Lake Issik-Kul

Hoping the weather would get better I decided to head towards Issik Kul instead of hanging around longer in Bishkek, it didn't. I arrived Monday evening and it was still raining. Tuesday was no better, so wasted most of the day uploading photos (will be on here soon I promise, but computers here are crap), eating a delicious 'гуляшь' (goulash) and bumping into the 2 French guys who had also gone to the closed Uzbek/Kyrgyz border last week, I explained to them how I had spent my day on a tour of the Fergana valley Uzbek/Kyrgyz border regions !

In the morning I popped into the local bazaar and picked up some local honey 'tasty, from the mountains' the lady told me, which was packaged in an old coca-cola bottle!, some bananas (which are expensive in central Asia) and some lakrioshka, local bread. For the next couple of mornings and lunchtimes, I feasted on delicious fresh bread with honey and/or bananas, one of my favourites as a kid too. This is just to let my Mum know - if she is reading - that you can get decent food here too!!

The next day was better and after arguing with some thieves, errr I mean taxi drivers (they are al thieves) over the price of a car, I went to 'Chong Kul' lake in the Ak Suu valley, an alpine lake high in the mountains north of Issik Kul, some 23km along a rough track, the journey although bouncy was full of great views of surrounding pine forests, mountains, rivers and the valley through which the track passes.



Left: Lake 'Chong Kul' along the Ak Suu canyon.
Right: Views along the way.

Back in Cholpon-Ata, the sun was shining and I headed towards the beach. It's an amazing sight, the crystal clear lake Issik Kul ('warm lake'), with soft warm sand at its shores, lies surrounded by cloud covered mountain peaks in all directions, but with a circle of clear blue skies above. To the North are snow covered peaks behind which lie Kazakhstan, to the South, the Terskey Alatau arm of the Tien Shan, peaking through the clouds in the distance.




Left: Lake Issik Kul
Right: Terskey Alatau mountains in the distance, South of Issik Kul.

How the lake can be entirely circled by distant clouds yet above the lake it is nothing but blue, is some piece of meteorological magic. Issik Kul gets its name 'warm lake' because it never freezes over, this is due to a combination of its depth, thermal activity and mild salinity.

Next day I returned to the same bar as the previous evening, because it was so good before and here below is a picture of the best shashlik I have had on my travels. Surpassed only by one in Azerbaijan some years ago.




Left: Best shashlik on this journey so far.
Right: Someone I met on the way to the beach.

Bishkek and around

Arrived in rainy Bishkek from sunny Osh. First rain I have seen since Moscow, way back on 14 July, exactly 9 weeks ago, so bit of a shock. I know that day in Mosocw well as it rained like I have rarely seen rain before, torrential downpouring from the skies, massive thunder and lightning and flooded streets... So on the bus into town I even had to get a jacket out on the minibus into town as it actually felt cold, I haven't felt cold for even longer, way back in Bosnia in the early days of my journey in early June, is the last time I had to wear my warm top or coat. Seems the temperature has dropped some 15 degrees between Osh and Bishkek..

Bishkek seemed OK, nothing special, but has a bit of character, again like Almaty, many parks, though it doesn't strike me as being quite so attractive to wander around and I wonder how soon before I will get bored. I stay in the 'Saray Chelek' hotel for two nights but it's pretty awful so decide to change and eventually get into the Sakura Guesthouse (after days of trying by e-mail and phone I eventually get in by just turning up), a new place run by a Japanese/Kyrgyz couple that was recommended to me by John (who has been mentioned previously in Romania, Odessa and Almaty). It's nice there and plenty of other independent travellers, mainly Japanese.

On my second day in Bishkek, I met up with Aisuluu who I was put in touch with by my friend Catherine in Amsterdam, they used to work together in the US and Aisuluu now lives in Bishkek once more. We talked of going to Issik Kul together or a day trip to one of the many canyons in the Bishkek region, but in the end plans did not match and I stayed a couple of extra days in Bishkek, happier with my new temporary home. So it was nice when three of the Japanese at the hostel asked if I wanted to join them in a taxi to Ala Archa for the day, exactly what I wanted and we headed off there for a few hours to clamber around rocks, rivers, streams and trees in the sunny and fresh mountain air. A nice day out of the city.



Left & Right: From Ala-Archa canyon.


Next day I will leave to Issik-Kul lake, but return here in around 10 days..

Fergana Valley and onto Kyrgyzstan

Leaving Tashkent I had 2 days to get to Kyrgyzstan before my visa expired, it is not straight forward so I left enough time. There are no buses going this way except for one which goes via Kazakhstan, which requires a transit visa, so not worth doing that. The train goes via Tajikistan and apparently does not require a transit visa, that was a good option, except it only runs once a week on thursdays, so that was also out of the question. So, the only option was a shared taxi. At the train station I found a group of Fergana bound taxis, about 7 or 8 cars, but only one passenger, well they don't normally have to wait long I was told. Two hours later it was still only the one lady in the car and me, guess this could have taken a while. But then, luckily, one driver (who had only recently appeared) offered me a lift in a solo taxi at no extra cost ! After arguing with the driver whose car my baggage was in, they agreed I could go with him. He could only take one passenger anyway as the car was full of merchandise which we then delivered on the way, but at least I got going. I felt sorry for the woman who was still waiting and wondered why she was not offered the lift first, I can only assume that despite my hard nosed haggling, the price they wanted from me was still a little higher than what locals were paying. I wonder what time she got away, if ever.

The road to the Fergana valley crossed through mountains with wonderful views (expect for the large advertisements painted on hillsides), the roads were pretty busy and everyone was in a rush, at times there was double overtaking taking place while cars approached in the other direction on a road just wide enough for two cars! The rubble lined tracks alongside the roads were frequently used for undertaking too ! Chaotic. I noticed after any close shave my driver running his hand over his face, an islamic act, signifying thanks to Allah. But we arrived safely and early evening in the town of Fergana, there did not seem to be much there, a few loud cafes, and people selling food anywhere on the streets was all that caught my attention. After some dinner and a particularly nasty half litre of beer (cost 500 som which is about $0.40, it's true, you do get what you pay for) I tried to sleep with loud Uzbek and Turkish music screaming out in the cafe outside my hotel, eventually I did.

The next morning I found out where to get transport to Kyrgyzstan, I had two options on which direction to go, the easy one to Osh, which meant a long 15 hour journey to bishkek, or a not much further, but unknown route, trip to the border at Uchkurgan, which would knocka few hours off the journey time to Bishkek, though admittedly it would not be so easy to move onwards from there, so could end up taking longer. I had opted for the easier Osh option until I met 2 french guys I had seen previously in Samarkand, they were going via Uchkurgan. So, I decided also to go that way thinking I may catch up with them later. I got a mashroetnoe minibus to Andijan no problem, there I was told a bus goes to Uchkurgan at 13:25, nice. an hour later i was told the bus would not run today, there maybe one at 15:00, alternatively go to Namagan and take a mini bus form there. To keep moving i did this. Speaking to a lady on the bus, she chatted to some man who agreed to show me where to get off and get a minibus to another stop where i can get another minibus to Uchkurgan, it all went ok. On the last of these mini-buses which flew through the streets like it was a rally event, some old ladies started talking to me and got excited about the foreigner on board, they were going into the town of Uchkurgan and offered me a place in their taxi, which was nice, no problems. Centre of town, found a taxi to the border, got to the border and it's closed !!! No international crsossing apparently, gates were closed and it looked very closed, though some cars were occassionaly coming through, but they weren't going to let me through anyway. So by now it was 16:15 or so, taxi back to Uchkurgan, no buses from here to Andijan, so get a taxi to Andijan which wound through country lanes swerving and braking regularly to avoid cows, sheep or dogs, another taxi to the border at Dostlik and eventually into Kyrgyzstan after about 12 hours on various mashroetnoe buses, proper buses, taxis, mini-buses and some walking across the border and still with a couple of hours left on my visa !! In the final taxi of the day to Osh, I shared with Fatima who seemed to be a friend of the driver, the driver was excited when he found my age and that I was single as I seemed a very good match for Fatima and he jokingly (I hope) offered her to me as a potential wife, she didn't argue too much, so maybe she was interested actually ! I don't know but I politely declined and went to my hotel for what I hope would be a good sleep.

Through most of Fergana valley, you see field after field of cotton plants, a sight not familiar to Europeans, with a few fields of rice, wheat, and fruit trees, scattered in between it's a very green area of the country. I later found out that this is government influenced, farmers have to allocate a percentage of their arable land to growing cotton, from which they get poor profits. This is just one of the many controls that appear to be put on Uzbek people by their government.

One of the many good things about Uzbekistan is that it is - to me anyway - the land of melons, probably my favourite fruit. Wherever yo go there are all varieties of melons and watermelons available at all times of day. Along the roadsides you see stall after stall of melons for sale at pretty reasonable prices, at markets there are more melons than you can possibly imagine and in most of the guesthouses I stayed in, after agreeing on a price, the host will invariably bring you a pot of green tea and some melon...Excellent

Tashkent and around

The capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent has none of the history and grand architecture of Central Uzbekistan. But fortunately not far away it has some picturesque areas around Chimgan and the Chirchik valley which are an easy trip if you have a car. And thanks to a friend Irina and her friend Nazima I had a car for a day!

We travelled to Beldersay which has a 2.2km cable car ride, which is certainly the longest cable car trip I have ever been on, it felt like it took ages, but the views were wonderful and the time didn't matter when I had a beer in my hand too. From the top of the mountain which reaches 3300m were great views of Chimgan, Charvak and Chirchik areas.



Left: Irina and Nazima at the Beldersay ski area.
Right: The best way to get around those mountains.



Left: Irina and me at Beldersay again.
Right: Charvak lake.





Left: My shop in Tashkent
Centre: Amir Timur (Timerlane), Central Asia's greatest leader.
Right: Yuta and Ikiko from Tokyo in our Tashkent homestay

The first two nights I stayed again with Yuta and Ikiko, my two new Japanese friends, who I have been following since Khiva. They had heard of a good cheap homestay in Tashkent, although technically illegal as a non-registered guest-house I stayed a couple of nights there, where we had a bargain deal of bed, breakfast and dinner all for $5. The first nights meal was macaroni which was a great change from all the typical uzbek food of the past 2 weeks, the second night we were served some of sausages which were not so appealing unfortunately... I don't know what they were made from but it didn;t taste like your normal pork or beef sausage for sure, I know horsemeat sausages and worse still, horse entrails are a' speciality' in Uzbekistan cuisine, I didn't dare ask what it was, but I wouldn't try them again if I saw them on offer.

Another bit of typical Uzbek hospitaility also occured one night in Tashkent, I went along to a cafe for a beer and as the evening progressed, a few other customers started getting quite lively with some Uzbek dancing and singing (there had also been a karaoke). As i sat there quietly, I got suddenly dragged into the dancing by one of the girls and then pulled away by another and whenever i tried to escape I was dragged back into the middle by someone. After speaking they were surprised to find I was a tourist and from that moment on I was not allowed to leave, I was taken to one of Tashkent's best nightclubs, followed by a visit to a late night teahouse to round off a late and lively evening out.

After two nights I left the homestay and went to an official guesthouse, where I bumped into two Dutch I had seen in Khiva some time back, after leaving and returning later, they told me that the 'OVIR police' had been round checking people's registrations for previous nights ! Luckily I missed them by about 20 minutes apparently. Despite the reknowned checking up on tourists, I was only stopped once in the Tashkent metro and after it was obvious my visa was all in order, and that I was not carrying narcotics or weapons in my bag (he seemed to pin his hopes of a 'win' on this one!) he had to let me go, game over, with nothing more than a handshake..

One warning if you do visit Tashkent at this time of year, I regularly heard the fall of something on the ground around me, I thought at first it may have been locals playing "let's get the tourist" with some little stones, and it's not obvious when you walk around in the dark, but turns out it was harmless acorns falling off trees lading near my feet as I sat in cafes or walked around. They fall everywhere, really.

People and Bazars of Uzbekistan

Throughout Uzbekistan I met some wonderfully friendly people, children and market sellers wanting photos taken, people in cafes insisting I go join their table, train neighbours offering tea and food, bus drivers and passengers wanting to know all about what you are doing there, people in streets stopping to talk to you just because you are foreigner, others because they want to speak English with you, stall vendors also just wanting to chat, people wantingto tak eme to night clubs.... all kinds, certainly a very warm and friendly people. Here are a few photos of some of my favourites and some of the wonderful bazar stalls I encountered on my way:





Top Left: Nazima and Irina at Charvak.
Top Right: Two of the Uzbek locals that took me to a Tashkent night club.
Bottom Left: Some girls in Khiva who pleaded for a photo.
Bottom Right: Designing souverniers in Khiva.




Top Left: Three "biker boys" from Khiva.
Top Right: Two sisters from Khiva.
Bottom Left: Bread sellers at Samarqand market
Bottom Right: Where I bought my dried fruit & nuts in Khiva




Top Left: Traditional Uzbek dresses at Chorzu bazar, Tashkent.
Top Right: More fruit and buts at Samarqand bazar.
Bottom Left: Girls in colourful Uzbek dresses in Samrakand.
Bottom Right: A party I was forced to join in at a Khiva cafe




Left: Fruit and Veg at the Khiva bazar.
Centre: Market seller who said hello and wanted a photo.
Right: Young girl who kissed her own photo when she saw it, ever so sweet, and oddly proud of the cigarette lighter.

Silk Road Cities - Samarkand

Samarkand was, for me, one of those "must-see" places on this planet. Photos of the Registan and the stories of the Amir Timur empire drew me here with aniticipation. One of Central Asia's oldest settlements, Samarkand was probably founded in the 5th century BC. It was already the cosmopolitan, walled capital of Sogdian empire when it was taken in 329 BC by Alexander the Great, who said, 'Everything I have heard about Marakanda (Greek name for Samrkand) is true, except that it's more beautiful then I ever imagined.' A key Silk Road city, it sat on the crossroads leading to China, India and Persia, bringing in trade and artisans. From the 6th to the 13th century it grew into a city more populous than it is today, changing hands every couple of centuries: Western Turks, Arabs, Persian Samanids, Karakhanids, Seljuq Turks, Mongolian Karakitay and Khorezmshah have all ruled here- before being literally obliterated by Jenghiz Khan in 1220.This might have been the end of the story, but in 1370 Timur decided to make Samarkand his capital, and over the next 35 years forged a new, almost-mythical city, Central Asia's economic and cultural epicentre. His grandson Ulughbek ruled until 1449 and made it an intellectual centre as well.

The Registan is an awesome sight towering over a plaza just east of central Samrkand (and fantastically just 400m or so from my guesthouse). The first visit one evening, I approched from the side where I spotted a small wooden gate. I opened it and went through after which I was approcahed by a police guard who explained I should use the main entrance a few hundred metres away on the main plaza, but as it was late let me in and immediately ushered me to one of the minarets which although officially closed to the public, could be climbed for around 2 dollars. It was a very, very narrow winding staircase of steep steps and tough on the legs, but gave great views of the Sher Dor (Lion) Medrassa and the Tilla Kari (gold-covered) medrassa.
The next day, a more extensive visit consisted of viewing all three medrassas which unsurprisingly now housed many small souvenier and art shops run by ladies who were always keen to grab your attention and drag you in. Admittedly, there were some very nice carpets, materials and paintings available and if I was on a short trip instead of a tour with a backpack I would easily have bought many beautiful things there.



Left: The Sher Dor Medrassa.
Right: Close-up of the lion on the Sher Dor.



Left: Inside the Ulughbek Medrassa.
Right: Decorated Ceiling inside the Tilla Kari medrassa.

The Bahordir guesthouse here was full of independent travellers like myself and confirmed further what had become apparent so far, that the only nationalities travelling these parts were either French, German, Swiss or Japanese, with the very occassional Israeli & Dutch thrown in. I had travelled along from Khiva via Bukhara with two Japanese (Yuta and Ikiko) and funnily at one point I was sat at dinner with them and 6 other Japanese ladies, all of who were travelling alone, Ikiko said it reminded her of 'Lost in Translation'.

Some Samarkand guides will call the city the 'Centre of the World', well while studying a map with Yuta and Ikiko to show them where in Wales I was born, it turned out that from my hometown of Haverfordwest, it was virtually the same distance as the crow flies to Samrkand as it was to their home town, Tokyo. Wales is almost as far West as you can get in Europe and Japan is as far East as you can go in Europe/Asia, for us, at that moment, Samarkand certainly was the 'Centre of the world'

While in Samrkand I also had one of the strangest 'Hot Dogs' ('Хот дог' is the amusing Russian translation) ever. The sausage was fine, the bread was fine, but has anyone else ever had one with grated carrot, grated purple cabbage and pickle smothered in mayonnaise before ?

Silk Road Cities - Bukhara

Central Asia's holiest city, Bukhara was one of the major stop-off points on the Silk Road. The city is home to buildings spanning a thousand years of history, and a thoroughly lived-in old centre that probably hasn't changed much in two centuries. It is one of the best places in Central Asia for a glimpse of pre-Russian Turkestan. Most of the centre is an architectural preserve, full of former madrassas, a massive royal fortress, mosques, caravanserais and the remnants of a once-vast market complex. Right in the centre (lyabi hauz square) there is a peaceful pool surrounded by relaxing waterside cafes where you can pay inflated tourist prices for traditional Uzbek cuisine.




Left: Mir i Arab Medrassa.
Right : Inside the medrassa.

Of all the wonderful buildings on show, one of the most impressive is the Kalan Mosque and minaret, built in 1127, which was the first to make use of the glazed blue tiles that were to become so common in Central Asian architecture during the reign of Timur. The minaret was apparently spared destruction during the rampages of Jenghiz Khan as he was so in awe of the construction. Now the path around the walls of the next door medrassa are taken over by women selling pottery, needlework, pillow/cushion cases etc.



Left : Kalon minaret not even Genghis Khan would destroy.
Centre & Right: Typical tilework from the many buildings

I travelled to Bukhara with two Japanese and a load of friendly Uzbkes on yet another overcrowded, mashroetkoe. On arrival, we hit the centre of town and looked for accomodation when a kind lady with perfect English offered us a place at her hotel. The Japanese had a place in mind which cost $7, so they asked if she cold beat that, she matched it and it had the added bonus of being right in the centre. On agreeing to stay we were given huge plates of grapes, melons and green tea to welcome us. This lady had been in the tourist agency since the 1970s and it was interesting to hear what she had to say about the rate of foreign visitors over the last 30 years. Since the split up of the USSR, the number of tourists dropped dramatically, the first few years of independence there were virtually no visitors to the new Uzbekistan republic, slowly this increased, but now for the last 5 or 6 years, there has been little change. Amazingly I bumped into here again in Tashkent two weeks later, this world is full of surprises.

Silk Road Cities of Uzbekistan - Khiva

A nice long journey from Tahskent to Khiva began unexpectedly. Looked like I had a carriage to myself, popped off the train for 2 minutes to get a drink and the carriage had been invaded and a very large and not so friendly looking lady was sat on my seat, taking up the whole bed. Seems that the provodnik had let on some extras to earn a little extra money for himself and stick them with me.. Anyway after letting them know I had a ticket for that seat, I got a place back (but not mine, an upper berth now as the big old lady would not stay up there!). Turned out they were quite friendly in the end and not as grumpy as originally seemed, though she did keep talking and talking and it was also very, very hot as the a/c did not work, which is a little inconvenient when the temperatures are high 30s, though the ladies did have some lovely green tea.

Khiva's old town is an ancient walled city, with many olding many old medrassas, mosques, minarets and museums designed in the Amur Timur style light blue and white tiles, huge arched entrance ways and beautiful artwork designs. The bazar on the edge of the old town is another great Central asian bazar, which on Sunday morning was busier than ever. As well as the amazing architecture, it is memorable for the lovely, friendly children who like to say 'hello mister' and 'how are you'. Many times if they catch you with a camera they will ask for a photo, some of which I printed for them the next morning, found the kids and gave them the photos. One sweet girl in paticular kept asking for a photo by signalling a photo taking action, seemed slightly shy and hardly said a word. I took a photo, showed her my camera, she looked, smiled and kissed her own picture on the display, how sweet. I found someone to translate to her that I would get it printed the next morning and to wait around that area tomorrow evening. She was there waiting with her sister and when I gave them the photos, they screamed, jumped up and down and ran off home carrying the buckets of water they had collected for their homes in one hand, photos in the other with big, big smiles.



Left: Camel in the old town 'Ichon qala' .
Centre: Mohammad Rakhim Khan Medrassa.
Right: Entrance to one of Khiva's medrassa.



Left: Dome of Kultimurodinok Medrassa
Right: Bazar melon stalls along the old city walls.

One evening I dined at a cafe just outside the old town next to where a large wedding party was taking place. Soon after I finished my meal I was invited/dragged to a nearby table and made to join a group of locals, share some more food, a few beers and guess for most of the evening what on earth they were talking about as they spoke mainly only in Uzbek or Tajik, whichever it was.

The next evening I joined a traditional Uzbek dinner/dance evening in the old town where a traditional Uzbek food of Plov, breads, yoghurts, fruit, salads and green tea was accompanied by Uzbek dancing and music in teh courtyard of an old medraaa, not bad, but I won't rush back..




Left: Old medrass/museum of Khiva
Right: Traditional Uzbek dance evening !



Fortresses of Uzbekistan

A day spent travelling around various fortresses of the Amu Daryu Delta, saw some ancient Khorezm forts and stayed overnight in the desert overlooking one of the fortresses and a lake.



Left: The yurt camp at which I stayed in Ayaz-Qala.
Right: Ayaz-Qala hill fortress.