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.

Day 112. Shorpo.

My hosts are still sleeping when I wake up so their restaurant is closed. There is another next door so I go there. I am not sure what they have. There is no menu. I am told they have Shorpo. I have Shorpo. It is supposed to be soup, but ends up being a large lump of meat with boiling water poured onto it. It is awful but I eat it anyway. A lorry driver stops and orders the same. I buy some biscuits as I think these may be better. They are not.

I have another pass today. The Otmok Pass is at 3326m. The pass may be higher that in Kyzart, but
 the road is much better, and the gradient is less. The weather is not so good however. I have snow showers and hail to ride through. During the brief sunny bits I have fantastic views. But I don't appreciate them so much as I am puff puff panting my way up. At Otmok village I stop for fried eggs, unleavened bread and tea to fuel my ascent.

I keep climbing and make the top. The sky looks rather broody. I take some snaps, make a video and then start to drop. Just as I start it hails, and heavily. As I now have a certain amount of speed due to the descent the hail hurts as it strikes my face. It is also bitterly cold. Climbing kept me warm. Now all that sweat along with wind chill is making me shiver considerably. The chain then comes off and wedges itself between top gear and the hanger. With frozen fingers I prize it out and continue down, wearing everything warm that I posses. As I drop the hail turns to heavy rain and drenches me. Further down I notice a camp site that has a lodge. I pull in cold and expectant. The lodge is beautiful. I have a room with a hot shower and a balcony that overlooks the forest and a stream. I can't believe my luck. I ask what they have for dinner. I am told Shorpo. My luck runs out. I chew persistently, drink tea and buy some chocolate and flop down on my bed and gaze out of the window  at the rain as it goes dark.


Climbing up...

Day 111.

The road is still bad, the scenery still epic. I pass through Kojomukul and stop at Suusmayer for a late lunch of ice cream. There is a home stay here and I think about staying. But when I find it no one is in, so I decide to press on.

My decision was good, I still had a few hours of sunlight left and the road is terrible. It takes me 2 hours to cover 15km. I finally make the main Bishkek Osh road and head south, glad to be on tarmac again.

My pleasure is short lived as I hit a massive head wind. The clouds ahead are very dark. An hour or so before sunset I spot a cafe and duck in for some food. Inside I see a notice that they have rooms in the basement for rent. I book one as I do not feel like continuing or camping. The room is terrible, the sheet has a blood stain on it. I feel like I am in a scene from a cheap horror film. My host nonchalantly turns the sheet over. I feel there is no other option so I still take the room.

My hosts however are very friendly. She is curious about my ride and her daughter likes to take my photograph. I eat Manty (a Kyrgyz stuffed dumpling) and take a bit of a walk outside. The rain did not come but it is bloody windy and cod outside. My room does not seem so bad after all!


My hosts.

 

Day 110. The new road cometh.

The scenery is epic. And after Chaek Chinese work crews and camps line the road building a new massive highway. There are mines close buy. What they mine I do not know. But I guess the Chinese want whatever is in them and are prepared to build a massive new road to ease connectivity. A year or two from now this ride will be much easier! However for now I still bounce along a gravel road.

After two punctures and a certain amount of swearing I reach Kyzyl Oy. A pretty little village next to a river, and a bit warmer than the previous evening as I have dropped a few hundred meters. The village has a few homestays and I bump into some French tourists who have hired a 4wd to take themselves the way that I have just come. I figure that perhaps they are smarter than me!


Bumpy but beautiful.