Our rear shock absorbers did not like the roads of Central Asia, they have to be replaced. I wanted to do that in Kazakhstan so I went to a garage today in the morning. Things are a bit difficult, not only because there is a public holiday in Kazakhstan today, but also because the rear left end of the chassis of our car is torn. This is a common issue of Pajeros (and Delicas share the chassis and the drivetrain with those).

I saw another Delica at a car wash yesterday and asked the driver if he could recommend a garage. Now I am helped by Sergey and Denis, whose garage is not very inviting, but the guys seem to know what they do. We don’t have time for a professional repair, for that the whole rear axle would have to be removed, but they promised me to weld the spot while I am on the way to a spare parts shop to buy the shock absorbers. We will also replace the thermostat which we removed a few days ago and the worn joint of the propeller shaft.

In the meantime the others are doing sightseeing in Almaty.

To get to our next destination, Issyk Kul, the world’s 11th largest lake, we had to cross the 3500m high Fergana range again. The fist impression of Kyrgyzstan is still valid, it is beautiful here.

We arrived at Issyk Kul on the next day in the morning and started the day with a swim. The water was surprisingly warm, around 18 degrees °C.

Early in the morning the beach was not very busy, but some restaurants were open already and we celebrated the nice weather with a nice breakfast in the sun:

The Kyrgyz-Kazakh border we reached in the afternoon, it was one of the quicker and smoother border crossings of the trip:

OMG what a difference! Kyrgyzstan is on the northern side of the Pamirs and is getting all the rain from the clouds forced up against the mountains. The results are green slopes, cattle, and agriculture.

To see all that we first had to enter the country though. That turned out to be more difficult than planned. At the border we were asked for a “travel agency permit “ which we of course didn’t have. Who needs a travel agency on a self organized trip. It turned out that one condition to reopen the borders between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan after some tensions last year was that all foreigners have to provide a permit issued by some ministry. Since individual travel is not that common in Kyrgyzstan, such permits have to be requested b a travel agency. Finding one on Friday in the afternoon in the middle of nowhere between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, at almost 4000 meters without internet and phone was a little challenge. But everything is possible in Central Asia. One of the border control officers – of course by accident – knew someone who know someone who could organize the permits in a few hours even if on Friday afternoon nobody was working at the ministry anymore. Don’t ask about details, we haven’t asked either, just paid the 50 dollars per person and were happy we did not have to stay there until Monday. A group of Italians arriving a few hours later were less lucky and spent the whole weekend there, locked out of both states in no man’s land, at 0 degrees in the rain. I have never seen the permits themselves, don’t even know if they exist, but at least we were allowed to go to Osh.

Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan, a typical Soviet era city of overdimensioned boulevards and concrete panel buildings. The most interesting part for us was the bazar where we stocked up on food.

baking somsa, lamb and onion filled pastries which are delicious:

After a nice morning at the bazar we then continued to cross the mountains again to our next destination, lake Issyk Kul in the northern part of the country. Of course not without getting the blessing of some old man still admired by many here: