So we are on the road to the Tjkekistan and up the Pamir hwy.
Leaving Bishkek we felt a little sad, we had spent a bit of time and we kinda felt it was a bit like home, but as soon as we got out we knew we were back on the road to adventure our first stop would be Lake Song Kul where we would finally get to sleep in a traditional Yurt, something we have been looking forward to since we got to Central Asia.
After some of the most insane driving and alot of vodka we arrived in Song Kul. The yurt was awesome, they fill it with cushions and all you can do is lay back realax and drink lots and lots of chai until you fall asleep. The next day we grabbed a couple of horses and went in search of water cos there is none available to drink up there and we didn't bring enough with us. Our horses were not exactly the best beast in the lot. One was incredibly lazy whilst the other only ever wanted to turn right and head back to the yurt and there was nothing you could do about it as Simon found out much to my amusement. After we swapped horses we made our way up into the hills in search of a stream but after 3 hrs we found nothing and came back emptyhanded. Unfortunatly the ride had jiggled something loose on my belly and I was about to spend the next 20hrs on the floor of a yurt feelling very very sick to which the only cure according to our hosts was VODKA, this seems to be the answer to everything in this country. After I denied this cure they were all very shocked to see me walking about the next day feeling better. I hope I haven't damaged the rep of Vodka in the country although I think this is probably very hard to do. We left Song Kul and made our way to Tashrabat to stay in more yurts but nooooooo horses and no vodka.
Tashrabat has got to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, our Yurt was smack bang in the middle of 4 valleys and each one I'm sure had a story to tell as this was one of the mnain stops on the old Silk route. From this area we went on one of the most awesome hikes ever with some of the most beautiful scenery ever. At the end of the hike, after 4 hrs and a few wrong turns in the pure Simon and Craig traditon, we arrived at the peak of the mountain which over-looked a lake with the mountains as its background refelcting in its clear waters. After a few cheese and tomato sandiwches plus a fantatisc nap we made our way back to the yurt camp to find out that we had maybe taken to long and a search party was out looking for us.
Next stop was Osh via Naryn and Kazerman. Leaving Naryn we had to fight for our seats in a Wuzz, which is a very old Russian van built to hold maybe 10 people at the best of times but our driver had it up to 22 paople at one point for an agonizing 4 hrs on a very bumpy road. From Kazerman we jumped in another old Russian car, this one was a 4 wheel drive because the road was the worst in the country. Now when i say our car was old I mean really old. It was over 50yrs old and still used a crank shaft at the front to get it started, but it got us to Osh which made us and our fellow German and Israeli passengers very very relieved.
So into Osh and our guest house had over booked so the owner set us up with our own flat which we turned into the most swinging bachelor pad in Osh, well our first night anyway, so after a very long week waiting around for our GBAO permits for the Pamirs in Tajikistan we are finally on our way to the roof of the world we also have a new travelling buddy his name is Nick and the poor blokes English but we won't hold that against him.
Stay tuned people we got a feeling this is going to be one of the best adventures yet.
