Uzbekistan: Bukhara 13-16 May, 2012

Tough roads = broken parts

Mulat making calls to see who has a fork seal

In the morning after arriving into Bukhara, HJ noticed oil on his fork and engine.  His right front fork seal was broken.  It was leaking oil and it needed to be replaced.  Luckily, the Russians had provided us with the name of a guy who could do these types of repairs.  The receptionist called him for us, and he said he would be by the next morning.

There are a lot of these pools around Bukhara, very nice but no water circulation

Very cool old buildings but inside it is always a place for people to sell touristy  junk

As it would turn out, there were 4 Japanese guys also staying in the hotel.  It turned out that one of them worked for Honda and he also had a friend who was a master mechanic.  That guy stopped by later the first night and mentioned that he could help assist in looking for a fork seal and repairing the bike.  We had two options now.

A Michiel/Marilou truck sighting in Bukhara

Walking through one of the 3 main bazaars of the city

Mulat, the Russian contact showed up at 10am, as promised.  HJ had already removed the fork and was ready for the repair.  The headlamp was also removed and when we looked for the spare bulbs, we noticed that Motorport Amsterdam had sold HJ the wrong lamp for his bike - extremely annoying when on the road and you trust that what one orders is the correct one.  It turned out to be ok as Mulat was able to also look for one at the same place he went to find the fork seal and oil.

The Russians brought water fountains to Uzbekistan

BBQ'ing for the restuarant

A couple hours passed and Mulat returned with a fork seal that was slightly off.  He said he would take the fork and the fork seal to his shop and make it work.  After another couple hours he returned with the fork.  It looked ok, but it would need to be replaced once the proper size was available.  He then placed the bulb in the headlamp and the bike was returned to a drive-able state.

The best place to eat in Bukhara - old city

Bukhara is a nice place.  It still has a lot of older buildings and a very nice feel to it.  It is a bit like Xiva but more touristy and a bit bigger.  The Lonely Planet has been our guide and it recommended a very nice place to eat, Minzifa.  After we found this place we at here another 4 times (2 x lunch, 2 x dinner).  Haha, when you find good food at a good price, why go elsewhere.

Great hotel with great staff

We stayed at the Hotel New Moon.  It was also very good.  The staff was excellent, the son of the owner, Ahmad, had everything under control.

This station was "closed" - obviously they sell to only friends and family

We needed to exchange money, he found someone to come by to do this.  We needed petrol, where none was available, and he made a phone call to arrange that we could get petrol.  It was very comforting to know that whatever we needed, there was a solution.  Oh, and he was about 12 years old.

A nice sky from atop of Minzifa restaurant, our last evening in Bukhara