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Kyrgistan


Pamir Highway - Second time around

Tirsdag d. 12. - Søndag d. 17. september 2017                     (Update 12. dec. 2017)

Osh - Algabas 51 km
Algabas - Kunelek 56 km
Kunelek - Triumph buen 52 km
Triumph buen - Sary Tash 36 km
Pause i Sary Tash
Sary Tash - Te hus 4 kilometer fra grænsen til Tajikistan 44 km

Jeg tror alle var glade for at komme på cyklerne igen, efter de noget sjove dage i Osh. Altanay stod klar til at tage afsked med os. Først satte hun et armbånd på Sara og derefter spyttede hun vand efter os på bedste hekse doktor vis, da vi cyklede afsted.
Turen ud af Osh tog ikke lang tid da trafikken ikke var så hektisk. Vi cyklede stille og roligt, for at få gang i kroppene. Langsomt tog vi kilometer for kilometer og langsomt bevægede vi os opad.
Sagen var en hel anden for de tur cyklister vi mødet, der kom fra bjergene. De kom susende i høj fart, det var tydeligt at de var opsat på at nå til Osh og fejre at de havde besejret Pamir Highway og var på vej tilbage til varmen.
Ialt mødet vi 12-14 cyklister, men det var kun et par stykker der valgte at stoppe. Der var et par tyske fyre som stoppede og dem kunne vi så udveklse lidt erfaring med. De kunne fortælle at det havde været koldt oppe på platauet i mere end 4000 meters højde og vi kunne give gode råd om steder at spise i Osh og om ikke at bo på Fresh Osh Hostel.
På vej op igennem dalen havde vi bløde bakker på hver side af vejen og af og til kom der hyrder, som guidede store flokke af køer, får eller geder til nye græs områder. Hyrderne red på heste og når de var udfor os, kom standard spørgsmålet: At Kuda? Hvor er i fra? Dette blev daglig dag hele vejen igennem bjergene.
I landsbyerne var der børn der råbte: Hello eller bye bye. Nogen af dem ville også klappe i vores hænder, det var vi ikke vilde med, fordi at børnene forsøgte at hold fast, så når de forsøgte råbte vi: Njet Njet.
Første dag ud af Osh blev en kort dag og vi fandt et sted at campere efter 51 kilometers cykling. Inden vi satte teltene op, lavede vi vand til kaffe og the alt imens vi sad og nød solens varme.
Allerede på dag to, skulle vi tune benene ind på det første pas på Pamir ruten. Vi skulle op over ChyChyk passet i 2370 meters højde. Vi befandt os i 1600 meters højde og skulle klatre 770 meter over en strækning på godt 10 kilometer. De første 5 kilometer var ikke slem at cykle, hvor de sidste 5 kilometer blev mere stejle og hastigheden lå på 5 - 7 kmh. Alle kom vi op til toppen, hvor vi holdt en længere pause. 
Turen ned på den anden side var smukt anlagt og der ventede os en tur nedaf på godt 15 kilometer til byen Gulcha. 
Vejen ned var lige så fantastisk, som vi huskede den var i 2015. Bjergene tårnede sig op alle steder vi kiggede hen og smukke farver i brune, grønne og gule nuancer.
Da vi nåede Gulcha skulle vi finde et sted vi kunne sidde og spise vores frokost. Desværre valgte vi fuldstændigt forkert. Vi satte os i skyggen ved en lille mur i et kryds midt i byen og inden længe var der 8-12 børn som flokkedes omkring os. Nogen klartede op på muren andre stod lige foran os og gloede. De ville også gerne røre ved vores cykler. Så det blev en kort og meget urolig frokost pause.
Sidst på dagen, fik vi endnu en oplevelse med nogle lidt for nysgerrige børn. Vi slog lejr på et fladt stykke jord nedenfor landsbyen Kunelek. Inden længe kom en stor flok drenge ned for at se hvad vi var for nogen. De skulle se hvordan vi lavede mad og alt muligt andet. Vores cykler var de også fasineret af. Efter 30 minutter var de pludselig væk. Dejligt tænkte vi, nu har vi da ro. Men der var en grund til de forsvandt så hurtigt. Da vi kiggede nærmere på vores cykler, kunne Heidi se at hendes elefant fra Thailand var væk og Marianne manglede hendes tallisman fra Kina. Vi kunne godt regen ud at det måtte være dregene der havde taget dem.
Heldigvis havde Sara taget en del billeder af dem, så da vi havde spist gik Marianne op til den lille købmandsbutik i landsbyen og forklarede via google translate og billederne hvad der var sket.
Der var to mænd i butikken og de kunne godt genkende drengene på billederne. Så de sagde kom herop igen om en time, så har vi løst problemet.
Efter kort tid, var der en af drengene der kom tilbage. Ham viste vi billederne og han kunne udpege hvem der havde gjort det. Efter en halv time mere, kom der en mand sammen med 2 drenge, de overrakte først elefanten til mig og derefter min tallisman, som var revet istykker. Jeg behøves vist ikke sige at jeg var rasende og ked af det. Tror også jeg fik brugt F... ordet et par gange. Selvom det i nogens øjen måske er en lille ting, så havde den tallisman stor betydning for mig. Jeg havde glædet mig til at kunne bringe den hele vejen til Danmark og så hænge den op som minde når vi var hjemme igen. På telefonen havde jeg skrevet en sætning hvor der stod: HUSK aldrig at stjæle noget igen. Jeg tror de forstod budskabet.
Vi forsatte fra Kunelek næste dag og fortsatte hvor vi slap dagen før. Først et stykke nedaf, efterfulgt af nogle hårde bakker. Det var ikke alt vi kunne huske fra sidste gang vi cyklede her, men da vi kommer til en restaurant, som ligger lige ved vejen. Kan vi godt huske at der holdt vi pause sidst. Denne gang blev ingen undtagelse, vi holdt ind for at købe vand og cola. Men det blev ikke så let som vi havde regnet med. Selvom vi råbte: Hello flere gange, var der ikke nogen at se. Det var først efter at How gik om bag huset, at en mand dukkede op.
Inden vi cyklede videre satte vi os på trappen og nød varmen fra solen.
Desværre blev solen ikke ved med at skinne. Senere på dagen da vi havde siddet udenfor en lille butik og spist frokost, trak sorte skyer sammen og det begyndte at tordne. Når vi kiggede tilbage så det ikke godt ud, men vi tog en hurtig beslutning og cyklede afsted. Måske vi kunne ligge det dårlig vejr bag os. Det lykkedes ikke for os, men vi nåede at cykle et godt stykke inden det begyndte at regne, men vi var heldige at kunne søge læ under et halvtag.
Da regnen stoppede cyklede videre mod byen Kichikarkol, vi havde fulgt Gulcha floden og her hvor vi cyklede var der en stor forkastning i bjergene. Der var et miks af bjerge i jordfarver, hvor store revner løb ned igennem og så var der gråtonede bjerge, som knajsede sig højt op imod himmlen. Andre steder så bjergene helt grønne ud. Et fascinerende og smukt syn.
Efter byen skulle vi igennem et stort hårnåle sving, som bragte os op i 2500 meters højde. Det blev også højden vi overnattede i. Vi fandt frem til det samme sted vi havde camperet for 2 år siden. Dengang havde vi slået lejr nede ved et vandløb, hvor vi skulle ned af en stejl skrænt. Men vi fandt et bedre sted oppe på plateauet. Et stykke hvor der var græs og læ for vinden. Vi havde udsigt til bjerge med sne på toppen og vi faldt i søvn velvidende at vi skulle op over to pas næste dag, inden vi ville nå første delmål på Pamir Highway: byen Sary Tash.
Toilet besøgene i løbet af natten havde budt på den smukkeste stjernehimmel og klar frostvejr, så vi vågnede til en meget kold morgen, hvor der var frost på vores telte. Da vi var i en dal med bjerge på begge sider, tog det noget tid inden at solens stråler nåede ned på vores lejr og vi fik varmen at føle.
Morgenmaden blev havregrød og varme drikke, et dejligt indslag på en kold morgen.
Vi vidste at der var 36 kilometer foran os, men 36 hårde kilometer. Vi skulle besejre Taldyk passet i 3615 meters højde.
De første 8 kilometer af dagen er ikke noget særligt. I Ak Bosogo får vi fyldt godt op med vand, desværre i selskab med en masse uopdragne børn. Først er det OK med deres nysgerrighed, men de gik næsten helt i extase og da Marianne, som en af de sidste; skal til at cykle, sparker de på hendes tasker. Selvom der er voksne i nærheden, er der ingen af dem der siger noget til dem. De fik ikke nogle "søde" ord med på vejen fra Marianne.
Efter Ak Bosogo begyndte det sjove arbejde. Nu gik det opad. Først en lang sej stigning på 7 kilometer inden vi nåede det første hårnåle sving. Vi var nødt til at stoppe af og til, både fordi det var hårdt og fordi at luften begyndte at blive tynd. En af gangene fik vi sleskab af to brødre fra Aruba, de kom flyvende i høj fart ned oppe fra passet. De var i højt humør og glade for at være nede i varmen igen. Den ene spurgte om det ikke var os der havde videoer på YOUTUBE? For han kunne genkende os fra videoerne, vi havde lagt op omkring Pamir Highway 2015. Det syntes vi var lidt sjovt.
Da vi kom til bunden af de ti hårnale sving, var det tid til frokost. Nu havde vi fået selskab af to engelske fyre. De skulle også cykle Pamir Highway og senere Iran. Det virkede lidt som om de ikke var helt klar over, hvad der ventede dem. De spiste ikke frokost, og det virkede ikke somom de havde noget at spise. Vi havde kun mad der passede til os, så vi kunne ikke tilbyde dem noget og egentlig var vi af den mening at de burde vide hvad der ventede dem. 
Efter frokost begyndte vi de 5 kilometer op igennem de 10 sving. Heidi var godt kørende, How var flyvende, Marianne var helt slidt og i dårlig humør og Sara tog det stille og roligt.
Men vi tog alle det ene sving efter det andet og inden vi havde set os om, kunne vi løfte armene i triumph over at have nået toppen af Taldyk - 3615 meter over havet.
Nu kunne vi kigge ned over det vi lige havde besejret. Svingene lå som et kunstværk op igennem dalen og vi kunne nyde udsigten. Træer og grønt landskab havde vi lagt bag os og vi vidste at det var først noget vi ville se igen om 10 dage. Alle var vi stolte og som en extra bonus, var der nogle lokale som var kommet op til passet i bil, der gav os to store brød og æbler som en gave. De tog også billeder af os og sammen med os.
Englænderne var også nået op, dem gav vi det ene stykke brød. De spiste det med det samme.
Fra toppen af passet var der stadig 16 kilometer til Sary Tash og på den distance skulle vi over det lille pas 40 Let Kyrgystan, som ligger i 3550 meters højde.
Først skulle vi køre ned et godt stykke vej inden vi skulle klatre 2 - 3 kilometer op til passet. Endelig derfra kunne vi suse ned imod Sary Tash og få den helt store belønning. Når man når til de sidste 3 kilometer inden byen, er der den smukkeste udsigt til den sneklædte bjergkæden: Trans Alai, hvor bl.a Peak Lenin er at se, med sine 7134 meter. Et gigantisk syn og afslutning på en hård cykeldag. Vi blev i Sary Tash 2 nætter for at akklimatisere os til højden. 
Pause dagen blev brugt til at handle mad ind så der var mad til tre dage, sørge for at vores elektroniske gadgets var opladet og afslapning.
Inden dagen var omme havde vi fået selskab af en fra England, Janneke fra Holland som cyklede sammen med Luke fra USA og senere kom to fra Belgien.
Janneke og Luke skulle samme vej som os, hvor manden fra England var på vej mod Kina og de to fra Belgien var på vej mod Osh. Vi nyder altid at møde andre cykel rejsende. Der er altid en historie der skal fortælles og mange forskellige erfaringer at dele mellem hinanden.
Vi nød også godt af at få et bad imens vi var i Sary Tash. Et bad i disse egne er ren og skær luksus. Man skal huske på her er ikke rindende vand, så et bad foregår ved at der hældes vand op i en beholder på maks 20 liter. Denne beholder bliver så varmet op via brændsel og når vandet er varmt nok er der vand til to personer.
Et hurtigt bad, ikke noget med at stå i flere minutter under bruserne, som vi nok ville gøre der hjemme.
Søvnen havde ikke været særlig god pga. højden og toiletbesøg. Vi vågnede til en kold overskyet dag og nu var spørgsmålet: Hvor meget tøj vi skulle iføre os. Vi skulle trods alt op i en højde af mere end 4000 meter. Men vi vidste også godt at når vi kom igang med at cykle, så ville vi få varmen.
Vi cykler afsted lidt før Janneke og Luke, da de skulle have handlet inden de forlod Sary Tash. Da vi er nået et godt stykke udenfor byen, runder vi 13.000 km cyklet siden start. Vi gjorde ikke så meget ud af det, selvom det er en kæmpe milepæl for os. Et hurtigt billede og et videoklip med GoPro og så var vi afsted igen.
Vi fik drama for alle pengene, da Sara´s sadel beslag knækker. Først troede hun at sadlen bare havde rystet sig løs, men da vi kigger nærmere på beslaget kan vi se at det er knækket. Hvad skulle vi gøre. Sadlen kan ikke skrues fast og det ser ikke godt ud. Planen blev at vi ville cykle til den Kyrgiske grænsepost og se om de havde en løsning. Der var kun en kilometer derhen. Vi var blevet overhalet af en flok på motorcykler og de havde problemer med nogle af deres papir, så de var fanget ved grænseposten. Den besked fik vi fra en fyr i en bil, der var på vej mod Sary Tash. Så Marianne tog en hurtig beslutning og cyklede hurtigt i forvejen, for at høre om
de måske havde noget vi kunne bruge til at ordne problemet.
Desværre var der ikke noget de kunne hjælpe os med. Det endte med at en af mændene fra kontrolposten, fik spændt sadlen fast på den halvdel der stadig duede, godt nok så sadlen pegede lidt opad. Men den sad fast og Sara kunne cykle igen. 
Vi måtte se langs ad om der måske bød sig en anden løsning. Men for nu var problemet løst, så vi alle kunne fortsætte.
Imens vi ventede på at blive stemplet ud af Kyrgistan, fik vi selskab af Luke og Janneke. Efter vi alle var blevet stemplet ud af Kyrgistan, cyklede vi et stykke videre inden vi satte os for at spise vores frokost, det samme sted som Janneke og Luke havde valgt.
Da vi fortsatte, kunne vi stadig nyde at der var asvalt et godt stykke endnu. Men vi ved godt der kunner tale om kort tid inden vejen bliver grus og vi skulle for alvor til at bevæge os op mod grænsen til Tajikistan.
Hele vejen op blev det et miks af at cykle og af cyklen for at skubbe når vejen blev for stejl. Luke og Janneke var allerede et godt stykke foran os. Men pga. det tekniske uheld med Sara´s sadel, var klokken allerede blevet 14:30 og vi kunne godt regne ud at det blev umuligt at nå op til grænse posten inden klokken 18, hvor den lukkede, så vores mål blev at nå til tehuset der lå 4 kilometer nedenfor grænsen. Der havde Heidi og jeg holdt pause sidst vi var her, men vi håbede på at vi kunne få husly for natten, når vi nåede derop.
Alt imens vi bevægede os opad, begyndte det at sne. Bare en smule. I 2015, havde vi haft høj solskin og noget varmere vejr, så jeg tror undervejs opad kom tanken: Hvorfor cykler vi Pamir Highway for anden gang???
Hjertet hamrede løs og var hårdt at trække vejert. Hver gang vi nåden et sving, tænkte vi: nu må vi altså kunne se tehuset. Efter 10 kilometer ankom vi til huset. Dem der boede der, stod allerede klar og bød os velkommen indenfor. Janneke og Luke sad allerede inde i varmen, hvor vi også hurtigt kunne finde ind.
Nu blev aftalen at vi alle seks gerne ville sove der for natten. Vi skulle betale 10 USD hver og fik så aftensmad og morgenmad. Aftensmad var en dejlig varm suppe og brød plus al den the vi kunne drikke og morgenmad var brød, youghurt og the. Det er kun meget basalt føde der findes i disse højder og set med vores øjne er det et hårdt liv at leve på disse kanter.
Indtil vi skulle spise, sad vi og snakkede. Jannek og How forsøgte at lære nogle rusiske ord af den lille dreng, som boede i thehuset. Alle var godt brugte og klokken blev ikke mange inden vi alle lagde os til at sove i samme rum på bedste sovesals maner´ . Drengen sov også inde ved os, hvor bedsteforælderne sov i et rum ved sidenaf.
Hvis vi skulle på toilet om natten, var det ud af huset og over i et lille skur der lå 100 meter fra huset. Pyha, man skal være god til at overtale sig selv til at tage turen til toilettet, når man ligger i sin varme sovepose.

Dette var slutningen på Kyrgistan ;-)
 


English

Tuesday, 12. - Sunday, September 17, 2017                                                   (Update December 12, 2017)

Osh - Algabas 51 km
Algabas - Kunelek 56 km
Kunelek - Triumph arches 52 km
Triumph Arches - Sary Tash 36 km
Pause in Sary Tash
Sary Tash - Tea house 4 kilometers from Tajikistan border 44 km

I think everyone was happy to get on the bikes again after some funny days in Osh. Altanay was ready to say goodbaye to us at hte gate. First she put a bracelet on Sarah and then she spit water after us in the best witch doctor's way when we rode off.
The trip out of Osh did not take long as the traffic was not so hectic. We cycled quietly to get our bodies back on track. Slowly we took kilometer for kilometer and slowly we moved upwards.
The case was a whole different one for those cyclists we met, who came from the mountains. They passed us at high speed, it was clear they were keen to reach Osh and celebrate that they had defeated Pamir Highway and were on their way back to the nice warm weather.
We met 12-14 cyclists, but only a couple of them chose to stop. There were a couple of German guys who stopped and we could then exchange some experience. They could tell that it had been cold on the plateau at more than 4000 meters in height and we could provide good advice on places to eat in Osh and not to stay at Fresh Osh Hostel.
On the way up the valley we had soft hills on either side of the road and sometimes shepherds came guiding large flocks of cows, sheep or goats to new grass areas. The shepherds rode on horses and when they were ahead of us, the standard question came: At Kuda? Where are you from? This became a daily day thing all the way through the mountains.
In the villages there were children who shouted: Hello or bye bye. Some of them would like to clap our hands, we did not like that because the children tried to hold on, so when they tried, we shouted: Njet Njet.
The first day out of Osh was a short day and we found a place to camp after 51 kilometers of cycling. Before we sat the tents, we made water for coffee and tea while we sat and enjoyed the sun's warmth.
Already on day two, we should tune our legs onto the first pass of the Pamir route. We were going up over the ChyChyk pass at an altitude of 2370 meters. We were at 1600 meters altitude and had to climb 770 meters over a stretch of 10 kilometers. The first 5 kilometers were not bad to cycle, the last 5 kilometers became steeper and the speed was 5 - 7 kmh. All of us made it to the top where we spent a longer break.
The trip down on the other side was beautifully landscaped and we had a downhill of 15 kilometer to Gulcha ahead of us.
The road was as amazing as we remembered it was in 2015. Mountains everywhere we looked and in beautiful colors in brown, green and yellow shades.
When we reached Gulcha we should find somewhere we could sit and eat our lunch. Unfortunately, we chose completely wrong. We sat in the shade by a small wall at a cross in the middle of town and soon there were 8-12 children who flocked around us. Someone crawled the wall others stood right in front of us and glowed. They would also like to touch our bikes. So it became a short and very troubled lunch break.
At the end of the day, we had another experience with some curious kids. We camped on a flat piece of land below the village of Kunelek. Within a long time a big bunch of boys came down to see what we were doing. They should see how we made food and everything else. They were also fascinated by our bikes. After 30 minutes they were suddenly gone. Nice we thought, now we have peace. But there was a reason they disappeared so quickly. When we looked at our bikes, Heidi could see that her elephant from Thailand was gone and Marianne was missing her tallisman from China. We figured it might be the boys that had taken them.
Fortunately Sara had taken some pictures of them, so when we had eaten Marianne went up to the little grocery store in the village and explained via google translate and the pictures what had happened.
There were two men in the store and they could well recognize the boys on the pictures. So they said come back again in an hour, then we've fixed the problem.
After a short time, one of the boys came back. We showed him the pictures and he could identify who had done it. After half an hour, a man came back with 2 boys, they first handed the elephant to me and then my tallisman, which was torn in pieces. I do not need to say I was furious and sad. Think I also used the F ... word a few times. Even though it may be a little thing in someone's eyes, that had a big meaning for me. I was pleased to bring it all the way to Denmark and then hang it up as a memory when we were home again.
On the phone I had written a sentence saying "DO NOT STEAL EVER AGAIN. I think they understood the message.
We left Kunelek the next day and continued where we stopped the day before. First a piece of downhill, followed by some hard hills. It was not all we could remember from the last time we rode here, but then we came to a restaurant that was just off the road. We remembered that we stopped there last time. This time there was no exception, we stopped to get some water and coke. But it was not as easy as we had expected. Although we shouted: Hello several times, there was no one to see. It was only after How went behind the house that a man appeared.
Before we rode on, we sat on the stairs and enjoyed the warmth from the sun.
Unfortunately the sun did not keep shining. Later in the day when we had sat outside a small shop and ate lunch, black clouds pulled together and it started to thunder. When we looked back, it did not look good, but we made a quick decision and cycled. Maybe we could lay the bad weather behind us. We did not succeed, but we managed to cycle quite a distance before it started to rain, we were lucky to search shelter under a roof beside the road before it got to wet.
When the rain stopped we cycled further towards the town of Kichikarkol, we had followed the Gulcha River and here where we cycled there was a big throwback in the mountains. There was a mix of mountains in earth colors, were big cracks ran through, and there were grayish mountains that knocked high against the sky. Elsewhere the mountains looked green. A fascinating and beautiful sight.
After the city we went through a big hairy switch back that brought us up to 2500 meters in height. It was also the height we got to camp in. We found the same place we had camped 2 years ago. At that time we had camped in the valley where we had to go down a steep slope. But we found a better place on the plateau. A piece where there was grass and shelter for the wind. We had mountain views with snow on top and we fell asleep knowing that we had to cycle over two passes the next day before we reached the first interim destination on Pamir Highway: the town of Sary Tash
The toilet visits during the night had offered the most beautiful starry sky and clear frost so we woke up to a very cold morning where there was frost on our tents. As we were in a valley with mountains on both sides, it took some time before the sun's rays reached our camp and we could feel the warmth from the sun.
The breakfast was oatmeal and hot drinks, a nice touch on a cold morning.
We knew there were 36 kilometers ahead of us, but 36 hard kilometers. We had to climb the Taldyk pass at 3615 meters altitude.
The first 8 kilometers of the day were nothing special. In Ak Bosogo we got well stocked up with water, unfortunately in the company of a lot of uninvited children. First, it's OK with their curiosity, but they almost went to extase and then when Marianne, as one of the last; had to cycle, they kicked her bags. Although there were adults nearby, none of them said anything to them. They did not get any "sweet" words on the way from Marianne.
After Ak Bosogo, the fun work began. Now it went up. First a long, 7 kilometer increase before reaching the first switch back turn. We had to stop occasionally, both because it was hard and because the air started to get thin. One of the times we got company of two brothers from Aruba, they came flying at high speed down the pass. They were in a loud mood and happy to be down in the warm weather again. One asked if it was us that had videos on YOUTUBE? Because he could recognize us from the videos we had uploaded about Pamir Highway 2015. We thought that it was funny - YOUTUBE stars ;-)
When we got to the start of the ten switch backs, it was time for lunch. Now we got company of two English guys. They should also ride Pamir Highway and later Iran. It seemed a bit like they were not completely aware of what awaited them. They did not eat lunch and it did not seem like they had anything to eat. We only had food enough for the 4 of us so we could not offer them anything and really we were of the opinion that they should know what was waiting for them.
After lunch, we started the 5 kilometer up through the 10 turns. Heidi was cycling well, How was flying, Marianne was completely tired and in a bad mood and Sara took it easy.
But we all took one turn after another and before we knew we could lift our arms in triumph over reaching the top of Taldyk - 3615 meters above sea level.
Now we could look down on what we had just defeated. The turns lay like a work of art up through the valley and we could enjoy the view. Trees and greenery we had put behind us and we knew that it was first something we would see again in 10 days. Everyone were proud and, as an added bonus, there were some locals who had come up the pass by car, they gave us two big breads and apples as a gift. They also took pictures of us and with us.
The English guys had also reached the top, we gave them one piece of bread. They ate it right away.
From the top of the pass, there were still 16 kilometers to Sary Tash and on that distance we had to pass the little pass 40 Let Kyrgystan, located at 3550 meters altitude.
At first we had to drive down a good way before climbing 2-3 kilometer to the pass. Finally from there we could fly downhill to Sary Tash and get the big reward. When reaching the last 3 kilometers before the town, there is the most beautiful view of the snowy mountain range: Trans Alai, where Peak Lenin is to see, with its 7134 meters. A giant sight and end of a hard bike day. We stayed in Sary Tash for 2 nights to acclimatize ourselves as Sary Tash is located in 3170 meter above sea level.
The rest day was used to shop for food for three days and to make sure our electronic gadgets were charged and relaxing.
Before the day ended, we got company from a guy from England, Janneke from Holland, who cycled with Luke from the United States and later came a couple from Belgium.
Janneke and Luke went the same way as us where the man from England was heading for China and the two from Belgium were heading for Osh. We always enjoy meeting other bicycle travelers. There is always a story to be told and many different experiences to share between each other.
We also enjoyed getting a bath while in Sary Tash. A bath in these areas is pure luxury. One should keep in mind here is not running water, so a bath is done by pouring water into a container of max. 20 liters. This container is then heated by wood or dried cowshit and when the water is warm enough, there is water for two persons.
A quick bath, do not stand for several minutes under the showers, which we would probably do back home.
The sleep had not been particularly good due to the height and the toilet visits. We woke up to a cold cloudy day and now the question was: How much clothes we should jump into. After all, we would reach an altitude of more than 4000 meters. But we also knew that when we started cycling, we would get warm quite fast.
We rode off a little before Janneke and Luke, as they had to shop food before leaving Sary Tash. When we had reached a good distance outside the town, we reached our 13,000 km cycling since the start. We did not make much of it, even though it was a huge milestone for us. A quick photo and a video clip with GoPro and then we went on again.
We got drama for all our money, as Sara's seatpost broke. At first she thought that the saddle had just shaken loose, but as we look closer on the bracket we could see that it was broken. What should we do? The saddle could tighend and it did not look good. The plan was that we would cycle to the Kyrgyz border post and see if they had a solution. It was only a kilometer away. Earlier We had been overtaken by a bunch of motorcycles and they had trouble with some of their paper so they were caught at the border post. We got that message from a guy in a car that was heading for Sary Tash. So Marianne made a quick decision and cycled quickly in advance to see if they might have had something we could use to fix the problem.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do to help us. One of the men from the checkpoint ended up tightening the saddle on the half that still was left of the bracket, well the saddle pointed slightly upwards. But it kept in place and Sara could ride again.
We had to look along the way if there might be another solution. But for now the problem was resolved so we could all continue.
While we were waiting to be stamped out of Kyrgyzstan, we got company of Luke and Janneke. After we all had been stamped out of Kyrgistan, we rode a little further before we sat to eat our lunch, the same place that Janneke and Luke had chosen.
As we continued, we could still enjoy the fact that there was a good peace of paved road yet. But we knew thatwithin a short while the road became gravel and we really should start climbing up towards the border to Tajikistan.
All the way up was a mix of cycling and pushing the bike when the road became too steep. Luke and Janneke were already well ahead of us. But due to the technical accident with Sara's saddle, the time had already reached 14:30 and we could figure out that it was impossible to reach the border post before 18:00 when it closed, so our goal was to reach the house that layed 4 kilometers below the border. Heidi and I knew the place from last time when we were here. We hoped that we could get shelter for the night when we reached the house.
As we moved up, it began to snow. Just a little. In 2015, we had high sunshine and warmer weather, so I think along the way, the thought came: Why do we ride Pamir Highway for the second time ???
The heartbeat was heavy and was hard to breath. Every time we reached a bend, we thought: now we must be able to see the tea house. After 10 kilometers we arrived at the house. Those who lived there were already ready and welcomed us. Janneke and Luke were already inside the warm house the heat.
Now we agreed on all six would like to sleep there for the night. We had to pay 10 USD each incl. dinner and breakfast. Dinner was a lovely hot soup and bread plus al the tea we could drink and breakfast was bread, youghurt and the. It is only very basic food that is found in these heights and, with our eyes, it is a hard life to live.
Until we got our dinner, we sat and talked. Jannek and How tried to learn some words in russian of the little boy who lived in the house. Everyone was tired and it was not late before we all were ready to sleep. All of us in the same room in the best dormitory maner. The boy also slept with us where the grandparents slept in a room next door.
If we were going to the toilet at night, it was out of the house and across a small path to ashed that was 100 meters from the house. UHHHH you must be good at persuading yourself to go to the toilet, when you lie in your warm sleeping bag.

End of Kyrgistan ;-)


Reaching Osh and some crazy days!!!

01. september 2017 - 11. september 2017                                   (Update 10. december 2017)

01. sep 2017   68 km
02. sep 2017   51 km
03. sep 2017   60 km
04. sep 2017   36 km   (Reaching Osh)
05. - 11. sep. 2017 Osh

Både Heidi og jeg havde en øv dag. Først var det Heidi, der ikke kunne drikke noget uden at det kom op igen og senere på dagen havde jeg det ligeså. Vi havde cyklet på dårlig vej, hvor det næsten var bedre, at cykle helt ude i vejkanten end på vejen og vi havde cyklet forbi bomulds marker, hvor høsten var igen.
Vi havde endda cyklet langs med grænsen til Uzbekistan. Her kunne vi se over på ingenmandsland og nogle militær poster og tænke længere frem på rejsen, hvor vi gerne skulle cykle igennem Uzbekistan.
Sara og How var de eneste der spiste aftensmad, da både Heidi og jeg hyggede os med at kaste op. 
Dagen efter har vi det lidt bedre, men appetitten er ikke stor. Vi er alle ved at være trætte, efter at have cyklet en del dage i streg. Humøret var ikke så højt som det havde været. Heidi og jeg snakkede stadig om hvad vi skulle gøre i forhold til Heidi´s mor. På dette tidspunkt var hun kommet hjem og havde det efter omstændighederne  godt og alle vi var i kontakt med, fra rådede os at komme hjem, da alt var under kontrol.
Vi blev enige om, at vente med at lave en endelig beslutning, når vi nåede Osh. Her skulle vi skype med
Heidi´s forældre og ville selv have vished om at hun havde det godt.
Ved middagstid nåede vi til et stort område tæt på Tyrk-Abad, her var der en masse spisesteder lige ved vejen. Så vi holdt en længere pause, hvor de ander spiste Shish kebab og lækkert brød. Jeg spiste stadig kun youghurt da appetitten ikke var til stede.
Da vi cyklede afsted fra restauranten, kom en mand pludselig cyklende op på siden af os. Han havde en ringklokke, som han brugte lystigt. Først syntes vi af det var hyggeligt og skægt, men det begyndte at blive noget mærkeligt da vi holdte for at handle ind i en købmandsbutik. Her gik han med ind i butikken og begyndte at pege på en masse varer han syntes vi skulle købe. Han var endda så fræk at spørge How, om han ikke ville købe cigaretter til ham. Vi forsøgte at overse ham, men da vi kom ud af butikken, holdt han klar med hans cykel og ligesom vi kom ud fik ringklokken en ordentlig omgang og han gjorde tegn til at nu skulle vi alle cykle.
Vi kunne ikke lade være med at trække på smile båndet.
Men det endte med at blive noget belastende, for selv når børn forsøgte at hilse på os, jagtede han dem væk og når vi stoppede for at kigge på noget holdt han i vente position.
Det hele endte med at How gik hen til ham og sagde Spasiba (Tak) og gjorde tegn til ham, om at vi ikke cyklede videre da det var for varmt. Dette var nu en løgn. Vi gad ikke vise ham, hvor vi skulle campere og ønskede bare at han forsvandt. Hvilket han gjorde efter How´s besked.
Nu kunne vi finde os et sted at slå lejr. Det blev på en mark lidt nede af en sidevej. Her havde vi udsigt til smukke bjerge og senere fik vi besøg af en hel flok drenge fra en nærliggende landsby.
De skulle til brydning træning og ville lige se hvad vi var for nogen. Alle kom de og gav os hånd, meget velopdraget og nysgerrige.
Senere fulgte How efter dem, da de løb forbi marken hvor vi var. Han kunne fortælle, af de var løbet ned til et sted de kunne kigge over grænsen til Uzbekistan. Her havde de stået en stund inden de løb tilbage.
Udover børnene som havde besøgt os, kunne vi regne ud at resten af landsbyen også havde fået at vide vi var på marken, for hver gang en bil eller en på cykle kørte forbi, blev der dyttet eller råbt - Hello!!!
Det varede noget tid inden solens stråler ramte vores lejr næste dag. Vi ventede med tålmodighed, så vores fugtige telte kunne blive tørret af strålerne. Vi befandt os godt 100 kilometer fra Osh og vi ville se om vi kunne nå et langt stykke, for at have en kort tur indtil Osh dagen efter.
Vi skulle op af en 4 - 5 kilometer lang stigning fra starten af dagen, som blev efterfulgt af en dejlig lang nedkørsel. Selvom det var en belønning, var det ikke fordi vi sprudlede af energi og humør. Udover det, var det mega varmt og det tappede os for energi. Frokost pausen blev holdt i tavshed og tror alle så frem til nogle pausedage i Osh.
Vi cyklede igennem Uzgen, en større by og alt imens vi holdt for rødt lys i et kryds, var der en dame, som kom og forærrede os en pære hver. Vi kiggede på hinanden med et smil. Hvad var nu det for noget. Lige så hurtigt hun var dykket op med pærene, lige så hurtigt var hun væk igen.
Inden vi fandt et sted for natten, havde vi bestemt os for at spise aftenmad på en restaurant. Vi gad ikke lave mad og så skulle vi kun finde et sted at slå lejr og så kunne vi hoppe på hovdet i seng bagefter.
Området vi cyklede igennem var med flere små landsbyer og der var ikke umiddelbart ikke et sted at slå vores telte op, så det endte med vi cyklede ind til et lille hus, hvor der var et græsområde foran. Her spurgte vi om vi måtte slå vores telte op for natten. Det fore gik ved at vi sagde: Palatka som betyder telt og lavede sove tegnet med hænderne ved siden af den en kind. Det virkede, da ejerne sagde: Karasho hvilket betyder OK.
Da vi havde sat vores telte op, kom Asgar som manden fra huset hed. Han havde en kande te med til os og nu begyndte  en hyggelig time, hvor han fortalte os alt muligt om presidenten af Kyrgistan og dit og dat. Altsammen på russisk. Vi forsøgte at følge med og sagde DA DA....OH.... Karasho.....spasiba......njet og hvad vi ellers lige kunne komme på.
Til sidst var der for mange myg til vi kunne blive siddende og vi var alle meget trætte. Så vi sagde god nat til Asgar. Men det var ikke slutningen på dagen. Vi var kun lige kommet ind i vores telte og så lød det: Truska fra en kvinde der råbet. Tror Truska betyder pige/veninde. Så jeg stak hovedet ud af teltet. Det viste sig at være konen fra huset, som havde lavet en stor tallerken Plov til os. Jeg takkede mange gange og kravlede tilbage i soveposen. Plovén blev pakket ind i en pose, så kunne vi spise det til morgenmad.
Vi faldt i søvn med et lille smil på læben og taknemmelige over endnu engang at møde så stor en gæstfrihed.
Næste dag var en let dag, vi skulle bare cykle 36 kilometer for at nå ind til Osh. For os var det anden gang vi kom til Osh og vi var spændte på om vi kunne kende byen igen.
Sidst vi havde været der, var i 2015, hvor vi havde cyklet Pamir Highway. Jo, tættere vi kom på byen, desto mere intens blev trafikken. Men vi fandt vores smutveje og uden alt for meget kaos fandt vi frem til det hostel vi havde boet på sidst. Desværre skulle det vise sig at være udsolgt, så vi skulle finde et andet sted.
Manden i receptionen, kendte et andet sted og havde ringet til dem. Efter 20 minutter kom de og hentede os.
Nu fulgte vi med dem hen til Fresh Osh Hostel. Et lille sted, med en sovesal med 4 senge og to værelser.
Vi havde hver især brug for lidt privat liv, så How tog sovesalen, Sara et enkelt værelse med bad og vi valgte dobbeltværelse med bad.
Da vi havde fået vores værelser, slappede vi af hver for sig. Når man rejser sammen i en gruppe, er det også vigtigt at have alene tid. 
Den første dag brugte vi hver for sig. Vi sov længe, fik vasket tøj og var kun ude for at handle lidt ind og få lidt at spise. Vi kunne se at der var sket en del siden vi havde været i byen. I centrum var der kommet en cafe´
(Ice Cafe´) den mindede om en americansk diner. Det gik han og blev vores stam cafe´. Her kunne vi få burger, pommes frites og pandekager. Det var let og billigt.
Vi havde snakket om at blive 5 dage, for at være ud hvilet til turen på Pamir Highway, men Sara blev syg og herefter fulgte nogle virkelig mærkelige dage.
Først havde hun haft høj feber og når hun trak vejret gjorde det vild ondt i krage benet. Vi var bange for at det var galdesten. Så vi opsøgte en klinik. De udskrev noget medecin til hende og herefter havde hun det egentlig bedre.
På stedet vi boede, var der også en mand og en ældre dame. Damen hed Altanay og det viste sig hun var uddannet læge. De kunne godt se at Sara ikke havde det aller bedst, så manden foreslog at Altanay kunne undersøge Sara.
Altanay undersøgte Sara og blev ved med at sige: Small problem. Vi skulle køre med hende hen på en anden klinik. Det gjorde vi. Her fik Sara lagt et drop og skulle ligge indtil det var løbet igennem.
Altanay blev ved med at sige: Small problem. Hver gang vi spurgte, hvad Sara fejlede. Heidi og jeg tog billeder af de beholder der blev sat på dropet og via google translate, scannede vi teksten, som stod på russisk. På den måde kunne vi se hvad det var, de gav Sara. 
De første to beholder var saltvand og så fik hun noget der hed Metrid, det sidste hun fik kunne vi ikke oversætte og i den blanding sprøjtede de et eller andet ind i, når der blev lidt plads i flasken.
Herefter gik det helt galt. Sara begyndte at virke urolig og sagde at hun fik det varmt. I løbet af få minutter gik alt fra at være under kontrol, til at Sara gik i total krampe. Heidi og jeg råbet: Doktor doktor og forsøgte at få kontakt til Sara. Hendes tunge og kæbe sad fuldstændingt fast. Vi råbte: Sara kan du høre os???? Kan du trække vejret. Heldigvis kunne hun vise tommel op. 
Så kom Altanay og en læge. Altanay, holdt noget  dufte salt hen under næsen på Sara og begge begyndte de at masser´ hende. Stille og roligt kom hun til sig selv igen. Kæbe og tungen slappede af og hun kunne snakke igen. Hold op hvor en forskrækkelse, for allesammen.
Vi var ikke i tvivl om at, der havde været et eller andet i det miks hun havde fået, som hun ikke kunne tåle.
Sara forklarede hvordan hun havde følt og vi fik fortalt hvordan vi havde oplevet det hele.
En time senere gik vi tilbage til Hostellet.
Det var ikke enden på de mærklige ting. Næste morgen efter Sara´s krampe anfald, gik jeg hen for at sige tak for hjælpen til manden der havde sagt vi skulle snakke med Altanay. Han sad lidt fra hvor vi sad og spiste morgenmad på Fresh Osh Hostel.
Det blev starten på hvad jeg vil kalde et scam. Manden sagde til mig at vi skulle betale 200 $ (Dollar) for behandlingen. Det var hvad en normal undersøgelse af Altanay kostede.
Jeg forblev fuldstænding stille. Det eneste jeg sagde, var at vi havde tænkt os at takke hende, men ikke hvordan. Sara, Heidi og How sad helt uvidende, alt imens dette foregik. Mellem mig og manden.
Jeg afsluttede samtalen med ham og gik hen til de andre og fortalte hvad manden lige havde sagt. 
De blev ligeså overrasket som mig. Hvorfor havde han/ hun ikke sagt noget dagen før. 
På klinikken havde vi betalt for medicinen og Altanay havde ikke sagt noget om betaling.
Vi var sikker på at han regnede med vi ville betale og så ville han gå til Altanay og sige det var ham der anbefalede hende og forlange 50 % af pengene.
Sådan blev det ikke. Om aftenen købte Sara en æske chokolade og den overrakte vi til Altanay, alt imens manden stod og så på. Tror han blev noget sluk øret.
De mystiske ting var ikke slut endnu. For tro det eller ej, næste morgen da vi kiggede ud af vinduet, kunne vi se en ambulance holde ude foran. Der havde været en masse larm. Nogen der løb op og ned af trapperne.
Senere fandt vi ud af, at det var manden der næsten havde fået et hjertetilfælde og ambulancen var kommet for at hente ham. Det må man kalde nemesis.
Sara havde fået det bedre og ovenpå alle de ting der var sket de sidste 8 dage, var det tid til at cykle imod Pamir Highway.


English

01th September 2017 - 11th September 2017                                       (Update 10th December 2017)

01. Sep. 2017 68 km
02. Sep. 2017 51 km
03. Sep. 2017 60 km
04. Sep. 2017 36 km (Reaching Osh)
05. - 11 sep. 2017 Osh

Both Heidi and I had a bad day. First it was Heidi who could not drink anything without throwing up and later in the day I had the same. We had cycled on a very bad road, where it was almost better to ride all the way out of the road than on the road and we had cycled past cotton fields where the harvest was on going.
We had even cycled along the border of Uzbekistan. Here we could look over at nobody's land and some military posts and think further ahead on the journey where we where going to cycle through Uzbekistan.
Sara and How were the only ones eating dinner that noght, as both Heidi and I were throwing up and did not feel well.
The following day we felt a little better, but the appetite was not big. We were all tired after having cycled for a few days in a row. The mood was not as high as it had been. Heidi and I still talked about what we should do in relation to Heidi's mother. By now, she had come home and, after all, she was feeling much better and everyone we were in contact with, advised us not to come home as everything was under control.
We agreed to wait to make a final decision when we reached Osh. Here we should skype with
Heidi's parents and then wanted her assurance that she was well.
At noon we reached a large area near Turk-Abad, here were a lot of eateries just off the road. So we spent some time for lunch, where the others ate Shish kebab and delicious bread. I still only ate youghurt as the appetite was not present.
As we rode away from the restaurant, a man suddenly came up along side of us. He had a ringing bell which he used happily. At first we thought it was nice and fun, but it started to get strange as we stopped for shopping at a grocery store. Here he went into the store together with us and began to point out a lot of goods he thought we should buy. He was even so excited to ask How if he would buy cigarettes for him. We tried to ignore him, but when we got out of the store, he waited for us on his bike and just as we got out, the ringing bell got a good deal and he made signs that now it was time to ride on.
We could not stop laughing - this was to funny.
But it ended up being stressful, for even when children tried to greet us, he hunted them away and when we stopped for looking at something he kept in the waiting position on the other side of the road.
It all ended when How went to him and said Spasiba (thank you) and showed him that we did not ride on because it was too hot. This was a lie but we did not want to show him where we were going to camp and just wished he disappeared. Which he did after How's message.
Now we could find ourselves a place to set camp. We found a spot on a field a bit down a side road. Here we had a view of beautiful mountains and later we had a whole bunch of boys from a nearby village visting us.
They were going to wrestling training and just wanted to see who we were. They all came and greeted us by hand, very well behaved and curious.
Later, How followed them as they ran past the ground where we were. He could tell that they had gone down to a place they could look over the border to Uzbekistan. Here they stood for a while before they ran back.
Besides the children who had visited us, we could figure out that the rest of the village had also been told we were on the field. Every time a car or a bicycle drove past, they honked the horn or shouted - Hello !!!
It took some time before the sun's rays hit our camp the next day. We waited patiently so that our damp tents could be dried by the rays. We were aprox 100 kilometers from Osh and we wanted to see if we could cycle a longer distance, to have a short trip to Osh the following day.
We were going up a 4 - 5 kilometer climb from the start of the day, followed by a lovely long down hill. Although it was a reward, it was not because we were dazzling with energy and happy mood. Besides that, it was very hot and it took energy from our bodies. The lunch break was held silent and everyone thought so much of a break in Osh.
We rode through Uzgen, a bigger city and while we stoped at a red light at a cross, there was a lady who came and gave us a pear each. We looked at each other with a smile. What was this now? As soon as she had given us the pears, she just disappered without saying anything.
Before we found a place for the night, we decided to have dinner at a restaurant. We were to lazy to cook and then we should only find a place to camp and then we could jump directly into our sleepingbags afterwards.
The area we rode through was with several small villages and there was not immediately a place to pitch our tents so we ended up cycling up to a small house where there was a grass area in front. Here we asked if we could put up our tents for the night. We said, Palatka, meaning tents, and made signs for sleeping, with our hands next to our cheek. It seemed that thay understood, when the owners said: Karasho which means OK.
When we had set our tents up, Asgar came as the man from the house was called. He brought a pitcher of tea for us and now a nice hour began, where he told us everything about the president of Kyrgistan and this and that. All in Russian. We tried to follow and said DA DA .... OH .... Karasho ..... spasiba ...... and what we could come up with.
In the end, there were too many mosquitos and we were all very tired. So we said good night to Asgar. But it was not the end of the day. We just got into our tents and then we head: Truska from a woman who shouted. I Think Truska means girl / girlfriend. So I put my head out of the tent. It turned out to be the wife from the house who had made a big plate of plow for us. I thanked many times and crawled back in the sleeping bag. The plow was packed into a bag, so we could eat it for breakfast.
We fell asleep with a smile on the our lips and grateful once more to meet such a great hospitality.
The next day was an easy day, we just had to cycle 36 kilometers to reach Osh. For us it was the second time we came to Osh and we were excited to see the city again.
Last we had been there, was in 2015 where we had cycled Pamir Highway. The closer we got to town, the more intense the traffic became. But we found our way and without too much chaos we found the hostel we had stayed at in 2015. Unfortunately, it should turn out to be sold out, so we had to find somewhere else.
The man at the front desk knew somewhere else and had called them. After 20 minutes they came and picked us up.
Now we followed them to Fresh Osh Hostel. A small place, with a dormitory with 4 beds and two rooms.
We each needed a little private life, so How took the dormitory, Sara took a single room with private bath and we chose a double room with private bath.
When we had checked in to our rooms, we relaxed separately. When traveling together in a group, it is also important to have time alone.
The first day we used each separately. We slept for a long time, gotour clothes washed and only went out to shop a little and have a little to eat. We could see that things had changed since we had been in town two years ago. In the center there was a cafe
(Ice Cafe) it reminded of an American diner. We went there and became our cafe to visit everyday. Here we could get burger, french fries and pancakes. It was easy and cheap.
We had talked about staying 5 days to be ready for the ride on Pamir Highway, but Sara became ill and then followed some really strange and crazy days.
At first she had a high fever and when she was breathing, it hurt her collar bone. We were afraid it was gallstones. So we went to a clinic. They gave some medecin to her and then she got to feel a little better. At the place we stayed there was also a man and an elderly lady. The lady was called Altanay and it turned out she was a "qualified" doctor. They had notist that Sara did not feel well, so the man suggested that Altanay could examine Sara.
Altanay examined Sara and kept saying: Small problem. We should drive with her to another clinic. We did. Here Sara got a drop and had to lay until it was empty.
Altanay kept saying: Small problem. Each time we asked what was wrong with Sara. Heidi and I took pictures of the container that was put on the drop and via google translate, we scanned the text that stood in Russian. That way, we could see what it was they gave Sara.
The first two containers were salt water and something called Metrid, the last she got we could not translate and in that mixture they injected something when there was little space in the bottle.
Then it went completely wrong. Sara started to feel uneasy and said she felt hot. In a matter of minutes everything went from being under control to Sarah in total cramp. Heidi and I shouted: Doctor's doctor and tried to contact Sara. Her tongue and jaw were completely stuck. We shouted: Sarah, can you hear us ???? Can you breathe. Fortunately she could show thumbs up.
Then Altanay and a doctor came. Altanay, holding some fragrance salt under Sara´s nose and both began to massge her. Quietly she came to herself again. The jaw and tongue relaxed and she could talk again. What a shock for everyone!!!
We had no doubt that there had been something in her mix that she could not tolerate.
Sara explained how she felt and we told how we had experienced it all.
One hour later we went back to the hostel.
It was not the end of the strange things. The next morning after Sara's cramped attack, I went to say thank you for the help to the man who had said we should talk to Altanay. He sat a little from where we sat and ate breakfast at Fresh Osh Hostel.
It was the start of what I would call a scam. The man told me we had to pay 200 $ (dollar) for the treatment. That was what a normal examination of Altanay cost.
I remained completely calm. The only thing I said was that we were going to thank her but not how. Sarah, Heidi and How sad completely ignorant, while this was happening. Between me and the man.
I finished the conversation with him and went to the others and told them what the man had just said.
They were as surprised as me. Why did he / she not say anything the day before.
At the clinic we had paid for the medicine and Altanay had not said anything about payment.
We were sure he figured we would pay and then he would go to Altanay and say it was him who recommended her and demand 50% of the money.
That was not how it went. In the evening Sara bought a box of chocolate and we handed it over to Altanay, as the man stood and watched. We think he got surprised and disapointed. But dont mess with us!!!
The mysterious things were not over yet. Believe it or not, the next morning when we looked out the window, we could see an ambulance standing out front. There had been a lot of noise. Someone ran up and down the stairs.
Later we found out that it was the man who had almost a heart attack and the ambulance had come to pick him up. I think it is called - Nemesis.
Sara had gotten better and on top of all the things that had happened the last 8 days, it was time to ride towards Pamir Highway.


Beauty landscape and bad news

Fredag d. 25. aug. - Torsdag d. 31. aug. 2017                                             (Update 23. nov. 2017)

VIP hotel Lepota - 8 km før Ak-Beyit passet   55 km
8 km før Ak-Beyit Passet - Bala Chychkan  79 km
Bala Chychkan - Sagata   48 km
Pausedag Sagata og Toktogul søen
Sagata - Chaykana    51 km
Chaykana - Stoyanka Restaurant ved broen 61 km
Stoyanka Restaurant ved broen - 15 km efter Razan-Say

Heldigvis blev Sara´s forkølelse ikke til noget, så næste dag kunne vi fortsætte turen op imod næste pas - Ak-Beyit i 3175 m højde.
Landskabet er goldt og her er ikke megen læ for vinden. Vi ser massevis af Yurter undervejs, men vi kan også se at flere steder, er de begyndt at pakke yurt teltene sammen for vinteren. Vi så også mange af de russiske skurvogne, som også blev brugt til at bo i og mange af dem fungere som en lille butik. Vi så massevis af flotte heste i store flokke, som gik og græssede på sletten.
Det er ikke for tøsedregne at lever på disse egne. Landskabet er rådt og barskt. Når man lever her, er der ikke noget med rindende vand, det skal hentes i nærmeste vandløb eller flod og toilet er et lille skur lavet af noget klæde og et hul gravet i jorden. Om sommeren er det nok OK, men dette er deres liv hele året rundt.
Mælk malkes fra koen på marken og deres føde er meget basal, bestående af suppe med kartoffel, gulerødder, løg og lidt oksekød eller risretten plov, hvor der også kun er minimalt med kød på toppen. Brød vil man altid få til disse retter og så den traditionelle te (Sort eller grøn te).
Vi havde håbet på at nå op til passet, men Heidi havde to punkteringer og sidst på dagen tog vinden til og vi fik modvind, så da vi var 8 kilometer fra passet, fandt vi et sted på en mark ved en lille bro, som førte over til en yurt. Her boede en lille familie og da vi havde sat vores telte op, kunne vi se hvordan de levede deres liv.
De havde ågentbart solgt nogle af deres får, for pludselig kom en mand kørende med en trillebør, hvori der lå et får.  Han kom over broen og lige foran vores telte læssede han fåret af og gik tilbage efter et får mere. Det forsatte til der lå 5 får foran hvor vi sad. Kort tid efter kom der en lastbil for at hente dyrene.
Vi så også hvordan de malkede køerne med håndkraft og hældte det over i en mælkejunge. Mælken blev hentet af en mælkebil, hvor mælken blev hældt over fra mælkejungen op i bilens store beholder.
How gik over for at spørge om vi kunne købe mælk, så vi havde mælk til at lave havregrød næste morgen. Det var ingen problem, vi skulle bare betale 50 SOM (4,5 kroner) og så fik vi 1,5 liter mælk frisk fra koen.
Om aftenen efter aftensmaden, kravlede vi allesammen ind i vores fortelt og sad og hyggede samtidig med vi drak en varm drik. Der var altså en anden temperatur heroppe i 2800 meters højde.
Vi vågnede til en kold morgen, men lige så snart at solens stråler ramte teltene, kunne vi mærke temperaturen stige stille og roligt. Alle havde sovet godt og var opsatte på dagens etape. Op over Ak-Beyit og så nyde turen ned på den anden side.
Havregrøden blev kogt på fuldfed økologisk mælk og mættede vores maver, så energi depoterne var fyldt op. Herefter cyklede vi afsted, de sidste 8 kilometer op til toppen af passet. Vinden blæste på toppen, så vi måtte tage noget ekstra tøj på. Inden vi startede turen nedaf, fik vi taget nogle billeder.
Wow nu gik det nedaf og vi måtte bruge vores bremser for ikke at få for ukontrolleret fart på cyklerne. Konsekvenserne af for høj fart og dårlig bremser, så vi et stykke efter toppen. Her var en lastbil fløjet ud over autoværnet og lå nærmest 50 - 100 meter væk, fuldstændingt smadret. Ikke et rart syn og der går mange tanker igennem ens hoved når man ser sådan noget.
Vi fortsatte ned og får virkelig belønningen for de sidste 3 dages arbejde. Alt er så smukt og vi kan se hvordan naturen forandre sig jo længere vi komme ned. Fra goldt uden træer til der begynder at komme små træer, så større træer, grantræer, vandfald som bruser ned i floden vi fulgte. Flere steder blev der solgt honning langs med vejen. Det er betagende og vores øjen bliver forkælet.
Der begyndte at komme restauranter, ​jo længere ned vi kom. Desværre var der en del hunde ved restauranterne og nogen gange måtte vi stoppe for at forhindre dem i at jagte os. 
Det var en lang tur ned, nok i nærheden af 50-60 kilometer ialt. Ligesom vi næsten var nede, mødte vi en tyrkisk cyklist, som var på vej opad. Uha hvad fortæller man ham, når han spør til hvordan vejen er længerre fremme ???
Oh du har kun 60 kilometer op til passet.....cheeky
Vi nåede til byen Bala Chychkan og fik handlet ind, så vi havde mad til et par dage igen. Da vi havde fulgt floden det meste af dagen og var kommet til Toktogul søen, ville vi se om vi kunne komme helt ned til søen og finde et sted for natten. Måske kunne vi bade i søen.
Desværre var der meget længerre til søen end hvad vi havde regnet med og endda ned af en stejl vej. Så istedetfor endte vi ved et lille hus, hvor vi spurgte en sød dame om vi måtte slå vores telte op på et græsstykke lige ved hendes hus. Det var ikke noget problem. Vi kunne endda vaske os, da hun havde en vandslange hvor dejlig kølige vand løb udaf. Vi havde fået varmen tilbage, så vi frøs ikke.
Vi var faldet i søvn til lyden af fodbold kampe, fra den nærliggende stadion. De havde spillet til langt efter midnat. Det gjorde os ikke noget, men der havde også været en larm fra gøende hunde og de havde irreteret vores nattesøvn.
Da vi skulle til at have morgenmad, kom damen fra huset ud med en stor kande te og frisk brød, hjemmelavet marmelade, honning og smør. Det skulle vi have. Hvor var det sødt af hende.
Inden vi cyklede afsted, ville hun endda have billeder af os, hvor vi sad sammen med hende. Sikken en gæstfrihed. Noget vi alle kan tage ved lære af.
Vi kom afsted senere end de andre dage og cyklede afsted hvor det allerede var godt varmt. Vi cyklede væk fra søen og skulle over en del barske bakker. Bjergene er helt fantastiske. En masse pukler, der får Heidi til at tænke på Chocolat hills på Filippinerne.
Bakkerne havde et fløjlsligende look og bjergenevarr nøgne, men med røde, brune, grå og grønne skær. Det var utroligt flot.
Efter vi havde forceret en killer bakke, fik atter søen at se og skulle nu cykle langs med den. Vi kunne se over på den anden side, hvor vi skulle ende ud senere på dagen.
Frokostpause blev i et busskur, så vi kunne sidde i skyggen for den skarpe sol, som atter sendte varme ned over os.
Efter frokost pausen forsatte vi til den lille landsby Sagata. Her var et helt nyt apotek og et par gode købmænd. På vejen ind til landsbyen havde vi set et par steder, hvor vi måske kunne gemme os og camperer, så efter vi havde kølet ned med en is. Cyklede vi ned af en sidevej, som førte os helt ned til søen. Det første sted var der ikke mulighed for at slå teltene op. Men andet sted hvor How og Sara tjekkede, var der lige plads til begge telte og vi kunne ligge lige ved siden af søen, der var endda mulighed for at hoppe i søen og tage en svømmetur.
Vi fik alt flyttet ned til søen af en lille sti og sat teltene op. Klokken var ikke så mange, så der var også tid til at sidde og slappe af. Endda en tur i søen var der også tid til, inden vi skulle lave aftensmad.
Da vi afslutter dagen i vores telt, ender dagen ikke som normalt. Desværre fik vi en besked fra Heidi´s bror om at deres  mor var kommet på hospitalet med en blodprop. Percy, som Heidi´s bror hedder, forklarede at hun havde det godt og vi skulle ikke bekymre os. Vi lavede et opkald via Skype og fik alt forklaret.
Pludselig forandres alt det smukke og en dejlig dag til tristhed og gråd. Det eneste der betyder noget i sådan en situation er at Heidi´s mor skulle blive rask. Turen mistede sin betydning. Men hvad skulle vi stille op, vi var ude i midten af bjergene og der var langt endnu til Osh, som havde den nærmeste lufthavn.
Det eneste man tænker i såden en situation er: vi skal hjem.
Natten havde været noget urolig. Det havde været svært at sove. Tankerne havde fløjet rundt i vores hoveder.
Da vi vågnede snakkede vi om hvad vi skulle og vi læste beskederne igennem igen, vi havde fået fra Heidi´s bror.
Vi snakkede også med Sara og How om hvad der var sket og efter en masse tanker og snakken frem og tilbage. Kom vi frem til at, udfra hvad vi havde fået at vide, så havde Heidi´s mor det godt. Så planen blev at Heidi, skulle flyve hjem til Danmark, når vi kom til Osh. Så kunne hun være ved hendes forældre i en god måneds tid og hjælpe dem. Derefter flyve til Dushanbe i Tajikistan og mødes op med os igen, efter vi (How, Sara og jeg) havde cyklet Pamir Highway.
Vi tog kontakt til vores forsikring og de skulle nok være behjælpelige med at få alt ordnet.
Selvfølgelig er det svært at være så langt hjemmefra når sådan noget sker. Heldigvis var vi et sted hvor vi havde signal på telefonerne. Så vi havde kontakt med dem derhjemme og blev opdateret. Det var betrykkende. Men vi var stadig bekymret og meget kede af det. Vi skulle nok regne med at det ville tage 7 dage at komme til Osh.
Det var d. 29. august da vi cyklede videre fra Sagata. Vi cyklede langs med søen et langt stykke endnu og flere gange minede landskabet om Grækenland. Flotte små bugter med tyrkisblåt vand og de smukke og helt specielle bjerge virkede magisk.
Heidi skulle virkelig kæmpe. For det første ovenpå beskeden med hendes mor, gav det ikke mening for hende at cykle og tilmed havde hun fået dårlig mave og energien var helt i bund. Det gjorde det ikke bedre af, at solen stegte os med en utrolig varme.
Vi holdt en lang frokostpause i skyggen af et træ. Heidi var helt færdig og havde det virkeligt skidt. Da klokken var 15:30 fortsatte vi opad den stigning vi skulle over. Cirka 8 kilometer. Pga. Heidi´s tilstand cyklede vi 1 kilometer af gangen og holdt en pause. Nu kastede hun også op. Det var ikke godt. Med med alles hjælp kom hun op til toppen og nu skulle vi ned til en lille by på den anden side. Vi havde regnet med at der ville være en cafe´ eller måske en butik der, men der var ingenting. 
Vi fortsatte til en cafe´ 6 kilometer længere fremme. Her fik vi købt vand, sodavand og en vandmelon. En kilometer længere fremme fandt vi et godt sted at slå lejr. Da vi havde sat teltet op, hoppede Heidi på hovedet i seng. Først en pille og et godt stykke vandmelon og noget vædske, så vi kunne få lidt liv i hende igen.
Men hun var tydeligt mærket af strabadserne og alt hvad der var sket de sidste dage.
Lad os bare sige vi alle var trætte næste dag, men tydeligvis var Heidi den der var hårdest ramt. Men hun kommer på benene og får lidt mad indenbords inden vi fortsatte.
Vi cyklede langs Naryn floden, hvor bjergene spejlede sig i den tyrkise glatte overflad af vandet. Atter engang blev vi forkælet af naturen. Desværre skulle vi forcerer nogle hårde bakker og et par små tunneler skulle vi også igennem. 
Heidi fik det bedre op af dagen, men var stadig ikke helt frisk. Hele dagen håbede vi på, at der kom et sted vi kunne få lov til at komme helt ned til floden, så vi kunne hoppe i vandet og blive kølet ned. Sidst på eftermiddagen var vi kommet igennem den sidste tunnel og på den anden side satte vi os på en lille cafe´ og fik en is og noget koldt at drikke.
På maps.me kiggede vi efter om der skulle være et sted vi kunne campere. Det så ud til at der var et sted 1 kilometer derfra. Først troede vi at vi kunne komme helt tæt på floden og var opsat på det, men det viste sig at være et lukket område, så vi endte ved en restaurant. Her var der et lille stykke jord, hvor vi fik lov til at slå teltene op på. Ejeren gjorde os opmærksomme på at der var nogle forfærdtlige torne.
Ja, ja sagde vi det går nok. Men alt i alt endte det med at vi gravede torne og tjørne op af jorden i mere end en time inden vi kunne slå teltene op.
Nu var klokken 18:30 så vi gad ikke lave mad, så vi bestilte mad på restauranten. Det skulle vise sig at være dumt gjordt, da vi først fik mad klokken 22.00 pga. en misforståelse og vi fik bestilt  alt for lidt mad og så smagte det forfærdligt lige pånær et stort stykke stegt kylling.
Vi pakkede teltene sammen på 1 time næste morgen. Vi ville ikke bestille mad på restauranten. Istedetfor ville vi cykle et par kliometer væk fra restauranten og finde et sted at sidde og så lave vores egen morgenmad.
Vi ville ikke risikere at komme til at vente to timer på morgenmaden, hvis vi havde bestilt på restauranten.
Efter morgenmaden fortsatte vi langs med Naryn floden og flere gange holder vi for at tage billeder. En af gangene trak Sara og Marianne deres cykler helt ind i græsset. Det skulle vise sig at være en dum ide´, her var de dumme torne og de fik hver en punktering.
Ellers cyklede vi videre i det samme smukke landskab som de andre dage. Sidst på eftermiddagen, fandt vi et sted ved siden af en vandmelon bod på hovedvejen. Vi trak cyklerne lidt ned bagved boden og fandt et dejligt sted under et stort træ og hvor der var en hest der gik og grassede.
Vi købte vandmelon og spiste maverne tykke. Lige ved vejen var der et vandrør, hvor der var hul i og vandet stod ud i en stor stråle, Nu kunne vi vaske noget af sveden af vores kroppe i det friske vand.
Om aftenen fik vi besøg af en mand fra landsbyen. Han kom med brød, æbler og chokolade til os. Det skulle vi have, da vi var gæster i Kyrgistan. Vi havde endda også fået 2 store vandmeloner forærret af nogen andre.
Turen fortsættes snart ........ wink


English

Friday, August 25th. - Thursday the 31st of August. 2017                         (Updated 23rd. nov 2017)

VIP hotel Lepota - 8 km before Ak-Beyit pass 55 km
8 km before Ak-Beyit Passet - Bala Chychkan 79 km
Bala Chychkan - Sagata 48 km
Pausedag Sagata and Toktogul Lake
Sagata - Chaykana 51 km
Chaykana - Stoyanka Restaurant at the bridge 61 km
Stoyanka Restaurant by the bridge - 15 km after Razan-Say

 

Fortunately, Sarah's cold did not burst out, so the next day we could continue the trip towards next pass - Ak-Beyit at 3175 m altitude.
We continued to cycle up towards our goal and saw lots of yurts along the way, but we could also see that in several places they have begun to pack yurt tents for the winter. We saw lots of beautiful horses in large flocks, walking and grazing on the plains.
The people that lives here are tough people. The landscape is rough and harsh and there is not much shelter form the wind. When living here, there is no running water, it must be collected in the nearest stream or river and toilet are a small sheds made of some cloth and a hole dug into the ground. In the summer it might be okay, but this is their life all year long.
Milk is milked from the cow in the field and their food is very basic, consisting of soup with potato, carrots, onions and a little beef or rice plow, with only minimal meat on top. Bread you will always get to these dishes and then the traditional tea (black or green tea).
We had hoped to reach the pass, but Heidi had two punctures and at the end of the day the wind got stronger and we got a headwind, so when we were 8 kilometers from the pass we found somewhere on a field by a small bridge that led over to a yurt. Here lived a small family and when we had set camp, we could see how they lived their lives.
They had sold some of their sheep. A man was pushing a wheelbarrow in which there was a sheep. He came across the bridge and just in front of our tents he unloaded the sheep and went back after a few more. It continued until 5 lay in front where we sat. Shortly thereafter a truck came to pick up the animals.
We also saw how they milked the cows by hand and poured it into a milk jug. The milk was collected by a milk truck, where the milk was poured from the milk jug up into the car's large container.
How went over to ask if we could buy milk, so we had milk to make oatmeal the next morning. It was no problem, we only had to pay 50 SOM (4.5 kroner) and then we got 1.5 liters of milk fresh from the cow.
In the evening after dinner, we all crawled into our awning and sat and relaxed while drinking a hot drink. There was thus another temperature here at 2800 meters altitude.
We woke up to a cold morning, but as soon as the sun's rays hit the tents we could feel the temperature rise. Everyone had slept well and was keen on today's stage. Up over Ak-Beyit and then enjoy the trip on the other side.
The oatmeal was boiled on full-bodied organic milk and saturated our stomachs, so our energy levels were filled up. Then we rode the last 8 kilometers up to the top of the pass. The wind blew on top, so we had to put some extra clothes on. Before we started the trip down, we took some pictures.
Wow now it went down and we had to use our brakes to not get uncontrolled speed on the bikes. We saw the consequences of too high speed and bad brakes, a little after the pass. Here a truck had flew over the car guard and was almost 50-100 meters away, completely smashed. Not a nice sight and many thoughts go through your head when you see stuff like that.
We continued down and really got the reward for the last 3 days of work. Everything was so beautiful and we could see how nature changed the longer we came down. From harsh without trees until little trees started growing, then bigger trees, fir trees, waterfalls that showered down into the river we followed. Several places were selling honey along the way. It's breathtaking and our eyes were spoiled.
We began to see restaurants, the further down we came. Unfortunately, there were a lot of dogs at the restaurants and sometimes we had to stop to prevent them from chasing us.
It was a long trip down, probably near 50-60 kilometers in total. Just as we were almost down, we met a Turkish cyclist who was on his way up. Oh what do you tell him when he asks how the road is farther ahead ???
Oh, you only have 60 kilometers up to the pass ..... wink
We reached the city of Bala Chychkan and shopped, so we had food for a few days again. As we had been following the river most of the day and had come to Toktogul Lake, we wanted to see if we could go down to the lake and find a place for the night. Maybe we could swim in the lake?
Unfortunately, the lake was much farther away than we thourght and even down a steep road. Instead, we ended up at a small house where we asked a sweet lady if we could pitch our tents on a lawn near her house. That was no problem. We could even wash ourselves as she had a water hose where lovely cool water running out of. The weather was nice again and we were not cold anymore.
We had fallen asleep to the sound of football matches, from the nearby stadium. They had played until after midnight. It did not matter to us, but there had also been a noise from barking dogs and they had annoyed our night's sleep.
When we were going to have breakfast, the lady from the house came out with a large jug of tea and fresh bread, homemade marmalade, honey and butter. That was a gift for us. That was so sweet of her?
Before we rode off, she would even have pictures of us where we were sitting with her. Such a hospitality. Something we all can learn from.
We left later than the other days and cycled when it was already hot. We rode away from the lake and were going to climb some hilly hills. The mountains were absolutely amazing. A lot of puddles that make Heidi think of the Chocolat hills in the Philippines.
The hills had a velvety look and the mountains lokked naked, but with red, brown, gray and green shades. It was incredibly beautifull.
After we had pushed up a killer hill, the lake was again to be seen and we was going to cycle alongside it. We could look over on the other side where we would end later in the day.
Our lunch break was in a bus shed so we could sit in the shade of the sharp sun, which again sent heat over us.
After the lunch break, we continued to the small village of Sagata. Here was a brand new pharmacy and a few good merchants. On the way into the village we had seen a couple of places where we could hide and camp. We cycled down on of the side roads, after we had cooled down with an ice cream., which led us all the way down to the lake. The first place was not possible to camp. But another place where How and Sara checked, there was just room for both tents and we could lay right next to the lake, we could even jump in the lake and take a swim.
We got everything moved down to the lake by a small path and set the tents up. It was still early in the day, so there was also time to sit and relax. Even a swin in the lake, before dinner was possible.
As we finish the day in our tent, the day did not end as normal. Unfortunately, we received a message from Heidi's brother that their mother had been hospitalized with a blood clot. Percy Heidi's brother, explained that she was allright and we should not worry.
Suddenly all that beautiful and a lovely day changes to sadness and crying. All that matters in such a situation is that Heidi's mother is going to get well. Our trip loses its meaning. But what were we going to do, we were out in the middle of the mountains, and Osh, who had the nearest airport, was still far away.
The only thing you think in this situation is: We are going home!!!
The night had been somewhat troubled. It had been hard to sleep. The thoughts had flown around in our heads.
As we woke up, we talked about what we should do and we read the messages again we got from Heidi's brother.
We also talked to Sara and How about what had happened and after a lot of thoughts and talk back and forth. Based on what message we had got, Heidi's mother was doing OK after all. So the plan was that Heidi had to fly home to Denmark when we arrived in Osh. Then she could stay with her parents for a good month and help them. Then fly to Dushanbe in Tajikistan and meet up with us again after we (How, Sara and I) had cycled Pamir Highway.
We contacted our insurance and they would be helpful to get everything done.
Of course, it's hard to be so far from home when something like this happens. Luckily we were somewhere where we had a signal on the phones. So we had contact with our family at home and were updated. That was The night had been somewhat troubled. It had been hard to sleep. The thoughts had flown around in our heads.
As we woke up, we talked about what we needed and we read the messages again we had from Heidi's brother.
We also talked to Sara and How about what had happened and after a lot of thoughts and talk back and forth. We learned that, based on what we had learned, Heidi's mother had a good time. So the plan was that Heidi had to fly home to Denmark when we arrived at Osh. Then she could stay with her parents for a good month and help them. Then fly to Dushanbe in Tajikistan and meet up with us again after we (How, Sara and I) had cycled Pamir Highway.
We contacted our insurance and they would be helpful to get everything done.
Of course, it's hard to be so far from home when something happens. Luckily we were somewhere where we had a signal on the phones. So we had contact with them at home and were updated. That was impressive. But we were still worried and very sad. We would probably expect it to take 7 days to get to Osh.
It was on August 29th when we rode on from Sagata. We cycled along the lake a long way more and more remembered the landscape of Greece. Great little coves with turquoise blue water and the beautiful and very special mountains seemed magical.
Heidi really had to fight. First of all, on top of the message with her mother, it did not make sense for her to ride a bike, and in addition she had a bad stomach and the energy was in the bottom. It did not make any difference that the sun fired us with incredible heat.
We spent a long lunch break in the shade of a tree. Heidi was completely done and had real badness. When the time was 15:30 we went upwards the climb we were going over. About 8 kilometers. Due. Heidi's condition we rode 1 mile at a time and stayed a break. Now she threw up too. It was not good. With all the help she came to the top and now we went down to a small town on the other side. We had figured there would be a cafe or maybe a shop there, but there was nothing.
We continued to a cafe 6 kilometers further ahead. Here we bought water, soda and a watermelon. A kilometer further ahead we found a good place to hit camp. When we had set the tent up, Heidi jumped on his head to bed. First a pill and a good piece of watermelon and some liquid, so we could have a little life in her again.
But she was clearly labeled by the strabads and all that had happened in the last days.
Let's just say we all were tired the next day, but obviously Heidi was the one who was the hardest hit. But she gets on her legs and get some food on board before we continue.
The night had been somewhat troubled. It had been hard to sleep. The thoughts had flown around in our heads.
As we woke up, we talked about what we needed and we read the messages again we got from Heidi's brother.
We also talked to Sara and How about what had happened and after a lot of thoughts and talk back and forth. Based on what we had read and heard, Heidi's mother was doing OK after all. So the plan was that Heidi had to fly home to Denmark when we arrived in Osh. Then she could stay with her parents for a good month and help them. Then fly to Dushanbe in Tajikistan and meet up with us again after we (How, Sara and I) had cycled Pamir Highway.
We contacted our insurance and they would be helpful to get everything done.
Of course, it's hard to be so far from home when something like this happens. Luckily we were somewhere where we had a signal on the phones. So we had contact with our family at home and were updated. That was reassuring. But we were still worried and very sad. We would probably expect it to take 7 days to get to Osh.
It was August 29th when we rode on from Sagata. We cycled along the lake a long way and it reminded us a lots like the landscape of Greece. Great little coves with turquoise blue water and the beautiful and very special mountains seemed magical.
Heidi really had to fight. First of all, on top of the message with her mother, it did not make sense for her to ride a bike, and in addition she had a bad stomach and the energy was not exsisting. It did not help either that the sun hit us with incredible heat.
We spent a long lunch break in the shade of a tree. Heidi was completely wasted and felt really bad. When the time was 15:30 we went up the climb we were going over. About 8 kilometers. Due to Heidi's condition we rode 1 kilometer at a time and then had a break. Now she threw up as well. It was not good. With all our help she mannaged to reach the top and now we went down to a small town on the other side. We had figured there would be a cafe or maybe a shop there, but there was nothing.
We continued to a cafe 6 kilometers further ahead. Here we bought water, soda and a watermelon. A kilometer further ahead we found a good place to set camp. When we had set the tent up, Heidi jumped directly into her sleeping bag. First a pill and a good piece of watermelon and some liquid, so we could get a little life into her again. But she was clearly not well. 
Let's just say we all were tired the next day, but obviously Heidi was the one who had it the hardest way. But she got on her feet and got some food before we continue.
We rode along the Naryn River, where the mountains reflected in the Turkish smooth surface of the water. Once again we were spoiled by nature. Unfortunately, we should climb some hard hills and a cycle though a few small tunnels as well.
Heidi felt better later in the day but was still not well. Throughout the day we hoped that there was a place we could get down to the river so that we could jump into the water and get chilled down. Late in the afternoon we had come through the last tunnel and on the other side we sat down at a small cafe and got an ice cream and something cold to drink.
On maps.me we looked for a place to camp. It appeared that there was somewhere 1 kilometer away. At first we thought we could get quite close to the river and were keen on it, but it turned out to be a closed area so we ended up at a restaurant. Here there was a small piece of land where we were allowed to pitch the tents. The owner made us aware of that there were some terrible thorns.
Yes, yes, we said it's OK. But all in all, we ended up duging the thorns out of the earth for more than an hour before we could pitch the tents.
Now it was 18:30 so we did not want to cook, instead we ordered food at the restaurant. It turned out to be a stupid idea, as we first got our food at 22:00 due to a misunderstanding and we ordered too little food and it tasted terrible. Only a big piece of fried chicken was tasty.
We packed the tents within 1 hour the next morning. We did not order food at the restaurant. Instead we would ride a few kilometers away from the restaurant and find a place to sit and then make our own breakfast.
We would not risk getting to wait two hours for breakfast if we had ordered at the restaurant.
After breakfast, we continued along the Naryn River and several times we stopped to take pictures. Once upon a time Sara and Marianne pulled their bikes all the way into the grass. It would turn out to be a stupid idea, here were the stupid thorns and they each got a puncture.
Otherwise, we rode on in the same beautiful landscape as the other days. Late in the afternoon, we found somewhere next to a watermelon booth on the main road. We pulled the bikes a little down behind the booth and found a nice place under a big tree and there was also a horse walking and grassing here.
We bought watermelon and ate our stomachs big and full. Just next to the road there was a water pipe where there was a hole and the water was pumping out in a big beam. Now we could wash some of the sweat of our bodies in the fresh water.
In the evening a man came to our camp from the village. He brought bread, apples and chocolate to us. That's what we should have as we were guests in Kyrgyzstan. We even got 2 large watermelons as a pressent from someone else earlier that days as well.

The trip continues.......soon wink


Bishkek and the beautifull road to Too-Ashuu

Lørdag d. 19. august - Torsdag d. 24. august 2017                       (Update 22. nov. 2017)

Korday - Bishkek 30 km
Bishkek 2 dages pause
Bishkek - Keper Aruk 66 km
Keper Aruk - 50 km efter
14 km før Too-Ashuu Tunnel - VIP hotel Lepota 38 km

Vi havde camperet lige i udkanten af Korday, som er grænsebyen til Kyrgistan. Vi tog os god tid om morgenen, da vi kun skulle cykle til Bishkek. Bishkek er hovedstaden i Kyrgistan og ligger 26 kilometer fra grænsen til Kazakstan.
Det tog ikke lang tid at krydse grænsen. Passene blev undesøgt og efter kort tid havde vi alle et stempel i vores pas, som gav os lov til at blive i landet 60 dage.
Vi var spændte på hvad landet havde at byde på, efter som vi havde været her i 2015. Dengang for at starte vores cykeltur på Pamir Highway og dengang havde vi kun set en lille del af landet.
Fra grænsen cyklede vi stille og roligt mod Bishkek. Her ville vi blive et par dage. Vi skulle ansøge om visum til Tajikistan og have købt noget mere varmt tøj, så vi var godt rustet til kulden i bjergene.
Vi havde først udsøgt os et hostel, men kørte forgæves rundt for at finde det. Så vi fandt frem til et andet, som hed Lotus Hostel.
De næste to dage gik med planlægning af turen fra Bishkek til Osh, vi kunne vælge at cykle en rute på 549 km af den gamle vej til Osh eller en længere rute via hovedvej M41, hvor vi så kom til at cykle 690 km.
Vi valgte M41. Dette betød at vi næsten ville komme til at cykle hele længden af M41, da den strækker sig fra lidt nord for Bishkek til det sydligeTajikistan. Syd for Dushanbe, som er hovedstaden i Tajikistan.
Vi fik også tid til at se lidt af Bishkek og spise en masse döner kebab. Fra byen kunne vi se sneklædte bjerge og vi var klar over, at inden længe ville det være deroppe et sted vi skulle cykle rundt.
Vi kunne ikke udskyde tiden mere og efter to dage i Bishkek, cyklede vi ud af byen i fuld koncentration og spændte på, hvordan vil ville klare bjergene der lå et par dages cykling fra Bishkek.
Vejret var dejligt med sol og klar blå himmel, så vi kunne cykle i korte cykelshorts og korte ærmer. Når vi cyklede, lå How og jeg forest da vores tempo passede sammen. Heidi og Sara dannede det vi kaldte kaffe klubben lidt længere tilbage. Alle fire døbte vi os - The fantastic four.
Landskabet var smukt med forskellige farver på bjergskråningerne og bløde fløjels bakker. Grøntsager kunne vi købe langs med vejen eller ved en lille købmænd, som vi stødte på undervejs.
Brød købte vi friskbagt fra boder, som lige havde bagt deres brød i den traditionelle tandyr ovn (Ler oven), så vi led ingen nød. Når vi nåede til frokosttid, fandt vi os et sted i skyggen af nogle træer. Spiste os mætte, for derefter at tage en god "morfar".
Vi havde lavet en aftale om, at jeg var kokken og de tre andre var på snitte holdet og opvaske holdet. Så når vi havde sat lejr, gik hele holdet igang med forberedelser til den "store" menu vi skulle have at spise.
Vi hyggede, lavede sjov og ballade. Nogen gange brød en ud i sang eller en anden fortalte en historie fra noget de havde oplevet på deres tur. How foreslog at vi skulle lave vores version af Sound of music, det grinnede vi meget af.
Vi forlod vores lejr i Keper Aruk og satte kursen mod Too-Ashuu passet(Kamel passet) og den 2,7 kilometer lange tunnel. Ud fra højde profilen, vi havde tjekket dagen før, kunne vi se, at der ventede os en hård dag på cyklen. Vi håbede på at kunne nå op i 3000 m højde, så vi havde taget det hårdeste og så fortsætte dagen efter op til tunnlen, som lå i 3130 meters højde. Vi befandt os i 1500 m højde, så 1500 højdemeter skulle vi kæmpe os opad. 
I landsbyen Sosnovka, handlede vi ind så vi havde mad og vand til tre dage. Det endte med vi besøgte de fleste butikker inden vi havde fundet de ting vi skulle bruge. Allesammen var godt læsset.
Vi cyklede afsted med bjergskråningerne på hver side af vejen. Først er der et par stigninger, som kræver ekstra arbejde inden vejen blev mere samarbejdsvillig og ikke så stejl. Stille og roligt cyklede vi meter for meter opad.
Desværre var det ikke somom vi tog alt for mange af højdemeterne, så vi havde på fornemmelsen at det hårdeste ventede os på den sidste del af turen.
Landskabet var bart og der groede ikke mange træer, men bjergene havde så mange flotte nuancer af farver. Af og til må vi holde ind til siden, da der pludselig kom en store flok geder, som blev guidet ned igennem dalen af nogle hyrder på hesteryg.
De sidste 10 kilometer af dagens etape, blev brutale. Af og til måtte vi stå af cyklen for at skubbe, da vejene blev for stejle og for hård kost for benene med de tungt lastede cykler.
Efter 50 kilometer, kom vi til et sted hvor der lå et hus og bagved i en lille fordybning, her kunne vi finde ly for vinden, vi havde næsten været undervej i 5 timer og alle var godt brugte. Højdemåleren stod på 2900 meters højde og vi havde stadig 14 kilometer til passet og tunnelen.
Vi fik sat teltene op og tog varmt tøj på. Nu kunne vi godt mærke at temperaturen var en anden. Så da vi havde spist, gik der ikke lang tid inden vi hver især søgte ind i vores telte og ned i vores varme soveposer.
Nogen dage er bare sværere at komme ud af soveposen end andre. I dag var der kun 3 grader og derfor var det meget bedre at ligge i soveposen end a skulle ud for at lave morgenmad og pakke sammen. Måske var det også fordi vi vidste, at der ventede 14 hårde kilometer op til tunnelen.
Men stille og roligt fik vi gjort os klar og forsatte hvor vi slap dagen før. Op op op af stejl vej. Speedometeret viste maks 5 - 7 kmh, så vi skulle nok regne med at det ville tage 2-3 timer at komme derop.
Heidi måtte ordne et fladt baghjul, men faktisk var det nok bare at pumpe mere luft i. En tyrkisk lastbil holdt ind til siden for at hjælpe, han havde en kompressor. Så i løbet af ingen tid var hjulet pumpet op og Heidi kunne fortsætte.
De første 7 kilometer var vejene lange og stejle, men de sidste 7 kilometer gik vejen over i hårnålesving og for hvert sving kunne vi se hvor langt vi var kommet op. Et imponerende syn. En dyb kløft med bjergskråningerne på hver side og langt nede kunne vi se lastbiler og biler der lignede små legetøjsbiler.
Et utroligt vejsystem og så flot anlagt. Specielt når vi kunne se ned over svingene vi lige havde cyklet på.
Et Gigantisk syn!!.
Hele vejen op holdt vi flere pauser for at nyde udsigten og tage billeder. Da vi endelig var ved tunnelen, holdt vi en velfortjent frokost pause i solen og den friske vind der var heroppe i 3130 meters højde.
Vi var meget spændte på turen igennem den 2,7 kilometer lange tunnel. Hvordan ville luften være derinde og hvad med trafikken??? Ville der være huller i vejen ???? Tror faktisk vi alle var en smule skræmte af tanken.
Men der var kun en vej og det var igennem tunnelen. Så efter en times pause gjorde vi os klar. Alle fik sat lygter på cyklerne og Marinne tog et gult regnslag på hendes rygsæk og skulle være den der cyklede bagerest.
Så var vi klar og da vi kom hen til åbningen, var der en mand der gav os grønt lys til fortsætte ind i mørket.
Vi var alle 110 % koncentreret. De første 100 meter var der en smule lys, men derefter var det lyset fra vores cykellygter og bilerne der kom bagfra og forfra der gav lys undervejs. 
How tog fronten og Heidi og Sara lå i midten og Marianne lå bagerest. Hele tide holdt vi sammen og tjekkede at alle var OK. Vi tror at lastbiler var holdt tilbage imens vi cyklede igennem, for dem mødte vi ingen af. Men der kom biler i begge retninger.
Turen tog cirka et kvarter og alle var vi glade da vi kunne se lys forude. Luften i tunnelen føltes ikke slem, men da vi var ude på den anden side og kiggede tilbage mod åbningen, kunne vi se os komme ud derinde fra.
Godt vi ikke skulle være derind i længere tid.
Nu kunne vi se langt ned til en flad slette og en lang vej derned til. Det eneste der var irreterende, var vinden der blæste imod os istedetfor med os. På den anden side af sletten tårnede bjergene sig op med sne på toppene. En utroligt flot udsigt.
Nu kunne vi rulle nedaf med 30 - 40 kmh. Heidi og Sara var de hurtigeste, hvor How og Marianne brugte meget tid på at stoppe for at tage billeder. Der var store heste flokke, de traditionelle yurter, hvor der blev solgt ostekugler, som er fremstillet af yakmælk. I det hele taget landskabet var så smukt.
Da vi nåede helt ned på sletten, kunne vi se at høsten var igang og hø blev lastet med håndkraft. Efter turen ned cyklede vi 12 kilometer mere, inden vi bestemte os for at overnatte på en lille hotel (VIP Hotel Lepota). Sara var ved at blive forkølet og vi var alle godt brugte efter en hård dag. Så det passede fint med at vi ikke skulle lave mad og sål lejr. Det var også dejligt med et varmt bad og derefter en god gang mad på den lille restaurant ved siden af hotellet efter en hård cykeldag.


English

Saturday, August 19th - Thursday, August 24, 2017                                 (Update 22nd Nov. 2017)

Korday - Bishkek 30 km
Bishkek 2 days break
Bishkek - Keper Aruk 66 km
Keper Aruk - 50 km after
14 km before Tor Ashuu Tunnel - VIP hotel Lepota 38 km

We had camped right on the outskirts of Korday, which is the border town of Kyrgyzstan. We had lots of time in the morning as we only had to ride to Bishkek. Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan and it was 26 kilometers from the border to Kazakhstan.
It did not take long to cross the border. The passes were checked and after a short time we all had a stamp in our passport, which allowed us to stay in the country for 60 days.
We were excited about what the country had to offer, as we had been here in 2015. At the time we cycled the Pamir Highway and had only seen a small part of the country.
From the border we cycled slowly towards Bishkek. Here we would stay a couple of days. We had to apply for the visa to Tajikistan and bought some more warm clothes, so we were well equipped for the cold in the mountains.
We first had chosen a hostel, but drove in vain to find it. So we found another called Lotus Hostel.
The next two days went on planning the trip from Bishkek to Osh, we could choose to cycle a route of 549 km along the old road to Osh or a longer route via the M41 highway, where we then had 690 km of cycling to do.
We chose M41. This meant that we would almost cycle the entire length of the M41 as it stretches from a little north of Bishkek to southern Tajikistan. South of Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.
We also had time to see a bit of Bishkek and eat a lot of kebab. From the city we could see snowy mountains and we realized that soon this would be somewhere we where going to cycle.
We could not postpone time anymore and after two days in Bishkek, we rode out of the city in full concentration and excited about how we would cope with the mountains which was a couple of days ride from Bishkek.
The weather was nice with sun and clear blue skies, so we could bike in short cycling shorts and short sleeves. When we were cycling, How and I was in front as our pace fited together. Heidi and Sara formed what we called the coffee club a little further back. All four we named ourselves - The fantastic four.
The landscape was beautiful with different colors on the hillsides and soft velvet hills. We could buy vegetables along the way or by a small grocery store that we encountered along the way.
Bread we bought freshly baked from stalls that had just baked their bread in the traditional tandyr oven (clay oven), so we did not suffer at all. When we reached lunch time, we found somewhere in the shade of some trees. Filled our stomack with fresh food and then take a good "afternoon nap".
We had made an agrement that I was the cooking chef and the other three were on the cutting team and washing team. So when we had set camp, the whole team went on preparing for the "big" menu we would have to eat for dinner.
We enjoyed making fun and telling jokes. Sometimes one broke out in loud singing or someone told a story from something they had experienced on their trip. How did suggest that we made our version of Sound of Music because we could run around in the fields and I could film with my gopro, we laughed a lot.
We left our camp in Keper Aruk and headed for the Too-Ashuu Pass (Camel Pass) and the 2.7 kilometer long tunnel. On the hieght profile we had checked the day before, we could see that a hard day was waiting for us on the bike. We hoped to reach 3000m altitude so we had taken the hardest part and then continue the day after to the tunnel, which was in 3130 meters high. We were at 1500m altitude, so we had to fight more than 1500 hieght meters.
In the village of Sosnovka, we shopped so we had food and water for three days. We ended up visiting most stores before we had found the things we needed. Everything got well loaded on our bikes.
We cycled with the mountain slopes on either side of the road. First, there were a few increases that require extra work before the road became more cooperative and not so steep. Quietly we cycled meters for meters uphill.
Unfortunately, we did not taket too much of the altitude, so we had the feeling that the hardest awaited us for the last part of the trip.
The landscape was bare and there did not grow many trees, but the mountains had so many beautiful shades of colors. Sometimes we had to go to the side of the road when suddenly a large bunch of goats came towards us, guided down the valley by some shepherds on horseback.
The last 10 kilometers of today's stage became brutal. Occasionally we had to get off the bike to push as the roads became too steep and too heavy for the legs with the heavily loaded bikes.
After 50 kilometers, we came to a place where there was a house and behind in a little grove. Here we could find shelter for the wind, we had almost been underway for 5 hours and all were tired. The altitude was 2900 meters high and we still had 14 kilometers before we would reach the pass and the tunnel.
We sat up the tents and put on some warm clothes. Now we noticed that the temperature was different. So when we had eaten, it did not take long before each of us searched into our tents and searched into the warm sleeping bags.
Some days are just harder to get out of your sleeping bag than others. Today it was only 3 degrees and therefore it was much better to lie in the sleeping bag than getting out to cook breakfast and pack up. Perhaps it was also because we knew that 14 hard kilometers were waiting ahead of us up to the tunnel.
But quietly, we got ready and left where we left the day before. Up up on the steep road. The speedometer showed a maximum of 5 to 7 kmh, so we would probably expect it to take 2-3 hours to get there.
Heidi had to fix a flat rear tyre on the way as well, but in fact it was enough to pump more air into it. A Turkish truck stopped to help us, he had a compressor. So in no time the wheel was pumped up and Heidi could continue.
The first 7 kilometers the roads were long and steep, but the last 7 kilometers crossed the switchbacks and for every turn we could see how far we had climped. An impressive sight. A deep ravine with the hill slopes on either side and far down we could see trucks and cars that looked like little toy cars.
An incredible road system and so beautifully landscaped. Especially when we could see down the bends we just had cycled on.
A giant sight !!.
All the way up we took several breaks to enjoy the view and take pictures. When we finally reached the tunnel, we held a well-deserved lunch break in the sun and the fresh wind that was up here in 3130 meters.
We were very excited about the trip through the 2.7 kilometer tunnel. How would the air be in there and what about the traffic ??? Would there be pot holes ???? In fact, I think everyone was a little scared of the thought.
But there was only one way and it was through the tunnel. Then after an hour's break, we got ready. Everybody put lights on the bikes, and Marinne took a yellow raincover on her backpack and was going to be in the back.
Then we were ready and when we got to the opening of the tunnel there was a man who gave us green light to continue into the darkness.
We were all 110% concentrated. The first 100 meters there was a bit of light, but after that there was only the light from our bicycle lights and the cars that came from behind and from the front.
How was in front and Heidi and Sara lay in the middle and Marianne lay at the back. All the time we stayed together and checked that everyone was OK. We think trucks were held back while we were cycling, because we did not meet them. But there were cars in both directions.
The trip took about a quarter of an hour and everyone was happy when we could see lights ahead. The air in the tunnel did not feel bad, but when we came out on the other side and looked back towards the opening, we could see car fumes coming out from there. Good that we did not have be in there for a long time.
Now we could look far down to a flat plain and a long road down to there. The only thing that was annoying was the wind blowing against us instead with us. On the other side of the plain, the mountains rose with snow on the tops. An incredibly nice view.
Now we could roll down with 30 - 40 kmh. Heidi and Sarah were the fastest where How and Marianne spent a lot of time stopping to take pictures. There were large horse flocks, the traditional yurts, where cheese balls were sold, made from yak milk. All in all, the scenery was so beautiful.
When we reached the plain completely, we could see that the havest was on going and hay was loaded with hand power. After the trip down, we rode 12 kilometers more before we decided to stay in a small hotel (VIP Hotel Lepota). Sara was not feeling well and we were all well used after a hard day of cycling. So it was nice that we did not have to cook and set camp. It was also nice with a hot bath and then a good time at the little restaurant next to the hotel.