camelopia

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I had parked the Caboose in the back of the hotel, and when I went to pick her up this morning, she was covered in laundry:

I thought it was cute, but she looked like she wanted to leave.

The day was overcast, which was good for us, because it meant that temperatures wouldn’t get that high:

Suffering from allergies and a bad stomach, I started walking in a rather shitty mood, but after only a little while I ran into this creature:

I have always liked camels. I want more camels! The whole way should be lined with camels!

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Walking was a lot easier after this.

I noticed that traffic police in Uzbekistan and China applied similar tactics sometimes:

Fake cops and fake police cars, just like I had seen them in Guozigou several years earlier.

After several hours I wasn’t so happy about the overcast sky anymore, because it was about to turn into a full blown thunderstorm:

I like to look at stormy weather from the inside of a house. But I don’t particularly enjoy it when I am out in the open. I worry about getting struck by lightning.

But we made it through, the Caboose and I:

Here’s a somewhat triumphant video:

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We took shelter in this deserted gas station:

At some point the owner appeared and told me that the gas station was not operating because they had no fuel:

This was a problem all over Uzbekistan. Most gas stations were unable to work reliably, fuel was scarce.

When I was still about five kilometers away from Kiziltepa, I ran into Khalmurad:

He was on his way home from picking up empty plastic bottles next to the road.

And he showed me this:

Mulberries! You could just reach into a tree, grab a few berries and eat them right there.

Awesome.

Then the thunderstorm caught up with us again:

I asked Khalmurad if I could park the Caboose at his place, to which he said yes. So we went to his house:

He invited me in for dinner, and we look at his courtyard:

At the place where he slept when it was too hot to sleep inside the house:

And at his doves:

They were his hobby. He loved horses more than doves, but keeping doves was easier.

Then we had dinner:

He showed me which way was best to go during the next few days:

And then he showed me pictures from his youth:

He really liked horses.