Have just crossed Turkmenista - spending about five days in the country. This was fewer than planned as we were marooned off the Turkmenistan coast for a day and a night because a Russian boat ahead of us didn't have the correct papers. We spend a couple of nights camping in the desert. More pictures will follow (when I have a fast internet connection), but the one attached to this card shows typical desert pursuits (a water pipe). It also shows that Turkmenistan is a land of silly hats. I am now in Khiva, having crossed into Uzbekistan yesterday. Uzbekistan is by far the most friendly country on the journey so far. We have crossed one desert to get here (the Kara Kum, or black desert, which is the second largest sandy desert on the plant). I will be crossing one more tomorrow (the Kyzyl Kum - or red desert). The temperature is in the high thirties and it's going to get hotter.