Border Crossing from Uzbekistan (Tashkent) to Kazakhstan (Shymkent) with a Malaysian Passport & Motorcycle

It was time to say goodbye to Uzbekistan and further continue my exploration in Kazakhstan. While the silkroad cities were beautiful and a wonder to look at, the burning hot weather constantly around 40 degrees during the day was a super large deterrent to do anything.

I decided loitering around just to sit down every day at the main square in the evening and admire the old architecture Madrasahs was not so enjoyable when the bulk of the day was wasted hiding in the air-con room.

Tashkent-Shymkent Border - Uzbekistan side

I rode to the border in the morning and at the Uzbekistan side got down and pass on my passport with Vehicle Ownership Certificate (VOC) to the customs officer for processing. There are no temporary import papers like other countries for the bike if you remembered my previous post when entering Uzbekistan.

It took maybe 15 minutes for the officer to key in stuff into the system and then I was told to open up the box for customs check. Top box cleared, side panniers opened and rummage through, main bag looked through and finally a few questions was asked which I could not understand.

The guards mimed the questions for me which translate to,

Do you have any Guns ??? NO

(Mimed like a person holding a rifel and shooting)

Do you have any Drugs ??? NO

(Mimed like someone injecting his own hand with drugs)

I was cleared to go and the little slip for customs check was stamped and I could now move forward a hundred meters to clear immigration. Stamped out quickly of Uzbekistan and a short ride to the gate separating Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. I passed the little customs paper slip and was cleared to leave.

At the Kazakhstan side, It was customs first and this time I got a custom declaration paper for Bragge which was similar to a temporary vehicle import permit, but they actually call it ex-soviet custom union papers. 

Shymkent - Tashkent Border - Kazakhstan Side 

This was the first time getting the custom union papers from Kazakhstan since the last time I crossed into Kazakhstan I was holding onto the Kyrgyz customs union papers. Same procedure again at the Kazakhstan side for immigration and then baggage check. All in all the whole process took maybe an hour.

So what I realized is that the customs union papers for Uzbekistan was independent hence there was a new issuance of custom papers from Kazakhstan side. The previous crossing from Kyrgyz to Kazakh had no paper because they share this. 

I was using the Kyrgyz paper in Kazakh actually but this time round I had the Kazakh customs papers and when I cross back into Kyrgyz a month later I was actually using the Kazakh papers in Kyrgyzs. A very interesting customs union in this part of the world

Back in Kazakhstan and onward to Shymkent

Travelled on: Aug 2024

Daytrip to Chimgan from Tashkent

Summer was HOT in Uzbekistan. I was mostly burning and overheating when riding around the country but somehow the bike was holding up very well with the air and oil cooling system. Hence when I found out about Chimgan mountain which was a short trip from Tashkent, I decided to ride and check out the ski-resort although it was summer.

Weather was beautiful with good roads and as I started climbing higher elevations, the greenery and cool air was a stark difference and completely unexpected compared to the rest of Uzbekistan which was mostly dessert with oasis.

Chimgan

The highlight for the road trip was the Chimgan ski-resort. Simple but in Winter this was a ski adventure activity. In summer, it was a scary cable car with no safety ride for a good view of Chimgan valley.

Chimgan Ski-Resort Lift

Quite the scary cable car

The loop bring me around to Charvak Reservoir, a beautiful azure-blue lake water that was just pure scenic ride. I did the loop all the way to Kara-Bulak making a whole circle around the lake and time passed without knowing and soon it was time to go back to Tashkent where I had to packed up to leave the next day to Shymkent, Kazakhstan.

Charvak Reservior

Travelled on: Jul 2024

Exploring Tashkent & Motorbike Maintenance

I wonder why Tashkent gets so less attention compared to the three major silk road cities in Uzbekistan. It was a lovely place  for any overlander like myself looking for a place to crash and rejuvenate for a few days.

Most days were spent on foot exploring Tashkent via their subway system which was like a Art Museum. I could not help but keep stopping at random station just to have a look at the architectural beauty of its station. A clean city and most times I was just walking around randomly at parks

Cosmonaut Theme Station

Beautiful Dome Architectural Ceiling

Not sure ... Modern Art in Subway Station of Tashkent

Also, for a biker, this was the only reliable city to get any maintenance done to the bike in the entire country of Uzbekistan. A quick message to my saviour Sergei from back in Tajikistan Anzob tunnel for a meet up was quickly drowned in sorrow. 

He was going overseas for work that week and I would miss the chance to catch up in his home city. Still, he gave me the run-down how to get bike parts in the city which was quite interesting on its own.

First off was to track down the Auto-market or bazaar which has every motor, car, tractor, bus, truck, bike parts shop jammed into a size of a football field with some unknown system that took me time to decipher. 

Eventually I found the area where bike parts were sold and then it was the issue of getting the right parts. I needed sprockets, chain, engine oil, fork oil, brake pads, spark plugs and probably some things I was not even aware of.

Bike Parts Shop in Tashkent .. I kinda forgot the name since it was in Uzbek letters

Replenish Parts 

Great Owner that help me identify the correct part type 

The second issue was that the bike parts shops like any other country in Central Asia, only sell the parts and don’t have the mechanic to tinker with the bike. The master as the call them (mechanics) was at another place and after much translation, I got a contact for a bike pit called Moto_Garage13.

Somehow between translation, google maps and some local directions, I managed to find the unmarked Moto-Garage and the boyz. They did a great job servicing my front forks, changing sprockets and even welding back my hole ridden exhaust. 

Absolute master works I would say as I hang out with them the whole day while they worked on the bike. Apparently, they had training in Russia for bike maintenance and most bikes in Uzbekistan was so niche that only a few mechanics were available.

@moto_garage13 - Tashkent

Patched all the Exhaust Holes 

Front Fork Oil Change & Service 

After major maintenance was done, I did a day trip the next day to Chimgan Valley and somehow notice that my exhaust guard protector was missing. Probably dropped off somewhere (It has already dropped off a few times but those times I noticed and picked it up from the road). This time it was gone with the wind, and I returned to Moto-Garage hoping something could be done.

A custom-made exhaust protector was carved up from scrap metal, and upon my request, they carved up their Instagram ID onto the protector which makes it even more special to me.

@moto_garage13 - Tashkent

A photo with the Boyz which help fix up Bragge

Travelled on: July 2024

The Passing Dream of Samarkand

There are some stretches of a journey that I forget to record them. I somehow missed writing Samarkand into my journal and now had to think hard of what I even did there. Photos helped jogged the memory of places visited but the blank state of mind while wondering and exploring Samarkand feels like a visit during a dream and not real

I remember arriving late in the evening, the lights of the city flickering to life. After the preserved, almost theatrical silence of Bukhara and Khiva, Samarkand hit me differently. This was a proper, breathing modern city. Cars, people, life. And yet, woven into the very fabric of its bustling streets were monuments so grand, so ancient, that the only comparison my tired mind could conjure was Rome. History isn't kept behind velvet ropes here; it's just part of the city's furniture.

Registan Square - Samarkand

Registan Square - Samarkand

I spent my evenings in the simplest, most profound way. I would walk to Registan Square, find a spot on the cool stone floor, and just sit. As the last light of day left the sky, I'd watch the three majestic madrasahs put on their own light show, their turquoise tiles glowing against the deepening blue. No guidebook, no plan, just me and the ghosts of caravans that once gathered here. It was my nightly ritual, a moment of perfect peace.

The days were for wandering. I found my way to the quieter, but no less fascinating, Hazrat Khizr Mosque, then walked under the colossal arch of the Bibi-Khanym Mosque, trying to comprehend its sheer scale. One afternoon, I abandoned the quiet streets and hopped on the back of a rattling moto-taxi for a trip to the outskirts. It took me to the remains of Ulugbek's Observatory, a testament to a mind that looked to the stars while empires crumbled below.

The modern side of Samarkand 

Ulugbek's Observatory

The Inside Scale measurement of Ulugbek's Observatory

Ulugbek's Observatory

From there, a long, contemplative walk led me to the quiet, sacred spot of the Prophet Daniel Mausoleum. It's a humble place, nestled by a stream, but it holds a story that stopped me in my tracks. Daniel, I learned, is one of the few figures revered by all three Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

The Jews know him as the prophet Daniel, the one thrown into the lions' den and saved by his faith. Christians revere him the same way. For Muslims, he's known as Prophet Daniyar (or Khoja Daniyar)—a saintly figure, even though his name doesn't appear in the Qur'an, he's honoured in Islamic tradition.

Khoja Daniyar Mausoleum

Khoja Daniyar Mausoleum

Travelled on: Jul 2024

A quick stop in Bukhara and onwards to Tashkent

Doubling back to Bukhara, I spend two nights mostly just strolling around the city. There was nothing much new to see but then when one has a bit too much free time like me, other ideas started to pop up. I decided that constant hunting for flag stickers was a waste of time and effort hence I decided to find a sticker printing shop.

Randomly Walking Around Bukhara 

Even tracked down a local Shopping Mall for Air Conditioning 

Bukhara is a true gem that I have found some of the most unexpected things in this city. A computer repair shop, a tobacco shop and now a sticker printing shop. I made all the country flags in one go including for all the possible countries I would visit in the near future as well. 

The cost was reasonable to me, but I figured that I probably got a tourist price. Still, I was happy and the hunt for stickers is complete.

Sticker Printing Shop in Bukhara 

Custom made flags Stickers 

With this done, I now stopped thinking of finding stickers every new place I go and can fully focus on exploring and immersing. Its funny how these little things can side track our minds from the bigger picture so easily.

The roads from Bukhara to Tashkent was nothing spectacular but it was long and burning hot. I was definitely heat exhausted and borderline heatstroke prone. I stopped so many times in shade just to rest up and every stop becomes more frequent and gets longer and longer.

Travelled on July 2024