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Chost
Internet Cafe, Tashkent, 06-06-07
Way off in Lada-land
Samarqand to Tashkent (3 cycle days; 335km; 862m)
Today's scenery is the best we have seen to date in
Uzbekistan. The initial lush farmland quickly transforms
into a rocky landscape with very little vegetation but
an amazing combination of rolling greens, golds and
browns. A snow-capped mountain range silhouettes our
right-hand view. Contrary to the information given by
other cyclists, who all say it's flat the whole way
to Tashkent, there is quite a decent climb just before
Jizzakh. While the percentage doesn't match the "standard
issue 12% signs" for any incline in Uzbekistan,
most of the way is a tough 8%, especially in the heat
of the day. Today is 48 °C in the sun and we spend
10 hours in total on the road, whereby just 6.5 hours
are engaged on the saddle. We can't drink enough and
the numerous bus stops and chaikhanas (teahouses) selling
cold bottles of soft drink and water are a welcomed
thirst quencher. After reaching the 870m peak and climbing
a total of 477m, we enthusiastically sail down into
the valley as best we can on poorly laid asphalt. The
road for the next couple of hours and until pulling
off in a field at around 6.00pm is flat but irritatingly
bumpy. (M39 near Uchtepa: 123km; 477m)
We are startled awake to the sound
of herded sheep and goats bleating next to our tent
and unzip the flap to some rather curious young shepherds
who take to standing right in the doorway and staring
for at least 15 minutes. Once they leave, we eat and
finish packing up. Today is as hot as yesterday but
there's not a hill in sight. In fact, there's very little
to see in the way of scenery and it's a long and rather
boring cycle. Fresh water canals are lined with boys
and the occasional man cooling themselves off from the
heat of the day. No females seem to be participating
in this rather inviting indulgence. The roads are particularly
bad towards the end of the day in and around Gulistan.
We opt for a patch in between the railway and the highway
(M34 near Gulistan: 112km; 63m)
which proves to be noisiest camp spot we have chosen
yet. The photo on the other hand, depicts a green and
serene setting. A couple of local kids persistently
beg at the tent and it takes a couple of shooing aways
before they finally disappear over the track. A restless
night pursues.
It's early on the road today, even
though one of my spokes needs repairing before we set
off. An almost perfect road and overcast skies are like
a dream come true but unfortunately, that doesn't last
the entire journey into Tashkent. The dry nothingness
of yesterday becomes greener as we approach the two
and a half million populated city. The cotton and wheat
fields give over to a cherry, strawberry and tomato
culture. I also spy rock melons on roadside sale and
a craving remains with me for the rest of our trip.
Luckily, it's curtailed after a visit to the Chorsu
Bazaar and even though it is a rather expensive exchange
of sum for this piece of fruit, it is worth every cent.
Fruit in general is not cheap in Uzbekistan and outside
Tashkent there is little choice apart from local apricots,
cherries and crab apples. Alternatively, cabbage, potatoes,
carrots and most root vegetables are dirt cheap.
Going past Sirdarya, about 100 kms
from Tashkent, we are surprisingly joined by a cyclist
in training. Well actually, Ali is. This guy flies past
me on his fancy bike, in all his racing gear glory without
a word of a hello. He then sidles up to Ali and holds
out his glove padded hand in gesture of a deserved manly
handshake. For the few kilometres that he stays with
us, the road is smooth and flat and we have a helpful
wind in the back.
Uzbekistan has numerous checkpoints
along the way and of late we have been riding straight
through them, with a friendly wave and smile of course,
and the boys on post haven't prevented us from continuing.
The repetitious conversation, questioning and stopping
wears a little thin after a while. For those of you
who are unfamiliar with the rules here: while travelling
in Uzbekistan you are required to register everyday.
This is no longer possible through any other mode than
a hotel which obviously means for camping cyclists and
those taking night transport, it is impossible. Most
reports are that you are seldom asked at the border
for your registration slips, especially if you have
been travelling overland. We will see. Adding to the
list of regulations, you must have your passport on
you at all times and technically any militsia (policeman)
has the right to check your documents and search you.
While this rarely happens anywhere else other than the
notorious metro system in Tashkent it is best to be
prepared. There are mixed anecdotes but we have found
that the best approach is a firm and decisive decline
to their request and they generally leave it at that.
Always stay in public view and never go anywhere with
the police. If it appears to be getting out of hand,
play authority against authority and demand their identity
number, motion to write it down and if you have a mobile
phone, attempt to call someone. As a last resort, make
a scene. An underhanded cop doesn't want to draw attention
to himself.
We make it into a city, akin to a poorly
maintained Singapore, with amply laned boulevards and
an abundance of greenery. (Tashkent: 100km;
322m) The immediate feeling is relaxed.
It's Sunday and we virtually have the roads to ourselves.
There is one sign indicating the city centre on the
outskirts of town and if you just keep to this road
for about 15km you will eventually happen upon the easy
to see Sirk (Circus). Go under the tunnel and head north
west. Once you have passed the arch at the Chorsu Market,
the next street on your right with a traffic light,
is the road leading to Gulnara B & B (Uzman
Hajaev 40). There's an arrowed sign on the shed
roof near the corner. This is, from most travellers
point of view, the best and only place to stay in Tashkent.
It's unbelievably clean and the family that run this
place are extremely relaxed and friendly. Price wise
it is expensive at US$15 per person or US$25 for a double
with shared bathroom. There are a couple of double rooms
with ensuite for US$30. Compared to other accommodation
prices and standards in Tashkent though, this is reasonable
and includes a very delicious breakfast.
While on the subject of food, like
all the Central Asian countries so far on our trip,
vegetarians will have a hard time finding a variety
of dishes to keep them satisfied in Uzbekistan. Meat
is a staple. There are Korean salads at all the bazaars
but a few nights of MSG overdosed noodles and vinegar
soaked cabbage is enough for anyone. We ventured into
Darxon on Pushkin, opposite the Inconnel Business Centre
and very much enjoyed the plov without meat. Beer on
tap at local prices as well (pint for 450 sum). It is
situated on the extreme east side of town but a taxi
ride across the city should not cost anymore than 2000
sum. Brace yourself for some heavy bargaining and if
they don't come to the party, try the next in line.
Tashkent is not short of taxi drivers and the streets
are a sea of Lada's and Daewoo's prepared to take you
anywhere. Remember though, the city is forever renovating
and building so, have plan B ready if going to one of
the holy guidebook's recommendations: Hotel Locomotive,
Taj Indian Restaurant, The Café and New World
Pizza and Bakery are no longer.
Before our arrival, we had heard only
bad reports about Tashkent: boring, nothing to do except
apply for visas, too new and modern and rather dull,
ugly city, but I can't agree. The old apartment blocks,
though not in good shape are eclectically interesting
and it is probably the greenest city I have ever been
in. The bazaars are colourful and although the city
is gigantic, parts of it are fun just to wander around
and absorb the culture. Like everyone else here, we
too need to organise visas as well: Kyrgyzstan, China
and Pakistan. Once again bureaucratic hullabaloo rubs
the wrong way. The run of events are as follows:
Monday: Day One.
Arrive Pakistan Embassy at 10.30am to fill in application
form with three other travellers staying at the same
guesthouse as us. (New location at Building No 15,
Kickik Halga Yoli Street, Sobir Rakhimov District, Tashkent.
Open Monday through Wednesday 9.00-13.00 and 14.00-17.00)
Purchase our 4 pass photos with blue background from
shop up the road along with copy of Uzbek visa and passport.
Submitted these before 12.00pm and told to come back
the following day at 3.00pm for an interview.
Arrive Kyrgyzstan Embassy 14.30 (Holida Samatova
30, Tashkent. Open Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9.30-11.00
and 14.30-16.00). Everything processed same day
and within 15 minutes for a 30 day single entry visa
at a cost of $US55. (Multiple entry: $US75) Application
form, one pass photo, copy of passport and Uzbek visa
required.
Tuesday: Day Two.
Turn up for Pakistan Embassy interview at 14.45. Let
into building at 15.20. Let out at 15.25 after asking
each of us our name and informing us that we need to
pay the visa fee and hand in our passports after 11.00am
the following day. They are unsure of the fee, but will
let us know tomorrow. They are in a hurry today and
therefore the interview is short. We leave before we
can make the seats warm.
Wednesday: Day Three.
Arrive Chinese Embassy 8.45am. (Yakhyo Gulomov 79,
Tashkent. Open Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9.00-12.00)
Gate opened at 9.20am. Fill in application form and
attach one pass photo. Same day application costs $US80
but you can't pick it up before 17.00 and our passport
needs to be handed in at the Pakistan Embassy before
this time. The Chinese officials won't allow any concessions
and are overly impolite.(Three day and 5 day applications
$US60 and $US40 respectively) Leave for Pakistan Embassy
via MIR shopping arcade for a real coffee.
Hand in passport and pay $US36 each
at 11.00am at Pakistan Embassy. Told to return following
day at 15.00 to pick up passport.
Thursday: Day Four.
Pick up passport at Pakistan Embassy.
Friday: Day Five.
Arrive Chinese Embassy for one day processing of 30
day single entry visa. Application form with attached
pass photo, US$80 plus passport. They don't give you
a receipt when you hand over your money and it confuses
them and their procedure when I ask for one. You get
it when you come back at the designated time of 17.00
the same day. On the dot, one official arrives at the
fence armed with a red plastic washing tub full of passports.
We, on the outside must pass our collection slips through
the metal bars in exchange for our newly processed passports.
It is imperative that you arrive on time. Within 6 minutes
he has disappeared again.
MUP internet cafe, Osh, 18-06-07
For donkeys sake
Tashkent to Ferghana (3 cycle days; 335km; 2247m)
It's Saturday and early morning, which makes getting
out of Tashkent quite an easy task apart from the unbelievable
amount of traffic lights and one annoying driver who
thinks he has the right to run Ali off the road. About
18kms out and we are well and truly in wheat and cotton
country and the aridness continues until the turnoff
to Angren, which is not signposted at all. At the highway
t-junction turn right in the direction of Almaliq, go
over the bridge and take the first turnoff on the left:
there's a police post. This road leads us into Ahangaran
where there are plenty of chaikanas to stop and rest
at. Just out of town there's also a toilet stop, which
is surprisingly enough, kept in reasonable condition
and costs 100 sum including a small ration of toilet
paper.
Early afternoon and we find ourselves
following the paces of a runaway donkey down the highway.
He is going hell for leather until a green patch of
shrubs at the top of the hill catches his eye and stops
him in his tracks. His preoccupation with the succulent
plants means it is quite simple catching him and he
doesn't at all mind being lead towards his owners, a
half kilometre or so away. They are very happy to get
their naughty little escapee back. We move on through
a not so interesting countryside. It is a tiring, very
long and not so pleasant ride today.
Late afternoon and we reach Angren:
an ugly city with views of beautiful mountains spoiled
by an electrical plant and decrepit apartment blocks.
Keeping in true Uzbek form we are ripped off yet again
at the petrol station, just before the town. They just
seem to take every chance possible to jack the price
up by two or three hundred percent. Luckily, after nearly
twenty days, we are a little familiar with local costs
and in most circumstances, refuse to pay. Around the
railway lines children throw stones at me for the second
time in this country and I've just about had enough.
Uzbekistan is a sheer disappointment and way down on
our list of favourite places to visit. It is not just
the uneducated grunting, whooping and incessant whistling
at us, but the over-priced accommodation in comparison
with everyday life, the uninspiring scenery, the evident
corruption on each street corner and with every handshake
that the police receive, the bureaucratic nonsense and
the total lack of hygiene in general.
For the first time in our camping experience
in Uzbekistan, we manage to find a great spot next to
a running stream and where no-one bothers us for the
entire evening and early morning. (near
Angren: 120km; 828m). We remember nothing
as soon as our heads hit the pillow. The next day is
such a contrast. Apart from the very non-european roads,
you might be mistaken for thinking you are in Switzerland.
Green luscious mountainside with pine trees and fast
flowing rivers. Really stunning and a really hot day
again. A group of boys join Ali for the first part of
the ride around a massive lake where they intend to
go fishing. The climb doesn't really begin until 900m
below the tunnels. It's 14 km of hard and steep gradients
with an average of 7% that keep the gas trucks at around
6km per hour. My legs don't seem to want to move up
the first section at all and I am still hampered by
my ankle on heavy workouts. I revert to pushing for
part of the distance. There are enough shops along the
way to get water from but always ask the price first.
We are both pleased when we reach the top. The tunnels
are 1100 and 400 meters in length and hardly the major
bypass that the LP mentions. Our joy is dashed a little
when the descent is almost as slow as the ascend due
to exceptionally poor road conditions. Just outside
of Qoshminor (88km; 1269m)
we find a semi-secluded spot to camp in the only no-man's
land for miles. It's peaceful enough before a sand storm
picks up and blows us, the tent and the desert roses
around a bit.
It's the start of the Ferghana Valley:
the most populated section in Uzbekistan. While there
are more skull caps visible here the feeling is not
as conservative as many make out. It is certainly green
and many vegetables and fruit trees are represented
in this area. Again, it is really warm by 10am and many
rests are needed along the way even though the road
is very good and flat for most of the journey. We reach
Ferghana (128km; 330m) pretty
late and book into the cheapest room at Ziyorat Hotel
($US14 per night). It's nothing special and the electricity
is a little dodgy, failing more than once, but does
serve a fairly decent breakfast in an uninviting restaurant
come disco hall downstairs. We are ready for a decent
meal and our tired legs are pleased with the decision
to take a taxi to the Asia Hotel restaurant. There are
a few vegetarian dishes on the menu and they are reasonably
good however, the homemade french fries win the award.
Fairly expensive bill at the end of it all, but well
enjoyed.
We stay a day in Ferghana to visit
the silkworm factory in Margilan, which has to be the
highlight of our whole Uzbek experience. I remember
raising a few hungry grubs as a kid; saving the hard
to find white mulberry leaves in a plastic bag in the
fridge; watching them grow daily and eventually building
a protective shell covered in silk thread, knowing little
of their later fate: being boiled alive in the cocoon;
winding the silk off onto a strip of cardboard; and
allowing a few cocoons to hatch and lay eggs to pass
onto someone else's kids to complete the cycle all over
again. Yodgorlik
Silk Factory on the other hand, still keeps up this
tradition for the tourists to see on a scale much larger
than I could have imagined. The whole process is amazingly
time consuming and our English speaking tour guide is
thoroughly informative. Afterwards, you do feel quite
obligued to purchase something from their shop though,
but seeing as it is a community based project it does
appear to go to good use.
There's little else to keep you in
Ferghana, unless you want to visit yet another crowded
bazaar or enjoy visiting the open-air discos with leering
groups of males and fathers teaching their primary school
aged sons to pop a 200 sum note in the bikini of a belly
dancer.
Internet
cafe, Osh, 21-06-07
Smack bang in the thick of it: give me a break!
(Ferghana to Osh: 2 cycle
days; 135km; 778m)
It is an uneventful trip into Andijan (74km;
201m) although the distance boards have
us guessing the whole way, due to their absurdly impossible
indescrepancies. The town itself is also nothing to
write home to Mum about and finding a cheap hotel proves
more difficult than you would expect. The main boulevard
is lined with large, out of place, modern buildings,
the streets are filled with not so modern faces and
the general feel is that of a border town. On the way
to finding Hotel Andijan, that we soon after learn from
other travellers, is pretty grotty and has no water,
we stop in at several other places to ask for prices.
Considering that the hotels look like run down slum
apartments with putrid toilet and bathroom facilities,
we find the $US40 per night price tag a little over
the top. One owner shows us to a home stay quite a distance
away and in the direction of Hotel Andijan. Probably
keeping it in the family, but it is full. They do have
a spare room in other quarters across the road. It's
$US14 per night for a reasonably clean room with substandard
share bathroom facilities. We later work out our room
has no ventilation, which results in a rather sweaty,
uncomfortable night's sleep. On a more positive note,
the bazaar in Andijan is the most traditional and interesting
we have seen to date.
The only thing to comment on the next
day and certainly worth mentioning, is the fact that
10kms from the border of Kyrgyzstan, I manage to ride
smack bang into a car parked on the road. Yes, it was
parked. No, I didn't see it. Yes, I think I'm okay.
No, my bike isn't as I discover, once back in the saddle.
My toe-clips keep scraping on my front tyre due to a
completely bent front fork. Luckily, I hit the bumper
straight on, which meant both sides of the fork were
evenly pushed inwards, so it's rideable, but not able
to turn corners very well. The Daewoo Nexia leaves the
scene of the accident with just a small tyre mark on
it's lower bumper.
Our
cycling trip through Uzbekistan: Click HERE to view
larger map and more details
We continue on to the border where
apart from having to fill two sets of declaration forms
in at Uzbek customs control, it is a relatively painless
ordeal and only takes a miraculous half and hour for
both the countries formalities. Osh is about 10kms from
the border and we arrive reasonably early in the afternoon.
Osh (60km; 577m) Osh
Guesthouse takes a bit of effort to find and for
180 som each (1 Euro = 50som), we can have a dorm bed.
This place fills up quick due to it being mentioned
in the Lonely Planet. After a few days of being locked
out, having no water or internet access and tippy-toeing
around in a rather dirty kitchen and bathroom, we tell
the guys running it what we think. Immediate changes
have been made and the place is spruced up. We have
to give them credit as well for putting us onto a really
good bikeshop: the only one in Osh. X-Store
/ Bike Master (Alieva 145, Osh. tel: 56633
part of the Osh Business and Training Centre)
and be forewarned: there are virtually no street signs
in Osh.
Run by two young bike enthusiasts,
Nicolai & Max, it is clear that my bike is in good
hands. We leave it overnight for them to figure out
what they can do and the next day there's a second hand
steel fork, which has been freshly spray painted as
the first option and the second is Nicolai is prepared
to take the fork off one of his bikes to fix mine. The
cost 500 som and 1000 som respectively because he's
not so keen on pulling his own bike apart. This, of
course I can understand. Option number one is fine and
we come back later in the afternoon to pick it up. We
have to wait a bit while my brakes and gears are adjusted
and all my cables are oiled as well but it is no problem
as the activity in the workshop is entertaining enough.
Next morning, I wake with a sharp pain
in my wrist that just seems to get worse during the
course of the day. I had a similar problem after the
roads in Turkmenistan and up until Tashkent, but it
subsided there. I try to get on my bike but can't bear
the pain, so it's off to the polyclinic in Osh. Everyone
is extremely friendly, even though no one really speaks
English. After a fairly quick consultation, x-ray and
wait, I'm lead into another room, where the doctor informs
me that I need to put my wrist in a cast. There's a
small piece of bone floating at the end of my wrist
on the thumb side of my left hand. He insists it is
absolutely necessary and assures us, through another
patient that speaks a little English, that I'll still
be able to ride my bike. We are yet to try that out
because the following day I fall ill with the flu and
have been lying in bed ever since. Somehow this just
doesn't seem to be my lucky year health-wise and extremely
ironic after only one visit to the doctor in the last
seventeen years. The cost of the two consultations,
x-rays and half-cast is a mere 150 som (3 euros). Still
baffles me where the dickens this break occurred.
We will try and set off for the mountains
around Sary Tash on Sunday 24 June to escape the heat
wave that is suffocating us at the moment in Osh. We
have been cautioned that the roads are atrocious and
looks like a bit of pushing is in store for us. There
will be no internet access until we reach Kashgar in
China in approximately 2 weeks time, so this is the
last update for a while. Until then...
Seman
Hotel Internet cafe, Kashgar, 08-07-07
Whoever said climbing was easy?
(Osh to Sary Tash: 4 cycle
days; 188km; 3639m)
After breakfast at the café down the road from
the guest house we leave with Sky and Casey (Australian
and American couple cycling to Istanbul) for Sary Tash.
They turnoff after a few kilometres on their way to
Bishkek. Not far out of Osh and the scenery is strikingly
beautiful. Everything is so green and a prominent contrast
from Uzbekistan. Horses have also been added to the
landscape as well as the usual goats, sheep, cattle,
chickens and donkeys. A river flows along side us for
the whole journey. We meet up with Sandra, a French
cyclist also on her way to Kashgar, at a water stop
along the way and we cycle on together. The road is
unpaved in parts but not too difficult, though it has
it's toll on my bike and the back rack eyelet snaps
off my main frame. We also notice that the other side
has a dubious crack in the same position. We fix the
pannier rack with brackets and it is holding for the
time being. It's an incessant 2% average climb for practically
the whole day, which is not my favourite sort of condition
and considering I'm riding with a cast on my wrist.
While I don't have any pain from the break itself, the
cast rubs and I can only hold my hand arm straight and
in one position. Sandra cycles faster than we do, but
we meet up again at a chaikana, just before it is time
to call it a day. On a flat grassy plain, we establish
our evenings resting ground. Sandra, on the other hand,
doesn't have a tent and finds refuge with a family in
one of the yurts across the stream. (Osh
to M41 km 59: 59km; 1125m)
We leave at 9.30am the next morning,
which is a later than normal and the sun is already
beating down on us. The riding position of yesterday
has caused a considerable ache from my forearm through
to my neck and it's a most unpleasant ride. There are
road works and poor conditions for the first 30 kilometres,
which also adds to the difficulty. We have the Chyrchyk
Pass (2408m) to cross today and it is
achieved after approximately 5 kilometres, followed
by a long descend into the valley below. Rock faces
of red and green against a perfect blue sky tower over
us and we seem like miniscule dots beside the rugged
landscape. Kyrgyzstan is everything we could have hoped
for and more: beautiful scenery, quiet secluded places,
friendly and relaxed atmosphere and that elusive break
from city-influence that we have been pursuing since
departing Tehran.
We reach Gülchö, 19kms from
the Chyrchyk Pass, by early afternoon and stop for some
food and what little provisions we can find. Sweet biscuits
of many varieties are in plentiful supply as is sparkling
water, vodka and beer. Apart from these products, you
will be pushed to locate anything else. Asking at cafés
is your best bet for bread, tomatoes and cucumbers.
It's an easy enough ride on to a truckstop café,
where Sandra spends the night and we, 400m further on,
next to a raging river. (M41 km 59 to km
112: 53km; 673m)
Earlier start the next day: 8.00am.
We are sheltered from the sun for a good part of the
day by the massive gorge faces. When we finally make
it up a steep hill and onto a plateau, the weather turns
and the thunder echoes behind mountain ranges. A timely
truckers restaurant saves us from complete saturation
and we wait it out before continuing our climb. It's
time to call it a day at 4pm and after we pass through
the last village, before the Taldyk Pass. We are now
at 2898m and the highest we have both ever been before.
Sandra finds a yurt for the evening and we set up tent
close by. It is very cold
for the first time since Doğubayazıt in Turkey.
(M41 km 112 to Ak Bosogo: 52km; 1080m)
The only way to describe the ascend
today is tough, tough, tough. While the 761m climb may
not seem like a massive achievement, the fact that it
was over 10kms and on the most appalling roads we have
experienced to date, makes it extremely intense, both
physically and mentally. In fact, some parts are not
even worthy of being called a road. We were blessed
with decent weather though. One drop of rain and the
place would have turned into a mud pit. The first section
is a mighty incline up and around a couple of mountains
until you are facing one large wall of hairpin bends
curling into the sky. You can see the trucks putting
both up and down and the dust is flying in all directions.
Luckily it is not so busy. I face a hard time in the
sandy sections due to only really having one steering
hand in operation, but even without the cast, plenty
of stops would have been needed to complete the full
climb to the top of the Taldyk Pass (3615m).
We reach this peak around lunchtime and start our descend
very slowly down severely potholed and loose gravel
roads, only to find that another climb is still in store
for us. Since the road is better paved, the uphill journey
doesn't seem as strenuous. Without a word of a lie,
the landscape has been magnificent for the entire day
and it's a pity we haven't been able to enjoy it more.
Our eyes have practically been glued to the road surface.
A two kilometre stretch before Sary Tash
(24km; 761m) is smooth and
we make the most of it by flying down at 40kms per hour.
Our legs and bikes finally moving freely again after
an average daily climb of 6% and speed of 8.1km per
hour.
We stop for tea at a café and
a man beckons us to stay at his home. After checking
out a hotel of sorts, we opt for the old mans invitation.
It's a comfortable room with traditional mats for beds
(100 som per person including food). It's handy to know
that showers don't exist in Sary Tash. A day's rest
is in order before heading on towards the Irkeshtam
Pass and China. We stock up on supplies as well as there
is nothing between here and there. The border crossing
is only open from Monday to Friday and from 9.00-12.00
and 14.00-15.30 (Beijing time, which is two hours ahead
of us). Supplies at Sary Tash are minimal to say the
least, but a few cafés stock biscuits, chocolate,
juice, water, pasta, rice, eggs, potatoes, onions, tomatoes
and cucumbers. You'll have to ask for bread. Don't be
tempted to purchase their tinned or bottled goods though.
They are inevitably out of date. If the truth be known,
the whole of Central Asia is notorious for expired food
products, so remember to check the use-by date to avoid
opening a tin of milk that spurts thick gooey stuff
in your face.
Double bra support necessary.
(Sary Tash to A371 km 62 :
2 cycle days; 63km; 812m)
If the road to Sary Tash was appalling, then the next
leg of our trip is too atrocious for words. A couple
of kilometres down the way and I put on another sports
bra for extra support. We are glad that the old man
at our homestay had a welding machine to secure my back
pannier as well. It's somewhat of a crude weld and the
tubus rack, nuts and bolts and all are now permanently
attached to my bike, which means my frame had better
last the distance, otherwise some delicate angle-grinding
will be in order.
it's almost unbelievable that this
is the major route from Kashgar to Osh and the truck
drivers must really dread this dirt track. Thougfh,
they all seem happy enough as they pass with toots and
waves and many welcoming hello's. Just like them, we
weave from one side of the road to the other searching
out the flattest, less rutted path. Going uphill in
this terrain is serious work and we are blessed with
a tailwind which edges us up and over the rocky, potholed
inclines. Going down can be just as slow. Would be perfect
mountain bike riding for any enthusiasts out there who
would like to enjoy the challenge of this rugged, wild
countryside and take in some beautiful mountain range
views at the same time. There's still plenty of snow
on the 6000m plus peaks and from our position, it feels
as if you could just reach out and touch the velvety
white covering. Reminds me of soft ice, which brings
on a craving for ice cream in such a warm, sunny setting.
Unfortunately the desire is not satisfied, because there
is nothing around us except the occasional yurt offering
only unpasteurised cream and even they disappear after
25kms. So does the water supply.
We had planned to camp earlier today,
but the lack of water keeps us pushing on up to a height
of 3584m and at an average speed of 10.7km per hour.
It's 4.00pm and we spy a few white dots, far in the
distance, which look like yurts. We rest quickly and
then investigate the chance of spending the night there.
The land surrounding the yurt community is completely
boggy and unsuitable for pitching the tent. We are offered
a spot next to their camp, (
Sary Tash to A371 km 42 : 42km; 544m),
which means the social factor comes into play yet again.
It's always okay for an hour or so, but after a hard
days riding, all I want to do is sit and relax and take
in the countryside around me, take a wash and cook dinner
without having to contend with a handful of kids (and
the occasional adult) sitting in the tent opening staring
goggle-eyed at our every move. Becomes quite tiresome
and we end up closing the tent flap, well before dark,
after our cooking and eating performance is thoroughly
enjoyed by locals of all ages. The kids then start throwing
clumps of grass at the tent.
I can't sleep tonight and lay wide-eyed
until around 5.00am, so when I awake the following morning
after only a few hours sleep, I feel as if I have been
out partying all night long. Probably something to do
with the altitude. I know the out of breath feeling,
when cycling or walking up a hill definitely is. We
go even slower today as the roads somehow worsen to
hard-core off-road trail. Scenery is still stunning
and the tailwind and sunny skies haven't left us. Our
hats go off to all cyclists that have or are likely
to travel the other way: from Kashgar to Osh. Completing
that road , if you dare call it that, on a loaded bike
with its legendary headwinds is gold medal material.
The good news is, after a very shaky,
snail's pace crawl downhill and about 16km's into our
trip, a checkpoint is in view and the most talked about
road by cyclists using this route into China. Bitumised,
smooth and absolute heaven after two days of shock trauma
to the body, even if it does go up for nearly four kilometres.
Our eternal thanks goes out to the Chinese road department
for this little wonder. After last night, we don't want
to camp near another human being tonight and we find
an okay place, complete with running stream and far
enough from the highway to be safe from unwelcome visitors.
( A371 km 42 to km 62: 21km; 268m)
Sandra ventures further on to find somewhere suitable
for a couple of nights. We wash ourselves, our hair
and clothes in the 'brrrrr...take your breath away'
icy cold water and bask in the sun while I recouperate
from a 24-hour bout of diarrhoea, listlessness and total
loss of appetite, which is not very practical when cycling
at high elevations. Still, the green, grassy patch is
very comfortable and it would have been a perfect campsite
for another day, had it not been for the plague proportion
of flies. Coming from Perth, Australia, I don't get
quite as irritated as Aaldrik about these annoying little
black buzzy insects.
Tomorrow, we will head only a few kilometres
up the road, towards the Irkeshtam border and will have
to find another place to sleep before an early crossing
into China on Monday 2nd July. We have really enjoyed
Kyrgyzstan with it's spectacular mountain scenery and
very testing cycling conditions. Certainly a place to
recommend for those who enjoy the outdoor lifestyle
and don't mind roughing it a bit, every now and again.
Seeing as we only ventured through such a tiny section
of the country, it's definitely on our list of places
to come back to one day.
Our
cycling trip through Kyrgyzstan: Click HERE to view larger
map and more details
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