May 31, 2014
At 6 am, after
asking some people for direction to Bishkek, we started the day on a narrow,
bumpy road with many inconsiderate drivers.
All morning, I doubted
the direction we were going, but I trusted my GPS and rode on. At noon, after
having lunch in a cafe, we took a look at the map in Lonely planet guidebook,
and realized that we were on the wrong road! This road would also take us to
Bishkek, but not through small villages and unbeaten paths. It was the main
road to Bishkek.
The only way to
get back on the right road was to cycle back 80 km to Jalal Abad through the
same dangerous road. Considering the not-so-pleasant experience last night, we decided
to continue the same road to Bishkek--Road M 41, which is the quickest road to
Bishkek, but not the safest or the most beautiful. Besides, this road has two
very high passes before Bishkek, and it goes through many mountains.
In the
afternoon, the road got very close to Uzbek border. In late afternoon, our
spirit was lifted at the sight of some mountains. We arrived at a village,
Naryn, and bought pasta and some veggies for dinner. By then, we had already
covered 130 km, so we wanted to camp, but where?
Unlike the Tajik
people, who would offer their garden when asked about a camp spot, Kyrgyz
people would tell us to go further ahead. Finally, we asked a restaurant owner,
whose house was behind the restaurant. He offered a place in his yard for $4.
We had no choice. We started the dinner
and got ready to sleep in the open. What if it rained?
 |
| A Japanese Dude on His Way to Europe |
 |
| Our Camp for the Night |
 |
| Cafe Owner and Her Grandson |
 |
| Timid Curious |
No comments:
Post a Comment