Kochkor to Almaty

We spent the morning cycling the flat grasslands around Son Kul lake. We passed a sign for a shop but when we visited we were told they sold nothing but vodka. This seemed indicative of a societal issue that was part of the reason for last night’s unpleasantness!

Kyrgyzstan (Part 1)

Osh is Kyrgyzstan’s second largest city and therefore has a number of modern conveniences that I’d been missing over the last few weeks. Several cyclists I’d met in the Pamirs joined me here and we made several trips to the Western cafes and restaurants in the city, enjoying pancakes for breakfast and pizza for dinner.

The Pamir Highway

I had enjoyed cycling with David and Ignace, and it had been great to have company while cycling in the remote valley. But for (most of) the rest of the Pamir Highway I was looking forward to riding at my own pace and on my own schedule.

Wakhan again

After a fairly poor nights sleep, thanks to strong winds, we continued along the gravel road, making gradual progress eastward through the Wakhan valley. The tailwind continued to push us along. We knew that after today we would be spending a couple of days without shops so we were eager to find somewhere to buy food. In the villages we passed, though, the shops were poorly stocked or closed, as is normal or Tajikistan. One larger village had two shops which threatened to send us to an infinite loop as each shopkeeper directed us to the other for bread. We left empty handed.

Into the Wakhan, camping on an IED

We had a late start from Khorog. I was going to be cycling the Wakhan with Ignace and David, who were taking their time getting ready. While I waited I spoke with James, a motorcyclist, who gave us lots of information on the road ahead, which would turn out to be largely inaccurate.

Group Cycling

I set off from Kalaikhum with Pax and Ross, the American couple I’d met in Argentina. We soon passed Loretta, running out of town pulling her cart. Before too long Pax and Ross both had a puncture. While we were stopped to repair those, Ignace and David caught up and we went off again in a group of five.

The North Road

Note: the email notification for the previous post did not send. Check that you’ve read that one too!

It took a while for me to repack my bags after a week off the bike, so I had a relatively late start and set off from Dushanbe at 8.30. Pretty soon I left the main road, heading north. From Dushanbe there are two options: the north route or the south route. The south route is a little longer but is faster as it is mostly tarmac. The north route starts off with tarmac but later turns to dirt and gravel, with a 3200 metre pass along the way. The north route is considered the harder one, so of course that is the way I was going.

Tajikistan: Mountains again!

I left Samarkand fairly early, setting off from the hostel at around 6 AM. This meant the streets which had been so busy the last few days were mercifully quiet. Traffic did pick up though as I rode along my last couple of hours on the bumpy Uzbek roads.

Silk road cities

The silk road is the name given to a vast interregional trade network that primarily saw silk moving west from China, with precious metals moving in the opposite direction. The effects of this trade are visible in various ways in different places. Here in Uzbekistan, the wealth accumulated through trade facilitated the building of opulent cities in a region that was otherwise populated primarily by nomadic groups.

Steppe cycling

After saying goodbye to the other travellers with whom I’d crossed the Caspian Sea, I cycled away into Kazakhstan. I knew there were going to be long distances without water ahead so I stopped at a village, Kuryk, to stop up. A small office was the only building with an open door, and the women there kindly filled up my water bottles in exchange for a few selfies.