Rest Assured

Parts 1 to 4

It's been so so good to have time to completely and utterly rest for a change.

I've been really active for the past few months, and haven't had an extended break from travelling since all the way back in Hue, Vietnam, nearly a year ago, when I took a week off from moving around, and chilled in the one place.

I mean, it's all relative isn't it.

Every day on this trip I've had a bit of time to relax, at some point, and have had plenty of days where I haven't cycled or moved or done much at all.

But travelling requires energy, and I've been moving around out of Australia for over 18 months now, and was also travelling around Oz on and off for the previous 9 months before that.

Cycling is also pretty physical too, so having a little break from all that activity seems like the right thing for me to do right now.

I've been in Bishkek for a few days, and I haven't really been doing that much, relatively. I've been exploring, I've been sorting out my bike, but generally I've just been allowing my body to rest as much as it wants.

Nice huh.

It was quite hot when I left the town of Tokmak on the back road, and headed west, towards the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek.

An accident at a major intersection in Tokmak. I didn't see it happen, but I've seen many accidents nearly happen in this country. Road safety is really poor here.

It was quite green around the road, and pretty quiet traffic-wise at the beginning, but the traffic picked up as I carried on, and I was forced to take the bumpy shoulder.

Hay now, hay now

School Uniforms of the World #422

I entered Bishkek through the back alleys and back canals. The local map app, 2GIS, sent me this way.

Hitting the edge of the city centre. Lagman is a traditional and favourite Kyrgyz dish, basically a noodle soup with thin chunks of beef.

I found a really nice hostel, with the sweetest receptionist of all time, Ayganesh. Her sister Aydana is also amazingly nice. There's a few long term residents here as well, from all over the place, and I've had some awesome conversations with them over the past few days.

Ayganesh holding up a gymnastics costume that Leana, a Ukrainian gymnastics teacher who works in Bishkek, made for her own student. Her student's poor, and couldn't afford to have a costume made, so Leana generously stepped in. The sequin work was pretty stunning actually, it looked rather Vincentian. (Of the Van Gogh variety).

Naveed, from Karachi in Pakistan, proudly holding up his graduation certificate, which he received at a ceremony from his Bishkek University a couple of days ago. He's now a qualified doctor, and will return to Pakistan soon to work. We've been hanging out a bit, he's so interesting, very widely read, and with a huge understanding of philosophy, theology and politics, particularly of this region.

Bewdy badly needs a hot bath. You know how bugs get smashed on your car windscreen and get stuck there when you race down the highway at high speeds? The same happens to bike frames, see?

Smoked fish in the supermarket

You're never too far from run-down buildings in this country. Not even in the capital.

E-scooters zipping around. Not as many as Almaty, but young people and couriers here love 'em.

Bishkek is full of red umbrella-ed stalls selling particular locally made drinks, which Kyrgyz locals go mad over, especially when it's hot. Each stall has 3 barrels of different drinks, maksym, chalap, and kvass, and the company that sells them, Shoro, is big here, so big that the drinks are colloquially known by that name.

Maksym is a sour drink make from barley, wheat, millet and corn, and is pretty much the national drink of Kyrgyzstan. Chalap is essentially aryan, a salty and tart Turkish yoghurt drink, but diluted with water. And kvass is a low-alcohol cloudy beverage which is of sort sweet and sour, and a bit cola-esque.

They're all super cheap, with a cup costing only 25 som, around 25 Eurocents, or about 45c Oz.

This is a maksym and aryan mix, which the lady recommended I try. It was tasty and sour, which all Kyrgyz drinks, and many foods, tend to be.

Classic old theatre

Gardens around Ala-Too Square, the biggest park in the city.

Yes, real latte. It was good!

One of many parks around the city

Sausage seamen

They're doing major roadworks on the big road outside my hostel. Families are taking advantage of the extra kid cycle space.

Beautiful mural

Wow! I need to go here! I wonder if, rather than get a whole new me, you can just get part of a new me, like the eyes, or the skin, or a normal body.

The kitschiest shoe store sign in history, made from plastic roses and flashing fairy lights.

This pomegranate drink is the bomb.

The bar next door to my hostel. Yeah, I went there, it was really cool, but the music playlist included Kansas, Elton John, and cheesy American soft rock. Go figure. That music must be cool here again.

Kyrgyzstan has adopted some of the anti-tobacco measures that some more progressive countries have been implementing, such as hiding the products in boring grey cupboards.

This may look completely like nothing, but it's part of a street that had banks and money exchanges right next to each for block after block. It was so weird. Hundreds of metres of banks, all rubbing shoulders. I guess that keeps the competition tight.

I'm sorry to say it, but I think that I probably got scammed. I'm not 100% certain, but about 99.99%. I took my iPad to an Apple shop to ask about my dying iPad battery, and they recommended a tech service shop next door. As it turns out, the shop I originally went to wasn't a proper Apple store at all, just a pretend Apple one, and the tech service place also wasn't authentic.

The guy looked at my iPad and said I need a new battery.  He said he'd replace it, for about $70 Oz, which I thought was reasonable for an authentic Apple product, as they were more pricey than that online. He assured me that he'd be putting the proper Apple battery inside.

I came back the next day and he returned my iPad, the battery was working fine, and I paid him. But when I asked him for a receipt he flatly refused, saying he doesn't give receipts. When I asked him why not he said because he provides a service, not a product. When I reminded him that he'd just sold me a new product and a service, he still flatly refused to give a receipt.

What could I do? He already had my money.

So I'm almost 100% certain I got scammed, and that he charged me a premium for a poorer quality product, a fake.

Live and learn. We'll see how long it lasts. If it's any consolation, authentic Apple batteries don't always seem to last that long anyway, because Apple are scammers too.

When I dropped off my iPad, when I was still all friendly and hadn't been scammed yet, I asked the tech guy if this skeleton was what was left of his last complaining customer.

He replied that he'd lost his patience with this guy because he still had a Nokia phone.

Wow! Crooks can be funny!

The tech service business name? KiPhone. Criminal.

KFC Meta Roll. Junk food is universal.

Pushing a trolley bus. The electricity connecting rod had come off.

Horses are totally wild in Central Asia, these guys just galloped past suddenly.

Busker singing Russian love songs

Flower tower

Naveed tucking in to a noodle dish, from a Chinese place. The food comes from Lanzhou in Gansu province, I recognised the flavours. Naveed insisted on paying.

Bishkek Park, glitzy shopping mall

Veg pizza, which was very light on the veg. The peppers were super spicy.

Lots of tea too.

Bakery products are everywhere here. Massive boxes of biscuits, other baked goodies, or even bulk bikkies that you bag up and weigh, are common.

My fave park in the city, a super long one situated between 2 leafy streets. There were always people here, families, pets, chess players, coffee aficionados. So nice to walk or cycle down, or sit in, as a respite from the heat.

The heat was pretty consistent.

I love this mosaic of hanging carpets

Kitsch sunflower sheep

Another bust, this time of Togolok Moldo, a famous Kyrgyz poet and Manaschi (singer of the Manas epic).

Yeah, it's summer!

Local beverage, kvas.

The perfect way to cool off, on this scorcher of a day.

I don't get the pointy arrow thing

Looking for something, again

Bishkek Railway Station. There's only two train lines in the country, the Northern Line, running from Lugovaya, through the capital, to Balykchy, on Issyk-Kul, a distance of only 300kms or so, and a short line in the south.

In general, the transport infrastructure in this country is extremely limited, with all but the major roads not in a great condition, although they are improving in some places.

The economy in Kyrgyzstan is relatively small, with about 30% of national income coming from remittances sent home by Kyrgyz citizens who work overseas. Mining, textiles and agriculture are the top three industries in the country, with the Kumtor gold mine near Issyk-Kul, run by a Canadian company, providing a massive 12% of national revenue.

More Germaniacs

I caught up with a lovely German couple in Bishkek, through our WhatsApp group. Simon and Karin live near Bielefeld, in central Germany, and have been doing a crazy-long ride too. They're great adventurers, often taking routes that no one else has tried, and crossing borders where there's no record of foreigners having ever crossed before.

They started their epic journey in Ulm, on the Danube, in southwest Germany, and basically followed the river east, through Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, and then on to Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.

They said they basically followed river valleys the whole way, and didn't hit a mountain range till central Turkey, lucky them! Then they rode through Iran, which they said was amazing (I already knew that), they took a bus across Pakistan (due to the difficult security situation in Baluchistan), and then crossed to India, and rode all the way down south, along the west coast.

They said they were traumatised from cycling in India, and would never ever do it again. Every day they faced really difficult and dangerous situations on the road, there's just so much to watch out for, and so many unbelievably dangerous drivers. That's one of the reasons I left my bike in Vientiane when I went to India.

From Kerala they then trained it back north, rode across southern Nepal, and then joined a tour for a four day van crossing of Tibet, from Kathmandu to Lhasa. Tibet isn't open to independent travel, basically because the Chinese government doesn't want you to know what's really going on up there.

From Lhasa they trained it down south to Kunming, rode to Vietnam, hated the hot weather, and turned around and came back again. Bloody Germaniacs.

They took a train to Ürümqi, and then rode across the tip of northwestern Xinjiang and into Kazakhstan, and then along the north shore of Issy-Kul to Bishkek. They're waiting for their Russian transit visa, and plan to ride back to Almaty, and have booked a train from Almaty to St Petersburg.

From there they plan to head into Estonia, and down through the other Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania, and then to Poland and the Czech Republic, and back home.

And you thought I was crazy.

Osh Bazaar

Simon, Karin and I met up at a great local eating place within the Osh Bazaar, the largest and most interesting market in Bishkek.

We sat around and ate lagman, one of the most common dishes here in Kyrgyzstan, which is basically a super tasty noodle soup with thin pieces of beef in it. Or horse, or camel, whatever you prefer. I left the meat for the dogs.

It was scorchingly hot, we drank carafe after carafe of kompot, a drink made from boiled up whole dried fruits. It's quite thick and nectary, very tasty, and extremely more-ish on a hot day.

Then we wandered around the radiating oven of the Osh Bazaar. I'm not sure why it's called the Osh Bazaar, as Osh is a town in southwestern Kyrgyzstan, a long way from here.

Mountains of lepishka, the local bread.

Dried fruit, sometimes sold in handmade decorated wooden boxes for gifts.

Local sweets, not too different from what they sell in Almaty actually

Waiting for Simon and Karin

The hot shed

Many varieties of qurut, the dried sour cheese. There's the normal soft or hard ones, there's apricot ones, or ones mixed with butter or other things.

This is edible clay. Pregnant women and anaemic people eat it here, although the practice isn't recommended by doctors.

The dried fruits are so amazingly good around here. Have I said that before? And cheap.

A section of the market was dedicated to products for horse riding, another to army gear.

Outside in the shade.

Artful Arturo

My life has been blessed in the past couple of days by meeting Arturo, an amazing Spanish guy from Asturia.

Turo is the most incredible photographer, his pictures of decades of travel through many countries are absolutely stunning. They're actually world class, and that's not just a personal opinion, as everyone who sees them basically says the same thing.

One of Turo's life missions appears to be to gently re-educate people in Europe about how misinformed they are about so-called "developing" countries, about the richness of the cultures there, the warmth and generosity of the people, and about how "un-dangerous" so many places are, compared to the picture portrayed by our sensationalist click-hungry media.

I couldn't agree with him more. I mean, a number of people have told me they've been a little worried about my own safety, doing what I'm doing, travelling alone on a bicycle through desolate places, or through places they've heard may not be safe.

But my journey has re-emphasised to me, in the strongest and most inspiringly possible way, the basic goodness of humanity, our instinctive generosity, and our keen desire to offer help and hospitality to strangers or to those in need.

I see it every single day. Not just directed towards me, but towards many many people.

And that's the good news story of the world.

Fuck all the bad news.

Bad news fills the websites of the world's media, simply because that's what sells. End of story.

One day there's a major murder somewhere, and there's major headlines forever. The same day there were 25,000 acts of kindness and goodness and sometimes remarkable generosity in the same place. But there's not a single word published about those.

As a result we all have a warped view of the world.

There are major crises going on, we can't ignore them, and we need to work to fight huge challenges such as environmental destruction, inequality and exploitation.

But there's way more good things going on everywhere, in every community, in every town in every city in every country.

It's important to put it all in perspective.

So, artful Arturo, with his bubbly personality and his infinite wisdom, is a man of my own heart, I'll visit him in his beautiful house in the forest in Spain one day, a house which he lovingly built himself, stone by chiselled stone.

Turo, Naveed and me, and my spartan dinner.

Kyrgyz National Museum

Like most ex-Soviet republics, Kyrgyzstan has its own substantial collection of grand public buildings.

The National Museum is one of them, and hosts a magnificent collection of artifacts, clothing, jewellery, paintings and photographs, from all periods of Kyrgyz history.

Turo highly recommended the museum to me, and, given what I'd learnt about his tastes over the past couple of days, I was keen to visit the place.

There's a smorgasbord of history in there.

More tools than you can poke a Stone Age pick at.

In case you're interested, the Stone Age is divided into three periods, going from oldest to most recent - the Palaeolithic, the Mesolithic, and the Neolithic. The names are derived from Greek words lithos (stone), palaios (old), meso (middle), and you know what neo means, from all those nasty neo Nazis.

This is the tooth and tusk of a mammoth. Man, it must've been mammoth.

Rock carvings from 4 millenia ago.

Kyrgyzstan's early history was dominated by various nomadic tribes, the remains of which have been discovered in various places. Face reconstructions from skulls reveal quite interesting facial structures.

The area had battles with many different kingdoms over the centuries, including the Chinese, the Mongols and the Dzungar Khanate, a kingdom that originated in present day Inner Mongolia in China.

The Kyrgyz army resisted the Dzungars, with Kazakh help, and eventually the Chinese Qing dynasty, who were also battling the Dzungars, defeated them, with the support of Uyghur troops. The Chinese then controlled Kyrgyzstan, but the Kyrgyz came to agreements with the Qing dynasty to maintain partial autonomy.

Statue from the Inner Tien Shan, around the 8th century.

Ancient map of the world, with Issyk-Kul at the centre.

Bone repository from the 9th Century, from Zoroastrian burial rituals. Zoroastrianism is an ancient Persian religion, and is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions (ie. they believe in only one God). There's only about 50,000 followers of the religion left in the world these days, and they're mainly in Iran.

Eighth Century Buddhas.

Me being a figment of Buddha's imagination

Beautifully glazed 14th Century bowl

Kyrgyz warrior singlet from the 18th Century

Hard hat, 17th Century

By the mid 1800s, the Khokand Khanate, which sprung from the Fergana Valley in southwest Kyrgyzstan, and from Uzbekistan, had conquered much of western Kyrgyzstan. This period was also one of expansion of the Russian Empire, and the Tsarist kingdom eventually controlled all of current Kyrgyzstan, and ruled for the next 130 years, until independence in 1991.

Kyrgyz diplomats visiting Russia in the mid 1800s.

Nomads from the 1800s

There was a beautiful yurt in the museum, with amazing felt walls and the most intricate carpets and fabrics inside.

Unreal horses

Traditional clothing

The Invisible Man was there

Huge wolf, doing star jumps

And a massive snow leopard copying him. It really was big.

Eagle hunter dressed to kill

The dangly thing on the top left is a pot scourer

The original carpetbaggers

Leather bottle for kymyss

Exquisite carpets and fabrics

Musical instrument, horn section

Hairy stringed instrument

The epic of Manas is famous throughout Kyrgyzstan, a hugely long poem telling of the exploits of the Kyrgyz hero Manas. The epic is over 1,000 years old, and the plot revolves around a series of events that coincide with the history of the region, primarily the interaction of the Kyrgyz people with other peoples in the area, of Turkic, Mongolian or Chinese origin.

You should read it one day, the full version's only 500,000 lines long.

There's loads of statues of Manas around the capital, as well as other memorials to him.

Amulets, kept for their protective or healing powers. From left to right, a lynx, a bear, and an eagle.

Old Islamic maths book.

Dolls for kids

Sheep ankle bones, used for the local game, "Khan Talabai." I used to play a game with these when I was a kid. We called it "knucklebones."

Another local game

Ancient Koran texts, the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a direct revelation from God. Besides it's religious significance, the Koran, or Quran, is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.

It's a comprehensive treatise on the correct code of conduct for all facets of life, and Muslims believe it was orally transmitted to the prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years, by the Angel Gabriel.

Old Russian currency.

Kyrgyz leaders from the 19th century.

Traditional female attire. Really has the Arabic vibe doesn't it.

Female tribal leader, who took over from her husband when he died.

Good 'ole Russian handcuffs, for keeping the Kyrgyz riffraff under control

Military coat

Kyrgyz sportsmen on their way to an international meet

Looks like fun doesn't it

The band

Making military clothes during the really Great Patriotic War, the fight between the Russians and the Germans during World War II.

Delivering supplies to the army

Traumatised military medics

Kids donating clothes from home for the war effort

Russian leader Leonid Brezhnev comes to town

Famous Kyrgyz actors

Music night

Kyrgyz currency, it's actually quite beautiful

I rubbed this lamp profusely, but nothing happened. It was a dud, a gift from the Saudi Arabian government to the Kyrgyz President. I wonder if they told him it was broken.

If it'd worked I would've wished for

1. no more flatties for my whole trip

2. the phasing out of all fossil fuels by next Thursday

3. everybody suddenly loving themselves and each other, and the richest 1% of the world's population suddenly deciding to donate all their money to the poor

Another glitzy gift from the Arabian Peninsula.

Traditional dancing attire

Famous Kyrgyz writer, diplomat and public figure Chingiz Aitmatov

Last Days In Bishkek (For A Little While)

I really enjoyed chilling in the Kyrgyz capital.

Local shopping mall, VEFA. Everyone hangs out there.

Simon and Karin and I went to Faiza, a local eating place Ayganesh had recommended to me. It was super nice, but we got there so late we missed most of the food.

Lots of soups, including the popular lagman noodle soup, lots of dumplings and stuffed pastries, like manty and samsy, and loads of meat meat meat.

We went to the bar next to my hostel. No, it's not a brothel, despite the neon.

Specialist baklava bakery. Yes, it's true!

Local popular eating place Navat, with the complimentary aryan drink they give you when you sit in.

At some point the staff broke into a ten minute dance. It was pretty trippy.

My order was potato dumplings, ashlyum fu (Dongan noodle soup), and another carafe of kompot.

So good.

The piped music included a komuz version of "I just called to Say I Love you." Yes, really. Komuz is a traditional Kyrgyz stringed instrument.

A Holiday From My Holiday

Hey guess what?

I'm going to Europe!

Very soon!

I've decided to spend a couple of weeks over there, to catch up with my daughter Manu before she leaves to go and live in Canada. I won't get the chance to see her for ages otherwise.

It'll also give me the chance to catch up with other dear friends, some of whom I haven't seen for a very long (embarrassingly long) time.

Yay!

Return flights to Europe from Bishkek are crazy cheap, and, while I'm really trying not to fly too much, seeing my family in any way I can will always take priority.

I've arranged to store my bike and all my stuff here in Bishkek, and will go to Europe with a little day bag. I love travelling that light.

So, surprise surprise, in the next post you'll see pics of Brussels, and the south of England - my first stops on another mouthwatering but super short European adventure.

As usual, the universe continuously refuses to stop delivering.

And I'm never gonna say no, am I❤️

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