Finally I'm closing in on the border with Tajikistan. After a final bit of desert, the landscape is turning greener and greener. I reach Samarkand, a place in Uzbekistan with a long, long history and had the chance to wander around there for a bit. Finding engine oil here was yet another mission... motorbike life in Uzbekistan is not easy! The road was not easy and full of potholes and especially the last 80 kilometres to the border were super bumpy and Basanti got a bit of a bashing today. Getting out of Turkmenistan was equally as bizarre as entering it and I'm quite glad to be in Uzbekistan where there is internet again and where I could enter without a visa and can stay much longer!