Day 36 Toktogul to Almaty
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The hotel in Toktogul was pretty grim, the sheets weren’t clean and we felt it was time to push on to Kazakhstan.
A pretty easy drive although the traffic was heavy. Almaty is a very European city and after our first stop at a real restaurant that sold vegetables and salads! We booked into a hotel that had a jacuzzi! Way to wash off the dirt!
Tomorrow we will move to the sky hostel and get the micrawave looked over ready for the bad roads in northern Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
Day 36 Toktogul to Almaty
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The hotel in Toktogul was pretty grim, the sheets weren’t clean and we felt it was time to push on to Kazakhstan.
A pretty easy drive although the traffic was heavy. Almaty is a very European city and after our first stop at a real restaurant that sold vegetables and salads! We booked into a hotel that had a jacuzzi! Way to wash off the dirt!
Tomorrow we will move to the sky hostel and get the micrawave looked over ready for the bad roads in northern Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
Day 36 Toktogul to Almaty
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The hotel in Toktogul was pretty grim, the sheets weren’t clean and we felt it was time to push on to Kazakhstan.
A pretty easy drive although the traffic was heavy. Almaty is a very European city and after our first stop at a real restaurant that sold vegetables and salads! We booked into a hotel that had a jacuzzi! Way to wash off the dirt!
Tomorrow we will move to the sky hostel and get the micrawave looked over ready for the bad roads in northern Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
Day 34 Murghab to Osh
Wow what an amazing drive today. The scenery was amazing, snow capped peaks, a glimpse of a glacier. Steppe with Yurts, horses, sheep, goat and our first Yak!
Woke up and made use of the view with a view (pictured). Then tried to get petrol. No Benzine so we used our jerry cans for the first time. The climb to 6550 meters was slow and not steep. We checked our oxygen levels, 88-84 (normally we would be aiming for 96-100). We passed a few teams stopping as they weren’t doing so well, our machine read theirs at 74.... I hope the machine was wrong! We handed out some of our donated ORS. At the brightest point we stopped for a team photo. Micrawave was bubbling but once the bonnet was opened he cooled down fast as it was cold up there.
We were all shattered from not sleeping well at altitude so aimed for Osh but depending on the roads we were easy about where we got to.
Lake Kara-Kul was stunning. One of the highest salt lakes in the world. We pushed on to the border which was 4,200meters. We were all allowed to stay with the car (normally Kate does the border with the car and the others have to walk through). They weren’t the friendliest, shame as Tajikistan and the people have been one of the highlights of the trip for all of us.
No mans land was huge, the borders are disputed so no surprise. The road was mud but luckily pretty dry. The trucks had ploughed it up so the 4 wheels and the sump guard were tested yet again. Fortunately it was down hill! We crossed our first little river (first of two today). We then met up with 4 teams at the border. It was slow due to the number of cars but the search was only a peak in the boot. The army all have their blood type printed on the left chest!
We heard the roads were good to Osh and they were. The mountains changed to amazing colours but no snow as we dropped down to 2,500 meters and we breezed down the hills and got oxygen back in our lungs that we needed. On the outskirts of Osh we caught up with Joe on his motorbike, a British team and an American team, mystic moose. We followed them, why find a hostel when you can follow others and get them to do the hard work!
The first place was full but they directed us to their sister hostel. On the way we got stopped by the police. Apparently they like stopping cars here in Kyrgyzstan. Fortunately he didn’t speak English, we hadn’t done anything wrong so he gave up and off we went! We lost the convoy but heard the mystic moose behind us with their very load exhaust. The eastern route through the Pamir was the right choice for us. A change of scenery, a slower climb up to 6550 meters and better roads. The cars that did the southern route where not sounding great.
Internet for the first time since Dushanbe!! What is happening with the world.
Day 34 Murghab to Osh
Wow what an amazing drive today. The scenery was amazing, snow capped peaks, a glimpse of a glacier. Steppe with Yurts, horses, sheep, goat and our first Yak!
Woke up and made use of the view with a view (pictured). Then tried to get petrol. No Benzine so we used our jerry cans for the first time. The climb to 6550 meters was slow and not steep. We checked our oxygen levels, 88-84 (normally we would be aiming for 96-100). We passed a few teams stopping as they weren’t doing so well, our machine read theirs at 74.... I hope the machine was wrong! We handed out some of our donated ORS. At the brightest point we stopped for a team photo. Micrawave was bubbling but once the bonnet was opened he cooled down fast as it was cold up there.
We were all shattered from not sleeping well at altitude so aimed for Osh but depending on the roads we were easy about where we got to.
Lake Kara-Kul was stunning. One of the highest salt lakes in the world. We pushed on to the border which was 4,200meters. We were all allowed to stay with the car (normally Kate does the border with the car and the others have to walk through). They weren’t the friendliest, shame as Tajikistan and the people have been one of the highlights of the trip for all of us.
No mans land was huge, the borders are disputed so no surprise. The road was mud but luckily pretty dry. The trucks had ploughed it up so the 4 wheels and the sump guard were tested yet again. Fortunately it was down hill! We crossed our first little river (first of two today). We then met up with 4 teams at the border. It was slow due to the number of cars but the search was only a peak in the boot. The army all have their blood type printed on the left chest!
We heard the roads were good to Osh and they were. The mountains changed to amazing colours but no snow as we dropped down to 2,500 meters and we breezed down the hills and got oxygen back in our lungs that we needed. On the outskirts of Osh we caught up with Joe on his motorbike, a British team and an American team, mystic moose. We followed them, why find a hostel when you can follow others and get them to do the hard work!
The first place was full but they directed us to their sister hostel. On the way we got stopped by the police. Apparently they like stopping cars here in Kyrgyzstan. Fortunately he didn’t speak English, we hadn’t done anything wrong so he gave up and off we went! We lost the convoy but heard the mystic moose behind us with their very load exhaust. The eastern route through the Pamir was the right choice for us. A change of scenery, a slower climb up to 6550 meters and better roads. The cars that did the southern route where not sounding great.
Internet for the first time since Dushanbe!! What is happening with the world.
Day 34 Murghab to Osh
Wow what an amazing drive today. The scenery was amazing, snow capped peaks, a glimpse of a glacier. Steppe with Yurts, horses, sheep, goat and our first Yak!
Woke up and made use of the view with a view (pictured). Then tried to get petrol. No Benzine so we used our jerry cans for the first time. The climb to 6550 meters was slow and not steep. We checked our oxygen levels, 88-84 (normally we would be aiming for 96-100). We passed a few teams stopping as they weren’t doing so well, our machine read theirs at 74.... I hope the machine was wrong! We handed out some of our donated ORS. At the brightest point we stopped for a team photo. Micrawave was bubbling but once the bonnet was opened he cooled down fast as it was cold up there.
We were all shattered from not sleeping well at altitude so aimed for Osh but depending on the roads we were easy about where we got to.
Lake Kara-Kul was stunning. One of the highest salt lakes in the world. We pushed on to the border which was 4,200meters. We were all allowed to stay with the car (normally Kate does the border with the car and the others have to walk through). They weren’t the friendliest, shame as Tajikistan and the people have been one of the highlights of the trip for all of us.
No mans land was huge, the borders are disputed so no surprise. The road was mud but luckily pretty dry. The trucks had ploughed it up so the 4 wheels and the sump guard were tested yet again. Fortunately it was down hill! We crossed our first little river (first of two today). We then met up with 4 teams at the border. It was slow due to the number of cars but the search was only a peak in the boot. The army all have their blood type printed on the left chest!
We heard the roads were good to Osh and they were. The mountains changed to amazing colours but no snow as we dropped down to 2,500 meters and we breezed down the hills and got oxygen back in our lungs that we needed. On the outskirts of Osh we caught up with Joe on his motorbike, a British team and an American team, mystic moose. We followed them, why find a hostel when you can follow others and get them to do the hard work!
The first place was full but they directed us to their sister hostel. On the way we got stopped by the police. Apparently they like stopping cars here in Kyrgyzstan. Fortunately he didn’t speak English, we hadn’t done anything wrong so he gave up and off we went! We lost the convoy but heard the mystic moose behind us with their very load exhaust. The eastern route through the Pamir was the right choice for us. A change of scenery, a slower climb up to 6550 meters and better roads. The cars that did the southern route where not sounding great.
Internet for the first time since Dushanbe!! What is happening with the world.
Day 32 Nr Khorag to Jalandy hot springs
The Irish Reasonable Adventurers have designed a technical Mongol Rally flag. We can now find each other and other teams outside of the casual convoy. We headed off before most teams as we go slow on bumps, even after our spacers were fitted to give us 5cm height. We all met up again in Khorag, a town where the road divides. We turned off the river and the Afghan border and headed east following the Pamir highway. The roads are supposed to be better but we were ready for a change of scenery. Team Irish Reasonable Adventurers has a problem with their car so we were given the important position of carrying the flag so they could find us. We convoyed with Celtic Speed, a kiwi team, Aussie team and the 3 car Feline cat team. It was windy but next to a natural hot springs. The sulphur was pretty strong but gave us warm water for washing and a rumour of a hot bath in one of the stone buildings.
Day 32 Nr Khorag to Jalandy hot springs
The Irish Reasonable Adventurers have designed a technical Mongol Rally flag. We can now find each other and other teams outside of the casual convoy. We headed off before most teams as we go slow on bumps, even after our spacers were fitted to give us 5cm height. We all met up again in Khorag, a town where the road divides. We turned off the river and the Afghan border and headed east following the Pamir highway. The roads are supposed to be better but we were ready for a change of scenery. Team Irish Reasonable Adventurers has a problem with their car so we were given the important position of carrying the flag so they could find us. We convoyed with Celtic Speed, a kiwi team, Aussie team and the 3 car Feline cat team. It was windy but next to a natural hot springs. The sulphur was pretty strong but gave us warm water for washing and a rumour of a hot bath in one of the stone buildings.
Day 32 Nr Khorag to Jalandy hot springs
The Irish Reasonable Adventurers have designed a technical Mongol Rally flag. We can now find each other and other teams outside of the casual convoy. We headed off before most teams as we go slow on bumps, even after our spacers were fitted to give us 5cm height. We all met up again in Khorag, a town where the road divides. We turned off the river and the Afghan border and headed east following the Pamir highway. The roads are supposed to be better but we were ready for a change of scenery. Team Irish Reasonable Adventurers has a problem with their car so we were given the important position of carrying the flag so they could find us. We convoyed with Celtic Speed, a kiwi team, Aussie team and the 3 car Feline cat team. It was windy but next to a natural hot springs. The sulphur was pretty strong but gave us warm water for washing and a rumour of a hot bath in one of the stone buildings.
Day 35 Osh to Toktogul
Woke up to a puncher, a large nail in one of the tyres. Fortunately we weren’t leaving until 10am, so over coffee we changed that, added some oil and headed off to Toktogul. Lake Toktogul had great reviews on trip advisor so to break up the drive to Bishkek we thought why not. After getting stuck in a traffic jam due to a closed road that involved Kate waving her arms around and controlling the traffic we reversed back down the road and followed the others cars on a detour. A sign saying the road was closed would have helped us and all the traffic!
Kyrgyzstan is beautiful, a mixture of red mountains, amazing blue lakes and rivers and steppes with yurts, horses and sheep. The roads are great compared to previous countries. However we seem to get ripped off every time we try and do something. We got charged $5 for a toll and got two receipts when we demanded them. We clearly paid for us and the lorry in front. Holding up the traffic wasn’t getting us anywhere so we gave up and drove off. We arrived at Toktogul to find no where near the lake to stay or even easy access to it. Dinner was vegetables, meat (we didn’t ask for!) and rice. That was pretty good but again the total on the bill wasn’t right so we questioned it, they changed it but then suddenly decided we needed to pay an extra tax they just invented, and they wanted to charge us to use the loo. We found a hotel as it was 7pm and decided do get an early night and see if we could just drive out of Kyrgyzstan tomorrow and straight to Almaty.
The hotel was old, basic but fine. The room had mills and boon style Russian books in them. What could these stories be about with covers like these.... the woman running it was a stern faced female faulty towers character. Nothing was done unless she agreed to it. The micrawave was allowed to be parked in the compound but the exact location was overseen by lady Basil Faulty. Beer then bed and a 550km push to Almaty tomorrow. Sorry Kyrgyzstan I am sure we are just not seeing the best people or post Tajikistan where everyone was so welcoming we are looking at Kyrgyzstan a little too negatively.
