Today was another one of those days where I have very little idea where the day will finish, and just “play it by ear” as the day progresses. I had originally planned to leave at ~10:30AM latest, leaving a lot of time to get up, make coffee, have breakfast, the morning constitutional, etc, before it was time to hit the road. As it happens, I was ready to go by ~10:15AM, so said my farewells to the host, and then went to start my bike.

Morning frost on the bike in Kyzyl-Oi

A hiss, some spluttering, and then nothing. I tried again - again nothing.

It must have been quite cold overnight, because my bike was covered in frost (which still remained by the time I went to start my bike). I figured that this was the main impediment to the bike starting; that either the battery or the engine was too cold to get going.

Luckily at this point, the sun was peering over the walls of the valley, so I wheeled my bike into the sun, removed the seat (so the battery could catch some rays as well), and let it be for a while. I also plugged in a power bank to charge the bike battery up some more, in case that was the encouragement needed. After intermittently trying the starter, the bike finally spluttered to life at 11AM. Not too bad - a bit later than I’d hoped, but not an issue in the grand scheme of things.

Coal scattered on the road from trucks

The next ~100km to Suusamyr went by quickly. The road followed a winding river upstream. I noticed that there were loose pieces of coal scattered all over the road, presumably fallen from the trucks that were passing overnight. I picked up a piece as a souvenir (I haven’t handled coal before).

By noon, I had reached the M41 highway, and stopped at the fuel station (I had also stopped here my first time passing through the M41). One worker at the station looked at me strangely (I assume he vaguely recognised me from the first time).

Today’s long route to Osh

The rest of the day’s riding was interesting in that it was riding the exact same road, only ~2.5 months later. I was curious as to how the ride would be different…and wow was it different: Roadworks which were in progress the first time I passed, were largely complete. Roads were very fresh and very nice. The seasons had changed. Mountains went from being cool dark brownish green to snowcapped. The temperature was very different; previously ~10-15 degrees. This time it was 2-10 degrees. I saw a few new projects; a small glamping site of ~10 tents had been set up.

Snow-capped mountains along the M41

Lunch was at Toktogul, which was one of the potential places I could stop for the day. Alas it was only 2PM, and I felt like making more progress so I continued on.

Lake Toktogul, which I had camped at last time, looked VERY different. The water had receded materially compared to last time (I didn’t feel like stopping to take before/after pics - it felt like a shame + I wanted to make distance). I am not sure if this is a seasonal thing, or if waters are just receding permanently. I vaguely recall speaking to someone about issues with water shortages a few months back.

Receding water levels at Toktogul Lake

The next three hours went by as a blur. I rode continuously without stopping; I wanted to see if I could make Jalal-abad before sundown (~250KM from Toktogul). The road passed by a series of reservoirs, and were in poor condition for an asphalt road (there were DEEP truck tyre ruts in the road the whole way).

Truck ruts on the asphalt road

I finally stopped at ~6:30PM near Jalal-abad as I was running low on fuel, and I wanted to sort out the night’s lodging. By now, Osh was only ~100KM away, and I still had ~30-45 mins of daylight left, so I booked an Airbnb and decided to push ahead.

This time I’m staying at a different place vs the previous times I’d been in Osh; an apartment complex near the government buildings on Lenin Street.

New accommodation in Osh

Dinner was Plov + some Kyrgyz bread that was very tasty but also extremely greasy. I did not finish it, but I still regretted the amounts I ate (I think I would have been happy with eating only 25%, whereas I ate ~75% of it).

Plov dinner in Osh

I’ll be staying in Osh until Sunday, where I will start to make my way to Irkeshtam, the border with China!

Route progress through Part 2

Some stats:

• 452KM travelled
• 29.8L fuel added
• 30g coffee consumed
• 2 unique interactions

Overall route progress