Krygyzstan May 24 at 3, 200 metres

Heading into the pass:Krygyzstan

Road hazards

Kilometre after kilometre

From the car window

Driving some 750kms from Bishkek to Osh over two days   we traversed two alpine passes at 3,180 plus metres. The scenery was breath takingly beautiful   and it just got better and better. Spectacular, an overused word but I can’t find a better adjective.  Like the fjords and glaciers of Norway and Alaska but every vista offered a new and different dimension and the being encased in the motion of little red cocoon was the icing on the cake.  We decided the best word to describe the extended drive was euphoric.

Gliding along in the little red MG with the mountains bearing down on us, feeling every bump, swerve and roll and at one with the car, I just felt I could go on driving for eternity. Looking in the rear vision mirror at the five little MGs following I wondered if the drivers and passengers were having a similar experience. Probably not but then that’s the beauty of perception isn’t it. There really is something for this MG driving. I normally loathe long distance travel and just sleep, but in an MG, you are so close to the road and what’s beyond the road. You just feel part of it all, unlike regular car or van travel.

The rugged snow covered mountain tops with the contrasting  green slopes, the snow drifts, the pristine rivers, the people in their yurts, the roadside honey and mead sellers,  the cattle and pony herds, the clear blue sky with the  cumulus clouds, the donkeys and the horsemen herders, the alpine  flowers, the sound of  cuckoos calling   and the suspense of never knowing what awaits you around a bend; three trucks or a herder with his beautiful horses or flock of sheep or the odd milking cow ambling down the road to somewhere, presumably to be milked.

Accommodation at the guest house on the first night was a Pandora’s Box. The toilet didn’t flush so we had to use a bucket. It was so cold we had to sleep fully clothed and ask for more blankets. At dinner, the red wine was almost undrinkable but the friendly Kyrgyzstani  locals dropped in with a bottle of vodka for the group, told us how much they loved us and what wonderful friends we were and then, after a lot of flamboyant farewells,  just as quickly disappeared in their four wheel drive. The local constabulary also dropped by, probably to check us out and then they took someone away in their car. A friend we guess but given our experiences with the law watching us elsewhere, you just never know.

 Some one metre from our bedroom window was a rapidly flowing river which some would say serenaded us all night through. And to think of the previous evening we were in a four star hotel but we all agreed we wouldn’t change a thing as it all is part of Life’s rich tapestry!

The Fergana Valley is a sweeping, open plain which is intensely farmed. I think the Kyrgyzstani telegraph was operating because all the way along the road school children and people waved frantically and folks ran from the field to call to us. The convoy seems to put a smile on everyone’s face. We have young guys hanging from their cars and driving parallel with us and they wave and film the convoy. It’s a bit like the Queen Elizabeth II syndrome as we wave from our cars at all and sundry. 

The alpine roads, although narrow, have been surprisingly good, lots of twists and turns given the descents and ascents. The odd, short tunnels through the mountains are very narrow and it is a bit like going on the ghost train at Luna Park, pitch black and difficult to see. They have the potential to be extremely hazardous. We stopped near the exit of one of these tunnels, for a tea break and were intrigued to see some herders on their ponies and donkeys steering cattle into the tunnel. I was very pleased they weren’t in the tunnel when I was driving.

Osh was the final stop before the border crossing. Osh was a significant town on the Silk Road and is said to be older than the ruins of the Roman Empire but sadly, in our short stay, we saw little evidence of the old Osh.

As we moved from north to south the demographic changes with 40% of the population being Uzbeks. Our guide told us that the Kyrgyz are a fiery race of people who although Muslim are more robust than their conservative, law abiding and religious Uzbek neighbours.

This is an amazing little country, the size of Great Britain, and with tourism its main source of income it draws visitors from Europe, primarily France and Germany to take in all the wonderful outdoor and eco tourism opportunities. The infra structure, housing and general lack of affluence is very marked but the mountain ranges, glaciers, valleys and lakes are sensational.