(no subject)

(From Svöbi)

Hi all!

A lot to tell, a lot has happened.

After Bukhara we went on to Khiva, where the old town is more like an open air museum. Its ok, but seems weird.

From there we went on to Nukus, and spent the night with the very pleasant grandparents of a friend we met in Tashkent. Well, we also wanted to see where the Aral Sea used to be, so we drove to Moynak. There is nothing but some rotting boats in the steppe, since the Sovjets had the excellent idea of using the Amu Darja to irrigate their crazy cotton plantations in the desert, or rice fields and so on. Kind of like what the US advisers tell the Afghani government to do to get rid of the poppies right now...

Anyways, the Sea is gone from Moynak, nothing left for many km. On the way back we went camping, and then, the next day, we wanted to visit a degree confluence (www.confluence.org). The small road was slippery at times, and what we didnt see initially, it was going along cotton fields, and was bordered by irrigation channels. They were overgrown with reed, so we didnt see that it was going down pretty far and steeply. So in the end the car was lying on its side, about 1.5 or 2m below the road, in the water. It didnt sink in any further after the first seconds, but everything was falling into the water. Somehow Hyneks Digicam stayed dry. The rest was swimming in the water and sometimes outside the car.

Well what to do. We started rescuing as much stuff as possible, so that it wouldnt swim away or sink in the reed. All our cameras were soaked with mudwater, and so on. Hynek went to get a tractor, but we were in the middle of nowhere. He found one after a while. It didnt manage to get it out, the slope was too steep. So off he went for a second tractor. With two tractors it finally worked after a few hours and the car was standing on the dirtroad again, dripping, with water everywhere.

We were waiting, the girls went to the home of an important guy in the Kolchoz, to get warm and so on. We stayed with the car, waiting for ho knows what. The tractor driver didnt have Diesel anymore, we gave hime some, and after a while a truck arrived. While waiting we had the honour of surviving the highest concentration of mosquitoes I ever saw (those reed marches make a paradise for them to breed). Waving your arm became almost hard because of the resistance all those mosquitoes added to the usual air resistance. I was barefeeted, and had to cover the feet in mud. Well, that was fun. It was getting cool and we were soaked, too...

After a cool drive being pulled by a truck with a too-short belt and with no lights and milky windows, we arrived at the guys house. He gave us food, clothes, and welcomed us into his house. Then the police arrived a second time (the first time they were waiting at the road), then a third time, then a fourth time. Each time they had more stars on their shoulders and each time they wanted to see the passports and hear the whole story, then telling us that we have to leave because our visa would run out very soon (in two days or so).

The next day we dried our stuff as good as we could (in the end it took weeks till everything was dry), and started working on the engine, interrupted by the occasional police visits who told us that we have to leave the country soon and that they dont want to get into trouble because of us. At one point Hynek accompanied them with our passports to another town. They organized a truck. This goes like that: Zou stand on the road and wave a truck, offer him money for the task and he might come. But this time it was the police doing it, so it went like that: stop a suitable truck, tell him why you need him for, and when he says that he has a job to do, instantly ask him for his papers. Then he gets more cooperative. But in the end, the policeman still had to give him money. An awkward situation, everybody was laughing. Just imagine: An Uzbek policeman and a truckdriver and a money transfer, just in the wrong direction :-).

Before we were screwing out the glowplugs because I knew that there could be water in the cylinders, or oil. I was worried that the engine already had too much water in the accident. We pushed the car with the open glowplug holes, and I released the clutch slowly. What I expected was some water coming out, what happened was that we suddenly had a Toyota steam engine (according to the sounds of this process), spraying oil enverywhere, especially on Hynek who was checking if anything comes out. It was funny. Without doing this our engince would be used for making a hammer and other stuff with now, thanks to the forum at www.buschtaxi.de I knew what to do. Then, after a few hours, the truck arrived with Hynek and pulled us for 200m or so, and the engine started. The truck was brought for bringing us to the border, because we so stubbornly refused to leave without the car. Stupid tourists.

Car troubles 2nd chapter

In Nukus the car started to behave weirdly. When idling, the engine turned higher and higher. After a while it went back to normal. Well, must have something to do with the accident, after all we had no lights and the like.

At the border the car was running wild, it was as if I would press the gas pedal fully down. No fun when you have to stop every ten metres for a short check. And to add to the entertainment, the batteries were all but dead, which meant that it would have been better not to turn the engine off at all...

We ended up in a sidestreet garage in Konya Urgench, with our guide Angelina helping us organizing things. This was in Turkmenistan, where we had a fixed itinerary and time plan, mind you. At least we had the best guide in the world (one that is now our friend) to help us. After the day of trying to fix it (several people were working on it, electricians who were organized, and so on), it could not be fixed. In Ashgabat (500km through the desert) it could be done, they said. The mechanics didnt want to take any money for their days work because it wasnt fixed, so we had to tell them that they should at least take the money te get some vodka or something for the kids (they went for the beer instead). They organized a taxi and a Kamaz truck, and after a while driving around to find a suitable spot to load the car into the truck (it has to be some sort of ramp), we went to a weird hotel with nice ladies at the entrance (no irony here), and the next day our convoy went off to Ashgabat.

Car troubles 3rd chapter

There we stayed for a week or so, had to prolong our visa and change the border of exit. The Bosch Service (after the Toyota center could not help because there are no diesel cars around) instantly found out that it was a rubber Diaphragma in the injection pump which must be damaged. We brought the car to the Hyundai center to fix the electrics, and waited for the spare Diaphragma to arrive from Turkey. 4 months ago DHL closed their office in Ashgabat, they would have taken a day. Shit. Again, as a backup plan I wrote our troubles in the ever useful buschtaxi forum, and three persons offered assistance instantly. Thanks here.

Well now its time to talk about Ashgabat and Saparmyrat Turkmenbashi the Great. He is a funny man. Not so funny for his subjects, but listen on. He is very fond of city planning and architecture. He likes high buildings with columns, arches and cuppolas on the roofs, with a Turkmen flag on top of it. So all the new buildings are like that. They look like New York during the beginning of the 20th century. Of those buildings there are hundreds, many still in construction. He rips down anything thats old, and builds those houses there. Except in some parts, he builds huge parks with incredible fountains (mind you Ashgabat is in the desert), and of course golden statues of the great leader. In the center there are different palaces, all build by Buoygues (or however they write it), the French construction company. The other buildings are built by Turkish companies (Ashgabat was destroyed by an eartquake in the end of the 40ies, so I wonder if its clever to hire Turkish construction companies...). In the center there is a big, four legged tower, on top of it is a huge statue of Turkmenbashi the Great with spread out arms, which is revolving to follow the sun during the day.

Now what does the city feel like? For those of you who know the game SimCity, you know how it feels like. If you try to build a really efficient city, it looks like Ashgabat. Except that there are 8-10 lane streets with no traffic and the like. Saparmyrat Turkmenbashi the Great plays SimCity with a real city. I am jealous...

car troubles epilogue

Finally all was repaired, thanks to the Hyundai centre, and Mithat and Dimitri of the Bosch Centre. It was not cheap, and took some nerves, but now we can drive in the night and give signals. I even managed to find a 24V relais in the Ashgabat bazaar, so our horns work correctly now and dont just squeak. The diaphragma probably ripped because of age, by the way.

Now we are in Tehran, met some interesting people and are staying with the sweetest couple, the parents of a friend of Emmas from Sweden, which are looking for us grandparent-like.

One news: I will fly home from here, if the car paperwork works out well (Its on my name and Hynek will be driving it). This has to do with different interests inside the group and such things, and I decided to leave from Tehran in Khiva already. The accident was not so bad it would make me want to go home, no worries. Nobody got hurt, and the car is still driving and in rather good shape regarding what its been through (actually, the worst damages are from driving bad roads and from the age).

I got a ticket to Milano on the 6th of September, after waiting two days. All the flights are full, because holidays are finished...

I will be home in a week or so, InshAllah.

I guess the last mail from this trip will come from drowned Switzerland

Greetings

Matthias

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