Countries visited: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
Cycled mileage in September: 473.2km
Cycled mileage per country: 350.5km Kazakhstan, 122.7km Kyrgyzstan
Total cycled mileage incl. September: 7,368.1km
September mileage not cycled 4,201.8km (walking, car, bus)
Days per country: 4d - Kazakhstan, 15d - Kyrgyzstan, 11d - Tajikistan
Days cycling: 3d
Technical failures: 2 Punctures
Link to this month's route
We crossed the border between Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan last month and finished in the silk-road city Shymkent. We had been to Shymkent 5 years ago and didn't do too much sightseeing.
 |
| Independence Park in Shymkent |
 |
| Ortalyk bazar |
Last time we had missed out on nearby Turkestan so we decided to go there this time around - by bus anyway. Turkestan features the unfinished mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi which is considered the most beautiful building in Kazakhstan. We actually didn't find it that impressive after all the great architecture we had seen in Uzbekistan. Still it was absolutely worth the detour!
 |
| Front of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi mausoleum in Turkestan |
 |
| View from the side |
From Shymkent we continued towards Taraz. We had intended to go there in 2 days as the 190 kilometres there led through the Tian-Shan foothills. We ended up riding the distance in a single day when there was just no accommodation along the way, not even a sheltered place to pitch our tent.
 |
| Cycling through the Tian-Shan foothills |
 |
| Arriving in Taraz just before nightfall |
Via the lacklustre border town Merki we then continued to Kyrgyz capital Bishkek and got there 2 days later.
 |
| Bishkek |
We stayed in the famous AtHouse run by former touring cyclists Angie and Nathan.
 |
| Lots of cyclists camping in the backyard of the AtHouse |
There were news of a car bombing at the Chinese embassy and fellow cyclists at the AtHouse confirmed the information. Bishkek used to have dozens of agencies that would help tourists to obtain Chinese visas. We visited a lot of them the next day and they all agreed that the Chinese had stopped issuing visas to non-residents in most of Central Asia after the attack 4 days ago. Bummer! We kept asking us why we didn't arrive 4 days earlier before the attack or why we skipped the Pamir Highway in favour of our plans for China that failed now anyway.
We hang around in the hostel for a couple of days, socializing and pitying ourselves for not getting the chance to cycle China. It was good to spend time with fellow cyclists, though. We met a lot of amazing people like Linda who cycled the world for two years before buying a Russian UAZ van in Bishkek and driving back home to Switzerland. Or Jenn who is walking from Bangkok to Barcelona with her partner. Check out Jenn's brilliant post about the wonderful time we spent at the AtHouse in Bishkek.
Eventually a new plan took shape. We worked through all available flights from Bishkek and found two viable options: flying to New Delhi or flying to Bangkok. We tossed a coin and booked a flight to India for mid-December.
 |
| Going for a walk with Jenn |
 |
| Linda and her friend Brian with their UAZ van |
Two days later we went to the Indian embassy, handed them an awful lot of compulsory paperwork and were advised that the process would take about two weeks. We would get a maximum of 90 days with a double entry option. Also the 90 days on our visas would start ticking down with the day we picked it up. How stupid is that?!
The same evening we received a call from Dominik's parents who confirmed they would be in nearby Almaty for the first week of October for Dominik's birthday. That plan had been discussed for a while and it was great to hear we would actually see them in less than 3 weeks' time!
So we were stuck in Bishkek with almost 3 weeks left before we would have to be in Almaty or before we could pick up our Indian visas. We dreaded hanging around in the hostel for so long and on closer inspection it appeared feasible to go to Tajikistan by public transport and to at least get a glimpse of the Pamir Highway.
Obtaining the Tajik e-visa was a matter of hours and two days later we sat in a shared taxi from Bishkek to Osh. It took almost 15 hours in the crammed car until we finally got there. Finding another shared taxi for the way from there across the Tajik border to lacklustre Murghab turned out to be rather tricky.
 |
| Checkpoint on the way from Bishkek to Osh |
 |
| Traffic on the road from Bishkek to Osh... |
It took us 2 days until we were finally on the way. The Jeep was in the worst of conditions as was the road. During the 12-hours ride the driver stopped every 50 kilometres or so to check the tyres and to adjust the pressure. It was almost midnight when we finally reached our destination. Our driver bribed policemen at every checkpoint and also at the stunning border crossing at Kyzylart mountain pass so at least officials didn't bother us too much.
 |
| "Terminal" for shared taxis from Osh to Murghab |
 |
| Adjusting tyre pressure - once more |
 |
| Pamir Highway between Osh and Murghab |
 |
| Kyzylart mountain pass |
 |
| Nightfall in the Pamirs - 120 kilometres left to Murghab |
From Murghab we continued to Pamir capital Khorog the next day. Again it meant a whole day in a crammed shared taxi but the views of the famous Pamir Highway made up for it.
 |
| Shared taxis at Murghab bazaar |
 |
| M41 near Murghab |
 |
| Halfway to Khorog |
 |
| Giving an interview to a local TV station in Khorog |
We stayed a couple of days in Khorog in the Pamir Lodge where we met Swedish traveller Jacob. Together we travelled further south to the Wakhan Valley at the Tajik-Afghan border. The drive there was among the worst so far. We shared the scruffy Jeep with a police officer who spent the second half of the trip sleeping drunken on the back seat and chucking up every now and then. Our arrival to Langar was in the middle of the night.
 |
| The river marks the Tajik-Afghan border |
 |
| Our driver from Khorog to Langar |
 |
| Half way to Langar |
 |
| Checkpoint of the former Tajik-Afghan cross-border market at Ishkashim |
 |
| Nightfall on the way to Langar |
 |
| Homestay in Langar |
It remained a mystery how we found the energy for the exhausting hike to the Peak Engels base camp on 4000 metres altitude the next morning and after a very short night. After a freezing cold night up in the mountains we returned back to Langar and from there to Ishkashim half way to Khorog.
 |
| Hiking to Peak Engels basecamp |
 |
| It took us quite some time to find the oficial path... |
 |
| Camping at Peak Engels meadows on 4000 metres |
 |
| Posing in front of Peak Engels and Peak Marx |
 |
| Hiking back down to Langar |
 |
| Makeshift gas station between Langar and Ishkashim |
We eventually arrived back to Khorog just in time to visit the scenic Tajik-Afghan cross-border market.
 |
| Tajik-Afghan cross-border market near Khorog |
From Khorog it was another 12 hours to Tajik capital Dushanbe where we only stayed 1 day.
 |
| On the way from Khorog to Dushanbe |
 |
| A common sight - broken down cars... |
 |
| ...and wrecked vehicles |
With time pressing to be back in time for the visit of Dominik's parents we sat for a total of 28 hours in various shared taxis to Bishkek via Khojand, Isfara, Batken and Osh.
 |
| Green Bazaar in Dushanbe |
 |
| Rudaki statue in Dushanbe... |
 |
| ...and Lenin statue in Batken after crossing the border to Kyrgyzstan |
We finished the month in Bishkek where we spent another night in the AtHouse to recover from the exhausting days in Tajikistan and before we would head to nearby Almaty to meet Dominik's parents.
