1. Sunflowers, Ferghana Valley.
We stayed 4 days in Osh, a mainly Uzbek city.
Riding north around the edge of the fertile 
Ferghana valley, the bigger part belongs to 
Uzbekistan, we went through undulating hills 
and huge fields of sunflowers.
2. Watermelon Stall, Ferghana Valley.
Not used to the sweltering heat (40 degrees C)
we were very happy that the watermelons were
in season!!
 
3. Camping, Otmok river.
In between two 3000m passes we raced through
a very big open valley, road sloping gently down
and with strong tail wind from a thunderstorm that
seemed to follow us. We waited for it to pass
in one of the many roadside yurts, eating fried
bread and tasty kuurdak and drinking bowls of the
homemade kymys (fermented mare's milk, the national
drink) until it had passed. We then went through
the grasslands to camp next to the river for a bit
chilly night.
After climbing out of this valley we went through
a tunnel and down a steep canyon to Bishkek.
4. Changing of the guards, Bishkek.
Having arrived in the capital Bishkek we enjoyed
the good life in good restuarants, met friends,
arranged a visa extension and watched the
changing of the guards (at hourly intervals) and 
lowering of the flag (at nightfall).
Especially the Northern part of Kyrgyzstan is
very Russified and the bazaars are stocked as well
as the one in Osh.
Bishkek has many expatriates and the best supermarket
sells many luxury items like Multigrain Crisps,
peanut butter, baclava just to name a few.
  
5. Mountaineering Camp, Ak Say glacier.
Waiting for our passports, we did a trek into
the Ala Archa National Park, just south of Bishkek.
Very easy accessible so busy with tourists, Westerners
as well as many Russians and some locals.
At the foot of the Ak Say glacier was a busy camp
with mostly rock- and ice-climbing enthusiasts.
They either did climbs from their or transported, like
mules, backpacks full with equipment to camps further up
the valley. We camped 2 hours down from here on a 
isolated spot near a waterfall together with a befriended
couple that we kept on meeting during our trip sofar.
We had a beautiful view over the lower valley and one
evening saw big groups of ibex goats roam around the rocks.
6. Petroglyph, Cholpon Ata.
On our trip around the giant Isyk Kul lake, at 1600m,
we stopped in the main beach resort Cholpon Ata to see
petroglyphs, rock drawings made by ancient travellers
along the Silk Road, that has many branches.
We had a comfortable yurt-stay with good food 
in a beautiful garden and strolled along the road
to the beach, busy with many Kazakh and Russian tourists;
Almaty (Alma Ata) is just across the mountains on the
other side.
7. House, Isyk Kul.
The tourist traffic West of Cholpon Ata made us crazy,
but the road around Isyk Kul lake became much more quiet 
and relaxed the further away East we cycled.
We passed through several typically Russian style villages
with white and blue houses along the road, many with
flower gardens and fruit trees. Especially apricots were
being sold by the bucket although a smaller wild variety
was also tasty from roadside trees.
8. Horse seller, Karakol.
Karakol has a Sunday Animal Market, just
like Kashgar but smaller in scale.
This man was cuddling his horse and
whispering sweet words in his ears:
how could he sell his horse like that!
9. Ala Kol, Karakol Valley.
We did a 3-day trek through the mountains
South of Karakol. The first day we were
lucky to get a lift in a jeep, which saved
us 10km walking up the main valley. The driver
had supplies with him for a 7-man Russian group:
40 bottles of beer and 3 bottles of vodka!!
We started that day the trek up to the
beautiful Ala Kol lake, where we camped and
continued to the Altyn Areshan hot spring
the next day and the walk out the following day.
10. Song Kol Valley.
It is very popular to do a 2-day horse trek to
this beautiful lake and valley, but we chose
to ride in and out on our iron horses!
There is a 20-yurt village on the lakeside, but
we camped in our own tent halfway the dirt road
in open grassfields with view on the lake.
At night we had horses grazing around our tent.
The road out to Naryn that we chose was very
beautiful, but difficult with some steep climbs
and rough road on a spectacular descent with
many switchbacks; the road continued from valley
to valley before joining to the main road.
11. Caravanserai, Tash Rabat.
In the old days travellers along the Silk Road
stayed in places like this: a fortified building
with sleeping and other facilities.
The cupola in this one is that of a mosque inside.
Around here there are now several yurt-camps.
We satyed in the first one in the valley, catering
normally for trekking groups.
The Russian staff was very welcoming, the meals were big
and nice and their unique sauna was fantastic:
in a makeshift shed of bedspirals,cardboard,plastic and
woolen curtains.
Inclusive of dipping in the river and broom whipping!!
12. Torugart Pass, 3752m.
We tried to cycle over the Torugart Pass into China,
ignoring traveller reports. Well, the Kyrgyz side let us
through (after having warned us), we cycled OVER the pass,
but were stopped at the Chinese checkpost 4km further down.
No matter what Anna tried with her Chinese; they remained
friendly and helpful, but insisted on invitation and transport
with guide to be arranged with a travel agent, that we
contacted by handphone of the 3-star boss.
After bargaining it costed us 250$ for two!!
(200$ is considered the going price per person).
We camped that day next to the post, considered to be already
in the 'forbidden zone', and were picked up the next day by an
empty tourist bus going back to Kashgar.

Let's go: