Lunchtime views (day 65)

I am here: 43 52.632 N 88 8.419 E at 1909m as of 28/06/2013 05:44 BST http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:43.87721,88.14032

The first proper homestay (day 41)

I am here: 41 20.422 N 72 55.269 E at 1517m as of 04/06/2013 16:10 BST http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:41.34037,72.92116

Day 41.

Our sleeping place for the night was a homestay, which unlike the one in Georgia was actually someone's home, where a little space had been given over to housing visitors. After spending too long in hotels in Uzbekistan it was nice to be somewhere a lot more simple. And simple it was.

When we arrived there was no electricity as a storm had taken the power out again, but this wasn't a real issue - dinner (something Olly had arranged for us as he knew we'd be late in because of the roadblock) was cooked on wood powered ovens, as was all the other food.

Never underestimate just how good a cuppa (+ bread & honey) is after an eventful day.

Whilst waiting for the food to be prepared another storm rolled in - 30 minutes of driving rain, big thunder & lightning, howling winds - I stood in a sheltered spot by the kitchen and watched it all; nature having a bit of a show, all surrounded by the mountains (which makes the thunder sound so much more).

Thankfully we had power (generators, I think) to not eat in the dark, but we lost power again not long after - cue another round of storm watching, which was even more stormy than the previous. I don't think I've seen horizontal lightning before.

Day 42 (5 June 2013)
Olly went off early to arrange more alternative transport, as Daisy hadn't arrived overnight and we needed to be able to carry on with the schedule as much as we could.
The group spent the day doing a half day walk, not hike, up and around the local hills.
Stunning views, as you'd expect, and good fun, if wet - we got caught in a storm on the way down and got soaked; my jacket kept the top half of me dry, but my waterproof trousers were used to protect my camera.

Our guide for the day wasn't our normal guide for Kyrgyzstan, he'd gone with Olly to help get transport, and he'd not really judged the capability of the group or kept a good enough eye on those of us towards the back of the fairly spread-out group.
I turn around expecting to see the 4 people behind me who are the last 4 and they're not there - waiting for 5+ min and they still aren't in sight. A quick run to catch up with the rest of the group to double check they'd not past me and they hadn't - man down. Bugger.
Que some quick backtracking to where they were last seen, with the guide going another way to see if they'd taken a wrong turn in to town.
Thankfully they turned up as I approached where I'd last seen them - they'd taken a wrong turn, but not the one the guide thought they might of.

Today's lesson - keep a better eye on those behind you in the group and make sure you don't lose visibility of people when you've got a spread out group.

Welcome to Kyrgyzstan (day 41)

I am here: 40 33.678 N 72 46.051 E at 936m as of 04/06/2013 10:23 BST http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:40.5613,72.76752

Stopped in Osh for what turned out to be a really good lunch. Which, given the rest of the day, is probably just as well.

Having pulled out of Osh Olly was in the back, which is unusual. He'd spent lunchtime doing something, which he was now informing us about - there was a roadblock ahead of us and had been for days - he'd been aware of it for a day or so, but the information was that it should have been cleared by the time we'd crossed the border. Alas, it wasn't.

Olly had hired a taxi to drive ahead of us and to call us with information so that we knew in advance what we were going to hit. This went slightly wrong when the car we hired ran out of petrol (easily fixed) and was then stopped by the police (one "fine" later...).
Olly, Dragoman, had also arranged alternative transport in the event the roadblock was still in place - the advantages of doing this type of travel with a well organised company who've got local contacts to get information from the ground.

We eventually did hit the roadblock and yet again it was time to leave Daisy & Jan behind (crossing the Caspian being the other time) - we all had to take everything we needed for a week+ from the truck (ie practically everything) and walk through the roadblock and go and find the alternative transport, a minibus (Sprinter van).
As with many other places, ok - everywhere, we stood out. Daisy draws attention and in a remote part of a remote Asian country a group of western travellers stand out. Cue the hellos from a lot of people, lots of smiles and quick conversations with people keen to say hello and use their English. It amazes me just how many people can speak a little English and it is great to talk with them, although too often my inner Londoner kicks in and I wonder why a stranger is being friendly to me - hopefully by the time I'm home again strangers being nice won't be unusual and I hope to be a little more forgiving towards tourists in London. Unless they stand on the left, of course.

Having packed everything we all own into the back of the van and then wedged ourselves around the kit, a very tight fit, we set off. The next couple of hours was driving through the countryside toward our homestay for the night, part of which was brought to by local music (ie more of the endless Russian europop, made better with some silly big-fish dancing with Casey). *twitch*

After weeks of being in Central Asia it was good to see something that is very Asian - a rice paddy. A sense of place.

Country number 6.

Now at BST +5 (UTC +6).

Evening view (day 47)

I am here: 42 9.976 N 77 27.919 E at 1629m as of 10/06/2013 13:40 BST http://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:42.16627,77.46532

Another day, another bush camp. Although this isn't a real bushcamp - it had a pre dug toilet! Luxury!

Heading into Kyrgyzstan

I hadn't expected this trip to allow me as much Internet access as it has, but having what I've had is no bad thing. The next few weeks should be very different as I'm heading in to Kyrgyzstan and in to the proper wilds and remote - say goodbye to hotels, showers and Internet, say hello to a lot of (bush) camping and a lot less Internet access.

Hopefully I'll write all the blog posts I've been meaning to write for the last weekend or so. :)

The "original" Quran

This trip will allow me to see more amazing things than I have any hope of remembering; I can't remember all over seen so far and I've only been on the road a little over a month. What is saw today will stay with me - a book from 7 CE (7 AD in old money) which is arguably one of the original Qurans.

It's not everyday that you get to see something like this, but Tashkent is home to the Othman Quran.

The Crossing (pictures)

Some pictures from The Crossing.