Dickie tummies and charcoal munching

Arriving in Uzbekistan marked the start of something that was to last nearly a month for most of the group......the serious shits.  We're not sure if it was a change in food, or a certain bug that we all caught from each other, but most suffered for a few weeks, trying anything to rid ourselves of the 5am wake up call that seemed to be universal.  We even tried Jim's suggestion of eating charcoal that was in abundance at the back of the truck, so after munching a piece, I had to admit it did work, and everybody's bowel movements were the hot topic of conversation amongst us all for weeks.

Aoiffe and I trying out the charcoal technique

Our guide Merzah, stayed with us throughout our stay in Uzbekistan and showed us around the cities of Khiva, Buchara and Samakand, giving us an insight of the ancient country and it's cultures.

Samakand

Me and Ben in Samakand

Relaxing in the shade

Uzbek ladies

Chicken tonight?

Market in Samakand

A visit to a local restaurant was an experience and a half, we hadn't even sat down to order before we were being dragged up to dance by a party celebrating a lady's 60th birthday.  They couldn't speak a word of English but it was such a fun night, dancing with the scary Uzbek ladies and being flung around like rag dolls. They were drinking straight vodka like it was going out of fashion, and I had to had it to 'em, they certainly know how to party and celebrate in style!

After such a high of a great night came a huge low as we were informed that due to the Chinese government not allowing visitors into Tibet for a few months due to the 60 year aniversary of the liberation of Tibet from China.  It meant that we were unable to visit Tibet and had a knock on effect meaning that Nepal and India were no longer on our itinerary.  More to the point no Everest base camp which was to be a highlight of the trip for most.  The positives to be gained by the change meant that we would spend longer in China visiting sights that weren't on our original shedule like the Terracotta Warriors and the Giant Pandas.  We would also spend longer in South East Asia and we keep calypso until the end of the trip in Singapore.

One way to cool off from the relentless heat was to head for the water park in Tashkent, and we spent a brilliant morning tearing down slides and generally relaxing and taking it easy after a busy time being cultural.