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Now to Kabul!

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No not really, but we do get right to the Afghanistan border and the road continues across the border to Kabul which is about 500km directly south. 

But time to go back a bit. We leave Dushanbe with difficulty as they are digging up the main road and there are no detour signs.
We lose about an hour finding our way out of town. Quite frustrating as the GPS started having multiple nervous breakdowns and kept crashing out on me. I had to lovingly clean her terminals on the side of the road.  Here is a dirt barrier of which there were many. As good as the GS Adventure  bike is it would not get over these dirt hills. 



And once out of town we are reminded of the caravan trains of yesteryear.





Anyway we cross the border into Uzbekistan. You used to need a visa but not now. However as always it is a relief to know the intel is correct and there is a particular music in hearing  the stamp sound of the passport being stamped. I do like the colourful girls waiting at the border.




It is a hot slow slog down the valley to a Termez.  We see lots of fields of a bushy green crop. What is it?  Then I cotton on!,




And it is down to Termez. We cross a brand new electric railway line with huge marshalling yards only about I km from the Afghanistan border. Clearly it a Chinese railway connection as part of the Chinese  belt and road project and we assume it goes down thru Afgainstan to Pakistan and thence to a seaport.

We sleep easy in Termez, only one km from the Afghanistan border.

Next day now and we head north out of town. We see Afghanistan across the border and you can see the border on the GPS.




And Afghanistan itself. Now you see it - now you don’t. Close enough thanks ! 



There are pedestrian crossings everywhere as we head north out of Termez. We slow down to give way at the crossings. But the pedestrians refuse to cross. 



And again


And again


The pedestrians are all wearing the same dress. They all have the same briefcase. Then the penny drops. Of course !  They must be all off to a Board meeting!!

On that elucidating note ( quite proud of that one) we head up a super Highway  to Samarkand 




And over theTimur pass.

 

And to a nice hotel in Samerkand. It is a day of contrasts! Ghenkis Khan, Alexander the Great and Amir Temur never had it this great after a days of hot travelling. Isn’t he handsome? 









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