"Strike A Pose"

Murray - The Lone Rider Through The Desert......

Joe is that masked man under the deep blue sky

" Maca - At His Best".......

"I wish I had my Harley"!!!!!

Here's one for you Lauren ........

Isaac - "OHH!!! WHAT A FEELING!!!"

Leo's lastest rodeo prize. Team Troopie's newest edition to the family

"Team Troopie"

I'm not going to comment.... Yes, it's Joe and Isaac..... Even the camel is walking away.....

A Big, Warm Hello From Kazakhstan!!!!!

Pictures Continued

Kazakhstan man welding troopie at stop. Didn't want to take any money. Very nice and helpful people who you have to insist to pay......

Mick, Mick and Leo doing bike work on Mick's Compass bike

Murray having his 10:00 tea.....

Isaac hitting gravel....

and we hit dirt.....

we hit sand.....

We hit gravel.......

A visitor trying to get into Carmen and Joe's tent

On Our Way to Tashkent, Uzbekistan

More Pictures

Patrick at camp at sunset.

Cute dog that reminds me of Mitzi

Murray and Mick giving kids a ride on their bikes the first night camping.

Please read post prior to this one as it says more about where we are now and where we are going. I'm just adding some more pics here as everyone always loves pictures.

Samara, Russia to Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Dinner around camp

Leo and a new friend

Joe through traffic

Mick and Pat before take off from campsite.

Isaac giving kids from Kazakhstan a ride on his bike.

warm day turned into instant rain that lasted ten minutes. Quick, where's the rain gear!!!

Here we are in Tashkent, Uzbekistan (it has probably been close to a week since our last blog). We left Samara and headed toward the Kazakhstan border with trepidation. Mick, owner of Compass Expeditions, warned us that these border crossing from Russia on can be a bit dicey as oftentimes there are hours upon hours spent where they go through ALL of your luggage, personal effects and just plain hold ya up for no apparent reason. Yet, that was not the case for us. We arrived and had to wait for a bit of time to exit Russia and then enter Kazakhstan (I believe it was a total of approx 4-5 hrs. to do the entire exit and entry thing crossing customs with "troopie" aka support vehicle and our bikes). Once into Kazakhstan we had to purchase insurance which was sold just passed the gates. We said we would be here a month since we would be exiting into Uzbekistan but then re-entering again. Our first night was spent camping beside a small body of water next to a very small village but in the middle of nowhere. Kids came out to greet us by horseback, small dirtbike and walking accompanied by a herd of cows, horses, billie goats and sheep all walked past our camp in the early evening and first thing the next morning. It was a very peaceful setting yet there is a lot of work involved in camp setup. We received a crash course on our personal tent setup as well as having to setup our cook tent. We all have assumed our own personal duties. Carmen, Leo and Mick have assumed chef/cook details (Jacquie is the "go girl" for ingredients). Tazzy Mick is the loader and unloader of the "troopie" as well as dish washer/dryer on occasions as is the entire group such as Murray, Patrick and Joe. Isaac, Murray, Joe, Patrick, Mick and Mick are the cook tent builders as well as individual aides for my tent set up (thank god they don't charge as I need all the help I can get and it would be costly). Some of the pics are also of the road conditions. After we left the Kazakhstan border, we were expecting to hit gravel, sand and dirt within 50 kms or so however, that was not the case as they have done a lot of roadwork within the last 5 years and we had a very small patch of it here and there but nothing to speak of until after Aktobe. Once we left Aktobe and we were on our next three nights of camping, a lot of the roads changed and we were riding in sand, gravel, dirt which was similar to working a jack hammer all day long. A lot of this riding was done standing on our pegs which can get quite tiring after a long enough period of time but once again, "it was fun and what an experience". Our group slogan is "it's an adventure Mate!" as this is Mick MacDonald's favourite answer to any problems that may arise.

We camped 2 nights before hitting Aktobe where we spent a night and then have camped three more nights before crossing the border into Uzbekistan where we are spending 2 nights in Tashkent. When we left camp (after the 3rd night of camping) and we were headed to Tashkent (which was only to be 120 kms) we got all the way to the border to find out that the border was closed so we had to travel an hour and a half to another border where on our way there, the road was closed and we had to detour through back roads to find a major road once again. The Uzbekistan border took approx four hours to get through in total (again far better timing than when Mick did it 5 years ago) with really no hassles except for some declarations forms to complete through customs. We had heard that some bikers had been completely strip searched at the Uzbekistan border not even a month prior but this did not happen to us. Thank God as after three nights of camping, no one would have wanted to see any of our underwears I'm sure!!!! Once leaving the Uzbekistan border we had to ride back to Tashkent; retracking the hour and a half detour we had to take to go to the other border. The 120 kms (which should have only taken us until noon and we would have been in Tashkent took us all day). Again, "it's an adventure Mate!!!" We will be heading to Samarkand and then to Bukhara which is the heart of the Silk Road. We visited a mosque in Shymkent which is considered right up there with Mecca in that if one pilgrimmages there three times than that is suppose to count as an equivalent of attending Mecca once. It has been nice to get to Tashkent where we all desperately needed showers and sleep. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant where we had to remove our shoes and sit cross legged where you are sitting down and the table is only slightly raised (Japanese style). The camels along the roadway along with all the herds of cows, sheep, billie goats, horses, donkeys etc have been amazing.

On to Kazakhstan.......

A sunset over a beach in Samara

Samara to Kazakhstan

We have now travelled over 1200 kms southest from Moscow and we are about to leave Russia for Kazakhstan where we will be leaving all surfaced roads for gravel and sand. As we are travelling into more remote areas, our communication may take some time so please bare with us and keep following us as we love to share our journey with you. If you are reading this blog and you have not signed in, please sign in as we would like to know who is following our trip. All comments are welcome.

Samara

Carmen took picture to compare these windows to the one on the timber houses in the small unknown village that we stayed in the night before hitting Kazan
Carmen taking picture of Mick taking a picture of Jacquie smoozing and distracting the police because our bikes and support vehicle was double parked on their main roadway.
The streets of Samara.
Arriving in Samara and below are apartment buildings just outside the main city

Watermelon Break Still enroute to Samara

Patrick and Mick modelling "BMW EFFICIENT" riding gear
Dinner at beachside restaurant in Samara
Dinner at a restaurant in Samara by the Beach
Joe and Isaac (in yellow) coming into Samara
Samara is the home of the MIG fighter planes
Rest stop where Isaac (yellow) Murray (red cap) and Joe are talking while Leo passes out watermelon

Picture Taking Stop enroute to Samara

.....still waiting.......
.....waiting patiently.......
Joe thinks only a few min stop for pictures
"Strike the pose"
Promotional Photo for Compass Expeditions

Fuel Stop