Oshpitality 3
- krolesh
- Aug 25, 2024
- 3 min read
Last Days in Kyrgyzstan
I spent a couple more days in Osh, as I had plans to soon ride over the border into Uzbekistan, which isn't that far, as the screeching rustbucket spins.
I wandered into town every day.
Old mosque around the corner from home.
My route into town
Navat, the restaurant, had vegetarian lagman, what a treat! The beer was good too.
My burbs. There was creek in the middle of the street. Well, canal, but it sometimes spilt over.
Important looking men
Important looking women
More aesthetically rich plumbing
The Ak-Buura River, which flows right through the guts of town
Good ol' Vlad Lenin lifting his thumb for a pigeon
Modern wedding attire, except for the ak-kalpak, the traditional Kyrgyz hat.
Soviet era sculpture
Tethered heart
Osh-creamery
Local cinema. I didn't go.
Cute footpath
Jesus glowing
More kvas
Heavy tea drinking session
Virtual brain-twisting
Dart targets
Manicured gardens, slovenly public building
The ritzy part of town
I just did
Local swimming hole
Another Silk Road caravan passing through
Jayma Bazaar
Osh's main bazaar was awesome, really quirky, with a lot to see.
It sprawls right through adjoining streets, and seems to go on forever.
Berries and stone fruits galore. Yum!
This area was on my bucket list
There's one long main drag, but loads of side laneways too
Buns and bikkies
Witch supplies
Mmmm. Icecreams.
Whole dried apricots. I bought loads.
Untalking heads
Teaware
Local smithie shops. Everything handmade.
Amazing place to people watch.
These are actually stamps that they use to make all the different shapes on their breads.
The market even sprawls out under the highway overpass
A view from above
Uzbeckonstan
And so it was finally time to leave Kyrgyzstan.
As usual, I have other places to go, and people to meet. Don't ask me exactly who they are or where exactly I'm going, but they're all out there, I know that for a fact.
It's been a really amazing time in Kyrgyzstan. The country is one of the most scenically beautiful I've seen so far on this trip. The people have been incredibly hospitable, so much so that, somehow, I've even found myself coming to expect it, because so many people are so generous and so welcoming so often.
Especially when you get on your bike and get out of the cities.
The roads in Kyrgyzstan are some of the worst I've ridden on anywhere. And the drivers would probably get the gold medal for the worst I've had to deal with so far. Or maybe a gold medal's not appropriate. Maybe it should be blood red.
I've seen a pile of accidents, and seen vehicles where it'd be a physical impossibility that people weren't killed.
Kurt put it so well when he described NZ drivers during his cycle trip there some years ago ... "they've got nowhere to go, but are in a hurry to get there."
It's sorta appropriate for here too. Constant screeching from bald tyres, speeding, swerving between each other and around corners, accelerating and braking heavily, and just driving way too close to other vehicles, including bicycles, is common.
But once they get out of their vehicles, they're the kindest, warmest and most generous people to everyone they didn't just kill whilst in it.
It's one of those weird puzzles you get sometimes. Driver education is definitely needed here, yesterday. And road upgrades.
But, again, it's with a sad heart that I leave, after travelling from the far eastern corner of the country, along Lake Issyk-kul, to the capital of Bishkek, then west and south over the huge mountain range, and down into the Fergana Valley, and eventually to Osh.
This was my route through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. I entered eastern Kazakhstan from China.
And this is zoomed out a bit, for context.
And tomorrow I'll be discovering another new country for the very first time!
Go to Part 4
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