Week 70: to Sary-Tash: Kyrgyzstan: the 50th country we have cycled in together
The storm shakes our tent all night, not until very early in the morning does the wind subside a bit. A dozen raindrops hit the tent, but then it quiets down. We have to get up sometime during the night and see a magnificent night sky; the Milky way is clearly visible.
Our plan is to get an early start, get through the Tajikistan immigration when they open and try to reach Sary-Tash before the wind picks up again. Jo is struggling; he has not been able to keep food down and obviously feels weak. We are amazed how many travelers we have come across who have fallen sick some seriously sick, in Tajikistan. Our guess is that it must be the water, we are all basically eating the same food.
It is about an 8km climb to the Tajikistan border, the road is awfully corrugated. At the border, we get our exit stamp, then it is another 1.5kms of climbing to the high point of the pass and the official border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Apart from some soviet looking monuments and a huge Marco Polo sheep statue there is not much there. We descend about 18km on the other side before getting to the Kyrgyzstan immigration. Along the way there are awesome views of snow covered mountains and glaciers. After about 11 km we get the asphalt back and the ride becomes a lot easier. Kyrgyzstan immigration is easy too, we all get 45 days for free, no visas required, no questions. With our planned itinerary this should be enough.
Kyrgyzstan is the fiftieth country we have cycled in together since meeting in New Zealand in 1993. Each of us has visited additional other countries, but this is a milestone for our joint biking.
The road to Sary-Tash swoops down a huge valley. We can see the town from 20km away across the valley and the long straight road leading to the town. Behind us are the snow covered mountains of the Pamirs, all around us green pastures with horses, cows, goats and many yurts. What a difference a mountain pass makes, to our south in Tajikistan a moonscape of barren rock and sand, here green grass everywhere, still no trees.
We arrive in Sary-Tash just in time to see the German speaking cyclists, (the Swiss girls, German doctor, and Raphael), finishing up lunch at a small restaurant of a hotel. We, along with Jo, have decided to take a room for tonight, since the food appears good here. We check into a large room with carpets on the floors and walls. We get three sleeping mats and hot water for a bucket bath is provided to be done behind a curtain outside in the back. The “supermarket” in Sary-Tash is a bit disappointing, just a small step up from Karakul, but we find enough to get us down the road to Osh. The shop is a trailer near the pink Hotel Tatina. Later we find out that Tony and Sara were staying at this hotel ehile we were down the street at the other hotel.)
For dinner we get a Russian meal with a kind of dumplings in a broth eaten with chunks of bread. Not bad at all. We plan to take 2 and 1/2 days to get to Osh.
We follow the Markanzu River to its headwaters near the pass between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
The Tajikistan border post is located about 1.5km before the summit of the pass. First there is a customs container-office, a little further immigration.
