Countries visited: Kyrgyzstan
Cycled mileage in August: 725.3km
Cycled mileage per country: 725.3km Kyrgyzstan
Total cycled mileage incl. August: 40,760.1km
Days per country: 31d - Kyrgyzstan
Days cycling: 11d
Technical failures: N/A
Link to this month's route
After an exhausting time in Mongolia and two strenuous weeks in China's Xinjiang province we had reached Kazakhstan last month. In Kapchagay, half way to the old Kazakh capital Almaty we were joined by Italian cyclist Valentina after first meeting her in Ulaanbaatar. Together we rode to Almaty, stayed for a week and then headed on to the nearby Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. Our dear friend Angie invited us to stay in her home, better known as the former AtHouse (albeit it officially closed it's doors in 2017).
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| Lazy days in the former AtHouse |
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| Preparing lasagne with Valentina |
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| Never a dull moment with cats around! |
The first half of August went by rather uneventfully. We had managed to obtain an Uzbek e-visa only days after its official launch. We had also sorted the equally easy Tajik e-visa. Still pending was the Iranian visa and the Turkmen visa. Turkmenistan basically only gives out transit visas so we needed to have the Uzbek visas and the Iranian visas sorted before we could even apply. The Iranian visa is a weird two-fold process. First you have to apply for an authorisation code from the ministry of foreign affairs. Once the authorisation code is approved, one then has to go to an Iranian embassy or consulate to receive the actual visa.
We had applied for the authorisation code back in Almaty but it wasn't until our first week in Bishkek was over that we actually received the code. We went to the embassy the next working day but were told that the consul in charge for visa applications was unavailable. We were advised to check in again some days later. One week passed and whenever we spoke to embassy staff we heard new excuses. One day the consul was unavailable, the next day we were told it was a public holiday in Iran (which was NOT the case). Then again we were told that some necessary documents from Tehran had not yet arrived. Eventually we were advised we could pick up our visas. We went to the embassy and after waiting for an hour we were sent away because some computer system was down. We returned the next morning and eventually, almost 4 weeks after kicking off the whole process we had our Iranian visas stamped in our passports.
With the Iranian visa finally ready we went to the Turkmen embassy the next morning. We gave them heaps of paperwork and after some minor amendments they accepted our applications. Turn-around time would be anything from ten to 20 working days even though we opted for the costly 'urgent' processing. Luckily the visas don't have to be picked up at the same embassy where the application was made. Apparently we're to receive an email once our visas will be approved. With that email we can then walk into any Turkmen embassy to get our visas.
Despite sorting out visas we made good use of our time in Bishkek. The Kyrgyz capital is one of the cyclists' hub buzzing with people coming from or going to the Pamirs. We constantly kept meeting other touring cyclists. Bang, the Korean cyclists we had been briefly cycling with in Mongolia arrived. Also we finally got to meet Nicole and Jerry. We had never met them before in person but had been in contact with them since Mongolia. Most surprisingly we learned that Adela and Kris were in town. They're a legend, touring the world for the last eight (!) years. We had last met them in January 2017 in the Laotian capital Vientiane. It was great seeing them again and catching up on all the stories that happened in the last 1.5 years.
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| Meeting our friend Bang again |
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| Celebrating Jerry's birthday |
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| We had last seen Adela and Kris in Vientiane, Laos in early 2017! |
We also finally gave the bikes a thorough service. Other than the expected wear and tear to the drivetrains most things were still in remarkably good condition. Despite the Mongolian nightmare of dust and sand even the hubs' bearings just needed a bit of fresh grease. The headsets, however, were a concern. After more than 40,000km the ball-races were pretty much at the end of their lifetime and suitable spare parts were nowhere to be found in neither Almaty nor Bishkek. We repacked the bearings and squeezed in some additional bearing balls after removing the ball cages. Hopefully that will be good enough for the way back home.
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| Changing some of the chain rings |
Three weeks after arriving in Bishkek we were ready to cycle on. Basically we hadn't done any substantial riding for almost four weeks – with the exception of those 3 short days from Almaty to Bishkek. The 3,200m high Too Ashuu mountain pass was a mere 140km from Bishkek so we knew it would be a slog. But things didn't go according to plan. We cycled the first few kilometres to the outskirts of Bishkek together with Angie and then continued on secondary road. Only minutes after Angie had sent us off, Valentina's rear tyre went flat. The cheap rim tape had collapsed and created a long cut in the inner tube. Even though Dominik did his best the tube was beyond repair. We reinforced the rim tape with some PVC tape and replaced the tube. By the time the bike was about roadworthy again there was a big puddle under Valentina's panniers – her new water bladder as well as another of her water canisters were leaking.
We decided it would be better to return into town to get new spare tubes, new rim tape and to solve the issues with her water canister. By the time we had all of that sorted it was mid-afternoon and kind of pointless to start over again. We texted Angie and returned to her home for one more night.
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| Fixing up Valentina's bike (Picture courtesy of Valentina Brunet) |
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| Back to start. Waiting at the bike shop. |
The next day started off more successfully. It was pleasantly cloudy and we made good progress for the best part of the day. We also managed to avoid the busy main road for quite a bit of the distance. Eventually we had to get back on the main road, though. While we were having a lunch break a local on a bicycle arrived. He didn't speak a word English but from what we understood he bragged about how much faster than us he had cycled from Bishkek to where we were – he apparently held the total journey time on our Garmin for the time cycling. The guy quickly started annoying us and even though we didn't invite him to, he seemingly decided to join us for the rest of the day. Despite his bragging he could hardly keep up with us. The road subtly started to go uphill. Strangely enough it looked as if it was going downhill, though! A super frustrating experience to pedal hard on a stretch that looks like a nice descent. Also the wind picked up and naturally it was a headwind. The strange cyclist guy had earlier invited us to stay with him but whenever we stopped and asked him where his house was we got different and even conflicting answers. The whole situation looked more and more suspicious to us. Eventually we reached the small town we had been aiming for. There was supposed to be a camping spot right after it but with the weather increasingly looking like storm we opted for indoor accommodation. The cyclist guy who had invited us had fallen so far behind we had lost sight of him anyway. On the last metres to our accommodation two young boys who were playing in a garden next to the road were picking up stones to throw at us. When we both stopped and picked up stones as well they quickly buggered off. What a disappointing finale to a genuinely promising day! After we had checked in to a guesthouse at the edge of town suddenly the cyclist guy turned up again. Now claiming his house was just 10 kilometres away and we should take a bus there – WTF?! Whatever his real intentions had been - after travelling for so long you learn to listen to your guts and this guy just had something dodgy to him. Valentina politely sent him away. Our answer probably would've been less diplomatic.
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| So long, Angie! |
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| Still flattish on day #1 after Bishkek |
Dominik didn't feel particularly well that night but the next morning everything seemed to be back to normal and so we set off. The subtle ascent from yesterday quickly became steeper but for the first 20 kilometres or so it was still pleasant with gradients well below 10%. After changing from one river valley into another river valley the gradients became seriously steep. The signs exclusively claimed them to be 12% but there was a good chance those were just the only signs available. It was a strenuous ride and after more than 1,200 metres climbing over less than 40 km we decided to call it a day when we found one of the rare suitable camping spots. The weather had been sunny for most of the day but just that we had pitched the tents a heavy rain shower came down. None of us slept particularly well. The road was just metres away with a noisy river in between and the sound of the water and the passing cars and trucks kept us awake.
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| Beautiful views |
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| Constant uphill |
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| Never a flat stretch! |
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| Camping spot next to the road |
We got an early start the next morning and plodded on up the mountain. The last 12 kilometres took us well over two hours in which we climbed another 800m and battled an increasingly strong headwind as well as the icy temperatures. Just before midday we reached the entrance of the infamous Too Ashuu tunnel. Accounts vary as to whether it is allowed to cycle it or not. Given it's a 2.5km long, narrow and unventilated death trap there was no way we would even attempt it. Instead we tried to wave down a truck for the passage through the tunnel. In one of the first trucks that stopped – was Valentina. We had lost sight of her quite some time ago and last we saw her she was pushing her bike. Apparently she was offered a lift just short of the summit and had happily accepted it. Unfortunately there was no more space in the truck she was in. We had to wait a bit longer, talked to some Mongol Rally guys that passed through and eventually a van full of construction material stopped. We managed to fit in our bikes and soon later we reached the other side of the tunnel. We had a quick lunch break and then we all three set off for the long downhill ahead. It was bliss! Finally we reached the Suusamyr Valley which we would follow for about 80 flattish kilometres. It would've been a great day to make some kilometres but again things didn't go to plan.
We had become used to drivers of broken down cars asking us to help out with tools. In fact the same thing had happened just after the tunnel on the way down. So when the driver of a broken down VW Passat waved, Dominik slowed down to see if he could help. Suddenly a second guy jumped out of the stopped car and tried to kick Dominik off the bike. Dominik gave them the finger and sped off. Soon later the very same car sped past us and the guy from earlier sprayed Dominik with Kumys (a fermented milk drink) from out of the car window. When we saw the car stopped again at a car repair shop in the next village we confronted them. The driver seemed kind of embarrassed with what his drunken friend had done. We got into a heated argument with the drunken guy. Suddenly he lashed out and unsuccessfully tried to hit us. We reacted almost simultanously and to defend ourselves we both delivered one blow to his face respectively. Dominik hit him so hard that we could see his upper incisor teeth move loosely afterwards. The guys from the car repair shop de-escalated the situation quickly and eventually everybody involved apologized and we all shook hands. Together with Valentina we cycled off. It was still relatively early in the day but Dominik had injured his wrist in the fistfight and Valentina was upset about the whole situation. We called it a day when we saw a sign for a tourist camp a bit off the road. Throughout the night it was raining heavily and none of us slept particularly well.
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| Higher and higher up |
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| What. A. Slog. |
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| Almost there |
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| Quick break |
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| Made it to the pass! We had to take a car for the infamous tunnel |
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| The looooooong downhill ahead |
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| Suusamyr Valley |
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| On the left the coward who launched the Kumys attack |
The rain continued the next morning and it wasn't until noon that our tents were dry and the weather allowed to continue. Even though it was mostly sunny temperatures remained freezing. Also there were again children (unsuccessfully) trying to throw stones at us. Thanks to the late start and the sleepless night we only managed to cycle a mere 40 kilometres until we reached the turn-off to Talas. There were beautiful camping spots nearby but Dominik felt rather ropey and so we opted for the weird little hotel that was located right at the turn-off.
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| A bit more cycling in the Suusamyr Valley |
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| Manas statue near our hotel |
The next morning everything seemed to be back to normal and after an early start we easily made it across the second substantial mountain pass on the way to Osh – the Ala-Bel pass at 3,175 metres. While we waited for Valentina to catch up to us a Dutch cyclist arrived who was going the other direction. As soon as we had started the downhill we ran into two Spanish cyclists. The rest of the day was a beautiful ride through an amazing river valley. By the end of the day we had made 80 kilometres and camped on a rather unappealing meadow between the busy road and a river.
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| Approaching Ala-Bel pass |
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| Almost flat on its top! |
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| A last rest before the summit |
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| There we go! |
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| Cyclists' meeting |
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| Preparing dinner at our camping spot |
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| Relaxing after a long day |
We got a late start and stopped for shopping in Toktogul, the first major town since Bishkek. Then we powered on and cycled around the shoreline of the mesmerizingly blue Toktogul Reservoir. The last bit was fairly hilly, the sun was scorching down and to top things off it was a severe struggle to find a viable camping spot. In the end we asked at a roadside restaurant and were allowed to pitch our tents in their lush green garden. The elderly couple running the restaurant was super nice and the dinner we had was amazingly good.
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| Some more hills after Toktogul |
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| Toktogul Reservoir |
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| The last hills for the day |
During the night Dominik's fever returned but in the morning it seemed to be gone.
Shortly after we set off a steep-ish 500 metres climb started and it was an unexpected struggle to get up. When we eventually made it to the summit we figured that the 40 kilometres to Karakul, the next major town, would be the utmost Dominik would be able to cycle. Valentina decided she wanted to carry on and so she cycled off. We two took it slowly and after a lot of breaks we reached a cosy hotel in Karakul in the late afternoon.
Dominik had fever all throughout the night but in the morning the fever was gone. We spent the next day recovering and relaxing.
The day after we were back on the bikes and slowly continued. The route was less hilly now but nonetheless spectacular following a narrow river gorge. We made it to the lacklustre town of Shamaldy-Say and found ourselves a nice hotel.
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| Following the Naryn river gorge |
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| Rest after one of the tunnels |
The next day was pretty awful. In terms of landscape there wasn't anything to see really while the road became increasingly narrow and just generally deteriorated and while the traffic got more and more. On the last 12 kilometres the road became so bad and so narrow with trucks speeding recklessly close past us that we figured it would be suicide to cycle any further. We managed to wave down a pick-up truck and got a free lift into the centre of Jalalabat. The driver also reassured us that the road would become much better after the town. We hadn't even planned to go to Jalalabat as it was a 10-kilometres detour but as things stood we made the best out of it and found a good hotel rather than camping somewhere in the sticks. A good decision. That night it was Simon's turn with fever and again we put in a recovery-day the next day.
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It wasn't all bad luck. These kind guys invited us for lunch and sent
us off with heaps of food and two of those traditional felt hats |
On day #12 after leaving Bishkek we finally rolled into Osh in the afternoon of the next day. It had taken us much longer to get here than we ever expected but also a lot had gone awry on the way. We treated ourselves to a delicious pizza to celebrate our arrival to Osh. Hopefully our streak of bad luck will prove to be over now!
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| Celebrating the arrival to Osh |
Even though we were a bit later than anticipated we decided to have 3 days off in Osh to sort our resupplies for the stretch ahead and to attend the festivities for Kyrgyzstan's Independence Day on August 31st.
We had asked about the schedule for the festivities at our hostel and were told to expect a parade in the morning. When we arrived at Lenin square where the parade was supposed to take place we learned that we had missed the parade by half an hour. Bummer!
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| We missed the parade on Lenin Square! |
Also we met with Valentina. We hadn't seen her since that day at the Toktogul Reservoir. Even though we would have the same route ahead we had all agreed that our pace and our approaches to many things were just too different to ride together. While we were in a cafe chatting with Valentina suddenly Nicole, Jerry and Thomas turned up. We had last seen them in Bishkek and had been under the impression that they were days behind us. Instead they had arrived well before us. We met again later that evening to exchange travel stories and to celebrate our reunion.
Stay tuned for our adventures of the way to and our way through the Pamirs next month!
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| Pizza night with Nicole, Jerry and Thomas |
