Kyrgyzstan – RoadsUp

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Land of Nomads, Horses, Yurts and Lakes

Kyrgyzstan, the most touristic country in Central Asia, is famous for its beautiful landscapes of snowcapped mountains and its nomadic culture. In some areas people are still living in traditional yurts during summertime. Kyrgyzstan is the perfect location for the World Nomad Games, an international contest with traditional horse games and other competitions that we were lucky to experience.

End of the Pamir Highway

After leaving Tajikistan we entered 20 kilometers of no-mans-land through muddy off-road paths. On the Kyrgyz side border officers were having lunch so we had to wait for the border formalities. Time went by quickly because we had the good company of a few Italian motorcyclists. They spontaneously took out their Italian olives and canned fish and did the same as the border officials.

Upon entering the country, the scenery changed from grey stony mountains to green lush farmlands. During a short coffee break we noticed that the children looked different than in Tajikistan. While we had a cup of coffee, we spotted people posing with real guns in front of our bike. When they noticed us they immediately wanted to take selfies with us. We found each other equally interesting.

After a few hours riding through beautiful mountainous roads with spectacular scenery we reached Osh. At the Tes guesthouse we met Anne-Laure and Jérôme again. We have first met the two Mongol Rallye drivers from France in Tajikistan. We were also excited to meet the two motorcyclists Jan and Sam again. Later Maxime the French guy who was riding the Mongol Rallye with an old Vespa arrived. What a coincidence that everyone stayed at the same hostel. Together we went for dinner and enjoyed having a steak and beer after the monotonous food on the Pamir Highway. For us it was the first meal like this for over a month. It was amazing!

Preparations for the next part

We stayed a few days in Osh to relax and plan the following route in Kyrgyzstan. Everyday new travelers arrived either coming from Tajikistan or planning to go there. We had lots of fun exchanging travel stories.

In Osh we could finally do the first full motorcycle service since we left home. We were happy to get new tires. Thanks to Heidenau, our new tires were ready for us to pick up at Zorro Moto. The owner Dave Fuchser helped us finding Heidenau tubes we could put inside as our rear rim was still bent. Check out the video of the tire change at the motorcycle workshop of MuzToo and get more information! In the backyard of MuzToo, the motorcycle workshop, there was also a big “tire cemetery”. You can select used tires from there to save money.

To apply for our Indian visa and to pick up our Chinese visa we had to go to Bishkek next. On the way we could once again marvel at the fantastic scenery and perfect motorcycle roads. Fortunately, our passports including the Chinese visa from Vienna had already arrived so we could pick them up at the DHL station.

One of our inflatable mattresses got punctured during our last night in Tajikistan. To find the hole we went to the swimming pool of the fancy neighboring hotel in Bishkek. While Peter was balancing on the mattress a Russian couple started talking to us and invited us to their table to drink some Vodka together. We ended up drinking Vodka in the middle of the afternoon out of plastic cups.

Fighting upon Dead Sheep on Horses - The World Nomad Games

During our stay in Kyrgyzstan the “World Nomad Games” took place at Issyk-Kul lake. Sports like Kok boru, where two teams riding on horses try to throw a dead sheep’s body into a bowl, was interesting to watch. The atmosphere during the games was amazing, especially during the closing ceremony. People were dancing and even breaking through the line of soldiers standing there. To our surprise the old German Band Dschingis Khan was performing their greatest hits. The audience danced wildly to the music.

Horseback riding

We still had a few days left until our China transit so we decided to do some horse riding. Kyrgyzstan is the land of horses and nearly everyone can ride a horse perfectly. Near Song Kul, an alpine lake at altitude of more than 3000 meters, a guide with two horses already awaited us. Until then both of us didn’t have any riding experience so far.

While sitting on our horses the guide gave us some short instructions how to start, stop and turn. In theory it sounded easy but the first challenge was to convince the horse to start walking instead of eating grass. We rode through green hills beside small rivers as the sky got darker and darker. Then it started raining heavily and we were happy about our waterproof Rukka motorcycle clothes. Nevertheless, we were glad when we reached a small yurt camp, our place to stay for the night. The main yurt, where we got some hot soup was heated with an oven. Wearing our down clothes inside our sleeping bags and some extra blankets we felt comfortable and warm. We had a memorable moment during dinner when Peter noticed the similarities between the roof of the yurt and the sign on the Kyrgyz flag. Our guide told us that the flag indeed symbolizes the sun shining inside the yurt.

The next day was sunny but freezing cold. We went through stony and muddy paths uphill to reach the beautiful mountain lake Song Kul. While riding through snowy mountains we felt like characters from the Lord of the Rings movies. Around noon we reached the marvelous lake that was surrounded by snow-covered mountains.

Other tourists, mother and daughter from Lapland, were already there. Later also a group of four French tourists arrived on horses. In the afternoon we played some traditional horse games. Peter had to chase Claudia and if he caught her he could kiss her on the cheek. If not she would chase him back and whip him. As it was her birthday she got a bit of assistance from the guide and was allowed the whip Peter under the eyes of all tourists and horsemen. The locals also had lots of fun playing Kok boru. There we could see how easily they moved with their horses. During our stay in Kyrgyzstan we have seen small children at the age of four riding horses without saddle.

Back in the yurt people started to sing “Happy Birthday” for Claudia as the door opened and a woman from an Italian group told us that it was also her birthday. So everyone started singing again. In the night Claudia got quite sick and spent a great amount of time outside in the snow at the simple toilet. In the morning at breakfast the woman from the yurt gave her vodka with salt as a medicine. It tasted so disgusting that she had to throw up again. The two Swedish women offered to share their car with us to bring us to the next village instead of riding back.

To the Chinese border

Due to our appointment at the Chinese border two days later we went to Naryn the same day. After two nights in yurts under simple conditions and no shower we enjoyed the luxury of a nice room with good breakfast in the morning. The following night we spent in a yurt camp close to the Chinese border with -5.5°C in the morning at more than 3000 meters altitude. The sun was already shining as we took the road towards China.

Route

Info Box

Duration of stay
23 Aug 2018 – 09 Sep 2018
11 Sep 2018 – 17 Sep 2018

First entry point
Kyzyl Art pass (from Tajikistan)

First exit point
Karkara valley (to Kazakhstan)

Second entry point
Kordai (from Kazakhstan)

Second exit point
Torugart pass (to China)

Currency
Kyrgyzstani Som
Symbol: C
Code: KGS

Population
about 6,300,000 people

Visa
we didn’t need any visa for Kyrgyzstan (visa free for 60 days)

Weather
comfortable warm (about 25 °C in Osh and Bishkek), very cold and even snow in the mountains around Song Kol lake.

Religion
About 88 % of the population is Muslim, 10 % is Russian Orthodox.

Interesting fact
Bride kidnappings are still very common in Kyrgyzstan, even though they are illegal. The old practice is called “Ale kachuu”. Some sources say that in some areas up to a third of brides are taken against their will.

Crazy fact
Someone told us that the penalty for bride kidnapping would be three years in jail, whereas cattle-stealing was punished with five years of jail.

Best experience
After weeks of bad roads and little variety in food we were extremely happy about good paved roads. On our first night in Osh we went to a restaurant with friends and were completely blown-away by the taste of burger and beer.

Worst experience
Traffic police stopped us for riding too fast shortly after a speed reduction sign and wanted us to pay about 200 $. Finally we agreed on 20 $ and were free to go.

Travel tip
Don’t give your original driving license to the police. We heard from other travelers that they would only give it back if you paid the horrendous penalty. Better give them a copy.