a lost highway in Kyrgzstan

jabawoky — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 11:51:27 GMT

I should be chosen, because I have two passions in this life: Having adventures and making films (the two of which have become inseperable to me). My first film was a documentary about a squat I lived in in England, my second was a series of interviews with the customers of a small crack-den in Brazil. After having done odd-jobs here and there making videos for people's websites or filming their concerts, I decided that this was not why I had started to make films. I had started to make films because deep down, I wanted to infect people with my fascination for the diversity and beauty of the human race. I decided to do something rash to get back on the right path, and planned a film-project of grand proportions. I decided to cycle from Germany to Japan, over the course of eight months. I worked in a factory for 6 months, until I had the money to buy a good bicycle and the production equipment necessary to produce episodes from my bicycle. During my journey I made 11 short films, which I uploaded at regular intervals to my website www.robohorse.tv. The best film I made on route was a portrait of a family of Tibetan nomads, who I lived with for a week. All of my films have been self funded. I have made them purely for the sake of making them, because I love travel film making more than anything. Please help me to make the next step towards being able to sustain myself with what I love!

One day on a lonely highway in Kyrgystan.

jabawoky — Tue, 16 Sep 2014 10:18:00 GMT

We had been cycling for 5 months, crossed eastern Europe, the middle-east, and were well on our way through central asia, when we stumbled across a true gem, a place that seemed lost in time. The leg of our Journey from Osh in the south of Kyrgyzstan to the Chinese border led us along a quiet highway, winding through outlandish mountainous landscapes, sparesely inhabited by a peaceful, curious and hospitable people. Never before had I felt so far from home. It wasn't just the fact that everything was so different from where I come from, but the the way that the locals reacted to us. It was clear to see that the inhabitants of this isolated valley had very little contact with outside world, let alone with the west or any sort of mass tourism. Their bewildered, curious glances were always followed by warm smiles, and then invitations, born of a hospitality of old.

One of the things that makes travelling by a bicycle so special, is the fact that you travel through rural areas, where locals are not accustomed to having many outside visitors. For a cyclist travelling outside of Europe, it is a common occurance to be invited in for food, or given a place to sleep, by complete strangers. In these Kyrgysytani mountains, where a European stranger is even more of a rarity, we were welcomed with open arms everywhere we stopped.

One of the reasons I left on my bicycle from Berlin so long ago, was the fact that I was not going to make do with a normal life. I have always read great biographies avidly, and know what can be done during one's time on earth. So often have I longed for the feeling of being on a great adventure, disconnected from everythng with which I am familiar, challenging myself and growing with every experience. Travelling through the high mountain valleys of Kyrgyzstan, I had that feeling. I felt like I was making the most of every second of my life. This was what I had set out for. The experience rof riding through this beautiful valley and meeting its wonderful inhabitants reinforced my resolve to make my life an adventure.

For the hard work and guts it takes to make big those decisions, and see crazy ideas through, you are rewarded a million fold, with memmories on a par with any dream, and the feeling of having not let life pass you by.

the endless highway

a lost highway in Kyrgzstan

One day on a lonely highway in Kyrgystan.