Leaving Osh

With Ollie in need of getting his head together (literally) and also a feeling we were "citied" out, it was time to hit some of the fine Kyrgyz countryside. We knew we had to be in Bishkek for the 10th of August, which was the earliest we could apply for our Chinese visas, and hence had five or six days to wiggle our way up the country. By this time there was just four of us, me and Jenny, along with Russ and Herbie on the bikes.

Kyrgyzstan is one of the most unspoiled countries that any of us have come across, and you only have to pick a road to drive along to find stunning views and beautiful people. Unlike Tajikistan, which has a similar quota of mountains, Kyrgyzstan is blessed with non stop greenery, and much less severe mountains. Although very closely related, the Tajiks and Kyrgyz, the people are definitely distinct. Whilst driving through Tajikistan we all felt like royalty, as everyone would wave at us - whereas in Kyrgyzstan you are acknowledged with a simple nod.

The other difference between these countries is the tourist industry in Kyrgyzstan is fully developed, which means there are fantastic opportunities to stay with families in their yurts on the summer pastures or jailos. The other end of this stick is we were now finding that we were starting to be charged for entry into National Parks and other scenic attractions. Whilst we all approve of this principle if the money finds it's way into the upkeep of the area, it is certainly a little annoying when there is no evidence of this. On the whole Kyrgyzstan has found the correct balance, just!

The journey up to Bishkek took us five days in the end, four with the bikers and one day on our own, where we tested Dino our with some fantastic green laning in the hills.

It is a pleasure to travel through Kyrgyzstan in Dino, as not only are the roads great fun, but it is no problem to wildcamp anywhere which of course helps to keep the expenses down. One of the massive passes we had to take included a 20 mile climb, whilst all the time passing people selling the most delicious fresh honey - by the litre. Of course we couldn't really refuse could we?

Bishkek

We arrived in Bishkek a day or two behind our friends, but just in time to make it to the Chinese embassy. Regular readers will know that the Chinese visa has been the bane of our lives, and Bishkek was our last chance saloon to pick it up. Whilst in Bishkek we met more and more people who told us that it wasn't possible to get this visa here, but we had no choice but to apply. By the time we had queued for a full morning, and got our application in just before the embassy closed we had managed to fill ourselves with hope once more. All we had to do was return two days later and we would know.

We managed to fill those two days in the fine restaurants the city had to offer, and taking in some of the Soviet sights still left in the city. And with sweaty palms we returned to the embassy to find out we were all successful! Crazy - the trip was finally back on target, and all we had left to do was have a two week holiday in Kyrgyzstan before meeting our guide in China.

Our biker friends decided that they needed to see some action, whereas we were happier to see some nature, so once again we split up for a little time. We dusted down our walking flip flops and sticks and headed to the countryside, ready to exercise muscles that had barely twitched in the last couple of months. As well as hiking up to a beautiful waterfall, we also did our first white water rafting - with all instructions barked at us in Russian.

     

Kyrgyz Lakes

Kyrgyzstan has many great lakes, but two of which are the most famous Issy Kul and Song Kul. The former is the second largest alpine lake in the world, coming in just behind Titticarma in South America. It is a huge lake, 160km long and half as wide. This size, combined with some thermal activity, means it never freezes, and in summer the water is warm enough to become a tourist resort. After our rural activities we were happy to hook up with the bikers for a day here, although the only conversation we could get out of them revolved around the members of the opposite sex that would not speak with them! It had been a long time on the road for the two of them ......

We continued a quick lap of this lake, with the southern shore providing much more of interest, as well as some nice remote beaches. We even found some examples of the amazing hunting eagles that are famous in Kyrgyzstan. The photo below shows a very scared Ollie balancing an eagle and another unknown bird.

If Issy Kol is famous for being a Russian tourist trap, then Song Kol is the opposite, situated at over 3000m and up a road really only suitable for 4wd. Of course this doesn't stop the locals driving every type of vehicle up here. This area is the perfect antidote to Issy Kol, and although some tourists do find their way up, generally the view is of the lake, the meadows, yaks, cows and sheep and of course yurts.

So far on the trip we have traveled some of the most famous and most beautiful roads in the western world, but after leaving Song Kol we found our favorite, a really breathtaking and stunning, twisting and turning 60 kms down to Tash Rabat. If you are looking for great views and enjoyable challenging driving we would recommend this road, particularly as it takes you nicely to the final staging post before the Chinese border. Just remember to look behind you!

 

Tash Rabat and the Chinese Posse

We were now fast approaching the biggest, nonnegotiable deadline of the trip - the 25th August, when we meet up with our guide at the Chinese border. To keep expenses down we had advertised on the HUBB and had found Jean-Yves and Babak who were happy to share the cost of the guide, along with Russ. We had also picked up Herbie en route, and so were now going to be a six person posse, ready to storm the Chinese border. The meeting point had been set by Jean-Yves, the slowest member of the group, as Tash Rabat, probably the nearest recognizable place to the Chinese border.

We were the first to arrive, and arranged to a yurt for us all to stay in. Soon we were joined by JY and Babak, and not long after by Russ and Herbie. The posse was complete.

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