B - reporting
Border Day! The infamous Uzbek border...we were nervous, as the Uzbeks are very strict about importing prescription drugs, and G has a 4-month supply.
We set off about 10, with Ned and Morgan squashed into the back. It was a hot, hazy day, the nearby mountains invisilbe, when we arrived at the border post. We left N & M to walk through, and I was immediately separated from G and told to join the 'women line'. Exiting Tajikistan was straightforward, after filling out numerous forms. We then drove to the Uzbek border, which was closed for lunch.
After waiting in the baking sunlight for about half an hour, I joined a huge milling queue and after lots of smiling with gold-teethed old ladies in the 'women line' (G had already made it inside) an official came out and called for 'G's woman'...I did not comment. We then filled in more forms, in duplicate, and had our bags searched by Customs. 'Did you buy heroin in Tajikistan?' 'No.'
G had to do a blood test in front of the customs men, and explain exactly what each of his tablets do. More and more of our possessions were taken out of the truck and lined up on the ground to be sniffed by the drug dog. But G ws patient, and polite, and we were eventually cleared. We picked up Ned and Morgan and headed for Bukhara.
We stopped for the night at a small town with a surprisingly easy to find hotel (right on the highway!) and checked in. For some reason one pays per person, not per room, so N and M each paid 50,000som for a room each, and G and I had to pay 100,000som for an identical room. Perhaps the extra person uses up the TV?
We all headed into town for food and beer to an open-air traditional cafe (where you sit cross-legged on raised benches) where we felt like zoo animals, but in a very friendly zoo.
Border Day! The infamous Uzbek border...we were nervous, as the Uzbeks are very strict about importing prescription drugs, and G has a 4-month supply.
We set off about 10, with Ned and Morgan squashed into the back. It was a hot, hazy day, the nearby mountains invisilbe, when we arrived at the border post. We left N & M to walk through, and I was immediately separated from G and told to join the 'women line'. Exiting Tajikistan was straightforward, after filling out numerous forms. We then drove to the Uzbek border, which was closed for lunch.
After waiting in the baking sunlight for about half an hour, I joined a huge milling queue and after lots of smiling with gold-teethed old ladies in the 'women line' (G had already made it inside) an official came out and called for 'G's woman'...I did not comment. We then filled in more forms, in duplicate, and had our bags searched by Customs. 'Did you buy heroin in Tajikistan?' 'No.'
G had to do a blood test in front of the customs men, and explain exactly what each of his tablets do. More and more of our possessions were taken out of the truck and lined up on the ground to be sniffed by the drug dog. But G ws patient, and polite, and we were eventually cleared. We picked up Ned and Morgan and headed for Bukhara.
We stopped for the night at a small town with a surprisingly easy to find hotel (right on the highway!) and checked in. For some reason one pays per person, not per room, so N and M each paid 50,000som for a room each, and G and I had to pay 100,000som for an identical room. Perhaps the extra person uses up the TV?
We all headed into town for food and beer to an open-air traditional cafe (where you sit cross-legged on raised benches) where we felt like zoo animals, but in a very friendly zoo.
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