After a cold night in a yurt at Lake Song Kol, I was welcomed by perfect weather when I got up. After a small breakfast and my last two pictures with my Sony camera (which completely refused to work afterwards). From then on, my smartphone took over the photography job. At around 10 I left the yurt camp and followed the lake for around 30 km through vast grassland before climbing the last big pass for 400 m. After the pass, a rough 35 km downhill followed until I finally reached a paved road again, on which I cycled to Kochkor. There are plenty of guesthouses here, so finding one was easy.

A night in a yurt

I have already camped outside many times on this trip in my own tent, but sleeping in a yurt was a novelty and interesting experience for me. Thanks to the double layers of blankets, I also stayed warm even though temperatures were dropping close to zero. The only thing that was cold was my face, which left me with a running nose during the night.

However, I have to note here that the yurt I was staying in last night was a “touristic” yurt, meaning that even though the “tent” was original, there were actual beds inside. This is not how the nomads sleep, they normally sleep on the ground.

Tiny breakfast

I have had several meals now at nomads’ tents, and they all had in common that the quantities were by far not enough to satisfy my appetite. Alright, I am cycling all day and need more energy than the average person, but even if not, two eggs and a bit of bread for breakfast is still not a lot. The problem with that is that I am missing energy for cycling during the day, so today during the day I had to eat around 4 Mars (chocolate bars), cook noodles for lunch, and still always was a bit hungry.

Variety of food

What all those meals at the tents had in common as well is, that it was basically always the same food. Bread (mostly a bit aged, at one time freshly made though), butter, jam, eggs, soup, fermented horse milk, and tea. Being spoilt from living in Switzerland, it is hard for me to imagine how nomads could eat this every single day while being up in the mountains from June to September.

Cycling along the lake

Lake Song Kol is very beautiful with its deep blue waters and the endless green grassland around it. There are thousands of animals grazing all around the lake. While I am used to sheep and cows in Switzerland, I still have to get used to see huge herds of horses walking around freely up here. I guess I have seen more horses here in Kyrgyzstan than in my whole life before.

Even though everything around the lake is very beautiful, it is also very repetitive. Initially I planned to cycle around the whole lake which would have been around 100 km, but I decided to only do a third of it and then leave via the last remaining pass towards the north of Kyrgyzstan. Besides, the road around the lake was not that pleasant for cycling anyway as it consisted partially of “corrugated iron tracks”. These tracks are a nightmare to ride on, especially on bicycle without a suspension.

Descending to Kochkor

After climbing the last pass for 400 m from the lake, I was looking forward to descending from 3400 m to below 2000 m as it was supposed to be an easy ride. Usually going downhill from passes on unpaved roads needs some attention, but it is also fun to ride between stones, through small creeks, and not having to accelerate yourself. Unfortunately, when the descent got a little flatter in the lower 20 km of unpaved roads, the road turned into one horrible ride. There was this corrugated iron track again, but this time sometimes across the whole road, so there was no space to escape it. 20 km on such roads is really tiring, and the vibrations caused by it are very tiring and bad for the electronic equipment (i.e. for the photo camera which broke on such roads as well).

I was happy when I finally reached the main road that took me to Kochkor. I was already quite tired by then after 80 km of rough roads, but the perspective of being in a town and having a decent dinner in a restaurant kept me going. Even though I had strong head wind, the fact that it was descending continuously and the road was finally paved again made the 40 km ride to Kochkor very pleasant.

But despite all the hassle with the road, the descent still was very beautiful. Starting in alpine climate with snowy mountains and green grass, going down through dry regions which at some point turned into desert, and yet again down to a fertile valley showed a lot of faces of this beautiful country in just one afternoon.

Detailed Track

Song Kol is a large mountain lake located at 3000 m on a huge plateau and is surrounded by hills and mountains. It can only be accessed from June to September via a few high passes. The one closest to my location was Moldo-Ashuu Pass with an altitude of officially 3346 m, and it was the third high pass within the past five days. So this was the way to go for me. It would be my last 1000+ m climb on this trip, because afterwards I will be slowly descending towards Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital.

Humid morning

Since it was raining all night, the roads were still wet and the mountains wrapped in low clouds. I was hesitating a lot in the morning to actually start cycling today, because the weather forecast announced rain during the day as well. The alternative however I liked even less: hanging around in the small village with bad Internet and no infrastructure for a whole day. So I accepted the possibility of getting wet on the way.

The wet roads were actually an advantage, because there is not that much dust flying around from the unpaved surface and the tires have more grip in sandy parts. And apart from the roads, it was a dry morning and I managed to cycle to lunch break without getting wet.

Wet afternoon

After around 600 m of climbing, I reached a Nomad camp where I could take a full lunch in their yurt. That was very welcome because it first was lunchtime, and second, it started to rain heavily as soon as I reached the camp. The rain continued for at least one hour, then the weather slowly started to get better. I waited another hour to observe the weather and as it got better and better, I decided to go for the pass, another 800 m up.

Everything looked fine until about 200 m below the pass, when I heard thunders nearby, and when I turned around, I saw a thunderstorm heading in my direction. I cycled up another 50 m, but then the storm caught up with me. I had to stop cycling, put on my rain gear and took the footprint of my tent to protect myself against the snow and rain. Luckily, the thunderstorm only touched me slightly and 10 minutes later the sun was shining in my face again. I continued up to the pass and slowly descended to Song Kol where I found a space in a yurt camp.

Yurt camps

Apart from bringing their animals on huge stretches of grass around this beautiful lake, nomads also make a business by renting sleeping places to tourists like me. So tonight I will sleep in an official yurt. And as it is usual here to put many persons into one yurt, I got assigned two more tourists to my yurt. It turned out they are both Swiss as well. What a small world…

Detailed Track

After spending the night with nomads, I continued today on my path to Lake Song Kol. After a short descent in the early morning, I had to climb 1000 m on a difficult road. After briefly enjoying the view on the top of the pass on 2800 m, I started to descend again. I did not descend for long though because I was invited to tea by some nomads that had their yurt set up close to the pass. After a full lunch in the end, I continued my descent and after a very bumpy ride (that also broke my camera unfortunately), I arrived at a small village in the evening. From there, it should be a 1300 m ascent to Lake Song Kol.

Another big pass

It is now the third day in a row where I have to climb a high pass, and also the third time in a row that the road was unpaved and in a very bad condition. Climbing a pass on loose gravel roads costs a lot more energy than on a paved road, because often when pedaling the rear wheel just spins, but the bicycle does not move an inch. So the key is to “read” the road and try to cycle where the rear wheel is most unlikely to spin. Cycling through central Kyrgyzstan really is not easy. And tomorrow when climbing to Song Kul, it will be another pass with I guess the same conditions.

Nevertheless, I did not surrender (I got more than one offer today to load my bicycle on a car) and after climbing steadily for three hours, I reached the top of the pass.

Tea at nomads’ yurt

It is really not difficult in Kyrgyzstan to get in touch with people, especially with nomads that live in their yurts along the road. Usually, the kids come running when I pass by and shout one of their English phrases “Hello”, “How are you”, “What is your name”, “What is your name”, etc. If I stop and enter the conversation, it is only a short step that one of the elderly people signals that I shall come for tea. Today it was actually even the kids who invited me to the tea. And as it was lunch time anyway, I accepted.

As yesterday evening, the menu up here is very limited. There is Kumin (fermented horse milk), tea, fresh baked bread, butter, and other fresh products from their animals. As the bread was really fresh from the oven and tasted fantastic, this was also my lunch.

After lunch we had a short photo session inside the yurt and also outside with the family. I usually don’t push locals so I can take pictures, but in this case they were constantly asking me to take pictures, so I took advantage of it.

Descent to small village

When I entered the yurt, the sky was blue with some small clouds. When I left the yurt one hour later, the sky was dark and rain was about to start any second, and I could also hear some thunders. So I started the 1100 m descent and cycled as fast as the road conditions allowed down the mountain, always having the rain in my back. But I managed to keep a short advantage over the rain until I was in the flat where I still had to cycle 20 km on horrible roads. On these roads, the average speed is below 10 km/h, making these 20 km quite long.

The rain finally caught up with me. It was not raining for long, but short and partially intensively again and again. After about the third time the rain started, I put on my rain gear. Of course the rain stopped soon after, and the remaining 10 km were quite warm under the rain clothes. However, I did not want to take them off, because once I take it off, I can be sure the rain comes back.

Too much for my camera

While I survived the bumpy roads one more time, unfortunately my Sony camera did not. Due to the immense vibrations on such roads, the sensor of the camera somehow broke off the camera case, making it hanging more or less loose in the camera body. Interestingly, the camera is still taking pictures. And the photos with a loose sensor are also interesting, because now there is a black border on the pictures on two edges, and the image is not horizontal anymore. I can crop the image and correct the tilted image in Lightroom, but it means extra work and loss of resolution. And honestly, I don’t think a loose sensor will survive another 2 weeks of bumpy roads, but let’s keep the fingers crossed.

Even though the conditions are tough on the roads, from a professional camera such as the Sony A7R II (list price around CHF 3200 for the body), I expected more robustness. I could fully understand if the camera broke because I dropped it or hit it against an object, but in this case the camera just broke while being transported in the camera bag. I am curious how Sony will react to this, because the camera is still under warranty.

Should the camera break completely, I will have no other choice than using my Smartphone for the remaining 2 weeks here in Central Asia.

Night at a homestay

Kyrgyzstan has an excellent network of homestays (i.e. guest houses). In most villages, there is at least one family offering space in their home for travelers like me. I was really happy today after the bad weather and tough ride to easily find a homestay, because sleeping in a house is more relaxing than outside in a tent (on an inflatable mattress that loses air during the night). Sometimes these homestays are also quite simple. Today’s homestay for instance had an outdoor shower in a corner of the farm. While showering, chicken were running around. But still, there was hot water, so I did not mind.

I am not sure yet whether I will continue tomorrow to Song Kul or take a day break. The weather forecast for tomorrow is really bad, so I will check the situation in the morning.

Detailed Track

Today I was cycling up and down basically for the whole day. This was a bit unexpected because I was supposed to follow a river for 100 km, but instead of following the river, the road went through the mountains behind the river. While the scenery was beautiful, it was of course much more exhausting and hence I only progressed half of the distance. The evening I spent with some nomads and I slept in my tent on the field next to their yurt.

Tough morning climb

20 km after Kasarman, the road crossed a river and then suddenly turned into the hills. What followed was a never ending climb through canyons, some fields, then canyons again, etc. Whenever I thought I must be at the top of the pass by now, I saw another climb ahead. In total I was climbing 900 m in the morning, much more than I had originally hoped and planned.

Planning is difficult anyway here in Kyrgyzstan, because every map shows different roads that connect Kasarman with Ak-Tal, so some surprises will happen every now and then.

When I finally reached a small village after the climb onto a plateau, it was time for lunch. I went to a local store (which in fact was just a small room in someone’s house) to buy a Coke and then ate my bread and sausage I bought in the morning.

Up and down in the afternoon

After lunch I first had a long descent. But as it had to happen, every descent is followed by a climb again, so the rest of the afternoon I constantly went up and down through beautiful landscapes. After another three repetitions of the same story, I decided to stop early today, because the next climb would have been a 1000 m one to a high pass. I preferred to do this climb tomorrow morning.

Staying with semi-nomads

While looking for a place to camp, I found on a large plateau a family who spends their summer in yurts (typical tents of nomads here in Kyrgyzstan) together with sheep, horses, cows, turkeys, donkeys, and three dogs. As I was curious about their lifestyle, I asked for permission to put up my tent next to their yurt.

The family moved up to the plateau (2000 m) from Kasarman beginning of June and will stay until end of September. Being 50 km away from the next store must be difficult, however, they also had a car so they can get supplies from the village. One of the boys was walking around with a Pepsi bottle.

I was also invited to dinner in their yurt. On the menu was yogurt, Kumin (fermented horse milk), bread, dried goat cheese, and bread. The menu for sure is simple up here, and the quantities were also not so big, but I still enjoyed spending time with the family. Especially the children seemed to enjoy summer up here with all the animals in this beautiful landscape.

Detailed Track

After a night on 2200 m at the foot of the Kaldamo Pass, I started the final climb of 800 m in the morning and reached the top of the pass 2.5 hours later. After enjoying the fantastic view from up there for a while and chatting with some Dutch tourists who went over the pass by car, I started the descent to Kasarman, a small city in central Kyrgyzstan.

Waking up on a deflated mattress

The key to a good sleep in a tent in cooler temperatures is a good mat. I have such a mat from Thermarest which isolates well and is very comfortable to lie on. However, this night the air somehow went out of the mattress, letting me basically sleep on the ground, which is very uncomfortable. I hope that I just did not close the valve properly, and that there is no hole in the mattress.

Apart from the mattress, I had a good night on 2200 m next to the road and could enjoy breakfast together with a beautiful sunrise in the mountains. It was nice to look down on the valley that I have cycled yesterday. And it was also impressive to see what is still ahead of me today.

The climb

The climb of the pass was impressive. Within 3 km of the top, the road was climbing along the mountain, and it did that from 1800 m up to the top. The consequence of that are very narrow roads and steep slopes, which are equally impressive and scary. As the climb was steep but steady, I made good progress and reached the top 2.5 hours later. On the way I was passing huge snow walls, cycling through mud and small creeks that run on the road. And at several places there were workers keeping the road intact with heavy machinery imported from China.

Once on top, I could enjoy a wonderful sight. The air was very clear and I could spot some of the high peaks of the Pamir Mountains which are a few hundred kilometers away, such as Pik Lenin. I took a well-deserved break, ate some snacks, chatted with Dutch tourists, and then started the descent towards Kasarman.

The descent

Just like during the climb, I was passing a lot of melting snow fields on the way down from the pass, which resulted in muddy and generally wet conditions on the road. My bicycle however is very heavy, and it was no problem cycling down through the mud at the cost of some dirty clothes. After descending almost 1000 m, I arrived in an area of small green hills which separated me from today’s goal Kasarman. These hills were treacherous: even though not high at all, they forced me repeatedly to climb and descend around 100 m, making the final ride to Kasarman quite tedious. The bad road conditions also did not help to make the ride more pleasant. Nevertheless, I managed to reach Kasarman at a decent hour and find a bed in a homestay, where I am going to sleep well tonight.

Tomorrow I will continue cycling east. I was told that the road conditions are not good, so I will most likely have a tough day tomorrow again.

Detailed Track

After spending in total 4 days in the flatlands, the time has come to cycle in the mountains again. Today, the weather was great and therefore I could start my trip through the backcountry towards Kasarman. I however still don’t know about the road conditions after the Kaldamo Pass, but I asked several locals that came from the opposite direction by car, and all of them said that the road was open. I will see tomorrow if they were right.

40 km through fields

In the morning, I still had to cycle up to whole valley at which end Jalal Abad is located. This means, cycling through dozens of kilometers of fields. However, the valley was continuously climbing, and after 40 km of fields I also gained 400 m of altitude. Given the altitude of the pass of 3000 m, this aspect is not unimportant. After 40 km at Taranbazar, I finally arrived at the foot of the mountains I want to cross.

Vodka for seniors

On the way to Taranbazar I had a short rest in a village, when two old guys approached me and were begging for money, with which they want to buy Vodka. As I was having my well-deserved break after 2 hours of cycling, I just wanted them to leave me alone, but they insisted. So I went to the next shop with one of them and bought them a bottle of Vodka… for a bit more than $1. Even though it was really cheap, I probably should not have bought them alcohol…

Climbing towards Kaladmo Pass

After Taranbazar, the climb finally started. I was at 1200 m back then, so this means I still have to climb 1800 m to the pass, excluding all the small descents and climbs in between. Having some experience by now, I realized that this is too much for today. Still, I wanted to progress as much as possible so that tomorrow I have less work to do.

After the initial climb, I was invited to a tea, or actually more like lunch. As I intended to take a break anyway, I accepted and had a nice lunch break with an older guy, with who I talked about the various presidents (Trump, Putin, etc.), travelling, and so on.

After lunch I followed the road through a 25 km long narrow valley, past dozens of farmers and their animals who reside in this valley in the summer. It was a really beautiful valley, and due to the remoteness, there was almost no traffic, which was a big relief to me.  Again and again I could already spot the pass far away, and whenever I looked up to the pass, I realized how far away it still is.

There were several witnesses of landslides in the valley. One of the landslides actually was quite fresh and there were heavy machines trying to fix the road. For now, I had to push my bicycle through deep mud, but I could continue. Also, it was clearly visible from the way the road was laid into the landscape that every now and then parts of the road slide down and have to be prepared again at a lower elevation. I am really glad I waited in Jalal Abad for dry weather, I would not have felt safe in this valley if it had been raining or everything had been wet.

Sleeping along the road

After climbing to 2200 m, I decided to stop for today. Theoretically, there would have been enough time to reach the pass, but I preferred to put up my tent lower than at 3000 m and less exposed to the winds that blow over the pass. As there is not too much space next to the road, finding a suitable camping spot was not easy. After looking for quite a while, I found some good spot under a powerline with grass, and the ground was even. What I did not know is, that as soon as I put down my stuff, a farmer brought all his sheep to exactly this location. Luckily this was just an intermediate stop, because I really did not feel like spending the night with hundreds of sheep around my tent.

Detailed Track

In the next two days I plan to go through a remote mountain region over a pass above 3000 m to Kasarman in the middle of Kyrgyzstan. For a safe ride, I depend however on good and especially dry weather, which was not the case today, therefore I spent a day in Jalal Abad.

Why dry weather is important

As many of the roads in the backcountry are not paved and secured, they are very sensitive to heavy rain falls and landslides are likely. Therefore I do not want to through these mountains when the ground is wet. E.g. two days ago it rained a lot and a landslide blocked the mountain road at one location. It has not been cleared yet this morning, but I hope they will do so today or tomorrow.

Today the weather forecast predicted lots of rain, so I decided not to start cycling into that direction. Now that the day is almost over, I have to say that the forecast was a bit too pessimistic. There was a bit of rain, but only in the morning. Now in the evening the sun is shining again, and it should do so for the next 2-3 days, which is good for crossing the pass.

Fixing bicycle bags on the bazaar

When arriving yesterday, I noticed that one of my rear bags lost a screw and hence could not properly be attached to the bicycle anymore. Good that I have a full day here in Jalal Abad to find the necessary screws on the bazaar. Once I located the proper area of the bazaar for screws, I had plenty of choice from who I want to buy the necessary screw.

I am still impressed about the bazaars in this region: Every time I visit a bazaar with a specific need, I only have modest hopes that I might actually find it. This was the case with the cell phone battery, the replacement tube, the bicycle pump, and now with some special screws. But each time I was proven wrong to doubt.

And since I was already on the bazaar, I was also going through the other sections of it: Clothes, food, electronics, and so on. The attached pictures give you a small impression, but to really experience it, you have to see it with your own eyes.

Sightseeing without sights

Already Osh did not have a lot to offer, but Jalal Abad really does not have any sights. So instead of sightseeing, I simply went to the local amusement park and spotted some quite old-fashioned rollercoasters and similar installations. Similar to playing old computer games however, it was nice to see that people here still had a lot of fun going on those first generation rollercoasters and fun does not really depend on the technological advances.

Traditional dinner

When cycling from Gulcha to Osh 4 days ago, I met Kermanbek, a Kyrgyz guy from Bishkek, on top of one of the passes. Today afternoon, he called me to ask where I am because he would be in Jalal Abad as well tonight. When I told him that I am still in Jalal Abad, he invited me to go for dinner with him and his family from Jalal Abad. So in the end we were ten persons and we had a traditional dinner in one of the restaurants near the city. As it was Ramadan, we only started to eat after sunset.

After cycling in the mountains for several weeks, today was the first time since Uzbekistan where I was cycling in the flatlands again. This part of Kyrgyzstan resembles Switzerland’s middle part a lot: it’s green, lots of trees, water, fields, and some small hills. Cycling through this part on the one hand convenient because no big climbs occur, on the other hand the scenery is also not as spectacular as in the mountains. To get started again after my two day break in Osh however, it was perfect.

Traffic chaos in Osh

When I left Osh this morning, there was quite a traffic chaos in town, and because drivers of cars here don’t realize that it might be nice to leave some space for bicycles, I was partially also stuck in the traffic jam. It took me almost half an hour to leave the city and its traffic.

Finally on the road

Today’s goal is Jalal Abad, Kyrgyzstan’s third largest city. It will be the gateway to some more cycling in the mountains in the coming days. Jalal Abad is not that far away on the map, however, because the direct line between the two cities leads through Uzbekistan (thanks to the Russian setting the border like this), the trip will be around 110 km today. Luckily, the road is very good, except the first few kilometers after Osh. Unluckily this is the main road between the capital Bishkek and Osh, with means there is a lot of traffic, making cycling on the same road less enjoyable. At least the green scenery as well as the moderate temperatures (25°C) were pleasant.

Snack at gas station

After 40 km I saw a nice gas station with cool coke in a fridge. So I left the road to get one. When I finished drinking it, the gas station owner invited me for a tea. Since I had enough time, I agreed. But then he continued offering me food (bread, sausage, noodles). It was very cute of him, but I really did not want to eat too much, first because I wanted to have lunch later, and second because I was basically eating his lunch. So I had a few bites and then continued.

Shortcut with consequences

On this trip I discovered the App “maps.me”. It is a kind of Google Maps, but works fully offline, very convenient for countries like the ones I visited. It also has a navigation feature built in. When I was reaching the small town of Ösgön, maps.me showed me a shortcut which saves me a few kilometers by using some local roads and then a small bridge over the river. I thought, why not, and gave it a try.

5 km down the shortcut road, a car that was crossing me suddenly stopped and was waving his hands. The guy tried to tell me that I could not continue towards Jalal Abad this way. I was a bit confused, because there was a clear road on the map, and even the satellite image of Google Maps showed a bridge over the river. After asking two more locals however, I realized that the bridge must be damaged and therefore I had to go back to Ösgön and take the long route. The positive side of the story is, the detour was leading through beautiful rice fields, so it was not only wasted time.

After a short lunch in Ösgön I followed the main road until close to the spot where the bridge was drawn on the map. Curious as I am, I could not resist going down to the river to check if the bridge was really broken… Already when cycling those 500 m from the main road, people were waving their hands again. So I knew that the bridge indeed must be broken. And a few minutes later I also got visual confirmation. I was really glad that I listened to the locals before lunch, otherwise I would have done another 10-15 km for nothing.

Reaching Jalal Abad

Shortly before Jalal Abad, maps.me was showing me another shortcut. I thought I give it a second chance today, and was lucky, this time the shortcut worked and saved me at least 5 kilometers of cycling. One I reached Jalal Abad, I checked into one of the many homestays and had a decent dinner there.

Tomorrow, I will have to check in town whether the intended road through the mountains is actually open. I heard some people saying today that it was blocked due to landslides. I will know more tomorrow…

Detailed Track

As one day of recovery was not enough, I decided already yesterday to stay another day in Osh. And also because I watched the final of the Champions League on television last night, which started only at 0:45 due to the time difference. I used the time to visit the bazaar in Osh and filling up my food reserves for the coming cycling days through the hills and mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Football brings people together

While traveling through Central Asia, football was always a common topic to talk about with the people. Most of them knew Real Madrid with Ronaldo, Barcelona with Messi, and some other European teams. So when people asked Lucie where she is from, she just needed to say “Zidane” or “Benzema”, and everybody knew she was from France.

So it was no surprise last night that the final of this year’s Champions League was broadcast on television and that in the bistro at our hostel, around 20 Kyrgyz gathered together from the neighborhood to watch the game. I was the only hotel guest staying up that late.

Sights in Osh

With 256’000 citizens, Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan. The city is quite lively, but it lacks any special sights, so I just visited the city center today in order to do some shopping at the large Bazaar and do some shopping for the coming days on the bicycle through Kyrgyzstan.

Dinner at same restaurant than yesterday

Apart from the service, the restaurant Izyum was excellent yesterday, so I thought I give it another try today to taste some more things from there huge menu. As an appetizer I had a tasty Norwegian salad which was prepared nicely. But then the unpleasant surprise. As a main course I ordered a rib-eye steak that should have been 460 g. However, when it arrived, it was a tiny piece of meat, at most 200 g, probably even less. In addition, it was completely overcooked. When I told the waiter that the steak does not correspond to the menu, he tried to convince me that before the steak was cooked, it was 460 g, only afterwards it got so small. Having quite a bit of experience with steaks, I of course knew that this was a big lie. I ended up returning the meat and filling my stomach with two pieces of cake for dessert. I am looking forward to have some real steaks again soon when I am back in Switzerland.

Plans for the next weeks

If the rain from today stops tomorrow I will start cycling north towards Bishkek, my final destination of this bicycle tour. I have not booked my return flight yet, but intend to fly back to Switzerland around June 22. The route to Bishkek will take me first to Jalalabad, then on side roads over Kaldamo Pass to Kazarman and Ak-Tal before going north to the beautiful Song Kul Lake which is located above 3000 m. From there, I will follow the road north and then west towards Bishkek. I estimate 8-10 days as total duration for the 726 km and 9330 m to climb. Depending on the schedule, I will also find time to visit Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan’s largest lake in the north as a short detour. Details about the track can be found here (https://www.komoot.com/tour/17477921).

After the though weeks in Tajikistan, I need time for recovery. My hostel here in Osh is a good place for that, as it has good Internet, comfortable rooms, and nice people around.

Cleaning my bicycle

The Pamirs not only left their tracks on my personal fitness, but also on my bike. Sand, dust, and mostly mud from the descent from the Tajik border stuck to my bicycle, making it run less smooth and increasing the wear-off of the chain and other components.

Luckily things are uncomplicated here in Osh. Around the corner from my hostel, there is a car wash. I quickly took my bicycle there, and voilà: 5 minutes later it was clean again. Adding a bit of grease to the chain and everything runs smooth again.

Planning my remaining days

I intend to return to Switzerland in around three weeks, and until then I want to get most out of my stay here in Kyrgyzstan. I basically have roughly two weeks for cycling left with some reserve days for unexpected events (bicycle problems, snow in the mountains, or whatever else might come). Also, I have to slowly plan and book my return flight. Because I have a lot more luggage than a normal passenger, going through the tariff lists of the airlines is tiring. But here in the hostel, I have good Internet and therefore I take advantage of this, because the next two weeks I will be in remote areas again.

Extensive dinner here in Osh

After a lazy day, I went with some Swiss, German, and Dutch friends which I met here at the hotel to a fancy restaurant in Osh called Izyum. They had a very good cuisine, I ordered Shashlik, the typical grilled meat from this region, and some grilled vegetables. The difference between me and my friends: I was the only one travelling on bicycle, the others were travelling by motorcycle (Swiss), minibus (Germans), and a huge RV or actually truck (Dutch). This reflected itself in the amount of appetite. Needless to say that I was the one who ordered and ate the most by far. I had at least half a kilogram of meat, French fries, an appetizer, and two desserts, including a healthy plate of fruit. I don’t remember when I ate that much before, but it clearly showed me that I used way more energy in the Pamirs than I was receiving through the food and my body was in urgent need of some energy. I guess after one more day of Osh, I should be ready again for cycling.