September 21st

G – Reporting

So last day in Kyrgyzstan, and a little sad to be leaving but also excited about the upcoming Pamirs, speaking of which was why we stared our day in Osh Bazaar buying a duvet and a flask for hot water as with passes up to 4600M(15000ft) it was going to be cold.

Shopping done it was onto Sary-Tash the last town before the border and our camping location for the night, the trip there was stunning with ever higher mountain passes and one point a 3km tunnel with no lighting and by the smell very little if any ventilation!

Sary-Tash its self was a tiny barren windswept place set against the stunning back drop of the Pamir Mountains which looked like a wall on the horizon, Using the last of our Kyrgyz som to buy gas we headed out of town for about 5km find a place to camp in a dry river channel which got us and the truck out of the wind.

Then it was just a case of cooking the last of sausages, eating and then getting into bed as soon as possible as we were at 3000m (10,100ft) and the temperature was dropping fast lucky im happy to report our new duvet was fantastic and once in bed we were toasty!

September 20th

B - reporting

We had asked for breakfast at 7am, as Fatima had to be at school by 8. What would the exciting local breakfast be...egg and chips!

We headed out to explore, stopping gobsmacked at the first sight of the enormous snowy mountains, hidden yesterday behind clouds. We walked past ducks dabbling in a stream beside the road into the centre of town, then towards a small waterfall, then to a panoramic view of the walnut forest which turned into a long walk round the village, nowhere near the walnuts.

The village seems very prosperous, though all the roads are dirt. Most houses are concealed behind whitewashed walls, over which fruit trees hang, and brightly coloured flowers peep out of the gates. We passed many patient donkeys, a few outraged chickens and hundreds of schoolchildren, all of whom shouted 'hello' 'how are you' 'what is your name' 'bye bye' without wating for any reply.

After a chai and more 'what is your name's' in the village, we asked the way to the panorama (we had taken the wrong turn at the waterfall)  and found our first wild walnut!

After inadvertently purchasing a kilo of apple jerky (it is the size of a carpet) we headed for Osh. It was a slow journey, due to goats, sheep, cows and crazy drivers.

We booked into the Taj Mahal hotel where the secure parking was literally in the hotel courtyard. The landlady moved a few tables and their occupants, G drove through, the tables were replaced and normal drinking resumed.

View from out front of the homestay

Rural Arselan Bob

Looking down the valley

end of a long day in an almost tiki bar!

September 19th

G – Reporting

It’s not every morning you find yourself locked in your hotel but thats  how this day started so after finding and waking a member of staff to let us out we started out on the road to Arselan Bob our fantastically named destination for the day, the dive was good through pleasant scenery and villages, while stopping for lunch a random farmer appeared as if from nowhere and gave us a bottle of milk seems that how nice people are in the “stans”

We arrived in the Arselan Bob at about 4 and parked right in the town square of this small hillside village but I think we only stood out a LOT! For a few minutes we wandered around trying to work out where the home stay office was when a man came up and said “hello” do you need a home stay why yes we said, turn out he was the man were badly trying find, so after a quick look at the options back at the office we picked a home stay near the village and he took us down to it.

Introducing us to our host that didn’t speak English he disappeared leaving us a little bewildered but we were soon sat down with piles of fruit bread and tea in front of us, I could get used to this.

After a while the host’s 16-year-old daughter arrived who could speak pretty damn good English, which made everything way easy so telling her we would be back we did a quick walk through town returning for dinner which was a huge plate of Plov (a very tasty traditional rice dish) plus roast veg and meat, gallons of tea as usual and more fruit.

Totally stuffed we chatted with Fatima who was very charming and wants to be an English teacher and I have no doubt she will.

Room with a view from the night before.

Donkeys are the new Horse in the "stans"

Arselan Bob from the main square

Dinner at the guest house - yum!

September 18th

B - reporting

We are finally ready to leave Bishkek, about 4 days after the original plan!

Up early for porridge, then ran around Bishkek picking up sausages and photographing Lenin. It was a very slow drive west as apparently today is market day for every small town, and the venue for these markets was the highway.

At Kara-Balky we picked up a couple of mystery samsas and petrol (from different places) and headed towards Toktogul, our first stop en route to Tajikistan.

The road led up tight bends, switchbacks, crazy overtaking, a 3km unlit, unventilated tunnel and over our first mountain pass: 10,000 feet. We had read so much about altitude sickness, one of whose symptoms is paranoia, that I am not sure if I imagined feeling tightness when I breathed. It could also have been due to the fuminess of the tunnel, now I think about it!

We then crossed a very broad flat plain, with herders moving horses and cows down to lower lands. Circular patches of gravel beside the road were the only indication that this plain had been home to many gers.

We reached Toktogul after another pass, and amazingly managed to find the hotel we'd picked really easily! It was right by the highway...

Our room had no curtains, only nets. And our view was of the petrol pumps just outside our room. We resolved to always ensure the presence of curtains before agreeing to take rooms, in future.

We ate strange noodles in the hotel's cafe, chosen at random as they had no menu. Lucky we are adept, even expert, at ordering bread and tea. We then retired to our goldfish-bowl room for the night.

Crazy mountain roads

We let him Lie.

Scary Tunnels

September 17th

G –Reporting

The travelers curse returned so stayed close to the loo with a quick trip to the chemist!

September 16th

B - reporting

We were both ill today - enough said.

September 15th

G – Reporting

Quiet day after feeling so rough the day before, just went over to the Kyrgyz visa office to see if we could get a 2nd visa if we draw a blank on a Uzbek visa in Dushanbe… the answer was NO!

So had coffee and headed back to the hostel, in the evening we went to Vis-à-vis a café which is a attached to the aussie butcher and had my 1st western-size meal (Bacon cheeseburger and fries) in some time and couldn’t finish it, and that was about it you know it’s a quiet day when a burger is the most exciting thing that happened.

September 14th

B - reporting

Visa Day! We got to the Uzbek consulate, clutching all our print-outs, by 9:30, plenty of time for our 9:50 appointment...only to find a mass of other people with 9:50 appointments. The doors opened at 10am, and a uniformed man read out names in the manner of a school roll call. We were about 4th on the list. We were all told we had to wait in the street, outside the gates, until it was our turn. So we didn't mess up their lovely courtyard with our presence?

When we were finally allowed in the little mustachioed man behind the counter refused to give us our visa, as it said on our Letter of Invitation (LOI) we'd pick it up in Almaty. Argh!!!! We even asked 'is there anything we can do to get one here?' but whenever you need a corrupt official there aren't any!

After a furious walk round Bishkek, consulting travel agencies, we came up with Plans B and C: obtain a new LOI with Dushanbe on it, and get another Kyrgyz visa in case we are refused the Uzbek one. We rolled up at the Kyrgyz office just before noon, only to discover it is closed on Wednesdays!! Argh again.

And more argh, as in the afternoon G felt very unwell. And any more 'i' would definitely be 'tm'.

September 13th

G – Reporting

Late start partly due to feeling more than a little hung over but also because we really didn’t have anything to do which was a nice feeling so spent a lazy day in the garden of the hostel blogging and then later went downtown to get a few printouts for visa applications, in the evening we went out for dinner with Lex (a fellow guest from America) at a local Kyrgyzstan restaurant which was tasty and stupidly cheap at under $6 each! All in all a nice lazy day

Lunch time menu - Beef Botti anyone?

September 12th

B - reporting

Visa day! We were up early and drove to the Tajik embassy, arriving before 9. It was another lovely sunny day, and today we actually saw the huge mountain range to the south of Bishkek before they were hidden by heat or shashlik haze.

This was our easiest yet - in and out with visa handwritten by the nice mustachioed Consul in less than 30 mins, most of that time spend by us filling in the forms. So we headed back to the guesthouse feeling as if we'd done a successful day's work!

We treated ourselves to a massive breakfast - 'The Full Monty' from Fatboys Cafe where we saw someone we knew! Lex, who is staying at the same guesthouse. Sustenated, we walked round the city for a while then returned to the guesthouse to fill out the Uzbek visa form on-line. The landlady phoned the Embassy for us to make an appointment. If you phone and speak English, the staff just hang up on you! We have an appointment for Wednesday, 9:50am.

After lots of walking and some delicious stuffed Samsas (chicken in filo pastry today) we had a rest and beer before heading out for some fantastic Lebanese food with Lex.

Man with a cell phone Statue?!

Leafy streets of Bishkek

Main Square

September 11th

G – Reporting

Woke early so decided to make the most of it and go down to the lake and get some pictures of the sunrise, sunrise was beautiful not so good was the 60 year old Russian who came down said hello then stripped off for a swim, he could have warned me!

After breakfast which we assume was included with the room as no one asked us for money in the restaurant, we packed and checked out and slowly drove back to Bishkek as I really didn’t want any more speeding tickets.

We had found a guesthouse/hostel online and had our fingers crossed that they had space for us, which when we got there they did and it just got better from they as the room was simple but spotless, plus a guest kitchen, free laundry and wifi all for $20 a night a real result when staying in a city.

After unpacking we headed downtown for some food and drink at “Fatboys” an expat place in the downtown core which had great food and was pretty cheap, as for the city it was like a smaller Almaty with the same leafy streets but with a more relaxed vibe all in all very nice, after we returned to the hostel and chatted with fellow travelers something you don’t get with a hotel.

Sunrise worth getting up for.

Yes it was cold!

Donkey at a bus stop

Hat shaped bus stop!

Safe load?

Love the golden lenins

September 10th

B - reporting

Border Day again! After a nice start of peanut butter on toast and a smooth empty road our moods plunged after we were ripped off by a fat cop, who claimed we were speeding. G paid a 'fine' which went straight into the pocket of another guy in army gear, and we left, planning what to do next time.

We got to the Kyrgyzstan border at about 10, which was the usual scene of confused milling - the confusion on our parts as we couldn't read any of the signs. But random helpful men in the queue sent us to the right place. I wasn't allowed to stay with G in the car, so had to enter as a foot passenger and joined a massive queue.

I had a nervous few minutes at passport control, waiting to be stamped out of Kazakhstan, when the guard spent ages writing something down but this turned out to be what he wanted for lunch, as he gave the list to a man going to a shop. Then a quick stamp and I was out!

G and I went to the Kyrgyzstan passport control together, queuing in the wrong place twice but eventually getting stamped in and then waited for Customs to open. At one point we went to ask what time it opened, and surprised a man with Solitaire open on his screen...After about half an hour the customs women arrived and we filled in forms, were inspected and were in!

Bishkek is about 20km from the border, so we headed there for a late lunch. We had tea and kebabs in a cafe, the kebabs delicious beef, with salad and chips rolled up with the meat - which we felt was the height of sophistication. And the tea was free!

We then headed out east, to Lake Issyk-Khol. It took ages to get there due to lots of villages and us being super-cautious about the speed limit, which is not posted anywhere, apparently you are supposed to know by telepathy. The road went along a fertile valley, loads of agriculture and people selling lovely-looking fruit and veg by the roadside. And loads of donkeys! Then the road led through a narrow canyon with a river and insane drivers overtaking on blind bends, and we reached the lake.

We had intended to camp, but we ended up staying in Royal Beach Resort which was fantastic, a huge room and hot shower and we will camp another day!

Pit stop in Bishkek

Central Asia!

Sunset at lake issy-kol