Some last photos from Kyrgyzstan

By |2022-09-07T16:08:10+02:00October 1, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

Here are a last few photos from Kyrgyzstan .... Our Homestay on the border of Krygystan and Tajikistan. Has views that feel almost sureal. It uses Yak dung for fuel. And is home to this little firebrand. With loads of attitude we think he will go places one day. His grandmother in the kitchen churns out delicous meals. Goat milk in the hanging blue bucket is cheese in the making. We [...]

The Victor of Urals

By |2022-09-07T16:08:21+02:00September 28, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

He is ‘born sexy’. A James Dean! A George Clooney! And years and years of age, and ships and ships of hardship, will never take that away. We are in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Harry has the replacement engine for his bike, Josephine. And our man is Viktor. He comes highly recommended by two sources, and will help Harry fit the new engine. He knows the Ural; the Russian copy of the pre WW2 BMW airhead boxer motor. He stands across the [...]

An Animal Market

By |2022-09-07T16:08:33+02:00September 25, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

Our trip around Lake Issyk-Kol brings us to the old boundary post town of Karakol, and its animal market which runs every Sunday from 6am to 10am. Locals load their Ladas (and anything else that has wheels) with livestock; a spectacle, particularly if the animal refuses to be forced into a boot or back seat! Fat tailed sheep (their value measured by the size of their tails) jostle cheek to jowl with goats and other livestock, while next door another area is reserved for [...]

A Remarkable Bond …

By |2022-09-07T16:08:47+02:00September 23, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

We have travelled over 3000km with the colostomy bag set up on Josephine , thankful for every kilometre. But it cannot continue indefinitely and with the tireless help of SW Motech a replacement motor is on its way from Germany to Kyrgyzstan.  While we wait for this we decide to travel right around Lake Issyk- Kol , the second largest Alpine lake in the world. And it is here, on its south shores that we are fortune to have one of those chance [...]

of Yurts and Yaks

By |2022-09-07T16:09:00+02:00September 18, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

Our first yurt is a surprise. It’s a bright white ring in a field of green. And soon fistfuls of yurts gleam all over the place … Yurts are sturdy portable tents. They have steam-bent wooden frames and walls made of lattice. Layers of sheepskin felts weatherproof the outside and thick carpets insulate the inside. YuRtS are the face of Kyrgyzstan in summer! Slowly their logic unfolds. They go up and down the mountains. They go up and down with the seasons. They [...]

A last few photos from Tajikistan

By |2022-09-07T16:09:14+02:00September 16, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

Here are a last few photos from Tajikistan ...   This is Dushambe; the capital of Tajikistan. It's small and impressive.   We feel like blinded rabbits ... after all the countryside. But we see and enjoy some good restaurants!     This is one of a few grand apartment blocks in Dushambe. But it is a thin strip of 'glitz' and then a lot of urban sprawl ...     Most Tajiks are busy farming.   [...]

The Murghab Horse Festival – Behind the Scenes

By |2022-09-07T16:09:36+02:00September 10, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

The Horse Festival in Murghab! It is held once every two years. And we are there! Please have a look at Harry’s photos (previous post) of the Murghab Horse Festival. The festival is fanciful! It belongs to myth and legend. Men wear curious hats. They slip down the bellies of regal horses to pick up red parcels off the dusty ground. Bare-chested men wrestle each other off horse-backs. Dapper men chase and catch girls-on-horseback. Then girls chase and whip men-on-horseback. Tiny boys in three [...]

The Murghab Horse Festival

By |2022-09-07T16:11:44+02:00September 7, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

Deep in the Pamir Mountain range lies the town of Murghab, a harsh frontier type town in an unforgiving environment. A 19th century military outpost, Murghab is over 3,500 meters above sea level, making this town the highest in the entire ex-Soviet Union. It is part of our route which we cannot avoid as it is the only passage through this region. In a strange twist of fate Josephine’s (my bike)  problems , and the resulting delays, have favoured us. We arrive at [...]

The Power of Flowers

By |2022-09-07T16:12:29+02:00September 5, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

I miss girls! It’s not that I’m fed-up with Harry … he is my flip side. It’s that my bike draws boys and scares away girls! And the Pamir has girls! They dot the countryside. They pop out in pretty dresses! I want to slip into a flowery print ... with yellows and pinks and greens. I want to dash down and join them ... with squeals and giggles … in a song and a dance. And I’m not even a girlie-girl! Life [...]

The Pamir Highway and Wakhan Corridor.

By |2022-09-07T16:13:09+02:00August 31, 2012|Germany to Vladivostok|

The Pamir Mountains in south Tajikistan are a series of ranges separated by high-altitude valleys. The Pamir people that live in these valleys were isolated for centuries. Today, they speak languages different from each other and the rest of Tajikistan!  We ride along the Pamir Highway; built by the Soviet Military between 1931 and 1934 to transport troops and provisions to remote outposts of the Soviet empire. We also branch off to follow Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor; a narrow strip of land that juts [...]

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