Bukhara and a bit of luck

Our sorry little convoy of 4 bikes limped the last 50 or so miles to Bukhara the following morning after a fitful nights sleep on the roadside with trucks thundering past.
Found a nice B&B, washed away the sand and dirt from the past few days and went for a wander. The 45 degree heat, meant that I didn't wander far before bumping into Iain and another XT rider (John), so we retired to the shade for a cold beer and a post mortem of the Khiva/Bukhara Road. Spirits were a little down as I was concerned about my tyre. There are no big bikes out here, so the chances of finding a suitable tyre seemed slim. Continuing problems with the China section of the trip didn't lighten the mood. So, a late night and one too many beers left me slightly hungover the next day.
But that is when my luck began to change. As I ventured out of the B&B in the morning, a slighty frazzled looking Romanian biker (on a battered old Transalp), was packing his gear. I said hello and it turned out he was having rear tyre problems as well. He had found a local who spoke passable English and thay were about to head off to a tyre repairers. I grabbed my lid and followed them on a mad dash around Bukhara's backstreets trying to find the tyre shop. Many dead ends and phone calls later, we ended up at a tiny shack of a repair shop. The Romanians' rear tyre was soon inflated and then they looked at my tyre. Suddenly, he produced a somewhat worn, but perfectly serviceable old Michelin Anakee rear tyre of the right size. I was dumbfounded. A previous biker must have discarded them here and we just happened to turn up at the particular place that had them! I was fleeced for it, of course, but as there was no choice, it probably wasn't too bad a deal. So I am good to go! Where is another matter?
The luck continued as in the afternoon, the two missing bikers from our China group re-appeared. Turns out that they got stuck in Tajikistan just as the war broke out there. 3 weeks with no communications; but they are safe and well and back in Kyrgyzstan. Ended the day with food and beers with Iain, Nick, Kev and Brian the Aussie who had rode through Tajikistan before the trouble kicked off.

Soundtrack: Nick Harper - Headless