Thursday, July 23, 2009
Photos coming soon!
It's just that I'm working on a dial-up connection from a small town in Kyrgyzstan ... maybe in a few days!
Day 84, July 20, 20km before Kizart - Kochkor
82km - 5242km, warm 34C, 20km tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Homestay
Awoken by the 6am sun, I fought a losing battle against an increasingly warm tent until 730h. We got up, made coffee, and breakfasted on a starchtastic combination of bread and biscuits. Started heading uphill and, after 25km, reached the start of the steep climb through the green, yurt-filled hills. Had to negotiate paths around equine/bovine roadside barricades and out-snarl the protecting dogs.
About 4km from the top, Andre had to change his completely shot front tube, which afforded me a great opportunity to dunk my head in the river and wash away some of the seven days of accumulated hair nastiness. We continued up to the top of the pass, cresting around 1330h with a nice view of the 50km path down to the city of Kochkor. Celebrated with a bottle of Coca-cola chilled to a nice 30C temperature. 
After the first 5km on rough gravel, Andre hit an immodest stone that punctured his front tire and led to a repeat of the tube-patch process. Three km further downhill led to a paved road and our speed jumped to 40-50km/h for the next 25km of gently downhill slalom cycling.
The following 25km of road was over a lesser grade, but, with modest effort, afforded fantastic speeds through luscious farm land and roadside streams. Eventually, we made it to the town of Kochkor and grabbed a delicious lunch of 'Chinese Meat' at a local cafe before heading to a local homestay. 
(Sadly, I was shocked to see so many tourist after having spent the good part of three months well off the beaten track.) We went out and grabbed dinner at another cafe before trying (and failing) to find the unfortunately named 'Men Disco' for a couple of evening pops. We headed back to the homestay, where I first grabbed my camera to download photos, and then 'The Great Gatsby' off the bookshelf, and went to sleep with Jazz-age visages.
Awoken by the 6am sun, I fought a losing battle against an increasingly warm tent until 730h. We got up, made coffee, and breakfasted on a starchtastic combination of bread and biscuits. Started heading uphill and, after 25km, reached the start of the steep climb through the green, yurt-filled hills. Had to negotiate paths around equine/bovine roadside barricades and out-snarl the protecting dogs.
About 4km from the top, Andre had to change his completely shot front tube, which afforded me a great opportunity to dunk my head in the river and wash away some of the seven days of accumulated hair nastiness. We continued up to the top of the pass, cresting around 1330h with a nice view of the 50km path down to the city of Kochkor. Celebrated with a bottle of Coca-cola chilled to a nice 30C temperature. 
After the first 5km on rough gravel, Andre hit an immodest stone that punctured his front tire and led to a repeat of the tube-patch process. Three km further downhill led to a paved road and our speed jumped to 40-50km/h for the next 25km of gently downhill slalom cycling.
The following 25km of road was over a lesser grade, but, with modest effort, afforded fantastic speeds through luscious farm land and roadside streams. Eventually, we made it to the town of Kochkor and grabbed a delicious lunch of 'Chinese Meat' at a local cafe before heading to a local homestay. 
(Sadly, I was shocked to see so many tourist after having spent the good part of three months well off the beaten track.) We went out and grabbed dinner at another cafe before trying (and failing) to find the unfortunately named 'Men Disco' for a couple of evening pops. We headed back to the homestay, where I first grabbed my camera to download photos, and then 'The Great Gatsby' off the bookshelf, and went to sleep with Jazz-age visages.
Day 83, July 19, 13km before Kyzyl Oi - 20km before Kizart
103km - 5160km, warm 35C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping, flat tire
Woke up before the sun hit my tent (a first!) and collected firewood to make the breakfast fire. Had a roaring blaze going in a few minutes and warmed a pot of water resting on a flat stone in the fires' midst.
Andre woke up about 20 minutes later just as the water was boiling and we had large cups of coffee watching the sun slowly creep down toward the valley floor. We packed up and were on the road by 930h and continued to head down the canyon beautiful canyon along an increasingly poor road. 
Arrived in the town of Kyzyl Oi and stopped at the store. For some reason I was craving fish, so I bought a 300g tin of Latvian "Sprats in Oil" that I downed immediately. We then rode 25km of really rough roads down to Aral, a town at the valley bottom located at the confluence of two glacial torrents, amongst some pretty amazing sandstone dominated geology. 
Started to ride uphill toward the Kizart Ashoo (pass), eventually reaching the modest city of Chayek. Looked for a cafe, but, being Sunday and finding all closed, we opted to lunch on a delicious combination of bread, Fanta, and chocolate bars. On the way out of town we ran into four Belgians sunning themselves (and their bicycles) roadside who were on a three-week cycle tour of Kyrgyzstan. The now six of us saddled up and rode about 15km to a little town where the Belgians road/horse track struck off uphill. Andre and I continued on toward the pass going through little villages and pasture land on a patchwork of pitch tar, asphalt, concrete, sand and gravel.
After earning the 100km of the day, we began to look for a camping spots and finally hit upon a grassy knoll hidden 300m back from the road along a tortuous eroded valley path. Had a dinner of rice and tomato with kippers and tea while watching the sun set over the distant snow-capped mountains. Fell asleep fairly quickly on a thick bed of cedar-scented grass in the cool 2000m elevation air.
Woke up before the sun hit my tent (a first!) and collected firewood to make the breakfast fire. Had a roaring blaze going in a few minutes and warmed a pot of water resting on a flat stone in the fires' midst.
Andre woke up about 20 minutes later just as the water was boiling and we had large cups of coffee watching the sun slowly creep down toward the valley floor. We packed up and were on the road by 930h and continued to head down the canyon beautiful canyon along an increasingly poor road. 
Arrived in the town of Kyzyl Oi and stopped at the store. For some reason I was craving fish, so I bought a 300g tin of Latvian "Sprats in Oil" that I downed immediately. We then rode 25km of really rough roads down to Aral, a town at the valley bottom located at the confluence of two glacial torrents, amongst some pretty amazing sandstone dominated geology. 
Started to ride uphill toward the Kizart Ashoo (pass), eventually reaching the modest city of Chayek. Looked for a cafe, but, being Sunday and finding all closed, we opted to lunch on a delicious combination of bread, Fanta, and chocolate bars. On the way out of town we ran into four Belgians sunning themselves (and their bicycles) roadside who were on a three-week cycle tour of Kyrgyzstan. The now six of us saddled up and rode about 15km to a little town where the Belgians road/horse track struck off uphill. Andre and I continued on toward the pass going through little villages and pasture land on a patchwork of pitch tar, asphalt, concrete, sand and gravel.
After earning the 100km of the day, we began to look for a camping spots and finally hit upon a grassy knoll hidden 300m back from the road along a tortuous eroded valley path. Had a dinner of rice and tomato with kippers and tea while watching the sun set over the distant snow-capped mountains. Fell asleep fairly quickly on a thick bed of cedar-scented grass in the cool 2000m elevation air.
Day 82, July 18, 15km beyond Otmok - 13km before Kyzyl Oi
81km - 5057km, hot 36C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping
I was awoken at 700h by a two-year-old pounding on my tent inviting me to yurt breakfast tea. I tried to explain/plead that I wanted a few more hours of sleep, but she ran off and got the three-year-old to explain it to me (who in turn got the eight-year-old to convince me to come). 
Now understanding that resistance was futile, I grabbed my sleeping bag and headed over to a meal of bread an Aspic-like concoction consisting of little bits of beef and onion enveloped in a thick jelly of beef fat (i mean, really, who could say no to that?). Having had my fill, I headed back to the tent and slept for another hour and then packed up at a leisurely pace and worked on my back brake until I was moderately satisfied (the disk had been damaged by the guy repairing my back rim).
I then jumped on the M41 (the road to/from Dushanbe!) and headed downhill for 18km until running into two South Koreans cycling for eight months from Beijing to Lisbon. We chatted for a little bit (while they had three or four cigarettes!) exchanging pleasantries and contact/road information. Went another 22km until finding a cafe for lunch. Halfway through the meal, I spotted another cyclist (Swiss guy named Andre) coming over downhill and ran outside and stopped him. Chatting for a short while, we noted that our routes were the same for the next 250km and so we decided to ride together to Kochkor.
Another 20km of the M41 highway took us to the foot of the Too Ashuu pass - and the start of the A367 road with vanishing asphalt and wonderfully large gravel. 
We rode 20km down through farmlands eventually reaching the mouth of the Kokomeren canyon, a heavily cut narrow valley with a raging river with 30km of Class V rapids. We stopped 13km short of the Kyzyl Oi town site at a nice bend in the river, and set up camp on a sheltered terrace. Dinner consisted of a noodle and tomato sauce combo with some fine Korean ginseng tea. Sleep followed quickly thereafter to soothing sounds of rushing water - and a lack of exotic animal noises.
Day 81, July 17, 15km before Otmok Ashoo (Pass) - 15km beyond Otmok
40km - 4976km, warm 32C, 20km tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping
Had breakfast tea with the yurt family again and then sat back to watch the delightful spectacle of the weekly lamb slaughter.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the ritualistic blood-letting and skin-peeling and felt a strong kinship with the Meat Industrial Complex, I was glad that the Maddux gang never turned our backyard into a makeshift abattoir. (A little more prodding of Zane could of had that calf flown in from west Texas ...)
Started the climbing about 1030h with ~15km to go up the pass. The going was a slow grind over a steepening grade (now about 12%). Peddling in granny gear through unwelcomed headwinds, I made it to within ~3km of the top before the thunder started rumbling in the valley below.
With a pursuant storm urging me uphill, I finally reached the 3330m Otmok Pass ~1330h. By that time I was caught in the middle of a thundersnow with a slight bit of hail thrown in for added enjoyment. Stopped only 10 minutes or so to take a few photographs and to cram my chilled fingers into my armpits, then I pointed my nose downhill on the 10km track to Otmok town.
The descent was pretty glorious with speeds reaching ~60km/h on even steeper grades. Sadly, I had to apply the brakes to prevent man and machine from launching off the switchbacks into oblivion. My braking apparatus started to get really hot and was emitting a sweet acrid metallic odor inspiring me to stop for a 10 minute cool-down in the near-freezing mountain air. I reached the bottom of pass pretty quickly, headed uphill for 300m (to say that I had been on the Road to Dushanbe - think 'Spies Like Us'), and then went to local cafe for a big lunch/finger warming session fashionable attired in my sleeping bag.
After lunch I went outside to make a few repairs and promptly broke off the attaching clip on one of my front bags. After dropping F-bombs all around the village, I embarked on hasty repairs involving an odd assortment of bungee cords and Velcro straps. Rode another 15km downhill before running into yet another thunderstorm, where upon I decided to stop outside of a little yurt village and ask at the nearest encampment if I put up my tent. Quickly ruined my appetite having kymyz (fermented horse milk) and kyrt (even more sour horse cheese balls) with the family and, after a more palpable bite to eat, went into my tent. Sleep was not quickly forthcoming, though, as I was swarmed for the next few hours by local children all wanting to stare at the oddly bearded foreigner. I finally drowsed off ~2300h listening to the sounds of heavy road traffic that were to orchestrate my evening's dreams.
Had breakfast tea with the yurt family again and then sat back to watch the delightful spectacle of the weekly lamb slaughter.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed the ritualistic blood-letting and skin-peeling and felt a strong kinship with the Meat Industrial Complex, I was glad that the Maddux gang never turned our backyard into a makeshift abattoir. (A little more prodding of Zane could of had that calf flown in from west Texas ...)
Started the climbing about 1030h with ~15km to go up the pass. The going was a slow grind over a steepening grade (now about 12%). Peddling in granny gear through unwelcomed headwinds, I made it to within ~3km of the top before the thunder started rumbling in the valley below.
With a pursuant storm urging me uphill, I finally reached the 3330m Otmok Pass ~1330h. By that time I was caught in the middle of a thundersnow with a slight bit of hail thrown in for added enjoyment. Stopped only 10 minutes or so to take a few photographs and to cram my chilled fingers into my armpits, then I pointed my nose downhill on the 10km track to Otmok town.The descent was pretty glorious with speeds reaching ~60km/h on even steeper grades. Sadly, I had to apply the brakes to prevent man and machine from launching off the switchbacks into oblivion. My braking apparatus started to get really hot and was emitting a sweet acrid metallic odor inspiring me to stop for a 10 minute cool-down in the near-freezing mountain air. I reached the bottom of pass pretty quickly, headed uphill for 300m (to say that I had been on the Road to Dushanbe - think 'Spies Like Us'), and then went to local cafe for a big lunch/finger warming session fashionable attired in my sleeping bag.
After lunch I went outside to make a few repairs and promptly broke off the attaching clip on one of my front bags. After dropping F-bombs all around the village, I embarked on hasty repairs involving an odd assortment of bungee cords and Velcro straps. Rode another 15km downhill before running into yet another thunderstorm, where upon I decided to stop outside of a little yurt village and ask at the nearest encampment if I put up my tent. Quickly ruined my appetite having kymyz (fermented horse milk) and kyrt (even more sour horse cheese balls) with the family and, after a more palpable bite to eat, went into my tent. Sleep was not quickly forthcoming, though, as I was swarmed for the next few hours by local children all wanting to stare at the oddly bearded foreigner. I finally drowsed off ~2300h listening to the sounds of heavy road traffic that were to orchestrate my evening's dreams.
Day 80, July 16, 10km beyond Talas - 15km before Otmok Ashoo (Pass)
70km - 4936km, warm 35C, 20km headwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping
Up and on the the road by 800h continuing uphill toward the Otmok Pass. Narrowing futher, the valley became more rolling with fewer settlements and more green grazing lands. (Sadly, the road quality also getting worse.)
Crossing over a local maxima and reached a fantastic new 52km asphalt road funded by a load from the Islamic Development Bank that would continue up to, and over, Otmok pass. 
I arrived in the last town before the steep climb up the pass and had afternoon tea with the elderly lady running the local chaikhana (tea house). Seeing the state of her electrical connection - truly something that would make electricians and 3rd grade science kit aficionados alike cringe - I almost passed on the coffee. Fortunately for my caffeine intake, she managed to successfully hook the two wires over the nails and start the electric heater. I whiled away a few hours looking across the wide plain and staring up at the snow-dusted mountains leading up to the pass.
Started up the long 23km climb to the pass around 1530h roaring at a snail's pace up the 8% grade with steeper 12% sections. Made it ~8km before the chilly rain/hail storm ascended(!) upon me, sending me scrambling for cover.
Soaking wet, I decided to retire for the day around the2000m mark, and asked the local yurtsmen if I could set up my tent in their pasture area. The family happily agreed and I spent a pleasant evening playing soccer with the kids and eating dinner with the extended family in the yurt. After repeatedly explaining that my sleeping bag could in fact handle the alpine evening chill, I headed out to the tent and nodded off to the gentle and melodic overtures of braying donkeys.
Up and on the the road by 800h continuing uphill toward the Otmok Pass. Narrowing futher, the valley became more rolling with fewer settlements and more green grazing lands. (Sadly, the road quality also getting worse.)
Crossing over a local maxima and reached a fantastic new 52km asphalt road funded by a load from the Islamic Development Bank that would continue up to, and over, Otmok pass. 
I arrived in the last town before the steep climb up the pass and had afternoon tea with the elderly lady running the local chaikhana (tea house). Seeing the state of her electrical connection - truly something that would make electricians and 3rd grade science kit aficionados alike cringe - I almost passed on the coffee. Fortunately for my caffeine intake, she managed to successfully hook the two wires over the nails and start the electric heater. I whiled away a few hours looking across the wide plain and staring up at the snow-dusted mountains leading up to the pass.
Started up the long 23km climb to the pass around 1530h roaring at a snail's pace up the 8% grade with steeper 12% sections. Made it ~8km before the chilly rain/hail storm ascended(!) upon me, sending me scrambling for cover.
Soaking wet, I decided to retire for the day around the2000m mark, and asked the local yurtsmen if I could set up my tent in their pasture area. The family happily agreed and I spent a pleasant evening playing soccer with the kids and eating dinner with the extended family in the yurt. After repeatedly explaining that my sleeping bag could in fact handle the alpine evening chill, I headed out to the tent and nodded off to the gentle and melodic overtures of braying donkeys.
Day 79, July 15, Kazakh/Kyrgyz Border - 10km beyond Talas
103km - 4866km, warm 35C, 10km tailwind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping
At 600h my eyes and the cafe both opened and, after negotiating one of the more putrid squatters on my trip, I managed to down a moderately delicious pilmeny breakfast. Started heading up a broad plain that narrowed toward the main Talas valley. Starting at about 600m elevation, the first 15km went very gradual uphill to the hydroelectric dam. Continued 20km around an azure hydro-electric lake, eventually reaching a small town for a moderately delicious laghman lunch.
The next 50km were fairly uneventful as I cycled up a continuous 2-3% grade, passing through agricultural lands teeming with creeks and rivers. (The change in scenery is sure a nice break from bone-dry Kazakhstan!).
After ~20km more, the valley started to close and increase in gradient. I stopped for dinner around 1800h and met the cafe owner's son. This scrawny 16-year-old with hints of three-week-old stubble played off like he was a prominent local 'gangster' (maybe he was?). His extensive experience led him to say that the surrounding hills were "filled with gangsters who would likely kill me for my bicycle". Comforted by that knowledge, I decided to ride a little bit farther than normal out of town before finding a campsite.
I eventually spotted a nice wooded area over a fordable small stream. I struck 300m into the bush and carved out a nice tent spot amongst the adolescent pine trees and long marsh grasses. Went to bed early to save up energy for the long climb tomorrow.
At 600h my eyes and the cafe both opened and, after negotiating one of the more putrid squatters on my trip, I managed to down a moderately delicious pilmeny breakfast. Started heading up a broad plain that narrowed toward the main Talas valley. Starting at about 600m elevation, the first 15km went very gradual uphill to the hydroelectric dam. Continued 20km around an azure hydro-electric lake, eventually reaching a small town for a moderately delicious laghman lunch.
The next 50km were fairly uneventful as I cycled up a continuous 2-3% grade, passing through agricultural lands teeming with creeks and rivers. (The change in scenery is sure a nice break from bone-dry Kazakhstan!).
After ~20km more, the valley started to close and increase in gradient. I stopped for dinner around 1800h and met the cafe owner's son. This scrawny 16-year-old with hints of three-week-old stubble played off like he was a prominent local 'gangster' (maybe he was?). His extensive experience led him to say that the surrounding hills were "filled with gangsters who would likely kill me for my bicycle". Comforted by that knowledge, I decided to ride a little bit farther than normal out of town before finding a campsite.
I eventually spotted a nice wooded area over a fordable small stream. I struck 300m into the bush and carved out a nice tent spot amongst the adolescent pine trees and long marsh grasses. Went to bed early to save up energy for the long climb tomorrow.
Day 78, July 14, Taraz - Kazakh/Kyrgyz Border
18km - 4763km, warm 33C, little wind, 0 shots, 0 Lenin, Camping
Woke up late and had what promised to be my last shower for about a week. I went down to the hotel-front cafe and had an (almost) full English breakfast while writing up the previous few days' adventures. Having my hotel room until exactly 1530h (you pay for the full 24 hours), I had time to head to the internet cafe for a few hours to play around with the blog, catch up on world news, and to get my things moving on the slow boat (literally) to Perth, Australia.
Even though I was only 18km away from the border, I wasn't in any rush to cross the frontier because I couldn't enter Kyrgyzstan until after midnight when my visa period started. To make things more interesting, my Kazakhstan visa also expired at midnight, meaning that I had to cross over the border at exactly midnight to comply with most internal laws. (I had asked the Kazakh Embassy for a 31-day visa so as to have a day of visa overlap, but they saw it fit to only give me a 30-day visa.) Even more exciting was my lack of knowledge whether the border was a 24-hour crossing, which would have foiled my poorly crafted transit plans.
I waited at the cafe until ~1800h and went back to the internet cafe for a couple of hours to spend my last few Tenge. (I also found a 50 Tenge coin, which enable me to indulge in one last Turkish Doner before heading out of town.) 
I rode the last 18km to the border arriving at 2100h and had the opportunity to sit roadside at the (24-hour!) border for a few hours. Around 2315h I decided to start the procedure of stepping across the border (the entry into Kazakhstan had taken about 45 minutes including out-waiting the bribe-demanding guards). The Kazakh crossing took only about 8 minutes and I was out of the border station and heading the last 50m toward Kyrgyzstan. I actually thought i had about ~200m and was taking my time; however, I crossed into the new country earlier than expected and was immediately surrounded by border guards interested on what the hell a foreigner was doing on a bicycle at the border near midnight.
It took only a few minutes for them to realize that my visa hadn't started yet, so I was detained for questioning' for 38 minutes. To be fair, by 'detained' I mean 'given a comfortable chair and delicious tea'. The 'questioning' involved such penetrating queries as: "Canada is far, yes?', and, perhaps my favorite one from a junior immigration officer: 'How can my family and I immigrate to Canada?'. At exactly midnight, the Major of the Border Guard Service stepped out and stamped my passport and told me that I was free to go. Being quite hungry by this point and having eyed a nearby cafe for the last half our, I went and grabbed a delicious midnight pilmeny (dumpling) in broth snack. The owner asked where I planned to stay that evening, and, on horrified that I was going to camp out in the wilds of Kyrgyzstan, offered me a place to stay on the front porch (with what turned out to be the entire extended family). Fell asleep to the sounds of large transport trailer border traffic.
Woke up late and had what promised to be my last shower for about a week. I went down to the hotel-front cafe and had an (almost) full English breakfast while writing up the previous few days' adventures. Having my hotel room until exactly 1530h (you pay for the full 24 hours), I had time to head to the internet cafe for a few hours to play around with the blog, catch up on world news, and to get my things moving on the slow boat (literally) to Perth, Australia.
Even though I was only 18km away from the border, I wasn't in any rush to cross the frontier because I couldn't enter Kyrgyzstan until after midnight when my visa period started. To make things more interesting, my Kazakhstan visa also expired at midnight, meaning that I had to cross over the border at exactly midnight to comply with most internal laws. (I had asked the Kazakh Embassy for a 31-day visa so as to have a day of visa overlap, but they saw it fit to only give me a 30-day visa.) Even more exciting was my lack of knowledge whether the border was a 24-hour crossing, which would have foiled my poorly crafted transit plans.
I waited at the cafe until ~1800h and went back to the internet cafe for a couple of hours to spend my last few Tenge. (I also found a 50 Tenge coin, which enable me to indulge in one last Turkish Doner before heading out of town.) 
I rode the last 18km to the border arriving at 2100h and had the opportunity to sit roadside at the (24-hour!) border for a few hours. Around 2315h I decided to start the procedure of stepping across the border (the entry into Kazakhstan had taken about 45 minutes including out-waiting the bribe-demanding guards). The Kazakh crossing took only about 8 minutes and I was out of the border station and heading the last 50m toward Kyrgyzstan. I actually thought i had about ~200m and was taking my time; however, I crossed into the new country earlier than expected and was immediately surrounded by border guards interested on what the hell a foreigner was doing on a bicycle at the border near midnight.
It took only a few minutes for them to realize that my visa hadn't started yet, so I was detained for questioning' for 38 minutes. To be fair, by 'detained' I mean 'given a comfortable chair and delicious tea'. The 'questioning' involved such penetrating queries as: "Canada is far, yes?', and, perhaps my favorite one from a junior immigration officer: 'How can my family and I immigrate to Canada?'. At exactly midnight, the Major of the Border Guard Service stepped out and stamped my passport and told me that I was free to go. Being quite hungry by this point and having eyed a nearby cafe for the last half our, I went and grabbed a delicious midnight pilmeny (dumpling) in broth snack. The owner asked where I planned to stay that evening, and, on horrified that I was going to camp out in the wilds of Kyrgyzstan, offered me a place to stay on the front porch (with what turned out to be the entire extended family). Fell asleep to the sounds of large transport trailer border traffic.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Day 77, July 13, Taraz (Fix rear axle day)
0km - 4745km, warm 35C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel
Today's main task was to fix the problems creeping up in my back axle. I was pretty sure that a couple washers to fill the space between the two nuts would do the trick. Looking up 'washer' in my Russian-English dictionary provided little translation help, unless I was interested in carting large appliances into Kyrgyzstan...
Jumped into a taxi and went off to the smaller bazaar at the edge of town, where there were a number of little shops with lots of new(ish?) bike parts. I tried to explain what was wrong with the axle in English, broken Russian, and even a little Chimpanzee, but the owner and the taxi driver where sure THEY knew the nature of the problem and started rummaging around the shop pulling out pretty exotic bike/car/tank(?) spare parts to fix it. Meanwhile, I quickly had found my two washers, solved the problem, and was waiting patiently for their return from the shop's innards. We all had a great stage laugh at that one (exit stage left). Back at the hotel I spent an hour tuning up my bicycle.
I'm glad I brought a few spare disk brake pads, as the back two were running pretty low and new ones will definitely be needed for all the Kyrgyz mountain riding! The back axle is looking okay, but it will take a few days of riding to see if any mechanical vibrations shake the system loose.
Headed to the center square to exchange some money into Kazakh Tenge and Kyrgyz Som. Went to the local Turkish restaurant for a doner durum sandwich (a great break from the typical Central Asian fare). Over to the Internet cafe for an hour's worth of glimpsing at the outside world, followed by a needed (but unearned) two-hour nap.
Today's main task was to fix the problems creeping up in my back axle. I was pretty sure that a couple washers to fill the space between the two nuts would do the trick. Looking up 'washer' in my Russian-English dictionary provided little translation help, unless I was interested in carting large appliances into Kyrgyzstan...
Jumped into a taxi and went off to the smaller bazaar at the edge of town, where there were a number of little shops with lots of new(ish?) bike parts. I tried to explain what was wrong with the axle in English, broken Russian, and even a little Chimpanzee, but the owner and the taxi driver where sure THEY knew the nature of the problem and started rummaging around the shop pulling out pretty exotic bike/car/tank(?) spare parts to fix it. Meanwhile, I quickly had found my two washers, solved the problem, and was waiting patiently for their return from the shop's innards. We all had a great stage laugh at that one (exit stage left). Back at the hotel I spent an hour tuning up my bicycle.
I'm glad I brought a few spare disk brake pads, as the back two were running pretty low and new ones will definitely be needed for all the Kyrgyz mountain riding! The back axle is looking okay, but it will take a few days of riding to see if any mechanical vibrations shake the system loose.
Headed to the center square to exchange some money into Kazakh Tenge and Kyrgyz Som. Went to the local Turkish restaurant for a doner durum sandwich (a great break from the typical Central Asian fare). Over to the Internet cafe for an hour's worth of glimpsing at the outside world, followed by a needed (but unearned) two-hour nap.
Woke up for dinner and went down to the cafe for cocktails. Listed on the menu were a few bottles from local Kazakh wineries ranging from $6-8. I started (and go no further than) the low-end 'Kazakh Red'. To be fair, it was a sufficient sweet red - a poorer cousin to those that one can find in the Balkans and Caucasus regions. However, at the time I couldn't help thinking that it tasted like a mixture of five parts bad Merlot to one part Golden Syrup, slowly filtered through a cat with digestive issues. (As the bottle drained down to its sediments, your author actually took much glee in finding turns-of-phrase to properly express the wine's full bodied effects. Sadly, this missive was written the following day over a sobering cup of coffee.) Headed over to the local Georgian restaurant for dinner and was treated to some delicious nut-based salad and chicken in nut sauce. (The latter being a delicious chicken baked in a nice mixture of tomatoes, onion, and walnut paste with butter/cream and added spices! Back to the hotel for an hour of Russian MTV before grabbing some shut-eye.
Day 76, July 12, 6km E of Barnookyabr'skoye - Taraz
50km - 4745km, warm 33C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel
First awoke at 630h, but, with only 50km to ride today, decided to loll around in the tent for a few hours. Eventually arose at 1030h when it got to be too hot in the tent to be of comfort. Packed up, dumped out 5L of craptastically tasting water, got out on the highway, and soon was riding a pleasant clip. I am often amazed at how much difference a good night's sleep and a 11lbs lighter load can make!
Rode to the Qarataw Jotasi ridge top and had a steep 5km descent back into the steppe. About halfway down I noticed that some funny noises were coming from my back wheel (sigh .. again). Pulling over, I noticed that the back axle was not completely locked with one of the nuts on the disk-brake side coming loose, allowing some of the all-important grease to ooze out. Tried to tightened the nut as much as possible, but, not having two wrenches, found this quite difficult. Realized that because the new back wheel rim was a little bit wider then the old one, the mechanical system was trying to accommodate this by spreading the nut out wider to prevent rubbing of the disk on the pad. Evidently, I will need to head to the bazaar in Taraz to get some metal washers to act as spacers so that I can tighten everything up before heading into the Kyrgyz mountains!
Had lunch at the bottom of the ridge and was joined by five German drillers working on the new gas pipeline. Showing off my hard-rock drilling experience gained at Hager GeoScience, Inc., of Woburn, MA (shout out!), I found out that they had managed just 1m in four hours of drilling in the brutal quartzitic igneous rock. These guys are part of the drilling effort involving 3000km of hard-rock tunneling for two parallel, high-pressure, meter-thick gas pipelines. I have now observed first-hand where a lot of China's global profits of the last 10 years are going - securing an energy future via a 7000km corridor from the Caspian Sea to Beijing.
Rode another 20km before stopping at a Helios gas station for a quick drink. In exchange for an autograph, the lady working the cash gave it to me free after finding out that I was from "Amerika". Worked a little bit more on my back wheel to tighten things up before heading into town. Found the Hotel Dzambul with little problem, had my first real shower in a few weeks (proper hot water and an upwall location for the shower head), and sat in the hotel patio typing away with a few muscle relaxants going down the hatch.
First awoke at 630h, but, with only 50km to ride today, decided to loll around in the tent for a few hours. Eventually arose at 1030h when it got to be too hot in the tent to be of comfort. Packed up, dumped out 5L of craptastically tasting water, got out on the highway, and soon was riding a pleasant clip. I am often amazed at how much difference a good night's sleep and a 11lbs lighter load can make!
Rode to the Qarataw Jotasi ridge top and had a steep 5km descent back into the steppe. About halfway down I noticed that some funny noises were coming from my back wheel (sigh .. again). Pulling over, I noticed that the back axle was not completely locked with one of the nuts on the disk-brake side coming loose, allowing some of the all-important grease to ooze out. Tried to tightened the nut as much as possible, but, not having two wrenches, found this quite difficult. Realized that because the new back wheel rim was a little bit wider then the old one, the mechanical system was trying to accommodate this by spreading the nut out wider to prevent rubbing of the disk on the pad. Evidently, I will need to head to the bazaar in Taraz to get some metal washers to act as spacers so that I can tighten everything up before heading into the Kyrgyz mountains!
Had lunch at the bottom of the ridge and was joined by five German drillers working on the new gas pipeline. Showing off my hard-rock drilling experience gained at Hager GeoScience, Inc., of Woburn, MA (shout out!), I found out that they had managed just 1m in four hours of drilling in the brutal quartzitic igneous rock. These guys are part of the drilling effort involving 3000km of hard-rock tunneling for two parallel, high-pressure, meter-thick gas pipelines. I have now observed first-hand where a lot of China's global profits of the last 10 years are going - securing an energy future via a 7000km corridor from the Caspian Sea to Beijing.
Rode another 20km before stopping at a Helios gas station for a quick drink. In exchange for an autograph, the lady working the cash gave it to me free after finding out that I was from "Amerika". Worked a little bit more on my back wheel to tighten things up before heading into town. Found the Hotel Dzambul with little problem, had my first real shower in a few weeks (proper hot water and an upwall location for the shower head), and sat in the hotel patio typing away with a few muscle relaxants going down the hatch.
Day 75, July 11, Jaskewshuw - 6km E of Barnookyabr'skoye
80km - 4695km, warm 38C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping
Headed down into the Aris River valley, resplendent with odors of agriculture and animal rearing. Had lunch in Turar Risqulov consisting of a delicious meat and potato stew that tasted just different enough that it made me forget about cheeseburgers for a few minutes. Started the long climb up and over a ridge extension of the Tian Shan mountain range, stopping in a little village for my bottle of Sprite. Started chatting with the cafe workers, who insisted on being photographed with the disgustingly sweaty Canadian (and even jockeyed for the positions closest to me!) Hit the pass and dropped over into the Boralday river valley.
Had dinner at a cafe in Bawijan Momishuli, where two husband/wife teams at next table were well into the second bottle of vodka. In a generous fashion, they came over at various intervals to drop off little bits of food/beer for me to eat/drink. Less generously, one of the guys wandered over and deposited all his garbage on my table too. Three of the four then wandered off without paying the bill, with the fourth passed out at the table. The cafe staff came out and a somewhat comic/sad angry vs. drunken screeching match played itself out for the next 10 minutes.
Rode downhill for 6km until reaching the river, where I noticed that most of the village was splashing around in the swiftly moving current. Being fantastically sweaty and in the need of a good soaping, I jumped in and chatted with the locals who were kicking back in the river. Rode gloriously wet into the village stopping at a kiosk for a few provisions, and then headed back onto the highway for another 10km until finding a nice 30m-wide strip of forest separating abutting fields. Set up the tent and sat watching the sunset with a Stary Melnik beer in hand. Asleep by 2200h!
Woke up to the sounds of an axe/hacksaw combo being wielded in the nearby woods. Peering out of the tent, I saw an old man huskily lopping branches for firewood about 40m away - and slowly working closer. I started to pack up, but wasn't noticed until the woodsman was about 5m away when he took a swing, cleared a branch, and looked directly into my grinning face. He was a little taken aback, but recovered when I explained that I was traveling by bicycle ...
Headed down into the Aris River valley, resplendent with odors of agriculture and animal rearing. Had lunch in Turar Risqulov consisting of a delicious meat and potato stew that tasted just different enough that it made me forget about cheeseburgers for a few minutes. Started the long climb up and over a ridge extension of the Tian Shan mountain range, stopping in a little village for my bottle of Sprite. Started chatting with the cafe workers, who insisted on being photographed with the disgustingly sweaty Canadian (and even jockeyed for the positions closest to me!) Hit the pass and dropped over into the Boralday river valley.
Had dinner at a cafe in Bawijan Momishuli, where two husband/wife teams at next table were well into the second bottle of vodka. In a generous fashion, they came over at various intervals to drop off little bits of food/beer for me to eat/drink. Less generously, one of the guys wandered over and deposited all his garbage on my table too. Three of the four then wandered off without paying the bill, with the fourth passed out at the table. The cafe staff came out and a somewhat comic/sad angry vs. drunken screeching match played itself out for the next 10 minutes.
Rode downhill for 6km until reaching the river, where I noticed that most of the village was splashing around in the swiftly moving current. Being fantastically sweaty and in the need of a good soaping, I jumped in and chatted with the locals who were kicking back in the river. Rode gloriously wet into the village stopping at a kiosk for a few provisions, and then headed back onto the highway for another 10km until finding a nice 30m-wide strip of forest separating abutting fields. Set up the tent and sat watching the sunset with a Stary Melnik beer in hand. Asleep by 2200h!
Day 74, July 10, Shymkent - Jaskeshuw
50km - 4615km, warm 38C, slight tailwind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Camping
Finally made it the highway around 1500h and was treated to some gently rolling hills with about 100m of topographic variation. Had great fun racing the heavily laden trucks uphill, with the drivers cheering me on as I out-peddled them at a ripping 15km/h pace!
The downhill sections - normally the most fun - were a little bit more onerous due to the rippled pavement that jolted both cyclist and luggage with frequent upward stabbing motions. Being a little saddle sore, I stopped at a cafe at the 50km mark and had the requisite Kazakh dinner and warm beer, before heading 5km down the road to my roadside camping spot 40m perpendicular into the thinned out woods.
More fun Internet stuff to do today! The second leg of my flights to Canada is with Ukrainian-based AeroSvit Airlines, which has a super-budget website with insufficient security to satisfy payment by SFCU credit card AND a non-functioning fax machine at the Toronto office. (My hope is that the money they are saving there is being used for airplane maintenance...) I had to write (print, sign, and scan in) a letter authorizing them to charge the new plastic. W
ith this accomplished - and finding out that my Aussie visa was granted within 16 hours! - I headed back to the hotel to pack up my stuff and get on the eastward road. Saw with great joy that my front tire had a flat, which turned out to be located at an old inner tube wound. Patched this and picked up a few new spokes (just in case!) at the local repair shop 200m from the hotel, where the mechanic was still bargaining to buy my multi-tool from me - and was offering $5 on the original $20 item. I passed. 
ith this accomplished - and finding out that my Aussie visa was granted within 16 hours! - I headed back to the hotel to pack up my stuff and get on the eastward road. Saw with great joy that my front tire had a flat, which turned out to be located at an old inner tube wound. Patched this and picked up a few new spokes (just in case!) at the local repair shop 200m from the hotel, where the mechanic was still bargaining to buy my multi-tool from me - and was offering $5 on the original $20 item. I passed. 
Finally made it the highway around 1500h and was treated to some gently rolling hills with about 100m of topographic variation. Had great fun racing the heavily laden trucks uphill, with the drivers cheering me on as I out-peddled them at a ripping 15km/h pace!
The downhill sections - normally the most fun - were a little bit more onerous due to the rippled pavement that jolted both cyclist and luggage with frequent upward stabbing motions. Being a little saddle sore, I stopped at a cafe at the 50km mark and had the requisite Kazakh dinner and warm beer, before heading 5km down the road to my roadside camping spot 40m perpendicular into the thinned out woods.Day 73, July 9, Shymkent (Figure out Visa, Onward travels, etc)
0km - 4565km, warm 35C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 0 Lenin, Hotel
Had a few exciting phone calls with the Stanford Federal Credit Union over my debit card that was sucked into - and recovered from - an ATM in Turkistan a few days ago. Apparently it was too much for them to also let me validate my new credit card. They cheerily informed me that I could call back at 2200h so that they could transfer me during business hours to the automatic validation hot line. Honestly SFCU.
The last thing to do was to figure out my post-Kyrgyz travel plans. My idea had been to transit through SE Kazakhstan, enter China and head through Urumqi/Turpan to destinations eastward. HOWEVER ... In last few days there has been major unrest in ethnic violence in the Xinjiang province (read ~156 people dead in Urumqi). Mobile telephone networks and Internet access have been shut down for days in Urumqi, Turpan, and Kashi, and the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is temporally closed. I don't yet have my Chinese visa, but I'm pretty sure that my request at the Chinese embassy in Bishkek to "travel unaccompanied through Xinjiang" would be met with more than derisive sneers.
Options? One of the more interesting ideas would be to head into Tajikistan on the Pamir Highway; however, with a feeble back wheel and lungs untested at heavy, sustained bicycling at elevations over 4000m, I decided that this might best be saved for another trek. Uzbekistan also interests me, though the area where I would enter in the Ferghana Valley just saw some a somewhat violent border skirmish between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek armies with the border being closed there as well. Stuck with these realities, I decided to look at flights back to Canada early/mid-August. Much to my delight I found a good set that allows me to stop in Istanbul for 48 hours. I'm sad to stop the trip somewhat early, but I'm pretty pleased with the tour so far and will be happy with covering ~6000km of adventurous terrain in about 100 days. My guess is that China will still be there sometime in the future...
Woke up fairly early to accomplish all the Internet things I needed to do during the day. Fortunately, the WiFi-enabled cafe turned out to be 24 hours, meaning that I could call Toronto, Stanford and Perth all within their respective business hours. It is amazing how much easier and cheaper the world has become with Skype and WiFi!
I still hadn't heard about my Australian visa after four months, so I rang the Perth 457 eVisa hot line only to find out that I hadn't yet been assigned a case officer. About 15 minutes later I received an apologetic email from my *new* case officer, who informed me that four different documents were still needed. (This information would have been helpful a few months ago...) Most documents, except for a recent passport photo, were located in the GoogleSphere. (My one online passport photo makes me look like a child molester - a fact that might have caused my Saudi visa denial a few years ago.) I have a couple spare copies of a recent passport photograph with me (always carry about 10 spare photos when traveling to developing countries!) and managed to scan it in, recolor it, and scale it to satisfy the Aussie photo requirements.
Had a few exciting phone calls with the Stanford Federal Credit Union over my debit card that was sucked into - and recovered from - an ATM in Turkistan a few days ago. Apparently it was too much for them to also let me validate my new credit card. They cheerily informed me that I could call back at 2200h so that they could transfer me during business hours to the automatic validation hot line. Honestly SFCU.
The last thing to do was to figure out my post-Kyrgyz travel plans. My idea had been to transit through SE Kazakhstan, enter China and head through Urumqi/Turpan to destinations eastward. HOWEVER ... In last few days there has been major unrest in ethnic violence in the Xinjiang province (read ~156 people dead in Urumqi). Mobile telephone networks and Internet access have been shut down for days in Urumqi, Turpan, and Kashi, and the border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan is temporally closed. I don't yet have my Chinese visa, but I'm pretty sure that my request at the Chinese embassy in Bishkek to "travel unaccompanied through Xinjiang" would be met with more than derisive sneers.
Options? One of the more interesting ideas would be to head into Tajikistan on the Pamir Highway; however, with a feeble back wheel and lungs untested at heavy, sustained bicycling at elevations over 4000m, I decided that this might best be saved for another trek. Uzbekistan also interests me, though the area where I would enter in the Ferghana Valley just saw some a somewhat violent border skirmish between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek armies with the border being closed there as well. Stuck with these realities, I decided to look at flights back to Canada early/mid-August. Much to my delight I found a good set that allows me to stop in Istanbul for 48 hours. I'm sad to stop the trip somewhat early, but I'm pretty pleased with the tour so far and will be happy with covering ~6000km of adventurous terrain in about 100 days. My guess is that China will still be there sometime in the future...
Day 72, July 8, Turkistan - Shymkent
10km - 4565km, warm 35C, wind, 0 shots, 0 sauna, 1 Lenin, Hotel
Still not 100% in the morning, having a mild headache and a distant thunderstorm rumble in my belly. Decided to splurge and spent the $2 on the bus ticket back to Shymkent instead of the 10-hour bike ride. Having already ridden that stretch, I wasn't too keen about traversing the 160km of hot, flat farmland. 
The bus ride was almost pleasant, owing to the fact that I could lean my head on had a crappy speaker (blasting the requisite Kazakh pop music). The five children around me didn't cry too much either ... 
The bus ride was almost pleasant, owing to the fact that I could lean my head on had a crappy speaker (blasting the requisite Kazakh pop music). The five children around me didn't cry too much either ... 
Arrived in Shymkent and pulled my bicycle out from under the bus in one piece, and headed to the city center back to my friendly hotel. Entry into the hotel was amazingly quick, as the staff knew exactly what to do. (The packed lobby just started at the bicycle being whisked away into the closet.) Read for the next few hours in the room and finished off the (highly recommended) Hearst biography. Headed to my favorite cafe and caught up on some typing, played around on the Internet for a while, and then headed back to the hotel room to do battle with the mosquitoes. Sadly, there were too many of them and after a few hours of swatting and being bitten, I went down to floor lady to get a plug-in anti-mosquito Raid device. After about 20 minutes, the apparatus apparently did the trick, as I managed to fall blissfully asleep.
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