So since I couldnt find a train to go to Uzbekistan immediately after I got my visa in Kazakhstan, and since NO ONE spoke english at the station, and no signs were in English, I found an old man, must be in his late 70′s offered to take me to Tashkent, some 900 miles away.
God how my judgement of this man was poorly!! I will never underestimate an old person for being slow and gentle. This man drove like James Bond, but a drunken James Bond. In fairness the road is beyond SHOCKING. Pot holes litter most of the way and we hit our fair share of them but it didnt change the way the man drove, from one side of the road to another. I knew it would be a blessing if I made it to Tashkent alive because there were a few times where I didnt think it would be possible!!! So these were the conditions of the journey during the daytime. Just times that by 100 for nighttime. It really was a death defying journey. Shockingly dangerous, no lights, no lines, cars flying through the roads wanting to get out of the dark, and pot holes deeper than the Mariana Trench, we have a total of 4 flat tyres, two at the same time! I begged for the driver to slow down but he didnt understand me and frankly I dont think he wanted to. He should have because after that begging thats when we got the 2 flatty’s at once, and he hitch hiked into the nearest town 69 miles away from me. He thrust a knife in my hand and told me to ‘stay put’ in the car with the doors locked. A knife???!!! What the F&^$! Why did I need a knife like that for???!!
Well, I wasnt going to let the dark and bustling of trucks and cars scare me. I got out of the car, ate some snow from the side of the road, and sat on the car watching the soft moonlight cascade over the snowy mountain ridges, listening to dogs and wolves howl.
Maybe two hours later, the driver came back, put the tires on, and off we went for another hour until we got another flat, just outside of a small village town that we were going to stay on for the night. By the end of the night, I was almost an expert at knowing how to change a tyre Lol.
It was 2 am in the morning by the time we made it to this village town, to the place of his sister’s. She graciously woke up, fed us hot bread, potatoes and some meat thing I wouldnt touch, and hot tea/water.
No comments:
Post a Comment