Ok where did we leave you guys ahhh thats right Pakistan and the mighty Karakoram, well after crossing the border into China at a remarkable 4700mtrs we made our way to Kashgar which is the staging point for our trip into Central Asia. Kashgar is very diffent to your usual Chinese town mainly due to the big influence from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, trying to find a basic Chinese meal was no mean feat.
After 4 days it was the 27th which meant Central Asia here we come woohoo! We made our way to the International bus station and prepared for the 23hr bus ride to Osh. The hightlight of this ride had to have been our driver, a giant of a man and crosseyed, thats right crosseyed, I dunno about you but thats not something that we really look for in a bus driver. To top it all off whilst we were waiting to board he got in a fight with one of the passengers and it took nearly the entire bus to split them up ... fun fun fun. Whith all this excitment we were somewhat dissapointed when the trip was one of the smoothest we have head so far and the view when we crossed from China to Kyrgyzstan was spectacular, it really is deserving of the title "the Switzerland of Central Asia".
So finally we arrived in Osh and after enlisting the help of a naive taxi driver we set out on the Quest to find the most hidden guest house in the enitire world. We fianlly got ourselves settled and made out for our first Central Asian breakfast and much to Craigs delight it consited of meat, lots and lots of meat. To make our way from Osh to Bishkek we needed to organise a private taxi for the 15 hr journey (maybe you can see a pattern developing here), enter Ishamel the oldest dirver we could find plus the cheapest and with his mighty LADA we made our way to Bishkek. Simon describes Ishmael like this " he's not a BAD driver he's just LAZY" and this was true as he just stayed on whichever side of the road suited him most until he would swerve out of the way just before we were wiped off the road. Everyone thought Craig was being generous when he gave up the front seat but after 5 mins in what was dubbed the seat of death it was quickly traded away at the next stop.
When we arrived in Bishkek we were very suprised at how european the city actually was, although not so as too lose that post Soviet feel. One skill you develop in Bishkek is how to dodge open man holes - there are loads of them and if you arent aware you will find yourself having an early dip not a nice way to wake up in the morning. The minibus system in Bishkek is fantastic, they will take you everywhere you wanna go and sometimes not for the paltry fee of 5 som and the joy of an armpit of bum in ya face. Most of them are filled like sardine cans.
We are very happy to be here in Bishkek and look forward to working with the orphanages here.
