Looking back, I would change a few things about the itinerary. I was contemplating staying at a yurt camp in Uzbekistan between in Bukhara and Samarkand which I ended up skipping. That’s probably something I’d do next time for one night.

The drive from Dushanbe to Khorog was beautiful but not enjoyable in a shared taxi. I should have made an effort to find other backpackers looking to share a car.

In the Pamir Mountains I somewhat regret not spending more time and for example going to the Saturday market in Iskashim where the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border is opened for the market without needing a visa. I also would have loved to do a detour between Khorog and Murghan and drive through the Tajik Wakhan Valley which everyone raved about that I’ve met. But again, since I was by myself it was difficult to fill up a car in order split the cost.

Towards the end I did have some more days in Kyrgyzstan than anticipated which is why I made a two-day trip to Arslanbob. This was mainly because I did not end up getting the Turkmenistan visa in time and hence had an additional four days.

All the accommodation was good. I used AirBnB twice, both of which were good experiences, although not necessarily so to meet other travelers. The first night in Nukus was overpriced for what it was.

Uzbekistan I found to be the most difficult country as single traveler. It was possible, no issue. However, I didn’t think there were as many independent travelers on the road as in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Downtown Arslanbob

The village is predominantly of Uzbek ethnicity and probably the most conservative I have seen in the region.

About 16 years ago with the help of Helvetas, the organization Community Based Tourism (CBT) was set up in Kyrgyzstan with the aim of linking up tourists with locals. The office in Arslanbob is particularly active and has managed to go from 32 tourists a year to 3’000. Still low numbers but they are getting there. As of lately they have also been trying to develop rock climbing as well as winter sports.

Getting to Arslanbob was fairly straight forward. I took a bus from Osh to Kyrgyzstan’s third largest city, Jalal-Abad and from there another bus to nearby Bazaar-Korgon. From there another bus finally to Arslanbob. It was probably just pure luck but transfers lined up nicely and I didn’t have to wait for more than five minutes in either city.

Arriving in Arslanbob, I went to the CBT office to book accomodation. They have nearly 20 guest houses and a quick call later I was booked into “Guest House Nazira”. A short walk from town, I was welcomed by Nazira (a grandmother) and her daughters and granddaughters (no men around as around 30% of Arslanbob’s male population works in Russia… side note: the Russian Ruble has lost significant value to the Kyrgyzstani Som recently). It was a simple but charming guest house with two rooms. I met another traveler there and we went back to the CBT office to organize horseback riding for the following day.

Bazaar in Arslanbob

Bazaar in Arslanbob

I had read in the guide book that the CBT office tends to over-staff the trips slightly, so I wasn’t surprised to be greeted by a tour guide and two “fixers” taking care of the horses (we were a group of four tourists). Later we were joined by a lunch cooking team of four. But I’m not complaining as the tour was still very good value at KGS1’900 per person (SGD38).

Breakfast at Guest House Nazira

We rode around the region to a small waterfall, a panorama lookout point, the world’s largest walnut forest and the big waterfall.

Small waterfall

Horseback riding

Panorama point

View towards Arslanbob

Panorama point

Riding inside the world’s largest walnut forest

Walnuts – not quiet ready yet. The harvesting season is in late September/early October

Our group

My ride. It was a bit underpowered. I think it had less than 1HP.

Crossing a bridge on the way to the big waterfall

Crossing a bridge on the way to the big waterfall

Big waterfall (83m)

View down the valley from the big waterfall

Slightly overloaded truck on the way back to Arslanbob

We were back in town after nice trip at around 4pm. The first night dinner at Nazira’s was not that exciting so we wanted to grab so food in town the second night. Epic fail. Everything was closed. We ended up eating raw tomatoes and cucumbers in our guest house.

After two relaxing days in Arslanbob I made my way back to Osh for a last day before flying back.

Most travelers just use Osh as a base to either explore the surrounding areas of Kyrgyzstan or as a starting/ending point to the Pamir Highway. As such it doesn’t really offer that many sights for tourists except a “holy mountain”, the Sulayman Mountain (which also happened to be Kyrgyzstan’s only World Heritage Site).

But I was there on a Sunday when a) the regular bazaar is busiest and b) the weekly animal bazaar takes place. So I drove out of town a few kilometers to first check out the animal bazaar. The road leading to the site was already jam-packed with pick-up trucks hauling away animals. The bazaar was divided into sections selling sheep, cows and horses with the sheep section being by far the largest. I was told that a regular-sized sheep costs about US$50. Horses apparently start at US$1’000 but can be significantly more expensive.

Overview of the Osh’s Sunday animal bazaar

Sheep

More sheep

Locals selling sheep

Local boy and his sheep

Sheep

Woman with her newly acquired sheep…

…who is not so keen on its new owner…

But resistance is futile…

… no choice lah…

…you’re coming with me…

… like it or not.

Local with his sheep

Some more sheep

Local with her sheep

Good morning, Sir. How are you today?

Ok, enough sheep.

Blacksmith

A lonely yak

Cow-section

Cow

Cow

Almost fully loaded…

… let’s get out of here.

Adding a cow to the horses.

Ready to go.

I doubt they know what is happening to them.

But you don’t need a pick-up truck to take home your sheep!

Supply trucks

It was a really interesting experience. If you happen to be in Osh on a Sunday, you should check it out. I wouldn’t go out of my way for it though as probably most towns have a similar animal bazaar.

From there I took a marshrutka to the Kelechek Bazaar in town. It is essentially dozens of old shipping containers lined up selling clothing and not really that exciting.

Kelechek Bazaar

Not too far away is Osh’s central market and one of the biggest of the region. It stretches along several kilometers along the river and is busiest on Sunday.

Osh central bazaar

Osh central bazaar

Osh central bazaar

Osh central bazaar

My final stop would be climbing Sulayman Mountain for the views of Osh.

Kyrgyzstan might not have McDonald’s, but at least they have MacBurger.

A Yak-40 near the university

View of Osh from Sulayman Mountain

After the Pamir’s colder climate, it was nice to be back in a warmer place once again. But after walking around in the hear for several hours, I was also looking forward to a relaxed afternoon/evening in the hostel and sharing travel stories. I am still going in parallel to some of the Mongol Rallye teams and their stories are always worthwhile listening to.

The route would take us along the Tajikistan-China border, through a pass and then beyond into Kyrgzystan towards the country’s second-largest city, Osh.

We started the day early at 6am (Murghab is on Kyrgyzstan time, one hour ahead of Khorog and the rest of Tajikistan).

We first passed the Ak-Baital Pass (4655m), followed by the Kyzyl-Art Pass (4282m) where the Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border post is located.

Back on the road in no-man’s land

Driving up the Ak-Baital Pass

It got colder and colder

And it was snowing on the Ak-Baital Pass…

…no surprise at that altitude.

Back at (slightly) lower altitude

A yurt offering homestay somewhere in the middle of nowhere between Murghab and Karakul. Probably popular with the many cyclists on the road.

Shortly before Karakul

Driving towards Karakul

On the way from Murghab to Karakul in Tajikistan

Not too much traffic on that day

At one point we were just 8km away from the Chinese border. On the Tajikistan side it was secured with barbed wire.

Barbed wire securing the border between Tajikistan and China

We then drove past Karakul, a lake situated at 3’960m above sea level, slightly higher than Lake Titicaca (3’812m).

Karakul

Karakul

View from Karakul back towards the mountains

Next stop: Tajikistan-Kyrgyzstan border

The Tajikistan border was located at the top of the mountain at over 4’000 meters. I could not the most popular spot for a Tajikistan border guard. I was waiting to get stamped out while a Swiss cyclist who has been on the road for a year was waiting to enter the country.

The road then continued for 20km in no-man’s land until we reached the Kyrgyzstan border. I’d like to congratulate Kyrgyzstan for being a role model when it comes to immigration:

• No visa needed at all
• No useless immigration form/card to be filled out
• No stupid questions asked

Just a quick scan of the passport, a stamp and I was in.

Mongol rallye car with four Australians inside, driving on a spare tire with a broken suspension.

Meanwhile other cars were a bit more suitable for the road…

…which wasn’t always in great shape.

Kyrgyzstan border

After a quick lunch in Sary-Tash, we buckled up for the remaining 3-4 hours to Osh.

The scenery changed as we descended into lower pastures

And changed again

Passing truck

We were slowed down by a few road blocks

Can you spot the horse hiding?

We finally made it to Osh at around 4.30pm and I was certainly looking forward to a day without driving. The Pamir Highway was absolutely worth it and I found the people and nature fascinating!