Friday 30 May - Shimkent to Risqulov, 83 km Breakfast a bit disorganized as the hotel staff, as usual, were quite overwhelmed by 100 cyclists arriving all at once. I managed to get an egg plus one to pack for lunch, plus the usual other bits, eventually. A very good day’s cycling, beautiful countryside, hilly and green, lots of people and animals and agriculture, and all the time the mountains in the background - some with snow on. There were flowers all over the verges - lots of pink, lots of hollyhocks white and pink, and some purple flowers. We went through villages with roadside stalls selling apples and wallnuts. One had apricots; I asked for 6 and received them free! Another had strawberries, small sweet ones like the ones in my garden at Blewitts Cottages,
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