12th July
After a slow start from the Hostel, as they don’t open the doors till 10.00am, and our bikes were locked inside, we hit the road to Bishkek. It was hot, around 34 degrees, so it was a pain when we had to fight the traffic to get out of Almaty, but OK on the open road, which was pretty good all the way to the border. A quick stop for a drink along the way, and we hit the border at Korday just after lunch time. A small panic as I couldn’t find my immigration slip I got when I entered Kazakhstan, but eventually found it, and all was good. We had been told about a bikers bar and hostel in Bishkek called Peppers Brothers, so found that, but it was dearer than some of the hotels, and nowhere near as good, so we found a guest house on the net, and booked in there. about $5 aud dearer, but miles better accommodation, no comparison. Out for dinner at an italian restaurant nearby, (still cheap), and a good day.
13
Went looking for the Mongolian Consulate to sort our visa for Mongolia, after getting the address from the website. We found it alright, only to be told that they have closed it down, and we have to get the visas from Almaty now. That is the closest, other options are Irkutsk, or Ulan Ude. That wasted over an hour, so we checked out and headed off for Toktogul around midday. Bishkek was stinking hot, 37 degrees, very muggy, with no breeze at all, couldn’t wait to get out of there into the mountains. The 65 km ride west to the turnoff onto the M41 was a drag, lots of traffic, and silly driving, like going through the suburbs forever. We stopped at a roadside stall for a cold drink from a barrel, turned out to be fermented mares milk, vile tasting stuff, I guess you have to acquire the taste. Turning south on the M41 took us straight towards the mountains, and a big storm cloud. As we got closer we could feel the temperature dropping, great feeling. Like the Kazaks, the powers that be here put 50 km zones on open roads for no apparent reason, and we hit one af these doing about 80 kmh and the coppers were waiting for us. Pulled over again. The cop who walked up to us was a young guy,and as soon as he realised we only spoke english, he asked a few questions that we worked the answers to, then waved us on. Friendly people. We hit a small town with a big servo, and had a nice cold drink, from a bottle with a label on it, lemon iced tea, much better than the mares milk! The storm cloud was passing over, so by the time we got to the mountain pass, it too had passed. At the bottom of the range there is a toll gate, which we knew nothing about, and had an argument with guy about our charges. Locals with a car loaded with as many as they like get through for 45 Sommes, while it cost us 350 Sommes each for the bikes, as we had foreign number plates. Another guy who spoke english had to step in and calm things down, as nothing was in english to explain why the costs where so high, and we felt we were being taken for a ride. With that sorted out, we then had one of the best rides of the whole trip, up over the mountains to 3,200 metres at the tunnel, then down the other side, the scenery was breathtaking. We stopped numerous times for photos, and rate this ride up there or better than the Transfagarasen, Trans Alpina, and the passes in France and Italy. It has everything, outstanding views, snow covered mountains, good (mostly) roads, and is fairy wide as well. There are places to pass the trucks and slower cars, and a few spots to pull over for photos. We had gone from stinking heat to having to put our warm liners in our jackets in a couple of hours. At the bottom of the range there were long green valleys with yurts dotted amongst them, and horses, cattle, sheep, and goats roaming freely, there are no fences. We passed through a couple of small showers on the way into Toktogul, arriving at around 7.00pm, and booked into the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the night, a great days ride. The guy running the hotel even looked like the guy from the movie! Only 222kms, but some of the hairpins were taken in 1st gear, and there were lots of stops for photos, drinks, and arguments about the tolls, so a good day.
After a slow start from the Hostel, as they don’t open the doors till 10.00am, and our bikes were locked inside, we hit the road to Bishkek. It was hot, around 34 degrees, so it was a pain when we had to fight the traffic to get out of Almaty, but OK on the open road, which was pretty good all the way to the border. A quick stop for a drink along the way, and we hit the border at Korday just after lunch time. A small panic as I couldn’t find my immigration slip I got when I entered Kazakhstan, but eventually found it, and all was good. We had been told about a bikers bar and hostel in Bishkek called Peppers Brothers, so found that, but it was dearer than some of the hotels, and nowhere near as good, so we found a guest house on the net, and booked in there. about $5 aud dearer, but miles better accommodation, no comparison. Out for dinner at an italian restaurant nearby, (still cheap), and a good day.
13
Went looking for the Mongolian Consulate to sort our visa for Mongolia, after getting the address from the website. We found it alright, only to be told that they have closed it down, and we have to get the visas from Almaty now. That is the closest, other options are Irkutsk, or Ulan Ude. That wasted over an hour, so we checked out and headed off for Toktogul around midday. Bishkek was stinking hot, 37 degrees, very muggy, with no breeze at all, couldn’t wait to get out of there into the mountains. The 65 km ride west to the turnoff onto the M41 was a drag, lots of traffic, and silly driving, like going through the suburbs forever. We stopped at a roadside stall for a cold drink from a barrel, turned out to be fermented mares milk, vile tasting stuff, I guess you have to acquire the taste. Turning south on the M41 took us straight towards the mountains, and a big storm cloud. As we got closer we could feel the temperature dropping, great feeling. Like the Kazaks, the powers that be here put 50 km zones on open roads for no apparent reason, and we hit one af these doing about 80 kmh and the coppers were waiting for us. Pulled over again. The cop who walked up to us was a young guy,and as soon as he realised we only spoke english, he asked a few questions that we worked the answers to, then waved us on. Friendly people. We hit a small town with a big servo, and had a nice cold drink, from a bottle with a label on it, lemon iced tea, much better than the mares milk! The storm cloud was passing over, so by the time we got to the mountain pass, it too had passed. At the bottom of the range there is a toll gate, which we knew nothing about, and had an argument with guy about our charges. Locals with a car loaded with as many as they like get through for 45 Sommes, while it cost us 350 Sommes each for the bikes, as we had foreign number plates. Another guy who spoke english had to step in and calm things down, as nothing was in english to explain why the costs where so high, and we felt we were being taken for a ride. With that sorted out, we then had one of the best rides of the whole trip, up over the mountains to 3,200 metres at the tunnel, then down the other side, the scenery was breathtaking. We stopped numerous times for photos, and rate this ride up there or better than the Transfagarasen, Trans Alpina, and the passes in France and Italy. It has everything, outstanding views, snow covered mountains, good (mostly) roads, and is fairy wide as well. There are places to pass the trucks and slower cars, and a few spots to pull over for photos. We had gone from stinking heat to having to put our warm liners in our jackets in a couple of hours. At the bottom of the range there were long green valleys with yurts dotted amongst them, and horses, cattle, sheep, and goats roaming freely, there are no fences. We passed through a couple of small showers on the way into Toktogul, arriving at around 7.00pm, and booked into the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the night, a great days ride. The guy running the hotel even looked like the guy from the movie! Only 222kms, but some of the hairpins were taken in 1st gear, and there were lots of stops for photos, drinks, and arguments about the tolls, so a good day.
Looking down the pass we had just ridden up
Taking in the view, spectacular
Yurts near the road in the valley after the pass
We are going down there......
Snow melt and wild horses, great scenery
14
Left the hotel heading around the lake, and stopped for a cuppa, as we had no breakfast at the BEMH, they weren’t doing it today……. The weather was looking dodgy, lots of thunder and storms around, and as we couldn’t get a feed where we were, moved down the road a bit for breakfast. There we met a couple running a local tour business, and they had a guest house back in Toktogul run by mum, so we headed back there for the night, as it was now pouring down, and we didn’t want to go any further today. Parked the bikes and started the drying out process. I have a Speedo Healer on my bike, a little electronic box thats lets you correct your speedo, and my speedo has been out since I fitted the new rear tyres in Moscow, so I did an adjustment on it, but didn’t get to check it due to the rain. We would be sleeping in a yurt for the first time, quite cosy in there.
Left the hotel heading around the lake, and stopped for a cuppa, as we had no breakfast at the BEMH, they weren’t doing it today……. The weather was looking dodgy, lots of thunder and storms around, and as we couldn’t get a feed where we were, moved down the road a bit for breakfast. There we met a couple running a local tour business, and they had a guest house back in Toktogul run by mum, so we headed back there for the night, as it was now pouring down, and we didn’t want to go any further today. Parked the bikes and started the drying out process. I have a Speedo Healer on my bike, a little electronic box thats lets you correct your speedo, and my speedo has been out since I fitted the new rear tyres in Moscow, so I did an adjustment on it, but didn’t get to check it due to the rain. We would be sleeping in a yurt for the first time, quite cosy in there.
Our room for the night, cosy
15
The weather was much better today, so got packed up to head towards Bishkek, then turn down a dirt road and cut across to Isik Kol, the big lake over the mountains from Almaty. As soon as I gained any speed, the bike started surging, and according to my speedo, I was doing 199 kph in 1st gear through the back streets of Toktogul, so I suspected something wasn’t right. Just down the road we stopped, unpacked the bike again, and I disconnected the Speedo Healer, problem solved. Thats when we realised we hadn’t fuelled up, so back to town for that. Then we realised we needed more cash, not many places take credit cards here, so off to the bank. That all wasted nearly an hour, so put us behind schedule. We also spoke to a Finnish couple travelling on bikes we saw at a shop in town, they were heading to Bishkek today. After we got on the road, we ended up catching up with them on the high plateau before descending down to our turnoff. It was bloody freezing up there, and raining, not good riding weather. I had left out the warm liners, as it was quite hot in Toktogul, wish I hadn’t! We fuelled up just before the turnoff, then set off on the 360 km dirt road to the lake. The road was better than I had hoped for, we were able to average 40-50kmh in most places, and the scenery was spectacular. We followed a river most of the day, all snow melt, and it was thundering over rocks at a hell of a pace, really awesome to see. I thought about white water rafting, but I wouldn’t try it there, too fast and too rough, would be a few grades higher than I could do. The mountains were amazing, reminded me of Morocco, No vegetation on them at all, and different colours, from white to red,and all shades in between.
The weather was much better today, so got packed up to head towards Bishkek, then turn down a dirt road and cut across to Isik Kol, the big lake over the mountains from Almaty. As soon as I gained any speed, the bike started surging, and according to my speedo, I was doing 199 kph in 1st gear through the back streets of Toktogul, so I suspected something wasn’t right. Just down the road we stopped, unpacked the bike again, and I disconnected the Speedo Healer, problem solved. Thats when we realised we hadn’t fuelled up, so back to town for that. Then we realised we needed more cash, not many places take credit cards here, so off to the bank. That all wasted nearly an hour, so put us behind schedule. We also spoke to a Finnish couple travelling on bikes we saw at a shop in town, they were heading to Bishkek today. After we got on the road, we ended up catching up with them on the high plateau before descending down to our turnoff. It was bloody freezing up there, and raining, not good riding weather. I had left out the warm liners, as it was quite hot in Toktogul, wish I hadn’t! We fuelled up just before the turnoff, then set off on the 360 km dirt road to the lake. The road was better than I had hoped for, we were able to average 40-50kmh in most places, and the scenery was spectacular. We followed a river most of the day, all snow melt, and it was thundering over rocks at a hell of a pace, really awesome to see. I thought about white water rafting, but I wouldn’t try it there, too fast and too rough, would be a few grades higher than I could do. The mountains were amazing, reminded me of Morocco, No vegetation on them at all, and different colours, from white to red,and all shades in between.
A couple of shots of the amazing scenery heading across to Isik kol
On rounding a bend, we met two bikes coming the other way, so stopped for a chat. They were a Dutch couple on Honda CRF250’s, heading to Bishkek, so we swapped notes on the road and kept going, as we both had a long way to go, and we were running out of time. We wanted to try to get to the lake today, but knew it was a long shot, especially when the scenery was so good we kept stopping to take pictures, and we got away late as well. Later in the day, at a tee junction, that wasn’t on my map, we knew we wouldn’t make it through, so rode in the opposite direction following a sign advertising a guest house, 25 kms away. 15 kms later, another sign spurred us on, until we arrived at a village in the mountains, but no guest house. We continued on the road, which was under construction, until we reached the end a few kilometres later, and spoke to the guys in the crew doing the road building. No, no guest house here, maybe back in town, they said. Back in town there wasn’t any, so 25 kms back to the tee junction, then on to Chaek, where there was the only fuel on the way to the Lake, and we found a guest house there as well. Another hour or so of daylight wasted, plus all the fuel, so the guest house was us. We hadn’t got as far as we hoped, but it was still a great days ride, I hope the photos we took do it justice.
Sammy the Yammy having a breather, and taking in the sights
16
Another good day weather wise, and we got about 40 kms of pretty shitty bitumen before the dirt started, which was much worse than yesterday, really bad corrugations. Lyn had an impromptu race with a boy on a horse, and luckily had the go pro on, so we got it on film. Most of the scenery was behind us now, still lots of mountains around us, but they were further away now, and had lost the wow factor they had yesterday. The rough roads caused the weld job on Lyn’s subframe to break again, so we took it easy to the better roads near Kochkor, and had bitumen all the way to Bokonbaer, on the bank of Isik Kol, the lake, although a lot of it was very rough also. It was about 3.30 when we arrived, so found a cafe overlooking the lake, which is huge, like a really deep blue inland sea, It is around 300 kms long, and 50 kms wide, so you can’t see the other side, like looking out over the ocean. The couple that ran the cafe also have a guest house, so we booked in there. Turned out to be a bit of a mistake room wise, no pillows, no wi-fi, no breakfast, toilet was a hole in the ground 40 metres down the back yard, with no light, the shower was a dribble, the doors didn’t close, and the curtains were non existent. I suppose you can’t expect too much for $6 aud each. However the people were were really nice, even though they didn’t speak any English. I asked them if they knew a welder, and showed them the break in the subframe. A phone call was made, and a friend was called with his welder, so I hastily stripped the bike before he arrived. The old guy turned up in an older Lada sedan that must have done a zillion miles, with bald tyres, rust and all the other good things that Ladas have, and I thought I had made a mistake getting the job done. He dragged a fairly new inverter welder out of the back seat, and did a great job of the repair, complete with a couple of reinforcing brackets, should last now. He charged me 500 Somme, about $10 aud, and he knew he was doing well at that as I was a foreigner , but I was happy to pay it for the job he did. Now we can go down the other dirt road Lyn wants to do tomorrow to look at a waterfall…….
17
Lyn woke up this morning not feeling well, after a bad night, so we decided to give the dirt road a miss, and head for Karakol, along the southern side of the lake, main road all the way, and book in early somewhere with an ensuite, so Lyn could rest and get over her bug. Along the way we saw a sign saying “Fairytale Canyon”, an attraction we had been told about the day before, so we turned in for a look. There was a charge to go in, 200 somme, but they took 40 somme as they had no change for a 1,000 somme note, so went through the boom gate and up a really shitty little soft, sandy track that was a real handful on the fully loaded bikes, I managed to drop mine, (stopped at the time, no damage), so we walked the last couple of hundred metres. It was a waste of time, there was nothing to look at, so we took some photos of nothing and left. We continued on to Karakol, and checked out a couple of hotels, eventually finding one that ticked all the boxes. Checked in and did some serious resting……. The Finnish couple we met in Toktugul turned up, so had a quick chat to them before dinner.
Another good day weather wise, and we got about 40 kms of pretty shitty bitumen before the dirt started, which was much worse than yesterday, really bad corrugations. Lyn had an impromptu race with a boy on a horse, and luckily had the go pro on, so we got it on film. Most of the scenery was behind us now, still lots of mountains around us, but they were further away now, and had lost the wow factor they had yesterday. The rough roads caused the weld job on Lyn’s subframe to break again, so we took it easy to the better roads near Kochkor, and had bitumen all the way to Bokonbaer, on the bank of Isik Kol, the lake, although a lot of it was very rough also. It was about 3.30 when we arrived, so found a cafe overlooking the lake, which is huge, like a really deep blue inland sea, It is around 300 kms long, and 50 kms wide, so you can’t see the other side, like looking out over the ocean. The couple that ran the cafe also have a guest house, so we booked in there. Turned out to be a bit of a mistake room wise, no pillows, no wi-fi, no breakfast, toilet was a hole in the ground 40 metres down the back yard, with no light, the shower was a dribble, the doors didn’t close, and the curtains were non existent. I suppose you can’t expect too much for $6 aud each. However the people were were really nice, even though they didn’t speak any English. I asked them if they knew a welder, and showed them the break in the subframe. A phone call was made, and a friend was called with his welder, so I hastily stripped the bike before he arrived. The old guy turned up in an older Lada sedan that must have done a zillion miles, with bald tyres, rust and all the other good things that Ladas have, and I thought I had made a mistake getting the job done. He dragged a fairly new inverter welder out of the back seat, and did a great job of the repair, complete with a couple of reinforcing brackets, should last now. He charged me 500 Somme, about $10 aud, and he knew he was doing well at that as I was a foreigner , but I was happy to pay it for the job he did. Now we can go down the other dirt road Lyn wants to do tomorrow to look at a waterfall…….
17
Lyn woke up this morning not feeling well, after a bad night, so we decided to give the dirt road a miss, and head for Karakol, along the southern side of the lake, main road all the way, and book in early somewhere with an ensuite, so Lyn could rest and get over her bug. Along the way we saw a sign saying “Fairytale Canyon”, an attraction we had been told about the day before, so we turned in for a look. There was a charge to go in, 200 somme, but they took 40 somme as they had no change for a 1,000 somme note, so went through the boom gate and up a really shitty little soft, sandy track that was a real handful on the fully loaded bikes, I managed to drop mine, (stopped at the time, no damage), so we walked the last couple of hundred metres. It was a waste of time, there was nothing to look at, so we took some photos of nothing and left. We continued on to Karakol, and checked out a couple of hotels, eventually finding one that ticked all the boxes. Checked in and did some serious resting……. The Finnish couple we met in Toktugul turned up, so had a quick chat to them before dinner.
Fairytale Canyon, with Izik Kol in the background
Lyn in Fairytale Canyon
18
The weather was doing as predicted when we woke up, raining! I thought about spending another day there, but Lyn wanted to get going, so we packed up and headed off out of town, along a different road to the one on the map. Lyn had put the route into her phone on Google Maps, as the Garmin was still useless here. We discussed it, and decided to just follow it and see where we ended up, nothing like a bit of a surprise. The road got worse, then turned to dirt, (wet slippery dirt, as it was raining), and then we turned off down what looked like a farm track, then climbed up a mountain that had deep washed out ruts in it, then down the other side, passed a few yurts, and some guys minding cattle, goats, and sheep, all of which looked at us as if to say what the F%*%@ are you doing here? I was starting to worry, as there was no way we were going to get back up the really steep rocky descent the other side of the mountain. We rounded a corner and there was a car parked on the track, with a couple of young guys in it talking, and when they saw us, one got out and kicked a rock out from behind one wheel, and they rolled forward off the track enough for us to get by. Fortunately the road met another one, and in the distance we saw a couple of cars on another road, so made our way over to it. The track we had just come over wasn’t on the map, but we managed to get through to the main road, so all good. From there to the border the road was still potholed dirt, but we could maintain 30-40 kph most of the time. The rain had stopped, but the road was still wet and very slippery. The border crossing was easy, both the Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan guards were good to deal with, no problems. It took one hour, and the road stayed bad until we got to Kegen, then we had bitumen from there. The rain stayed away until about 50 kms out of Almaty, then we hit a storm, and it pissed down. There was a savage crosswind as well, at one stage I was blown sideways into the left lane, nothing I could do about it, luckily there was no one there. We found our way back to the hotel we had stayed in last time, and booked a couple of nights, tomorrow we would try for our Mongolian visa, and I wanted to fit the front tyres I left here a week ago, plus check a few more things out on the bikes. A nice warm shower and a feed, and all was right with the world again.
The weather was doing as predicted when we woke up, raining! I thought about spending another day there, but Lyn wanted to get going, so we packed up and headed off out of town, along a different road to the one on the map. Lyn had put the route into her phone on Google Maps, as the Garmin was still useless here. We discussed it, and decided to just follow it and see where we ended up, nothing like a bit of a surprise. The road got worse, then turned to dirt, (wet slippery dirt, as it was raining), and then we turned off down what looked like a farm track, then climbed up a mountain that had deep washed out ruts in it, then down the other side, passed a few yurts, and some guys minding cattle, goats, and sheep, all of which looked at us as if to say what the F%*%@ are you doing here? I was starting to worry, as there was no way we were going to get back up the really steep rocky descent the other side of the mountain. We rounded a corner and there was a car parked on the track, with a couple of young guys in it talking, and when they saw us, one got out and kicked a rock out from behind one wheel, and they rolled forward off the track enough for us to get by. Fortunately the road met another one, and in the distance we saw a couple of cars on another road, so made our way over to it. The track we had just come over wasn’t on the map, but we managed to get through to the main road, so all good. From there to the border the road was still potholed dirt, but we could maintain 30-40 kph most of the time. The rain had stopped, but the road was still wet and very slippery. The border crossing was easy, both the Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan guards were good to deal with, no problems. It took one hour, and the road stayed bad until we got to Kegen, then we had bitumen from there. The rain stayed away until about 50 kms out of Almaty, then we hit a storm, and it pissed down. There was a savage crosswind as well, at one stage I was blown sideways into the left lane, nothing I could do about it, luckily there was no one there. We found our way back to the hotel we had stayed in last time, and booked a couple of nights, tomorrow we would try for our Mongolian visa, and I wanted to fit the front tyres I left here a week ago, plus check a few more things out on the bikes. A nice warm shower and a feed, and all was right with the world again.
Kyrgyzstan Kazakhstan border, I got my hand slapped for taking this photo, not supposed to take any, but I apologised and he let it go. It was the boss who caught me too........
