. The next hurdle probably would be more difficult, but there was no way back now. I went to the Uzbek custom office, filled out two forms and was put through to the office of the border control. Slightly nervous I entered the office, I was certain I would have serious problems; also these officers did not even for a second search for a visa, but searched for an empty page in my passport and stamped it. I now was officially admitted to Uzbekistan. I could not believe my luck. I did not want to draw any attention to me by hanging around the border waiting for the others to pass the border so I went to a small cabin at the other side of the road to drink some tea. The local people were not accustomed to cyclist so they invited me for soup, bread and the inevitable vodka. After a while Cyrus came in to tell me I better got going as the cars were about to go through and that they would pick me up just out of sight of the border, to avoid extra attention of the police. After buying a bottle of water I started cycling through the Uzbek desert. I expected the 'Mongols' to catch up with me any minute, but whoever came, no 'Mongols'. I cycled until the sun went down and then decided to stop for the night. I have no light on my bike. Fortunately I had asked for bread at a restaurant I had passed earlier. For water I just stopped every car that passed me and they all gave a bottle. To be sure the 'Mongols' would not pass me undetected I slept close to the road and I lit a candle. At 12 o'clock the truck in which the cars had been, passed me. The truckers indicated the 'Mongols' were still to come. I assumed one of the cars had a break down and the truckers had not wanted to wait. When I woke at seven in the morning, the candle was out and I was unsure if they already had passed me. I had a quick breakfast and got cycling again. The wind was against me, the road was full of wholes and unsurfaced, it was very hot and I was totally out of energy. I found a little deserted cabin and decided to stay there for a couple of hours. Inside it seemed inhabited, but at the moment no one was there. I found a cup with lumps of sugar and took a few, to replenish my energy. I put some Tenges next to it to compensate the owner of the hut. After an hour Tommie on his motorcycle came blazing by. I was surprised that he did not stop, but when passing me he yelled:'Can't stop. My clutch is stuck. The others are coming'. This was good news. After half an hour the lada pulled up. In the front seat was a police officer. The lada apparently did not have the proper license plates and now they would have to be escorted by the police the whole route through Uzbekistan.
The Americans were not able to stop for long, the officer already was annoyed. After a long time finally the brits came by. As of a matter of factly they invited me to join them, although the cars already were heavy loaded. I was happy to embark on the rally again.