I became really lazy over the last few days, since I arrived, a bit early, in Osh and now waiting for some friends, who went into the (offline) wilderness of Kyrgyzstan which took longer than expected to get out again. However, if all works out, they all should arrive today in Osh and will use the day tomorrow to change tires and repack things, so we are all ready to start on Wednesday to drive further south and up to Sary Tash, before we are going up on the Pamir Highway to the second highest border crossing in the world over two passes with the highest elevation of over 4,600 m high.
But let me catch up on the trip from Toktokul to Osh, what was another mixed bag day of everything from mountain landscapes, the biggest reservoir lake in Kyrgyzstan for hydro power generation to dry hilly steppe landscapes. Came with a Google Maps detour, which ended on a rocky dirt road with nothing around and now car and nothing, and after some switchbacks I decided to turn around and make it back to the main road and simply followed the main road, when Google maps suddenly switched to that road as the shortest connection. There is clearly some room for improvement on the Google maps road connection. Friends confirmed later the road goes off road for at least 30 km, before it connects back to the same main road I took to Osh. Wonder how many others got misled by Google maps. Anyway, an hour later and a toll payment of 200 Som, I arrived at the outskirts of Osh and the traffic got thicker and the first traffic lights popped up again. Osh is not a big town, but certainly a fast growing town and I could imagine it is the second biggest town in Kyrgyzstan, a country of 7 million people, where 2 million must be babies, toddlers and teenagers. Never saw so many young people and babies like in Kyrgyzstan, which has all signs of a rapid transition into a new nation with more stability, growth and foreign investment (from China).
With whomever I talk to , everyone explains the same about the rapid change and development of Osh, with a new mayor on clear mission to clear the city from old bad habits and mis-developments, often reaching back to the time after the breakup from the USSR with little oversight on investment and development. All together the new development goes into the right direction, but certainly, some will benefit more than others from it, the same way I can see it for the rest of the country.
I like Osh, great new cafés, restaurants, hotels and places to go. The road system gets modernised and rebuilt and restructured, traffic is somehow orderly, enforced by strict traffic police intervention and it even comes with a trolley bus system, something I have not seen for a long time. But sure, it’s summer, with not too hot temperatures and mild evenings. I understand it’s fricking cold in winter with snow and ice. Tourism for hiking, horse riding, climbing (with plenty of 7,000er peaks around), Motocross and other activities is on the rise, including winter sports. Some said it is the new, better version of Nepal and neighbouring countries. I can see that.
In the meantime I got my new tires and an oil change, that will get me over the next 7,000 km or so, before I’m coming back to Osh for another set of tires, before I’m entering China from Sary Tash again for my last China leg to get home again at the end of August.
I certainly don’t mind chilling a bit and simply enjoy sleeping whenever I want and feel, while waiting for the group and simply feeling good.
I have visited some monuments in town, but not anything outside town. There is the Throne of Salomon mountain ridge, yes that biblical Salomon, who lived here and some silk road ruins a bit outside from Osh, but I must admit, there is only so much new you can gain from another silk road ruin in an abandoned landscape.
When we cross the Pamir Highway, we will pass some caravanserais, which had only been abandoned last century and had been in use since early times. I think, that gives a good insight, how long the silk road has actually been active, at least as a trading route, and in many ways is still active, only that trucks replaced camels and mules. It is my understanding, that China has rebuilt the road all the way to Korog from Dushanbe, and the road construction teams are now moving towards Murgabh, which can only mean. In the not so distant future, the Pamir Highway will become very approachable for everyone. The only difference will be, the number of trucks will drastically increase. There are also alternative routes to get to Dushanbe, with one more border crossing now open for foreigners, where one can travel from Osh to Dushanbe in two long, but very doable days, with no need to cross into Uzbekistan. All good news, as it can only give more options for travelers and tourism.
I think that’s for today
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