Day 119.

Osh sits aside the Sulayman Mountain. The mountain has been and is a site for pre Muslim and Muslim pilgrimage. It is also Kyrgyzstan's only UNESCO World Heritage site. Sulayman was a Muslim Prophet and the mountain is said to hold his grave. The mountain has wonderful views over Osh, and a giant Kyrgyz flag. There is also a rock at the top that women can crawl through as it is said that this ritual will help fertility. There is also an interesting museum in a cave that has images of historic and pre historic life in the region.

As night falls I can hear music coming from the stadium again. I decide to have a look. This time it is the main performance. Things are going well! All participants are dancing on cue. Flags are being waved and carried around the stadium. There is a stage at the front that has singers miming to pop acts. My favourite part of the show is the release of thousands of balloons with small lights inside. It is very beautiful to watch the climb the night sky and slowly drift away at high altitude along the prevailing wind.

Day 118.

Rain, rain rain. Sat in the hostel most of the day before having a few beers and a bite to eat in the evening.

Day 117. Osh

An easy day. The sun is out and after the previous days of cold and wet I enjoy the warmth. I spend the day walking around Osh taking in some of the sites. There is a nice park with a rather surreal looking yurt containing pictures of Kyrgyz children in national dress. It is a little cheesy. The park is nice, with fountains, seats and plenty of ice cram stalls. Ideal for people watching. Clost pitch e to my hostel there is Osh Stadium. I can hear music blaring so I wlak in and take a look. There are hundreds of children on the sport pitch dancing. They are having a dry run of a performance that will take place later. To me it looks a little shambolic. Lots of bored teenagers half obeying instructions but mostly interested in talking one another. I suspect it will be alright on the night as they say. Outside a giant Lenin looks the other way.

Day 116 Osh.

I wake and found some breakfast. I realise that Jalal-Abad is a town best appreciated in the dark after a couple of beers. I find some coffee and make my escape. Today is another wet day, turning very wet by lunch time. Shivering and wet Ii stop in the small town of Ozgon for lunch. The restaurant is Uzbek and I eat rakhman. Waiting for the rain to stop I stare out of the window drinking tea and drying. I think about stopping here as the rain is not stopping. But I press on anyway. An hour or so later I am glad I carried on as the rain stops and the sun finally appears.

Osh is nice. I stay in a nice hostel close to the stadium. Osh sits at the bottom of a valley on the banks of the Ak Buura river. Navigating is easy, if I am going up hill I am going away from the hostel. Osh feels pleasant after Jalal-Abad. There is a bit of atmosphere here and some nice restaurants. I plan to spend a couple of days here resting.

Osh Oblast. My last former Soviet Oblast and a long way from the Polish, Latvian border.

Osh is just down the hill and under the sun!

Day 115. Jalal-Abad

The closer I get to Jalal-Abad the worse the roads get. Jalal-Abad is Kyrgyzstan's third largest city so I thought the roads leading in would be relatively good. Instead they get narrower and more pot holed the closer to the city I get, and as I get closer traffic density increases. On the edge of the city I am presented with the curious sight of numerous limousines ferrying newly weds to the edge of the city to be photographed next to the statue of Kyrgyzstan hero Kurmanbek Batyr.

Jalal-Abad itself is not so nice. I get to the centre at dusk and find a place to stay. A walk around town in the rain proves uninspiring, I eat Shashlik, have a couple of beers and mellow out a bit. A second wander now that the rain has stopped is more enjoyable and I appreciate my surroundings all the more for it.


Newly weds and Kurmanbek Batyr.

Day 114. Brushing along Uzbekistan.

An up and down hilly day through numerous tunnels. There are not many routes in this part of Kyrgyzstan so everything comes along this road. I am sometimes stuck in tunnels behind flocks of goats being herded between pastures. The road runs along a flooded valley. There are 3 large hydro electric dams that I pass en route. I can sometimes see parts of the flooded old road below me as it pops up out of the water.

I emerge the other side of the valley very close to the border with Uzbekistan. Just over the fence Uzbek workers work in large cotton fields. I stop at reasonable hour today. I have shashlik and a glass of beer whilst wondering what Uzbekistan, so close but just out of reach, must be like.


The flooded  Toktugal River valley.

One of the Hydro Electric dams.

 Uzbekistan is just over the fence!

Day 113.

After a slow start I leave in the sunshine. A downhill section takes me to the Toktugal Reservoir. I ride around it and admire the views. While the road runs along its southern shore I pass an accident. A car has hit a mini bus carrying tourists. Everyone seems to be OK thankfully.

As the road leaves the reservoir shore I climb again, unexpectedly high peaking at over 2000m. I reach the top at sunset and descend towards Kara-kol where I will spend the night. The only hotel is on the far side of town and takes me a while to find. Exhausted I think that a beer is needed to help wash the Plov down.



The view from the top.