09/11
Sary Tash to Osh
Jump in the seemingly family car heading to osh, 4 of us in
the back seat, old dude nearly dead, driver driving slower than both our mums
but granted it was through winding roads with cattle and horses to contend
with, but we had already been driving for a while so we were keen to get to our
destination asap and get out of this car with 4 of us squished in. 3 hours
later we were in osh, and after negotiating the dollar-som exchange rate and
establishing which street we had been dropped, we were off walking to osh
guesthouse. Good lonely planet directions led us straight to the guesthouse. 2
beds available so we ate them up and established ourselves in the guesthouse, dumping
our stuff and having a shower- our first for 4 days. Then our thoughts turned
to dinner and on recommendation of guesthouse staff we headed out to Uyghur
restaurant. Laghman bread and tea for 5 bucks all up! Back to guesthouse to
meet the German girl in our accommodation, then it was Treme before bed.
10/11
The night before we had decided to stay a day in Osh after
hearing there were a couple of things to do- additionally we wanted to stay
somewhere that had a shower for 2 nights! SO first stop was the Osh bazaar-
rumoured to be one of the best in Central Asia. A couple of hours through the
market- fresh food, chinese clothes and souvenir and then we headed to Solomons
Throne – rumoured to be a place where the Prophet Mohammed once prayer. A great view of the city, a couple of photos,
a go on the rock slide and we were back down to get lunch and back to
guesthouse making use of wifi and chilling out. Then we were greeted by two English
and one Belgian cyclists looking for somewhere to stay, after being told they couldn't stay they were still keen to gather some information from the Pamir Highway
and Tajikistan so agreed to meet us back at the guesthouse at 6 30 to grab some
dinner. Then our old friends from Tashkent- Mark and Christie from Sydney- rolled
in. After settling in they too were in for dinner so as a group of 7 we headed
again to the Uyghur restaurant for some Laghman and tea and bread and some good
chats. Then we decided to head down the road for a couple of beers with the
cyclists then wishing them well and passing on details for when they might
reach Australia. Soon we were back at the guesthouse packing our stuff,
readying ourselves for our trip to Bishkek the next day
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| The Osh Markets |
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| Fertility Slide |
11/11
In typical Central Asian fashion the car was late as they
were looking for another passenger but it eventually arrived with only 3
passengers leaving us some great space in the back seat. Abdurnoor, the
hostel’s boss walked us out the car and wished us well and strangely un-Central
Asian like assured us he would be accountable for any problem with the taxi.
But we had no problems as driver and passenger with albeit limited English were
still great fun. On our way to Bishkek, we stopped for laghman for brunch, tea
and snickers for afternoon tea and then on to Bishkek even organising for
Ainura, Max and Sophie’s PA to meet us
and take us to the apartment that they had kindly welcomed us to use
while we were in Bishkek. At the apartment we put our stuff down and then were
whisked away by Ainura on a tour of
important local landmarks including supermarket where we bough pelmeni for
dinner, internet café etc. Dinner- pelmeni with Smetana and tomato sauce- and
then treme left us knackered after some huge days in cars
12/11
Up and about, get internet and breakfast and head to Miss
Liu to submit our Chinese visa application, after long chats with her son and
Miss Liu herself we filled out form. But soon enough, we were told to get new
passport photo. So her son, on the orders of his mum, took us to the photo shop
on his way to university. Then we headed back to her office with the new photos
and before long our visa application was submitted. But before we headed out
the door she informed us their may be a problem with the beard so she said we
would have to come back at 3pm Wednesday to find out whether they would have to
go! From her office, it was off to beta stores to investigate what all the fuss
about, got lunch while there and walked home in the freezing rain. Then decided
it was pasta for dinner as we could finally cook for ourselves again- first
time since baku, pasta, beer, and james bond
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| Laundry time at Max's |
13/11
After torrential rain all yesterday we awoke to see the
previously dreary Bishkek blanketed in snow, a real treat for us. Although I
have a 16kg backpack it only contained one pair of pants which baffled Finn for
the amount of conservative muslim countries we have visited. So it was time to
get a second pair and off we went to Vefa centre to get some sweet Zara’s—oohhh
yeeaaahhh. An Argentinian girl we met in Tashkent had some amazing knitted
Kyrgyz socks which we had to have so the quest started with Tsum, no luck. Back
home for a tuna and pea risotto, double treme and dinner
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| Bishkek in the snow! |
14/11
Today was D-day for our beards, and yet again the Chinese
had us by the balls/beards. If by 4pm they had not called Miss Liu our beards
would be spared. We sat in her office from 3-4pm and endured an hour of
frustrating conversation about Burana tower and how it was the best place in Kyrgyzstan.
Later Max described it as a poor reconstruction of a chimney stack that was
half the size of the original where the local Tokmok youths hang out to drink
vodka. Four o’clock ticked over and we were relieved that no call came through,
keeping the beards baby!!!!
To celebrate we needed a beer and Metro pub provided a great Baltica draught.
This was a classic expat hangout full of American soldiers that worked at the
nearby base. A young, loud and very drunk American fella saw us and came over
for a chat to spill extracts of his life story. Some consisted of marrying a
Kyrgyz girl who recently ran away from him. And how he went to primary school
with Beyonce and that they met years later in a club while out for his
birthday. Jay-z was there with her and turns out Jay-z and him shared the same
birthday so they all partied together. After enough tall stories it was time to
hit the hay.
15/11
Our Chinese visa was going to be ready in five days so we
decided it was time to get amongst Kyrgyzstan. The lonely Planet talked of
horse riding, trekking and even skiing so we set out wandering Bishkek in the
freezing cold to find a tour company. After 3 hours of walking and only finding
two tour companies plus one army barracks, all of which could not provide us
with any activities. A little defeated we called it a day.
16/11
It was pouring with rain in Bishkek, again but we were
determined to find a tour company that would actually take us to do something.
Amazingly the first place we found was super helpful, ITMC Tien Shan. Asel the lady
working there gave us options, prices and even tea! We took Asel up on the
offer to go to her family’s horse ranch about two hours out of Bishkek and
teach us how to ride horses, true Kyrgyz style. We decided to wait for the
weather to clear and locked it in for Sunday.
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| Dinner for Harros |
17/11
Our quest for knitted socks today continued with a trip to
caravan art stall and a really cool trinket store called Tumar. Both failed to
produce any socks but did prove useful for a few other treasures.
18/11
Asel and our driver picked us up early and got on the road
to Shamsy Valley where her parents had their ranch. The Krygyz people are
traditionally herders and the horse is like a national symbol for them so most
people can ride one. We arrived and were introduced to her family; mum, dad,
brother (Norbek) and sisters kids. Norbek saddled up the horses and presented
them to us as if we knew what to do. Asel jumped on her horse and we both stood
there looking at our two horses not knowing what to do. I said to her that we
had never ever ridden horses before (very strange for a Kyrgyz to here) and she
said easy; pull back the reins to stop, pull left for left and right for right,
then kick it to make it go. With those simple instructions we mounted the
horses and rode off feeling like real drovers.
Norbek and Asel took us through the valley and to a
beautiful forest. Mind you it was about -5 degrees and it was high time to head
back to the house for some lunch. Asels mum whipped up a storm in her one roomed
home and between her mum, Finlay and I we bonded over a bottle of vodka.
Wearing our Russian blanket we set out for another go on the horses. Now that
we felt a bit more confident/adventurous we told Norbek that we wanted to go
fast. He whipped our horses and before we knew it both our steeds were
galloping along at full speed. This was an amazing feeling although we both
really had no idea how to properly sit on the horse and knew we would be super
sore tomorrow. Thanking Asel’s family we headed home to delicious two minute
noodle dinner.
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| Finlay Brokeback Mountain Style |
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| Asel our guide |
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| The little munchkins |
19/11
After our adventures of yesterday and walking like a cowboy
we decided to take it easy. Finding the comfort of a warm coffee shop we
watched the world go by until it was an acceptable hour to head to the Metro
pub. Not much going on there today, although they did have a special TV channel
made for American soldiers which luckily enough broadcast NFL, Falcons vs
Ravens. Max turned up at the apartment late with Sophie after a long and
dangerous trip from Osh to Bishkek. The road was now all snowed over and they
had been rear ended twice by drunk Kyrgyz drivers. Sophie was heading home to
the UK early the next morning so Max suggested that we head to the Hyatt for
brunch tomorrow.
20/11
Max took us to the Hyatt today for some lunch and tea. The
tea was delicious as his TracingTea company supplies the Hyatt. He informed us
that a couple of reasons why he hangs out in the lobby of the Hyatt on a semi
regular basis is not just for the free WiFi but you can determine which
politicians are still in power as they wander through the hotel lobby hand in
hand with their mistresses. This seemed a little strange but a lot of the
politicians are in and out of power every 3-6 months so you have to keep your
finger on the pulse if you want to know whos who in the zoo. Having lived and
worked in Kyrgyzstan for four years Max as always gave us a colourful insight
into the strange and corrupt world that was of one of the most liberal Central
Asian countries; burning down the ministry of justice four times so that your
criminal case disappears, to the “special” role description of a Kyrgyz
secretary. While sharing travel stories an Iranian girl passed by and asked us
if we had a cigarette, Max ever the English gentleman obliged and then we asked
her to join us. She had only been in Bishkek for a week, preparing a report on
natural disasters in Kyrgyzstan. The conversation turned to us and she asked
about our beards and if we were Muslim. When we replied no she looked very
relieved and explained that when she walked into the lobby and saw us, a chill
went up her spine. Two western looking guys with beards, she thought that we
had come to Central Asian and converted to extremist sect of Islam. We all had
a bit of a laugh and Fin and I were quite happy that our beards now 1. looked
the part and 2. struck fear into the hearts of everyday people, what a boss
beard! After a long day of pretending to be a high class expats sitting in the
lobby of the Hyatt we returned home and whipped up a feast for dinner.
21/11
Although our stay in Bishkek wasn’t the most eventful we did
give the coffee culture a thorough test. Today we tried one last one, Vanilla
Sky. Coffee came with gratis cheese cake which helped and Finlay awarded this
the best coffee shop in Bishkek. Our Chinese visa was ready so post coffee we
saw Miss Liu and she delivered! The last visa of our journey was finally glued
firmly in our passports. Surprisingly it was time for another celebratory beer
and a few games of stick ball. We then arranged through Kyrgyz Concept a shared
taxi to take us to Almaty, Kazakhstan tomorrow. For our last night in Bishkek
we cooked Max a homely stew and drossed all things travel, before heading off
to bed and preparing for Kazakhstan. Thanks again Max and Sophie for our stay!
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| On our way to Kazakhstan! |
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