Since leaving Almaty a week ago, we’ve had one eventful day after another…
Actually, before we even left the Almaty our camera stopped working. Luckily we were able to find a Canon service centre which had the camera repaired within an hour The main circuit board had given up (probably due to the constant vibrations) and needed replacing. The repair wasn’t cheap, but at least we had a working camera for the most interesting part of Central Asia.

First up was Charyn Canyon. Still in Kazakhstan it was by far the biggest highlight of that particular country. Primarily because most of Khazakhstan is flat as a pancake (and only a little more interesting), but also because Charyn Canyon itself is a pretty impressive place…

On the way to Charyn Canyon we ran into a group of Polish motorcyclists just finishing their tour of “The Stans”. We swapped notes over a quick beer and also purchased one of their spare Regulator/Rectifiers which would save our bacon a few days later.

Leaving Kazakhstan was even easier than entering it and the Kyrgyzstan border officials were the friendliest we’ve met so far. Their only serious question was whether we were carrying any drugs!

While on the border, we again ran into Yuki and decide to ride together for a while.
Feeling a little homesick, Yuki suggested we visit the hot springs of Arlyn Aratash (about 150km from the border). The road leading to the turn off for the hot springs is relatively easy, but the track up the valley itself is another story. We took almost 4 hours to cover 14km of steep rock infested trail!! Towards the end, the rocks gave way to mud which the Africa Twin didn’t handle too well and we took a couple of nasty falls damaging the side panniers. On the left pannier the bottom fell out and will require welding to fix properly. For now, we just hammered it back into place and secured the bottom with cord.

The trip down was a lot easier and we made quick time to the nearby town of Karakol. This however is where the ride ended for the day. After refueling, the Africa refused to start and suspecting an electrical problem, we were forced to seek help from a local auto electrician. He fitted a new starter relay and declared that the battery also needed replacing. We could only find a cheap Chinese brand but it did the trick and we were soon on our way (momentarily anyway…).

From Karakol it was a short ride to the popular lake Ysyk-Kol. Unfortunately it failed to inspire us and was yet another disappointing ‘must see’ lake. It’s becoming a trend…
Luckily, we found salvation in one of the valleys of the Tian Shan mountain range just south of the lake. We took a left at Barskoon and followed a flat dirt trail that lead up to the Barskoon Pass at just over 3000m a.s.l. This was some of the most dramatic mountain scenery to date and we took heaps of photos, even though signs warned against stopping due to the danger of avalanches!

Just after Barskoon Pass the road climbed higher so we continued on and reached the highest point of this particular route at Suek Pass (4028m a.s.l). Here the road deteriorated to no more than a rocky ‘footpath’, made more difficult by a layer of fresh snow…

Returning to lake Ysyk-Kol we did a u-turn into yet another valley. This one was even more dramatic than before and the climb up to Tosor Pass was a real challenge. Large boulders blocked the way and we were forced to push the bike through some sections…

Once over the pass it was a relatively easy ride. That is until we came upon a large river and stalled the bike trying to cross it. Water quickly flooded the engine through the exhaust pipe and we almost drowned the whole bike due to the strong current. We were only able to make it out with some help from local herders and their horses…

On dry land again, we tried to start the bike but to no avail. It was clear that we would need to camp by the river while the bike dried out. We stripped the bike and tried to clear as much water out of the engine as possible before airing it overnight. The next morning, with a fresh set of spark plugs (two had rusted through) the bike roared into life and we kept going towards Song-Kol (another lake that promised so much but delivered little).

We were now about 60km from the nearest town of Kazarman when again the bike simply stopped. A quick inspection of the battery indicated it was completely flat again. Something was seriously wrong with the electrics!! This had to be the regulator/rectifier. We replaced it with the new one we had purchased from the Polish bikers just a few days before and…. sucess!! We were able to push start the bike and keep going

Between Song-Kol and Jalal-Abad we crossed two mountain passes - Kaldama & Moldo Ashu. Each had dozens of tight switchbacks hugging incredibly steep mountain sides, with drop-offs varying between a couple of hundred meters to over a kilometer!! It was a scary ride and we just prayed that the brakes wouldn’t fail…

In summer, all of Kygyzstan’s mountains are inhabited by herders fattening up their livestok, for between 3-6 months (depending on the altitude of the settlement). For winter they return to their home towns and villages. The herder’s camps are very basic (there is no electricity, water or heating), but they are keen to share what they have and we were invited by a couple families to drink tea with them and eat some delicious home-made yogurt.

Arriving into Osh we met a couple of Polish guys (also on an Africa Twin) just returning from a successful ascent of Pik Lenin (over 7100m). Well done guys!!

Tomorrow we leave for the border with Tajikistan and the Pamir Highway. Internet is hard to find in places outside of the bigger towns, so we don’t expect to be be ‘on-line’ again until Dushanbe.