Travels with Kathryn

So, this morning, it was back in the minibus for the last long day of driving. I should probably take a moment to comment on the bus (as opposed to the roads), unfortunately I am travelling with a group of older (albiet lovely) people who all feel the cold. I am often sitting in the bus a wee bit sweaty with others wearing additional jumpers and coats. However, I have now worked out the best seat (for me anyway), its front single seat on the right – you get a slight feeling of ventilation from the vents at the back of the seat, and a draft from the windows being open for Anatoliy and Miko. Its only downside is that it has nothing to hold onto, which can be somewhat terrifying as we zip around corners and down mountains. Anyway, last day in the minibus, so I felt it deserved to be photographed:

We drifted down the mountains and into the Feranga valley with stops so we could admire the two hydroelectric dams that provide 75% of Kyrgyzstan’s power. As I promised in my last post, there are some controvesies around Kyrgyzstan building more dams and using its power in this way as the neighbouring stans i.e. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are reliant on Kyrgyzstan for their water, and by daming the rivers, the levels in the resevoirs are dropping, and its these resevoirs which provide water to (particularly) Uzbekistan. It’s also contrversial as recently a Kyrgyzstani resevoir has been “given” to Uzbekistan, and the gift includes the obligation to ensure supply to the resevoir. Anyway, the Kyrgyzstani’s are evidently proud of their dams, so it was a key stop on today’s journey.

The landscape changed dramatically as we entered the Feranga valley, with mountains being replaced with farmland. Coming out of the sparsley inhabitated steepe, it feels strange to be on busy roads with lots of people about. Our first town came as something of a shock. It is also noticeably warmer with temperatures on the high 20s – quite a come down from the frosty start a couple of mornings ago!

Views from the road:

We stopped for lunch at a local place. This was a classic. You sit down and are presented with a menu. I feel menus here are used for entertainment purposes and should not be read in anyway as options of what to eat, you are meant to just enjoy the pictures before before being told what you can actually have. Anyway, today’s multiple page menu transalted into one of 5 types of lamb kebab, sliced onions, bread, and tea. To be fair, though, the kebabs were utterly delicious, and the interior was even fancier:

Today’s historical site of interest was the city of Uzgen, with its own tower (a close relative of the Burara tower) and being all that remains of another Silk Road city. The map below gives you some idea of cities I have passed through.

Unfortunately there was no music video being filmed, but its evidently a hang out place for young people a number of whom were excited to proactice their English and to have their photo taken and then sent to them. The city of Uzgen is interesting as its 90% Uzbekistani and noticeably more Muslim than the northern part of Kyrgzstan, with almost every woman wearing the hijab. It’s also famous for its red rice, apparently.

We arrived in the city of Osh at about 5pm, which is the second largest city in Kyrgzstan, and tomorrow we are off on a site seeing adventure, so get ready for photos of buildings rather than views…