Finally Kyrgyzstan 23rd May

Everyone is up early as we have had the clocks go forward by an hour and breakfast is the usual routine of bread and Cye but with the extra of pancakes. Would have been nice to have had some Lemon but the only sugar at my disposal is cubes, so crushing with a spoon is the only option.
All fed and watered we head off in the morning sunshine even though it is cool and within 20 miles we get our first glimps of the Chinese border. It is the chain fencing in front of the mountains and is not patrolled as the mountains you can see range from 5500 to 6500m high.

This will be with us all the way to the Kyrgyzstan border which is 110 miles into our journey to be at the exit of Tajikistan. Yet again the usual protocols of no photos but we have another mountain pass to go over at 4655m (Akbaytal Pass). Luckily all dry and no snow but corrugated roads which give the suspension and your body a pounding.

Then the Tajikistan border which up in the mountains is awful and it is not surprising that they do not look very happy and the temperature has dropped to 2 Deg C. We are all called through one by one and they check through our panniers, the guy even says to me ”Narcotics” as this is quite a popular route for drugs. I nearly felt like saying “of course” but that would probably have not been taken as a joke.
Finally get a stamp out and the gate is opened for us to enter no-mans land.
Now the strange thing here is that we now have to travel 12 miles to get to the Kyrgyzstan border control and the road between the two borders is not cared for by anyone so it is in bad repair like most of the roads in the Kyrgyzstan.


Yes that is me having to wade my way through with a R1200gs and the mud was thick and slippy.

All the way down to the control and then it starts to snow and we pull up outside the gates and we have to wait for our guide to arrive. After 2 hours, we are invited three at a time to the other side of the gate in the snow to open up our panniers and bags. Then we are shown to wait under and a covered area. How clever are these guys “DUH!”
Finally we set off and we have 15 miles to our homestay in the snow and the roads are very badly potholed and we are averaging about 20 miles an hour in the sideways snow.
Typical, i finally drop my bike for the first time within 100 yds of the homestay.
“BOLLOCKS”
Sorry if i offend anyone but it was on some deep mud that i was trying to navigate round to some grass where there may have been better grip.
Oh well nothing broken or bent, thankfully as it was on a soft surface.
Bikes parked and everything hung up in the homestay to dry, then into the yurt for Bread, Cye and Plov. You all know what that is by now.






































Leave Kyrgyzstan tomorrow and head for China. We ere going to be doing five dyas here but with all the troubles, it is a quick dash in and out

6924 miles – Sary Tash, Kyrgyzstan