Day 18, First Day in Osh

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Day 18, July 13, 2009, Monday, Duishombu:

The day has begun in Osh with the sound of “Allah Ahkbar” issuing from the minarets of the local mosques. It is was unusual to hear the sound at a little before 5 am this morning, since I have not heard it once in Bishkek or in Lake Issy-Kul. And there was something comforting about hearing the call to prayer in a country that while run by a secular government, is predominately Islamic in its belief structures. The day promises to be one of other surprises and revelations, I am sure. I have been to Osh twice before, but on the typical run and shoot visit that marks much of my travels with Emil. We would whisk into town on our way to another destination, manage a meal, pickup some money, see one site, and head out again. So, I saw Osh last year in the summer on our way to visit his Grandfather and his Grandmother in the village of Kulatov to the south of here, and then again as we left the village headed for Bishkek.

The trip from Bishkek to Osh by car is full of wonderful surprises and incredible landscapes. It is also a bit terrifying if you are riding with someone from Kyrgyzstan behind the wheel of a twenty-five year old Mazda which loses compression on every hill, takes a quart and a half of oil after about 300 Kilometers, smells of gasoline, and has no air conditioning. The other issue, of course, is that the individual driving the vehicle appears to have no sense of what it means to be a “responsible” driver.

So in areas marked for 50 Kph, we are doing 100 or more, and in some cases flying through busy Sunday market day communities as if there were no cows, horses, sheep, donkeys, not to mention small children and old women, walking along the street and doing rather unpredictable things. To say that one should be a defensive driver in Kyrgyzstan is actually a bit of an understatement. My driver had done just about everything that he could do to scare the wits out of me when suddenly, I realized that he was not slowing down even though there was a cow and a young cowherd in the middle of the street, and no possible exit, and they were less than 300 meters from the front of the car.

That elicited a lecture from me about how Allah would not forgive the negligent killing or injury of the animal, the boy, or the four other people in his little car, including his pregnant wife. I noted that one cannot just drive willy-nilly through crowded areas when one is carrying passengers and an expectant mother. It was just irresponsible driving. My head hurt, my body hurt, I was covered in dust and dirt, and thought I was about to die. And while I am ready to go, I am not ready to go at the hands of a driver who cannot take into consideration the fundamental issues of driving an old car with chattering brakes, weak struts, tires that appear to need changing, oil consumption issues, a dragging starter and, rather, drives as if he is in the last hour of LeMans. I have already decided that I will not travel back with him. And I am considering flying back to Bishkek on the local airline. The ticket is about 40 or 50 dollars and I would be trading 13 hours of terror for what locals describe as 55 minutes of terror on a turboprop belonging to Kyrgyzstan Air..

We will see what the future brings. The idea of riding back to Bishkek in that caris out of the question.

My friend Marat who is about 20, I think, will be my guide and translator in Osh. We are planning on assaulting the hill that is known as “Solomon's Throne” this morning. Marat says we need to do that early in the morning because the heat will begin to rise by about 10 am in Osh. So, short work of the diary this morning. We will have to retreat by this afternoon and I will write some more then about my arrival here.

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Photos

On the road to Osh
Following too close is part of the experience

Mountain Views
There is a steady climb up the moutains on the way to Osh from Bishkek

Glacial Ice
Snow capped mountains at about 9,000 feet

River view
Near Karakul

The Queen of The South
One of the symbols of Osh