Day 97. The World Nomad Games

Today I turn into a "normal" traveler and with friends take a Marshrutka to Cholpon-Ata and The World Nomad Games. A Marshrutka is a Kyrgyz mini bus (not a Russian Doll which is a Matryoshka!), usually an old Mercedes TN driven/towed/dragged all the way from Europe to end its days bouncing along Kyrgyzstan's pot holed roads. I saw many battered and bruised TN's being shipped across Russia and Kazakhstan and wondered where they were going, I now know! Crammed into the back we bounce along the 200km road to our destination.

The Games last for 6 days, and we will witness the last two. The event also has other cultural, musical, foody events scttered around the valleys near Cholpon-Ata and along the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. Unfortunately as we arrive on day 5, many of the events have finished, but the blue ribboned event, Kok Baru, is still continuing in the main arena. Kok Baru is a equine event featuring two teams of 11 who wrestle over a 35kg stuffed goat skin, the object being to carry the skin to the opposition's end of the arena and throw the skin into a goal thus scoring a point. It can be very loosely compared to a cross between polo, football and rugby. The sport is fast paced and very violent. In front of me the Turkish and Russian teams are fighting over third place. The final will be tomorrow. Other sports include variants on wrestling, eagle hunting and other equine sports. But Kok Baru does seem to be the most popular.

http://worldnomadgames.com/en/

Days 89 to 96 Waiting around in Bishkek.

The hostel is nice, it has a good social area and a small pool at the back. Every day is hot and sunny. I find myself taking on a certain routine. This is the first time I have been in one place for a number of days since Moscow. During the day I go sightseeing. Riding around Bishkek. Bishkek is not the most beautiful of cities, but it does have a unique feel and I grow to like the place. Bishkek is a fairly new city. It was first developed during the start of the 20th century, and by the mid 1920's became the capital of the Kyrgyz SSR. The architecture here is modern. Lots of strong communist lines in crumbling concrete and flaking paint, mostly white. The city is not so large, about 900,000 people and is laid out on a grid system, so navigation is not so difficult.

The city centre has most of the cultural sites, with Ala-Too Square, the Parliament, a huge Kyrgyz flag with two soldiers always keeping guard and galleries and museums. The Kyrgyz National Art Gallery I particularly enjoyed. It is stuffed with numerous idealistic Communist era portraits of happy, strong workers building, harvesting and manufacturing. Everyone is in their late 20's, rosy cheeked, stoic in expression and blessed by bountiful sunshine. The History Museum has a splendid ceiling painting depicting the Kyrgyz/Soviet heroes of WWII fighting Nazi tyranny, and then goes on to tell the tale of US militarism and nuclear strength whilst portraying the peace loving Soviets holding anti nuclear arms slogans. In the middle a skeletal Texan cowboy rides a nuclear missile in the manner of Peter Sellers in Dr Strangelove.

My hostel is a few kilometers from the city centre. And near by there is a massive, modern cinema, entertainment, arcade games and restaurant complex. It seems that the more modern western style commercial complexes are being added to the edge of Bishkek, with the centre still architecturally more Soviet.

Evenings are spent drinking beer and Kyrgyz vodka fresh from the freezer. Booze is cheap, beer is about US$3 for 2 litres, and travelers like a drink! Before coming to Bishkek I imagined that the hostels would be full of travelers making a Europe/East Asia odyssey on some sort of vehicle, and taking time in Bishkek to rest and sort out visas. Bishkek is an excellent place to sort out visas for neighbouring countries. Kyrgyz visas are long (60 days) and free, allowing time to wait. There were plenty of people in the hostel waiting for a combination of Tajik, Uzbek, Chinese and Kazakh visas. And a variety of people on all sorts of adventures, from people taking part in the Mongol rally, to motorbike riders who had ridden from the UK and were off to China, from hitchhikers going wherever the thumb would take them to people traveling overland from one side of Europe to the other side of Asia. And yes, there were other cyclists there as well! Once the drink started to flow, the stories would as well of misadventures in the Caucuses, frost nip in Siberia, coping with Turkmen Border searches, ferries across the Caspian and so on...!

Day 88

I find the guest house I was looking for, and it is nice. There is a rear garden and pool, perfect for chatting to other travelers and just plain sitting when it is hot. I head off into the city for an explore and to find the travel agent that deals with Chinese visa applications. One can't go directly to the embassy, one has to go through an agent. Why, I don't know. A money making thing perhaps. Chinese visas are reputed to be easy to get in Bishkek, but expensive. I don't have any paper work to fill in, I just hand over my passport and I am told to wait. This is Thursday, the express service takes 3 working days, which means I will get my passport back a week Friday(!) as this Friday is a Kyrgyz national holiday, and Monday a Chinese national holiday! I will be in Bishkek for longer than I thought!

Ala-Too Square.

Bishkek Philharmonic.

Typical Bishkek Apartments.

Day 87. Kyrgyzstan.

I have a short if bumpy 30km ride to the border. The border procedure was painless and rather amusing, especially on the Kazakh side. Being a cyclist I am getting used to be pushed to the front of the queue past all the waiting cars and lorries. This time I was also put at the front of the ID check queue. I stood there in front of many patient Kazakhs and Kyrgyz people who had patiently queued and felt a little foolish! The border guards were hilarious however. I had two brothers, and the older one was training the younger. Except most of the training when I was there seemed to consist of play fights and mock punches that brothers do. The thought of checking ID cards sis not interest them at all! So with passport freshly stamped I went to customs, whose check consisted of a guard who wanted to chat and do the fisty hand shake thing. Smiling I walked through and onto the Kyrgyz side. Here I was checked, passport checked and then stamped in. No need for visas for many citizens of many nations here.

Entering Kyrgyzstan was exciting. Although initially visually similar to Kazakhstan, it was still very nice to hear "Hellos!" coming from many of the kids as I passed. I made Bishkek for sunset, only to get horribly lost. I had a plan to make a rather nice looking hostel, and although i found the neighbourhood it is in, I could not find the hostel itself. The side streets in Bishkek are not well lit and by about 10pm I had had enough, so booked in at the first place I could find and called it a night.

Day 86

Perfect road, perfect day! After slogging over the steppe southern Kazakhstan is getting too easy! A super smooth brand new road takes me out of Taraz, and a light tail wind gives me that extra push. About 80kms out of Taraz I am passed by a Nissan Micra with UK number plates. A little surprised I wave and it stops ahead of me. I catch up to find that it is being driven by 3 girls (two from Australia and one from Poland) from the UK to Mongolia on the Mongolian Rally! They have taken a very different route than me, heading south east through Europe, across Turkey and into Iran. From here they turned north through Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and into Kazakhstan before heading into Russia and then Mongolia. They can't go through China apparently as one needs a resident permit to drive in China, and these cost lots of money. I tell them my plan and that I am heading for Kyrgyzstan, at which point they give me their rather splendid map of Central Asia! Very grateful we part company, I head east and the Micra north east!

Later I stop at a roadside stall for a drink. At the same time a police car pulls up and stops, and asks me what I am doing. I tell them, at this point the police officers laugh and buy me drinks. Today is turning out to be a very good day!. We take lots of photos, the babushka who runs the stall is very impressed at my frozen water bottle, and part.

I make Merke for the evening, but almost don't as I miss the turning and find that I am heading for Almaty. I guess everything can not be too perfect! I realise as I finally head into town that today I have made 160kms and still feel fresh. The advantage of a tail wind and a smooth road! Merke is fairly nondescript, it is the last Kazakh town before the Kyrgyz border. I feel a little sad at the thought of leaving Kazakhstan, but at the same time I am looking forward to Kyrgyzstan.

Thanks for the drinks fellas!

Day 85

Another day of lovely villages and hills. The road was terrible until I reach the Oblast border, then it changes suddenly into a 4 lane super smooth highway and my speed increases dramatically. I get to Taraz in the evening and find a hotel. I spend the evening having a walk around the city and find the central square which is full of people. It seems to be a common sight in Kazakhstan for people to congregate in the central square and socialise. traders will operate selling all sorts of daft things such as balloons, hats, water pistols. Bicycles can be hired and kids zoom around on them. Horse rides can also be rented and for the very small little remote cars can be rented, the little placed in and then driven around or into things much to mum and dads amusement!

The road did change, and suddenly!

Night time action on central square.

Day 84

No wind! Just  bloody hot, must be in the high 30's at least. I puff and pant out of Shimkent, and I am presented with things I have not seen for a while, hills! As I proceed I find that I am riding through village after village. Kazakhstan changes after Shimkent and becomes populous. This gives me a new lease of life. I have things to look at, people to see! The scenery is greener with trees offering shade. I enjoy this ride greatly. I stop at Turar Rysqulov. My hotel is good, and has a pool! Too good to be true, and it was, the water is a funny green colour and I am expected to pay extra to swim. As I just wanted to plunge I decline and go for a walk around the town instead.