Pitching A Tent In The Desert

For this trip we bought a @hilleberg_the_tentmaker Nallo 3. We opted for this tent because its super lightweight, suitable for all seasons and big enough for Stew who’s 6”4.⁣
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The one thing this tent can’t do is pitch freestanding, meaning we always have to peg it – not ideal in sand. ⁣
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To date we haven’t had any problems, but we have had to get a little creative! Here are our most creative Uzbekistan camps:⁣
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1 & 2 As the sun went down and the landscape turned to sand we found a little shop. We asked if we could pitch nearby. The woman looked confused, but gave us the go ahead. A construction worker offered us his porter cabin. We could’ve slept without the tent, but there were a lot of mosquitos!⁣
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3. We found a cafe that had the best Lagman (noodles) in Uzbekistan. We asked the owner if he had a place we could sleep. He took us to the back of the cafe where there was a large platform, he signalled we could sleep there. In Uzbekistan they often have these large platforms, like a double bed. They lay out a mattress, a bit like a yoga mat and eat from a low table sitting down.
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3. The final spot was inside a cafe. We’d cycled 91 miles and we were so tired! By this point I had major saddle sore and I was ready to get off the bike and away from the awful broken roads. We ate at the cafe and they offered us one of the bed-tables (as I call them) and we set up for the night. We were so glad not to pitch the tent as it was pitch black, but we didn’t sleep too well. They work late into the night and the cafe was busy until midnight! I was amazed! When we woke up at 6am the same man who worked the night before was there in the morning. They work hard in Uzbekistan.⁣
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Before I end this post, I want to tell you about fellow cycle tourist @adamcyclingtheworld – when he found out we were travelling with a tent that isn’t freestanding he offered to give us his tent, free of charge! All we had to do was pay postage from wherever he was in the world! What a great lad! ❤️ ⁣
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We declined as we love our Hilleberg, but we were really touched by the offer! ⁣I really love Instagram for the people we’ve met.
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P.S. does anyone know what the bed-tables are called?? @ Uzbekistan