Camped out in Kyrgyzstan

Now in Bishkek, Kyrgystan gearing up for 3 weeks in the remote Pamir mountains. Before getting to Kyrg Uzbek redeemed itself a little, we had a good time in Tashkent with an old(ish) hippie from Cornwall, Toby, then spent a night as the guest of a Tajik underneath his apple trees on a kind of open air bed after failing to find anywhere to camp on the way to the border. While his and his families hospitality was overwhelming, so was the smell of the pit toilet that Cadie declined with a scream. Another night near the border in a Soviet era 'Hotel' (this term is used loosely) before crossing 10 or so days ago. A positive welcome from the border guards not matched by two young scallies in Bishkek who threatened Cadie with a knife (asking for Dingi - money) though they soon ran off when confronted by the beginings of the once infamous boar charge. Since then we have spent most of the last 10 days under canvas in what is a bush camping and 4X4 driving paradise, complete with hairy river crossings, very bad to non-existant tracks, stunning spots to camp almost everywhere, with no-one ever seeming to mind, big campfires, snow, hail, horses, camels and fights....we have witnessed many of the latter, the pocket sized Kyrgyz, stupified on vodka by 10am, going at it with each other like wannabe Bruce Lee's on an all too regular basis. The highlight of our week camping, our longest stretch yet, has been the lakes of Sary Chelek, Issy-Kul and particularly Song Kol, the latter a high mountain pasture (with lake) and scenery that seems to us to be very reminiscent of Mongolia, complete with herders Yurts, large herds of beautiful horses and even the odd bactrian (two hump) camel. That nights camp very very cold, a big change from the scorching steppe, but it was great to watch the heders trying to lassoe their horses whilst we froze next to our tiny fire. Our cooker kaput, we are now using fires and expiremeting more with camp cuisine, a rack / grill bought long ago on a sailing holiday in Greece and saved for the purpose allowing us to cook with some success with the fire alone. Macaroni cheese worked well. Veg tempura didnt (though the onion Bajis werent bad) - an attempt at veggie Moussaka in freezing tempratures died with the fire. Cruiser seems to be bearing up well and is proving to be a very capable off road vehicle, we particularly benefit from the short wheel base with the very steep angles on the mountain passes, particularly where the track has been destroyed by a stream or landslide. We had our two hitch removed in Tashkent which has also made a big difference, i.e. not grounding out on the rocks. She has even fixed herself of not automatically selecting 4wd as it should in low range, though the exhaust problems (which we will nail once we can finally get the part) continue, as does the saga of the cracked windscreen. After our week traverse of central Kyrg we spent a couple of nights chilling in Karakol on the shores of lake Issy-Kul, even stopping on the beach on the way here to watch drunk Russians play with beach balls 3000 miles from the sea. Life in the cab still upbeat, especialy when Tom sings Rocky Racoon (Beatles White Album) in the style of a nightclub singer, aka Vic Reeves .....

Should be out of contact for next 3 to 4 weeks as we tackle the Pamir highway, Wakhan valley then back to Kyrg then over the Torughat pass to China.

Photos are of Kyrgyz man & granddaughter we gave a lift too, bactiran camels at Song Kul, horses on the Song Kol Jailoo (summer pasture), moody weather on the pass down, Yurts, snow and horses on the pass up.