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Category: Kyrgyzstan

  • 22. August 2026, back on the road again

    Today was the first day on my long way back home to Thailand.

    After two weeks back home with the family, I got up at 4am on Thursday, to get to the airport in Chiang Mai to get on the first flight to Bangkok airport and to catch the flight to Almaty where I arrived around 4 pm local time. Stayed at the same hotel close to the workshop where I stored my bike, decided to change the brake pads, even when they are still good, mainly to get rid of the extra weight for the spare brake pads I had in my luggage. For all three brakes, it sums up and I’m happy to have 300 g less to carry and brake pads which will easily be good for the next 11,000 km, the approximate distance to get home through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China with Tibet, Laos and then Thailand. Maybe less.

    Yesterday I picked up my bike, to repack and prepare everything,only to realize this morning I forgot my boots in the workshop shed, so I had to wait till 10 to get over (driving in full gear but with flipflops) and to change into my boots. Another great chitchat with Roman, one of the owners and off I went into the expressway to get out of Almaty, well, it took me approximately 1 1/2 hours to reach the free flowing express way, including a tankstop to fill up the tank and a quick bottle of ice tea.

    Once out of town and leaving the suburbs behind, it’s back to the wide steppe and driving along the mountains range to the south, still within some snow at the tops.

    After another two hours or so I arrived at the exit to turn south towards Bishkek and the border. Unfortunately, the expressway was closed after that exit, so all traffic was redirected along that road and it got a bit busy on the two lane sections, when all the trucks had to slow down in the steeper slopes down the pass.

    Anyway, I made it to the border, overtook slowly the long queue of cars waiting to get through the gate, squeezed myself in Just as the gate opened and got my passport stamped after it was my turn, maybe 15 minutes later, what is record time, comparing it with last time at the same border. Luggage check was a 5 second affair, and a lot of questions of where I’m from and where I go and so on.

    Got my two stamps, got over to Kyrgystan, same procedure, same questions, same check, all good, 15 minutes later I was through the gate and stopped at the booth where I got my insurance and SIM card last time. The guy remembered me, all quick and friendly, with one unexpected hiccup, my phone was blocked in Kyrgystan, after I have been here before, but did not register the phone with whatever authority, and after the grace period of 1 months is over it gets blocked.

    No big problem really, my main phone has an E-sim, which is working and I connect the second navigation phone via hotspot. Works for me.

    Getting into and through Bishkek is the typical bigger city traffic, maybe a bit less because it is Saturday, and a bit after 6 pm local time, I arrived at the guest house, with nobody at home. Well with a bit of WhatsApp I was directed to my room all good, waiting for the boiler to heat up the water to take a shower and to write this update of my first day on the bike of my long way home.

    Tomorrow to Toktogul, what will be a great ride as it goes through those mountain planes and passes with all the yurts, the horses, cows and all kinds of livestock that nomads keep.

    Will update more tomorrow.

    At the guest house in Bishkek.

    Street food dinner

  • 16. 17. 18. 19. July 2026, the rough part of the Pamir Highway and two chill days in Korog at the border to Afghanistan

    It was a bit of a mix of no or very bad internet connection, being part of a group so we all passed the Pamir Highway not alone (which was a wise choice for all of us) and simply being a bit lazy after a couple of extremely hard days riding after we left Osh.

    Osh to Sary Tash was in fact a nice ride, not too long and with a number of nice view points on some interesting roads, not too bad but shared with a lot of trucks going to or coming from China. The weather was on our side and I did not even put on an extra thermal layer. We reached Sary Tash in the early afternoon, stopped for lunch at the Akun restaurant and the nice lady owner convinced us quickly to stay in their guest house behind the restaurant. As all guest houses in Sary Tash offer only shared bedrooms and shared showers we just took it, as it also came with hot water, at least, the dinner was good, just the right mix to have a good sleep and to power up for the next day to get up to the pass and crossing into Tajikistan, one of the highest border crossings in the world with 4,100 m on the pass in the 30 km nomans land, followed by another peak of 4,600 before the road decent to Mughab , the one cross road settlement in the middle of nowhere in one of the harshest places on Earth to live. It started all good on a relatively good road up to the border post on the Kyrgyzstan site, where you get checked out of Kyrgyzstan. All friendly and easy, then the ascent to the pass on a not maintained dirt road track up hill with some not too difficult switchbacks and then the pass. Like all good riders we left our sticker marks on the sign board next to the Marco Polo sheep, swapped for air and moved on to the Tajikistan Border post a bit further down only to be greeted with the bar down and the information that the computer is down and we have to wait. I make it short, we all five made it somehow through that Border post, however, two of us had to surrender their drones, as they have not been registered in or for Tajikistan. It was a completely fuck-uo by one of the custom officers who asked only the last guy in our group if he has a drone and he honestly answered with yes and was then called into the small office alone with the officers. On top, suddenly he was asked to pay 5 USD for each of us (25 USD), what he did in hope he gets his drone back but this was just a side maneuver to extract some tea money. In the meantime a group of five girls (two from Turkey and three from France) on T7s and one Tuareg came up from the Tajikistan side and after some introduction and explaining what is going on, they told us they have drones but never got asked about when they entered Tajikistan.

    As we was waiting we asked about the road conditions ahead of us and got some scary stories of corrugated roads and smashing potholes and so on, what all conformed earlier stories I was told by other riders (one smashed his windscreen on a BMW 1250 GSA, what gave me some ideas). One of the girls (the Touareg) had lost her side stand and could not get off the bike without leaning it against a wall or pole. It’s one of my nightmares that this will happen to me. As one of us already custom cleared guys had a drone in his luggage, but was never asked about, we decided to get away from the border post and wait for the two in the office further down. Well, so was the plan until we hit the dirt track going downhill from the pass on the worst hard corrugated gravel conditions I personally ever encountered, the traction control kicked in instantly, the bike came almost to a stand still, same for the Transalp next to me, while the 500 X stumbled ahead in an almost uncontrollable manner. And see it went on for the next 20-30 km or so, with my traction control going completely wild (even in the highest mode) and I try to figure out how to switch it completely off. And I thought I understood the manual, hahahaha.

    Hello Honda, do you hear me, can you make a single button traction control switch off, like I have on my old Africa Twin. Thank you.

    Well, everything has an end and gradually the road turned into a smooth asphalt surface until we reached Karakul (lake) and stopped for lunch (what gave us the first taste of Tajikistan food) and waited for the two behind us. The two arrived without drones but the promise, the drones would get delivered to Murgabh, where they can register the drones and get them back. (Long story short, they have not received the drones up to today)

    After lunch we set off again to get over the next pass of 4,600 meters and to Murgabh. The roads became only worse, to the degree, we decided to use the far out desert pistes, which have been used by the big SUVs, and where it was nice flat and I could easily go up over 100 until I reminded myself I should not get so cocky as there can be always sudden dents, water crossings and holes.

    I must say, that was where the Africa Twin with the Heidenau tires was absolutely in its element and outshined every other bike in the group by being miles ahead. I could go easily over 100, standing relaxed and balanced on the pegs and simply controlled steering by just leaning in. Well, maybe I was also a bit over confident in the thin air. However, putting it in offroad mode and with a bit lower tire pressure was still hard work but there was nobody who came close to overtaking the Africa Twin. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, we bumped again into Nathan on his BMW who had obvious fuel system problems as the engine came to a studder and died every couple of kms. We took him in and somehow we all made it to Murgabh and stayed in the Pamir Hotel, still the best choice amongst the other offers, even when we had only shared bathrooms. After such a day, you only want some food, refill the body with liquid and ab early sleep. Good thing, no Air Condition needed in the cool thin air.

    The next day, we could only start after 9 am when the petrol point with cans of petrol opposite of the hotel opened. But we could at least see, it was clear and clean petrol. I assume, Nathan had simply bad luck and got bad petrol filled the day earlier and his filter struck. 

    Anyway , we set off, this time with trucks on the road again, coming from and going to China and or to some mines in that area, as I saw a number of trucks with typical mining and road construction material. Trucks on such roads mean they will turn left and right at will, dictated by the swallowing portholes and if you are on the wrong side at the wrong moment you will find yourself on the thin edge of the road sides, hoping you can make it to the front. Having said that, honking and head light beaming helps to make them aware you ate there and in many cases they will give you some room to speed quickly ahead.

    While the first 40 km or so looked promising, it turned slowly into a real shitshow with a gravel road of small head size borders and suddenly appearing deep potholes. Glad, I had put the preload to the highest point in the morning, after I bottomed out the day earlier twice. With the suspension on the highest and softest level and standing on the pegs almost all day, the Africa Twin again showed the best of Honda engineering. The bike took everything that the road was throwing at us with a stunning sturdiness and kind of coolness like I didn’t know exists.

    Somewhere in the middle I stopped where I saw a lot of truckers stopped as it means there must be a restaurant and I could wait for the others behind me. After lunch we set off again, when we met a French/Swiss couple on CRF Rally’s who told us that the road around the next peak gets worse, but at least we also knew, after that peak it will be all good on a constant slow decent to Khorog.

    But yes, that last stretch got really worse, with bigger borders, more potholes, less options to take side roads and that all on the wide plain where you could see 10 km ahead realizing that there is no end to it with one truck after the other going in both ways. Well, everything has an end, and we finally reached the last pass, with a sudden surprisingly steep decline via a good number of switchbacks until we reached the bottom and asphalt again.

    The problem with those days is also that it is hard to gauge how long it will take to reach what place or if you can make it all the way to the desired destination. So we decided to get at least to a village where I knew, there would be a guest house. Took us a bit less, as the road condition improved, with more asphalt and less broken roads and gravel and potholes. Hence, after a quick drink stop we decided to press on as Khorog was 2 hours away and we could reach it before darkness. As I do not like darkness, or even driving in the dark shadows of the towering mountains ahead (with hard to see sudden portholes and whatever gravel) I pressed ahead, using the gravel mode and the bike was a real bliss to make it to Khorog. I do not want to brag, but yes, I had to wait over 30 minutes for the others, who also had to stop, after one of them had to throw up after some bad food mixed with hard work on the bike, two drops, the altitude and simply the excitement which comes with such long riding days on bad roads.

    We arrived at the hotel, unfortunately there were not enough rooms for all of us and the two moved to another recommended hotel on the other side of the river. Funnily, at the hotel where I stayed were two Korean and Japanese riders who had stayed together with one of the others in Almaty in the same hotel, so we had a good meet-again dinner at the rooftop Restaurant of the other hotel, one of the few places, which also served beers. Keep in mind, we were just opposite of the Afghan border.

    Yesterday we all had a chill and bike maintenance day before we met for dinner again also after two others from the group had arrived who took the Wakhan Valley from Murgabh. Watching the videos of them going through the water crossings with twice dropping the bike in the water, only confirmed, it was a very wise decision that we took the direct route to Khorog and not the route via the Wakhan Valley. On top, one of them knocked out his rear suspension seal, lost the oil drop for drop and has no dampening in the rear suspension anymore.

    They went off today all together to Kalaikhum on the last stretch of gravel on the Pamir Highway, before the road to Dushanbe is comparable to a highway after the last 500 km stones, swallowing potholes and gravel with some patches of asphalt all served on a 3,000 to 4,600 meter high table.

    I will follow them tomorrow, back driving solo and will join them again in Dushanbe with the idea to get together over the border to Uzbekistan and to Samarkand and Bukhara, before they turn south again towards Afghanistan and I’m north towards Tashkent.

    So is the plan.

    This was a bit longer,  but I had to press four days into one post and a lot of things happened over the four days to me and my travel buddies.

    Will try to post some pictures later, as Internet is really bad and unreliable here. C

    Cheers

  • 13. July 2026, chilling and waiting in Osh

    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

    City hall
    Toktokul park in the evening
    Lots of green parks along the roads
    Washing Day with new tires
    Reminders from the not so distant past
    This is the coolest dentist clinic I have ever seen, with tinted windows to the road for all four dentist stations. Like a modern restaurant with transparent kitchen windows. You cannot see the patient, but you can watch the dentist at work.

  • 8., 9. July, arriving in Osh and chilling out before the Pamir crossing.

    I’m a bit ahead of the planned schedule, mainly, because I did all what I had planned for Bishkek and could see a reason why I should stay longer. The receptionist gave me the advice to arrange an overnight stop in Toktogul, between Bishkek and Osh, close to the big hydro power reservoir. Booked a recommended guesthouse and oof I went on Monday morning. It took a while to get out of Bishkek, and I think I never had to stop at so many red traffic lights, like on the way out of Bishkek, until the city faded away and the big steppe opens up again with the mountains in the backdrop. Then Google directed me to a wonderful short meandering on a small but good road through the landscape of small villages and settlements, plantations, wheat and corn fields until I joined the M41, what is the official name of the commonly known Pamir Highway even if the Pamir still some three days drive away. The M41 was a bit more busy with trucks, minibuses and cars. Came across a group of maybe 10 dusty looking dirt bike riders, looking at each other with some interest. Suddenly a toll station with nobody in the booth again. After some time the gate opened and I moved on wondering what happened and will happen. What will happen, became quickly clear when steep switchbacks started going up the morning mountains with all the trucks coming to an almost Stillstand and everyone else is overtaking as best (or much) as the power of the engines allowed. After maybe 20 minutes a tunnel opening came up and swallowed everything for the next 3,500 meters with some dom lights giving some hints where the middle strip could be. When I come out on the other side, I was greeted with a fantastic view in an endless wide valley deep (and steep) below and the rain started. Put the rain jacket on and started rolling down the mountains in long serpentines until I reached the valley when all was dry and warm again, but not for long. The steppe valley was dotted with yurts and some very small settlements with the road going straight through to the other end where the next mountain pass was waiting. Great views, stunning landscape and free roaming livestock crossing the road as it works best for them. Saw a number of cadavers on the road side telling a grim story. And then the wind started rolling down from the mountains on the right side and while it was strong it was constant and not in gushes like in China. However, the sky got darker and darker and I could see some showers coming down ahead and I stopped again to add a thermal layer to the gear and user the first time my Parka I packed especially for those situations and changed also the first time to the warm waterproof gloves as my finger had been wet and cold from the rain. Turned out it all worked as planned and with the help of the grip heater the fingers got warm after a while and the boots proved again to be absolutely water proof as the rest of my cocoon. I passed another high pass (both are over 3100 meters) and another over 3000 meter long and narrow tunnel, this time with no lights at all for the extra entertainment. The rain stayed for a while until it ended shortly before my destination, where everything was dry and warm again.

    The guesthouse was nice and I met another Indonesian couple from Bali traveling in a Hilux to Germany. Turned out, they are also in contact with the other two Indonesians, with whom I entered and exited China and with whom I agreed to drive the Pamir Highway together to give all of us as much power to help each other when needed on that special stretch over 700 km.