04-Sep-2006 -- This Confluence lies just 35 km northwest of Buchara. Just a few kilometers from it are productive farms, but the patch of land the surrounding the Confluence is beyond the irrigation belt, so the desert has it in its iron grip. There is sparse vegetation (mostly thistles and other super resilient shrubs), and apart from salamanders there is no animal life to speak of. On the way to the confluence I noticed dried sheep and camel droppings, and a occasional track from a 4wd vehicle. I guess they local people let graze their flocks there in spring.

I brought only a 1:1750 000 map of central Asia to Uzbekistan, which showed only the A380 to Urgench running by the confluence in 12 km distance. So I bought the reprint of an old russian map in Buchara, which showed a small road branching of exact at the right point and leading up to within 3 km distance of the confluence. My next purchase were provisions for a 6km round trip in the desert (a bottle of water and a snack).

I took a taxi to a spot just 2,5 km from the confluence (the old map proved to be accurate), and hiked the remaining distance. I needed one hour for getting there, taking the pictures and getting back. I noticed that I tended to go in semicircles (clockwise) if I did not watch my bearing closely, a psychological effect I never noticed before. Apart from the heat the flies were a big nuisance. I was the biggest moving living and smelling thing within kilometers, so they naturally gathered around me, expecting a meal.