#2: [02-Sep-22]

#1: [04-Feb-04]

07-Mar-2026 -- This is the 18^th confluence visit on my walking trip from Portugal to Singapore, which began on February 26 ^th, 2025 at the south-westernmost point of Europe, namely at the lighthouse of the Cabo de São Vicente.

In the morning, I set off from the village of Paxta which is 5km away in straight line in north-western direction of this confluence point. On the way there, I encountered many people in remote villages who asked where I was heading. Rightly so, as the path I was taking led only into the marshy area of the Chirchiq River. I kept it simple and said I was just going for a stroll in the nice weather. After walking along various field paths, I finally found the spot I was looking for, right on the edge of the village of Dustlik in the district of Yangiyul which is in the Tashkent region and only 120 meters from the Chirchik riverbed. A 60-meter-long path led directly from the road to my point, which was situated just 2 meters from the edge of a freshly plowed field.

However, the real highlight of the day happened after the visit. Barely 200 meters from the confluence, I heard loud dance music, which piqued my curiosity. At a school, girls were performing a dance competition judged by a panel, as tomorrow, March 8th, is International Women’s Day here—a very important celebration for all women, marked by dancing, music, and gifts of flowers. I initially just wanted to take a few photos of the dancing girls, but that turned out to be impossible for one reason: my presence drew all the attention, causing the event to descend into cheerful chaos. The organizer reacted spontaneously by inviting me on stage to say a few words. Afterwards, I got to shake hundreds of hands and share just as many Instagram contacts with the children.

The English teacher invited me to her home, which I gladly accepted, as it was in the right direction and at the ideal distance of 15 km. Along the way, I stumbled upon another school celebration, and the scene repeated itself. For the last 2 km, the math teacher, the English teacher's husband, picked me up by car. It took a while until I could convince him that I wanted to walk that stretch too. When I arrived at their house, the real surprise of the day awaited me: an entire English class was already waiting for my arrival. It turned out that today I was supposed to give the private English lesson, which I spontaneously did. Afterwards, we shared the iftar meal with the students, enjoying plov and a fun evening. I stayed there overnight and the next day I walked the remaining 40 km to Tashkent to meet my confluence friend Vladimir and his wife Ludmilla.

CP Visit Details:

• Distance to a road: 60 m
• Distance to a track: 2 m
• Time to reach the CP from the road: 2 minutes
• Time at the CP: 10:00 AM
• Measured height: 307 m
• Minimal distance according to GPS: 0 m
• Position accuracy: 5 m
• Topography: flat
• Weather: sunny, 17° C (felt temperature)
• Given Name: The School Celebration Confluence

You are very welcome to visit my blog of the long hike. If you want to see where I am currently hiking, you can find my daily update on Polarsteps.