Bribery and Corruption

We had a welcome relaxed stay in Samarkand to recharge our batteries, remember we are a couple of sad sixty year old pensioners doing this mad rally to raise money for four worthwhile charities. If you feel like donating (if you haven’t already done so) then go to the donate button on the home page of braveoneandall.com . Advertisement over!!!

The hotel we stayed in was really nice and the owners son, who helped us, took us around Samarkand and even got a ticket for speeding, which he assured us he would never get as his Uncles police cap was in the back of the car. He kindly arranged for us to have breakfast at 6 am, so that we could get an early start, which we duly did. The first part of the journey took us north to the Uzbekistan boarder. We had a new toy on my iPhone which works like a sat nav so you do not require Internet, maps.me. How the hell we ever got into and out of cities without this devise heaven only knows. Remember lost in Bucharest? The iPhone got us onto the road north quickly so we were able to sit back and enjoy the scenery, and bemoan the state of the roads. Uzbekistan has gas and oil wealth but it seems like it has invested little into the infrastructure of the country. We feel they are very short sighted as better infrastructure produces better communication, better trading and a stronger economy.

The poverty was demonstrated by the poor standard of agricultural machinery and we saw many instances of donkey pulled carts carrying various produce and equipment. Along the way we decided to stop and test one of the roadside melons. There are numerous sellers along the route with hundreds of melon, where they go to goodness only knows. We had a delightful 15 minute stop testing all the melons before we eventually bought this luscious, sweet, juicy melon for a grand total of 50p (£2 in Tesco). The local people are delightful, helpful and so kind and as I have said many times before authority is the problem not the people.

Donkey and cart on main road

Old Trator

Melon purchase

That brings us to the border, which started with about an hour plus outside the gates of the Uzbekistan border post. We were joined by two Americans who pulled up behind us, both really nice people half our age. Eventually we were allowed through the gates and were told to pull up just short of the inspection area. We had to go through passport control which was totally disorganised, we had learnt by now that if you did not stand your ground people would push in front of you and you could stand around for another two hours. No polite queuing and taking you turn as we were taught in England. So to sum up the passenger me (as the car is registered in Andy C name) has to go through border control as does the driver, however, the driver then has to deal with car documentation and inspection. As Andy C has already explained, he made a mistake on his documentation, it allowed the young Americans to pull in front of us for car inspection. The end result was the Americans getting through the border about an hour in front of us, c’est la vie.

The Uzbek inspection was interesting. We had to remove all the contents from the car, the border army officers then proceeded to rummage through every cubby hole, under every seat and every nook and cranny in the car. Any piece of electrical equipment had to be opened and its use explained.There was a cursory look at the contents on the table beside the car, but he noticed Andy C’s camera then asked me to show him the photos. I proceeded to hold the camera and click the view button (bearing in mind Andy C’s camera had nearly 2000 photos) running in reverse order. The soldier was amused, my arm and finger were aching, but his greatest amusement was reserved for the photo of Andy C in a Uzbek hat, at that point he waved his hand and said he had seen enough. I must admit seeing that photo I would have said the same!!

We then had to load up and proceed to the next border. This is where we lost so much time on the Americans, several Lorries had got through the border gates and had parked such that there was no space for cars to get through. A Russian in a car behind us walked down the line and told the Lorries with drivers in to move over leaving one blocking the way, he got really mad banging on the side of the Lorry. Eventually he returned carrying loads of paperwork and moved his Lorry.

Next stop the gates into Kazakhstan which were opened then we faced a barrier looking to our left we saw the Russian at a kiosk about to show his passport, so not to loose another place in the queue we bolted from the car to the kiosk. To give the Russians credit they waved us through first. Back to the car barrier still down. The guy in a Lorry next to us entering the country watched his barrier raise and fall five times but his lights would not turn green. When our barrier raised and the light went green at the same time he just raised his eye brows.

Kazakhstan entry was also interesting! Firstly we had to go through the paperwork process which was straight forward but because Andrew was the driver I returned to the car first. The border guard waved me forward and even though I was not the driver I jumped into the car a drove forward to make sure we did not miss another place!! The first guard asked a few questions and then proceeded to ask me to empty the whole car again. Fortunately a senior officer appeared and could speak reasonable English, he asked my name and then he said he was called Borat, it was difficult to keep a straight face, but I kept saying to myself he does not look like Sasha Baron Cohen. He asked me if I had any whiskey onboard I said no, with the get out, that if he did find any I would have said, it is not mine it is Andy C’s!!! He asked me if I had any narcotics, I said no, only a couple of vials of morphine in case I break a leg. Then he asked if I had any weapons again I said no only the Kalashnikov behind the seat in case we got attacked by bandits. He then spotted the remaining bottle of Spitfire ale, which we had intended to drink at the Heidelberg party if they had brought out the Messerschmitt lager. As we had no more use for it I asked him if he would like it, he said “Is it a present for me?” I confirmed it was and he salted it away in his little shed. Andy returned to the car to announce that he had to pay $20 to one of the border guards to “help” him get through customs So with a little bribery and corruption we managed to get across the border.

The border guard then said I had to go to the big White House to have the car scanned. We duly followed his instructions and had another official who could not speak English, we didn’t understand a word he said but worked out we were not allowed in the car during the process. Everything was fine and we were allowed to leave.

The early part of Kazakhstan the roads were fair but in places deteriorated into dirt tracks, so when we reached the first large town we stopped for a break. There was a large market which we explored where we saw food standards which would have put most of the butchers in prison in our country. I had lost my sunglasses at the border and they are a must currently. We found this small stall that was selling sunglasses, I tried on a pair looked in the mirror and pretended I had the fright of my life. It frightened the life out of the young girl serving me much to the amusement of the stall owners around us.

Food standards agency?

Trading standards?

Buying sunglasses

We notice the Mosques in Kazakhstan are a different design to those in previous countries, no tower for calling the worshippers.

Kazakh Mosque

Our first stop over night was in Shymkent, approaching our journey’s end we witnessed a lovely sunset.

Sunset

The hotel we stayed in was very plush but excellent value for money with a great breakfast to set us on our way. Cattle seem to be everywhere and in the early evenings and mornings the owner take them fro and to pasture, so occasional there is a road hold up we the cows crossing a major road. When the get to pasture it seems they live on nothing!

Cattle crossing busy dirt tract

Our new devise on the iPhone got us out of Shymkent very quickly, a few miles down the road we spotted the Americans car but not them. We gave a loud hoot on the horn and continued on our journey. A further few miles down the road we stopped to change drivers and they pulled up in front of us. We had a chat and during the conversation the subject of police checks came up and they had been stopped four of five times to our twice. At One of their stops a police officer demanded $200 from them for apparently speeding. Now I think what he told is very quick thinking on his part. He refused to pay the sum but the police officer insisted and said they had to come with them to the police station. So the American keyed into his iPhone translation US embassy, showed it to the police officer proceeded to pretend to telephone the embassy relayed the number plate down the phone (to no one) at which point the officer said you can go on your way!!!! After a further discussion we said our goodbyes and headed on our way.

You would not believe the views the vast expanse of land that has no visible occupants, but suddenly you see someone on the side of the road apparently doing nothing. Kazakhstan is the largest land locked country in the world!

We had a further stop for small bite to eat and a cold cola, coupled with a little bartering for money and gifts from a large Kazakh lady intend on cooking her kebabs!

Brief rest bite

Cooking Kebabs

Ten miles down the road we got pulled over by the police, we both looked at each other expecting the worst. He was a very jovial chap could speak a word of English looked at Andy C passport and indicated that his passport showed a fuller face than Andy C currently is! Apparently we did not have our headlights on and it seems in Kazakhstan they need to be on all the time.

Open road

Off we go, the road suddenly got better and for most of the rest of the journey it was pristine dual carriage way. At one point we travelled 30 miles in a straight line without a bend, the Romans would have been proud of the Kazakhs. We did so well that our estimated time of arrival of 9.30pm turned out to be 6pm. We are in the Ambassador Hotel Almaty catching up with our blogs, one day’s rest then heading north to the Russian border. Limited Wifi will catch up with you in Northern Kazakhstan/Russia

Cheers for now Andy P