Visit from the 23rd of April to 24th of September 2016
Visite du 23 avril au 24 septembre 2016
number of countries visited: 17
nombre de pays visités: 17
total number of kilometers: 31 661
nombre de kilomètres parcourus: 31 661
Visit from the 16th to the 22th of July 2016
Visite du 16 au 22 juillet 2016
Well well, how to go about finding a mechanic competent in Mercedes-Benz in the land of Aladin and the 7 lamps that is serviced by Chevrolet and Daewoo? After the battering we took in Kazakhstan, the roads of Uzbekistan finally killed, dead, my shock absorbers. I have been silently distrusting of the front shocks since the day we bought Biscotte – thinking all the while that they are the original shocks from the factory – as we bounced around last year from Mongolia. But finally, we bounce no more. We crash and clang and rattle over the Uzbek roads. Score one for Uzbekistan! Dammit.
We did some quick internet research on MB Tashkent (FAIL) but having crossed paths with Patrick we have the name of a shop that may (may is key) be helpful. As usual we pulled into Tashkent heading into a weekend, and circled around until we finally found the workshop at 17hrs. Google translation with the gate guard was not much useful (“closed forever”) but then we got the universal sign to hang on and he ran off to find the boss. The signs were not good, no indicator that the shop was actually functioning, no dead cars in the garden, gates firmly closed…we were not too positive. The Boss showed up and took a look, sure he said, we can help. Good, we said, what do we need to do? English and computer communication was not successful, so we waited with our hands in our pockets quite lost as what to do. Vroom vroom a car raced into the compound and sure enough the ‘mechanic’ jumped out carrying two NEW shocks and by 1930 we were rolling again before the sun set. Labour cost $25. You would never see an European MB shop providing after-hours, weekend work for that kind of value. Never ever. We always get stuck with – ‘we need more parts, that’ll take 10 days more’. Right?
Trouver un mécano à Tachkent qui s’occupe des Mercedes dans un pays où il semble que Chevrolet et Daewoo ont le monopole aurait pu être un challenge mais nous avions unnom. Les routes Ouzbek ont une le dernier mot sur les amortisseurs de Biscotte. Elles ont largement gagné le match ! Comme d’habitude nous arrivons à Tachkent pour faire soigner Biscotte un weekend. Après quelques errances en ville nous trouvons l’atelier à 17h passé et devine quoi c’est fermé et fermé for ever. Grâce à Chris et sa persévérance, le gardien nous met en contact avec un employé qui en deux temps trois mouvements nous trouve un mécano et 2 amortisseurs tout neufs. A 19h30 un samedi soir, le problème était réglé ! Je m’imagine le même problème un samedi après-midi en région parisienne dans un concessionnaire MB : il aurait fallu prendre RDV pour le diagnostique à 200 euros dans une semaine, attendre les pièces etc etc…
Biscotte Adventures 