We woke up a little earlier than usual as we had a long list of things to get done, formost, repair the shock on Adventure that had been knocking about for the last few days, as well as refuelling the vehicles. This second item surprisingly proved to be the more troublesome to get done. In Uzbekistan, during the havest season, Diesel is restricted to agricultural vehicles only, with the only diesel available being super expensive! On our 11th attempt at a petrol station we managed to find diesel, only to learn that a power cut meant we would have to wait to fill up! Half an hour later we were dieseled up and ready to go!
Before we left for Toshkent, we also scoped out some garages, and after exchanging just $10, we had a fully working shock. The roads in Uzbekistan are pretty poor, and it was slow going to the capital. It did give us time to realise that every car in Uzbekistan is either a Daewoo or a Chevrolet, with hardly any cars from other manufacturers! Even Ladas, which had been a common site since Azerbaijan were hard to find here.
We settled down to camp a little way from Toshkent ready to hit the town, and then the Kazakh border the next day. After dinner we were joined by a couple of local Uzbeks who had come complete with bread and COLD BEER! With no fridge in the ambulances we were accustomed to drinking warm beer, and to drink cold beer was a welcome luxury.
