Kyrgyzstan’s Independence Day

I arrived in Bishkek just in time to celebrate Kyrgyzstan’s Independence Day, 8/31, the day the country declared freedom from the Soviet Union. I read online and images the entire city to be pulsating with energy with carnivals and street parties taking place all over the city. A group of us finally got ready to get out on a bus to the Ala-Too Square - the main city square is a vast expanse of concrete. There were some folk music performance, but no marching bands or tanks. We then rode taxi to the Hippodrome to see horses competition but were told the venue would be in another city this year. 

We had lunch back in city center and most of the group went to a bar drinking while I and another person walked back to the hostel for a nap. I enjoyed some ice cream and a 1-liter beer 10% alcohol contain cost only 75 cent. Only in Kyrgyzstan!

Kyrgyzstan吉爾吉斯15days

Khojand (Tajikistan)  - Andijon (Kyrgyzstan) – Osh - Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) -  lake Issyk-Kul

Crossing borders from Khujand TJ to Bishkek KY

I left the hostel in Khujand to take a marshrutka to bus terminal, then a shared taxi (20 TJS) for 2 hours to Iafara. Many taxi drivers tried to trick me hire taxi directly to Osh for 700-1200 TJS, but I followed the plan to use a shared taxi for 10 TSJ to clear the border to Batken. A seat in a shared taxi from Batken to Osh takes 5 hours and costs 1000 Kyrgyz Som(4 passengers), while a marshrutka cost only 307 KY Som yet crowded. But my fellow passages gave me a great suggestion: share taxi directly to Bishkek without stoping Osh at 2000 KY som. The TJ family adopted me all the way from Batken to Bishkek, they took me to change SIM cards, change TJS to KYS, have lunch, shop around, and got in the van at 4 pm which finally arrived 12 noon the next day in Bishkek. 22 hrs in the Van but the views during day lights were amazing!

By the way, Uzbek exclaves are no more a problem, Kyrgyzstan has built good new roads around them. 

I was exhausted when the van dropped us at the west bus terminal, yet I used the last bit of energy to walk with my bags 1.4 miles to the hostel. I was thirty and totally dehydrated. But I love this hostel and happily reunited with cyclist Elias who I met in Osh 2 weeks ago. I will just chill out and relax today.

Khujand, Tajikistan

I wake up hearing foreigners talking in the court yard of my guest house who happened to be the four Czech hikers I met at Fann Mountains. We exchanged more information before I hopped on my 5-he shared taxi to Khujand. 

I coughed a bit during the ride which was winy yet well paved, unlike Pamir Highway which was full of potholes. I dropped my bags at the hostel and walked one hour in town before I melt down. It was hotter than Panjakent. 

Khujand is the second largest city in Tajikistan and is located in Ferghana Valley which produces a lot of vegetables and fruits. I ran into my taxi share ladies at the Masjidi Jami mosque and medrese, which buildings are used for religious purposes in the bazaar square. I then walked around Panchshanbe Bazaar for shopping dinner. I need to rest well to get over my cold and ready for a long day border crossing tomorrow.

Crash another wedding in Tajikistan

After starved in mountains for three days, now crashing a TJ wedding. Takish people are so hospitable!

I was one hour late at my first TJ wedding catching so they just assembled a plate for me which I noticed not much animal protein. Since I started the second wedding dinner from the beginning, there were two main courses: meat stuffed peppers and Chichen strew. TJ wedding banquets were humble compared with 8-10 main courses Chinese banquets, yet definitely more dancing and guest participation. There were at least two other weddings going on alone the Main Street when I went back to my guest house, and Mr. Niyozkul encouraged me to attend another one, but I was tired from the hike and cold and needed rest. 

The day and night temperatures fluctuate a lot, so my cold started before Fann mountain hike got worse via camping. I am eating a lot of vege and fruit plus night quill to get over with coughing. Hope my strategy works. I stayed in a guesthouse next to Mr. Niyozkul's house so his daughter cab help with my laundry with their washing machine and easier for taxi share pickup for 5-hr ride to my last city Khujand in TJ. Although this guesthouse has no wifi, I can use beeline data package which still has over 3gb left. 

Hiking in Fann Mountains for 3 days

Leaving behind my luxiously decorated Green House hostel dorm room in Dushab ($7 per bed in a 10-bed room including breakfast) and a private comfy hotel room ($10 per bed in a 3-bed room including breakfast) in Penjikent, and hiking/camping in the Fann Mountains for three days since 8/25.  Most visitors left Penjikent and the Zeravshan valley to Samarkand. I was the only guest in the hotel might be the fact that the border crossing between Penjikent and Samarkand has been closed since 2010.

Unlike most people started hiking Fann Mountains from Dushanbe or Khujand, I started from Penjikent the biggest city in the Fann Mountains, for the lake loop hike including Kul-i-Kalon and Twi other Lakes 3 day 2 night hike. Mr. Niyozkul a Panjakent Tour Guide and Lonely Planet co- author (Niyozkul@mail.ru) set me on a local bus left at 11 am (25 simoni) to get to Yakkahona village, from where I walked 5 km uphill to Artuch Hujali (base camp). There was one donkey boy following me the whole way and bagging to load my 10kg camping gears on the donkey, regardless that I told him many time that I was my own donkey. He helped me to set up my tent on a free camping ground and invited me his house for tea. I walked up hill to say hi to his family and gave him a souvenir but did not take the tea to avoid stomach issue. I decide to finish three lakes in one day without camping at the lakes site to reduce my load. 

The stunning hike took me through semi-arid mountains, juniper forests and led to Carib-blue lakes. The Lakes Loop is easily the most popular trek in the Fanns. Had I known that Artush Alplager offers simple accommodation, I would not drag the camping gears with me. The shoreside of Kul-i-Kalon is great place to camp but I hate carrying weight. There were nearby settlements of herders on the far side of the lake, which probably can provide simple accommodations, but I only needed a taste of Fann Mountains. I safely got back to my camp site via slippery slopes. The trails were pretty clear as long as you follow fresh donkey drops. 

I slept early to get up early so I could go back to Panjakent for shower and laundry. I am just not into camping and backpacking. I did not want to wait for one and only bus would show up around noon, so I hitchhiked twice to get on a shared taxi back to Panjakent by 11 am. The return transportation costed 11 somoni. Rudaki Mausoleum. No one knew where this poet was buried, but via  restoration of human face based on the skull, And accurate measurements of the correlation between the flesh covering of the face and the skull imprint, they matched and found the burial place and restored his look. After trying for half hour, I found a ride via a village person from Rudaki Mausoleum to the main road, then he put me on a shared taxi to Penjakent.

I am glad that I did the hike and managed to use English and body language to find help. TJ people are very helpful, and only very few commercial tour operators try to overcharge tourists. One guy offered $20 USD to taxi me 27 miles back to Panjakent, which is a readable price in western world but a huge number in TJ.