June 30, 2022
I’m finally leaving Bishkek.
I got to the edge of town and started walking and waving to cars passing by. Eventually I hitched a ride with a nice guy going west, then another one and another one and a few more, hitchhiking my way slowly up and over the Ala-Too mountain range, then back down to where the road splits to the city of Osh or west to Talas.
I spent the night at a roadside restaurant and kept going the next day. I caught a ride with a nice family going up to visit their family in Talas. I played the ukulele for them and we had a great time together riding up the mountains, back down again and across the next mountain range.
Hitchhiking through theTalas Valley was a little bit more challenging, but finally I made it to Kyzil-Adir village, in the north of the country. Now I need to go down south to the Chatkal river and then all the way to the western border of Kyrgyzstan, where I can finally start my hike.
Getting from Talas south to the Chatkal valley was a challenge. There was one big mountain ridge to cross and a road that very few people used. Finally I caught a ride with a local guy living up the mountain, and then a group of miners going to work at the gold mines at the top. I wasn’t allowed to go into the gold mine, so I had to get out of the car and keep walking by foot. I hitched a ride with a large truck that took me the rest of the way down and into Talas. After a few more kilometers of walking, a car with a family stopped and took me to town. They invited me to their home, gave me a place to sleep and gave me an incredible meal. One important thing to know about the people of Kyrgyzstan is their hospitality is incredible. They love hosting, they love meeting people and they will not take no for an answer when it comes to food, vodka or fermented mare’s milk…
One of my philosophies as a traveler is: Other than asking for a ride while hitchhiking, do not ask for anything, but when something is offered, don’t say no, just accept whatever is coming to you. In my experience, it will be a lot more interesting and a lot more enjoyable. (Of course, always safety first…)
In the morning after a huge breakfast I left the house and continued my way west.
Before starting the hike, I knew I needed a permit so I could get close to the border with Uzbekistan.
At Jany-Bazaar I caught a ride with Osman, the chief of Chatkal. In fact he was an ecologist looking after the nature of the valley, and he knew everyone. Every person on the street would stop and say hi and salam alaikum.
Since he did not know anything about permits he took me first to his family to get some food, as is common in Kyrgyzstan. From there we went to meet the chief of police in the village and then the director of the reservation. The director sent us to an office where I signed some paperwork, got my passport scanned and got permission to go into the reservation. I even met a guide who I was told was going to lead me right to the border!
I left the office and caught a ride to Ak-Tash. Osmond took me part of the way and then I got a ride with a couple and their friend, before reaching the last village in the valley. At Ak-Tash they asked me whether I drink “pivo”, beer in Russian. I said sure! So we climbed up to a nice hill, sliced some salami, got some bread out and started drinking beer. We shared maybe three or four liters between us and by the time that ended, night had come. They invited me to their home, we had dinner together and went to visit another friend and then we drank more and more beer and vodka and went home to sleep at about four in the morning. I woke up feeling my stomach is killing me. I stepped outside, feeling the beer climbing up my throa. I let go and gave all that beer back to nature…
In the morning I organized my stuff, said goodbye to the family who finally woke up and after watching how the wife was milking the cows, I left for the trail, ready to finally start walking.
I got to the bridge, well, not so much a bridg, rather more like a crate hanging on two large metal wires where you can get into the crate and pull yourself across the river to the other shore.
I started climbing and finally met a guy on a horse who seemed to be waiting for me. He was waving and started guiding me up the mountain and through the brush. I followed on foot behind the horse.
We walked through tall brush, thorns and flowers on trails. If not for my guide, I would never have noticed a bear walking down to the river and a family of wild boars running on the hill.
Then we got to a river and stopped.
It’s important to mention that communicating was very tough. I can’t speak Kyrgyz, he couldn’t speak English and both of us know very little Russian. With the little we knew I understood that there is no easy way to continue, there is no bridge to cross the next river and my guide wanted to go back to the cabin we passed an hour ago to sleep there.
We agreed he will go back and I will try to continue forward, and the next day we will meet back at the cabin. So I continued, on the road that barely existed and was really overgrown, bushwalking though the evening. I went to sleep when the sun came down and continued the next day, determined to get as far west as possible.
I walked through the morning finding a path leading to the huge Chatkal river and followed the river bank surrounded by beautiful mountains and flowers.
I was stopped! The latest landslide washed the path out completely leaving the roaring river on one side and the cliffs on the other, I knew I could not climb up the mountain and I know how much power a river can have. Enough to not try crossing and take my chances…
So I stopped, 26 km from the western most point of north Kyrgyzstan. I turned around looking to the east, at the sun shining above the mountains and said to myself: I AM READY! This is where it starts. My Hike Across Kyrgyzstan.
