At 10:00 we are standing at the Iran-Turkmenistan customs. Although there is a ramp for processing, we have to carry the bikes and luggage up 5 steps into the building. A sign directs tourists on foot to this entrance, and no exception is made for us either. The usual procedure: wait, wait, wait, and watch our passports being passed from office to office, "organisation professionnelle". Changing rial into manat in the customs area came to nothing. The man in charge of the exchange sends us back out to the street to do our business. Contrary to expectations, the Iranian export check goes quickly. After a spot check of our panniers, we walk through the barbed-wire gate towards the Turkmen border post. For about 500 metres you are in the no-man's-land corridor until the first checkpoint, where our passports are examined. "No entry, you don't have a visa", whereupon we hand over our "letter of invitation" issued by the Turkmen embassy. "There is no stamp." Now we start to get a little uneasy. The consequences of not getting the transit visa would be disastrous. After some lengthy explanations, we are asked to see the immigration officer in the border building 200 metres away. But the bureaucracy! By now it's 12:00, lunchtime; never mind that we've already been waiting 2 hours, protesting is no use. At 13:00 the team reappears. 65 dollars per person lighter, and with another coloured sticker in our passports, we move on to the X-ray machine. To our horror, the luggage of an Uzbek family is being completely taken apart. Every bag, suitcase and purse is emptied and spread out on a table. No! Even the children's toys are X-rayed one by one and opened where possible. The contents of the thermos flask are poured out and the tea bags squeezed. If this happens to us, laying out and checking our equipment will take another 2 - 3 hours.

No, that seems too much trouble for the officer after all. A quick question about which electronic devices are in our luggage, a spot check of the handlebar bag, and that's it. The declaration form is decorated by three more officials with various stamps and signatures, and the procedure is over. After a total of 4 hours in the border area, we are allowed to enter Turkmen territory with our 5-day transit visa. By now the temperatures have climbed to their highest, and the wind has become our strongest "opponent".

We battle forward for two hours at a maximum of 10 km/h and need huge amounts of water. It's grinding us down! It can't go on like this. 410 kilometres to Turkmenabat in 5 days? We can't keep to that target like this. The penalty for arriving late could cut our budget by several hundred dollars. The solution: once again, wait for a lift on a lorry. It doesn't take long, and we are moving on several axles towards the nearest town.

The road is in a disastrous state. The heat makes the asphalt melt, creating countless ruts and ridges. Riddled with countless potholes, the road becomes a uniquely bone-shaking track. The whole vehicle is shaken about, and our bikes bounce on the loading platform. Visibly relieved, we reach "Tejen" at 17:00. We've had enough of the wind, the heat and the bad roads, and decide to take the night train to Turkmenabat.

In a great hurry we change a few dollars into manat to pay for the ticket and dinner. Time seems to have stood still here. It looks like Russia, and people drive old Ladas. Some Turkmen are sly foxes and keep trying to rip us off. By now we know how to deal with this bad habit and negotiate the prices. The ticket for us and our "baggage" costs a ridiculous 10 US dollars. With a handwritten, stamped and punched piece of cardboard, we board the "express train" to Turkmenabat.

Apart from ugly Soviet buildings, an oversized main street and only a handful of hotels, Turkmenabat offers nothing out of the ordinary. Only the bazaar is worth a visit, to have our Iran trousers shortened to a length that works on a bike.

We use the 2-day wait until our Uzbek visa starts to give our bikes an overhaul. First a thorough clean, followed by a check of the mechanical parts for wear. After 1,000 kilometres the chain is changed, and the old one cleaned and got ready for the next change. Fixing a flat tyre for the 4th time. An almost invisible steel wire, which we couldn't find at first, had bored into the tyre and kept piercing new holes in the tube. All the equipment has been checked, fuel and supplies topped up, clothes washed and the crew rested. After only 4 days in Turkmenistan we leave the country, hoping for less headwind and better roads.

Biker info for the route