An icy wind was raging across the 14,050' summit of the Kyzyl Art Pass as we crossed the border from Tajikistan into Kyrgyzstan. It wasn't a place to hang about. We took a few photographs then headed off down hill into Kyrgyzstan. The first part of the descent was extremely rough and at times we were reduced to walking the bikes down.
While we were descending we passed several geriatric army trucks grinding up the pass in the opposite direction, their hoods propped open in front of the windscreen to stop them overheating.
Heading into Kyrgyzstan
The rough track down from the pass
As we descended the narrow valley the world suddenly became very green. There was grass on the slopes and even the odd flower. It was a refreshing change from the rocky desert of the Pamir plateau.
It was a long way down the valley and in places the road had been completely washed away. Finally, after a long day we camped on a grassy plain dotted with yurts. Within ten minutes of pitching our tent we had our first visitors.
Yurt lads- they rode our bikes and we rode their horse
Pedalling towards Sary Tash Pik Lenin in the background
In the morning we had a fast run across the flat grassy plain of the Alay valley. Behind us the snowy rampants of Pik Lenin (7100m) and Pik Kommunizma (7500m) formed an almost vertical wall. On the far side of the plain we reached the village of Sary Tash and our first eggs since Khorog. We stocked up with supplies and then set out on the road to Osh. Rowena was not best pleased to be confronted with yet another pass. This time it was the Taldyk (probably means divorce in Kyrgyz) at 3,615m (11,800'). We slogged up this for most of the day, reached what we thought was the summit, then descended the other side, only to find it was a double whammy and there was yet another climb to the true summit. Unable to face any more climbing, we pitched the tent in a pretty mountain pasture.
Climbing the Taldyk Pass
Camp in the pastures near the Taldyk
Sign warning of just about everything
Next morning, it was a steep rough climb to the true summit of the pass. At the top we were rewarded by a second breakfast of bread and watermelon from a group of lorry drivers. The descent from the pass was down a long series of steep switchbacks. Coming the other way were long convoys of trucks carrying scrap metal to China. They filled the air with a fine dust from the dirt track until it was like descending through a thick fog.
Looking down the descent from the Taldyk
A very dusty descent
Yurt Camp
Yurt frame being erected
From the bottom of the pass we entered the Gulcho Valley. Suddenly there were proper villages, with little gingerbread style houses and flowery gardens. It all felt significantly more prosperous and developed than Tajikistan.
Gulcho Valley
At the bottom of the Gulcho valley we met Marija Kozin, cycling alone from her home in Slovenia to Beijing via Tibet. Wow! Marija was great company and we joined forces for the pedal to Osh. As we were the oldest bikers she had met on the road, Marija took to calling us "Mom and Pop".
After Gulcho there was yet another pass - the 2,400m Chyyyrchyk (yup, that's how it's spelt on my map). From the top of the pass, our mini peloton, raced down the 50 km or so to Osh. It was a really enjoyable pedal.
