The Alton Bishkek

... I get to the front of the queue. Well, second. They close for lunch! I meet Patrick by chance and we swop stories. He relates a story of an Australian friend who went to the consulate in Melbourne for a tourist visa and was told categorically "we do not want you!" I return to the consulate not in the most hopeful frame of mind.<br> I am back there in plenty of time for the 14.30 opening. I march boldly to ...

... going in circles. Amazingly, it is built of sturdier stuff than I had anticipated and, so far, is perfectly fine. Wow. <br><br>Well, I am now back in Bishkek, heading off on the road south to Osh and beyond tomorrow morning. Today is absolutely baking hot. I had thought about going today, but with various things to sort out, it would have been a late afternoon rush to get going, in the heat, and I would rather just start fresh tomorrow. <br><br>Until later.<br>

... back memories of childhood in Wicklow and making hay. No sileage then. Then there are the cars. Hundreds of them. All makes and conditions. Men kick tyres. Families gather around looking at engines wondering how long this wreck might last. The atmosphere is much more subdued here.<br><br>This is one of the biggest animal markets in Central Asia. I love markets, the sizing up, the cautious approach, the bargaining, the agreement, the satisfaction. It is the antithesis of going to the ...

... helped by a storming downhill from the Qorday pass (1233 metres) pretty much all the way to Bishkek (664 metres). The uphill was a bit of a shag though, although the granny gear has yet to get used. Despite the horror stories I've heard about roads in Central Asia, I appear to have found a very 'European' road - paved, gradients that were tolerable and all very pleasant. One of my ideas for getting across Kyrgyzstan was to take a rather interesting sounding route (interesting ...

... and burped and spluttered the night away. On the floor, in the cold and with this symphony of gastric horror going on, it was not the best night's sleep. <br><br> <br> <br> <br>The next day, we headed by horseback to Kol Ukok, an alpine lake situated just below a glacier. <br> <br>Again we stayed with a local Kyrgyz family for what was the most authentic yurt stay, out on our own nestled between the mountain peaks. No one spoke Russian, only Kyrgyz ...

... metres again and crashed early ready for the next day's mountain walking.<br><br>19th July.<br><br>After an early breakfast almost the entire party donned their hiking shoes (you can guess who didn&#8217;t) and set off up the valley. The photos are breathtaking. You would swear you were in Switzerland, apart from the absence of roads or anything else of substance. <br><br>There is a great picture of Fiona ...

Paragliding association under extreme tourism federation of Uzbekistan at cooperation with «Pamir Expeditions» would like to invite everybody to take part in the first international paragliding festival on Lenin peak area:<br><br><br>Dear friends and guests of the festival! Project of this kind of grade is carried out here first time! This is absolutely new direction in history of extreme kinds of sports yet when paragliding and mountaineering are going to ...

&#1057;ombined program<br><br>Dear friends! Let us to introduce you not quite ordinary program which combines not only two different directions in kinds of active tours but offers unique journey around two mountain areas &#8211; there are Pamir and Pamiro-Alay as well. Horse riding part of this program is lying in area of wonderful Alay valley and leads to the foot of grand Lenin peak 7134m (Zaalay ridge), then your horse riding route ...

... yourself for the ascent.<br>Day 5 Acclimatization foray to Peak Khan-Tengry.<br>Day 6 Base Camp (4000 m) to Camp 1 (4200 m). The route begins from the BC located at the left-hand side moraine of the South Inilchek Glacier at the point of the glacier&#8217;s meeting with the Zvezdochka Glacier, approximately at 4000 m above see level.<br>Day 7 Camp 1 (4200 m) to Camp 2 (5300 m). You uphill along the Semenovskiy ...

... we had an orientation tour of the capital Bishkek. In fact at 8.00 pm we were still looking at blessed endless city monuments. We just wanted a meal and our bed &#8211; and some money. <br><br>This was our first of many endeavours to change money in Kyrgyzstan. We were assured that it is REALLY easy to exchange money in Kyrgyzstan "Don't WORRY", smiled Vita &#8220;You will have NO problems&#8221;. This sounded a bit familiar. Vita assured us that the Hyatt ...