After a quiet night in Gulcha on the countryside, today I cycled the remaining 80 km to Osh. After climbing Chyiyrchyk pass with 800 m of altitude difference, I descended on the other basically constantly during 60 km towards Osh. In Osh I will take some time for recovering and regaining some strength from the many passes and the high altitudes in Pamir.
Upset stomach
My day started really badly. The dinner from last night that I actually cooked myself in the homestay caused some stomach problems, which resulted in an uncomfortable night and lack of appetite the next morning. In the end I only had a hot chocolate for breakfast, which is not the ideal preparation for an 800 m climb. Still, I decided to try to go to Osh anyway because there I have more options for recovery.
Feeling the last few days during climb
The details of the Chyiyrchyk pass are not that spectacular, the top is at around 2400 m and the climb is 800 m. Most of the passes I did in the past few weeks were more challenging because of either the number of meters to climb or the elevation. But still, I felt extremely weak today during the climb. It was definitely because of my upset stomach, but not only. I really felt that in the past few days in Pamir I got gradually weaker because obviously I gave myself not enough time to recover from the extreme conditions. It took me a full three hours, excluding breaks of around one hour, to climb this pass. I really have to take some rest in Osh, at least one or maybe even two days. Even going down on the other side of the pass was difficult and I was glad it was only going down. When I arrived in Osh, I barely could carry up my luggage to my room. No need to mention that I was very tired in the evening and went to bed very early. The Pamirs really cost me a lot of energy.
First impressions of Osh
Osh is located on below 1000 m, the last time I was at such an altitude was in Dushanbe almost one month ago. The descent to Osh was besides very uninspiring, the valley simply got wider and wider and at some point ended in a huge plain with humid and hot summer temperatures. It is nice for a change to be in a big city again for a few days, but I am looking forward again to climbing to higher altitudes in Kyrgyzstan again in a few days.
Detailed Track
Max elevation: 2444 m
Min elevation: 1085 m
Total climbing: 1492 m
Total descent: -2034 m
Total time: 08:08:19
