Blogs from Kyrgyzstan, Asia - page 2

Advertisement

Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Osh August 17th 2017

Day 10, our last day on the Pamir Highway. It took us 3 hours to get from Sary Tash to Osh. The road was properly sealed, kinda like you'd expect for a highway! We gave a lift to a Korean guy Soo who had stay in the room next to us in Sary Tash, we'd had to walk through his room to get to ours, so we figured he was basically family. It's quite hard to describe the scenery on the way to Osh, in parts the earth was an amazing red, but as we neared Osh it turned into rolling hills and there were lots of people making hay, ready for winter. There were also lots of similarities with Mongolia; we could see that they sun dry cheese, there was the yurts, the types of ... read more
IMG_5327
IMG_5308
IMG_5311

Asia » Kyrgyzstan August 17th 2017

It was 100km or so from Karakul Lake, Tajikistan to Sary Tash, the first town over the border in Kyrgyzstan. With the border crossing it took us around 4 hours to get to the Sary Mogol, the next village over. We left at the same time as the other bloggers from our homestay, so for the first little while we were basically a convoy of 3 vehicles of travel bloggers, which was fun. Not so fun was the slightly gurgly stomach and persistent stomach ache I'd had after eating for the last couple of days decided to turn productive and we were in a flat landscape. So we nearly completed Tajikistan and the Pamir Highway without either of us getting sick, but not quite. Luckily it was just mild and once my stomach was empty I ... read more
A convoy of bloggers
Approaching the border
Sary Moghol

Asia » Kyrgyzstan June 8th 2017

HEute war ein schlimmer border day. Aufstehen 4.00, Frühstück, Abfahrt bei Sonnenaufgang. Fahrt durch ein weites Tal, rechts und links schneebedeckte Berge. Und dann kamen wir zur kirgisischen Grenze. Warten. Noch geschlossen. Endlich kamen die Häuptlinge angefahren. Und nach noch etwas warten wurde das Vorhängeschloß aam Tor aufgesperrt und wir durften rein. Drinnen warteten wir etwas. Dann anstellen für Paßkontrolle. Anstellen für Motorrad Ausreise. Warten. und schon durften wir weiterfahren. An der Stelle, wo wirklich die Grenze ist, haben die Chinesen Wachtürme gebaut, Zäune und ein Tor versperrt die Weiterfahrt. Es ist saukalt. Warten etwa 3 Stunden, bis unser chinesischer Führer kommt. Pete serviert Suppe, Tee, Kaffee. Dann dürfen wir durchs Tor fahren und im konvoi zur Grenzabfertigung. Nur zur allgemeinen Unterhaltung hatte kevins MR einen Achter und speichen verloren. An... read more

Asia » Kyrgyzstan June 7th 2017

In Kirgistan hat sich die Auto Situation stark verändert. In Duschanbe gab's ein paar Mercedes, aber hier im Nordosten ist besonders Audi das Auto der Wahl, natürlich auch Mercedes und VW. Daneben natürlich die üblichen Japaner (in Japan dürfen Autos, die mehr als 10 Jahre alt sind nicht mehr auf die Straße) und einige uralte Ladas. In den Bergen, durch die wir kamen, waren die Leute gerade dabei, ihre Jurten aufzubauen. Das geht innerhalb weniger Stunden und man hat ein angenehmes Heim. Gleich daneben parkt das Auto, denn auch de Nomade von Heute ist mit der Zeit gegangen. Es sind weniger Kühe und Schafe, die gehalten werden, sondern Pferde, zu dieser Jahreszeit mit vielen Fohlen. Auch wenn die Kirgisen Pferdenarren sind - was machen sie mit so vielen???? Die Übernachtung war im Celestial Mountain Guesthouse - ... read more
20170608_161355
20170608_074615

Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Osh October 26th 2016

Fascinating Kyrgyzstan! We are on another ACDI VOCA assignment. Ed working with farmers with their fruit orchards. And investigating certification options so they can export. I continue to work on business skills. We both are enjoying our time here. It is fascinating as it is an amazing blend of so many cultures. A very strong Soviet presence as far as infrastructure. And hard to believe we are only 2 hrs from the Chinese border. Osh's history dates back 3000 years and was an important stop on the Silk Route. In a smaller town nearby, it has a huge bazaar with all 'shops' made from double stacked shipping containers. Trade goes way back!! This morning there was a celebration in the main square for the Uzbekistan visit. Our 24 yr old translator told us, for her entire ... read more
Lenin watching over the square
DSCN0846
DSCN0853

Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Osh October 15th 2016

So - various things come to mind as we are driving along, that don't easily fit into my diary. The main thing is that from our vantage point on the truck we have an amazing view of everything. A bit like being on the top of a double decker bus, so you can see over walls and into the distance. Most of the rural houses are single storey, some with a hay loft above, and with corrugated iron roofs. They also mostly have an outside toilet again with a corrugated roof held down by large stones. One thing I noticed is that where we would put a caravan in the land of a new build, here they build a yurt, just as temporary but maybe more cosy. And talking of yurts - the flag for Kyrgyzstan ... read more
image.
image.

Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Bishkek September 24th 2016

Kyrgyzstan is not dissimilar in many ways to Kazakhstan, but it is clear to see which country has the oil revenues. In turn, Bishkek, its capital was quite similar in many ways to Almaty, with its wide, tree-lined streets, but it has not been quite as successful at disposing of much of the old Soviet architecture. But that in many ways made it a slightly more relaxing stop, and certainly it would appear that Kyrgyzstan will be by far the easiest of the Stans for western tourists in terms of entry requirements. The drive from Almaty to Bishkek took around 4 hours and took us through a range of landscapes, from rugged barren mountainscapes to quite productive farmland, with cotton the predominant crop. All the cotton is picked by hand, as apparently hand-picked cotton generates double ... read more
Falcon and Falconer - can you tell which is which
Burana Tower
Summer resort villas on Lake Issyk-kul

Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Bishkek September 8th 2016

7-8-16This morning we left our hotel in Almaty to travel towards the peaks of the Tian Shan Mountains, a vast mountain range, nearly 2,500 km long that creates a natural border between China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. We crossed the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border at Black River into Kyrgyzstan following the Chu River before oddly traveling back into Kazakhstan for about a hundred metres before the turnoff that led us into the valley of Chon Kemin where we stayed at the traditional Ashu Guesthouse. The mountain range lies astride the Silk Road and although the least visited mountain ranges in the world they have played host to travellers including Marco Polo. We all went on a pre dinner walk around the small town, lots of children were out playing while women were milking the cows and men returning on ... read more
Buzkashi - nomadic polo, played at the international nomadic games
Rafting on the Chuy river
Our travel companions

Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Bishkek August 17th 2016

21.08.16 Bishkek Nachtflug mit Aerofllot über Moskau nach Bishkek. Wir landen am Nachmittag und werden von unserer Reiseleiterin, Fr. Kenzhe zum Hotel begleitet. Das Hotel ist neu im russisch - pompösen Stil errichtet. Keine Wünsche bleiben offen. Zum Entspannen nach dem langen Flug können wir Schwimmen im hoteleigenen Hallenbad und die finnische Sauna besuchen. Unsere kirgisische Reiseleiterin bereitet uns einen herzlichen Empfang und führt uns in ein nettes Lokal zu Abendessen. Wir werden verwöhnt. A 22.08.16 Bishkek Köstliches Frühstück auf der Hotelterrasse. Wir beginnen unser Programm mit einem Spaziergang durch eine moderne, lebhafte Stadt mit vielen Cafés, Restaurants und dichtem Straßenverkehr. Besuch des Ala Too Platzes und des Eichenparks. Auf dem großen Platz vor dem Präsidentenpalast probt das Militär für die Parade zum 25. Una... read more
IMG_0566
IMG_0569
IMG_0576

Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Bishkek August 9th 2016

One new capital on my list, one new country to discover....and one more river has I'm finally lucky enough to go back rafting. Welcome to Kyrgyzstan. The country has the biggest temperature span in the world....warm summer where it can rise to above 40 and cold cold winter hitting the minus 35 degrees! I'm staying in a pretty amazing hotel on the outskirts of the capital, the Futuro. Normally, we would say location is the key to a great hotel. Well, here, they don't have the right location, it's in the middle of nowhere...so they throw in so much more to make up for it. For 40usd per night, I had a modern room, something looking like and Ibis or Novotel room. They throw in a super nice breakfast and obviously wifi. But it doesn't stop ... read more
You see this everywhere around...where are they heading..it's a question of balance between religion, culture...and put it simply, freedom and women rights...
Chu River
Main Square Bishkek




Tot: 0.124s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 8; qc: 85; dbt: 0.0748s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb