As I have an English mum, I like to have a good breakfast. This is almost exactly what we could have in the hotel. At least we had eggs, tea, bread, butter and some kasha. I trip like this can be done in many ways. We had a tent and the camping gear but only used it now and then. Actually I think it is perfectly possible to do this trip without the camping gear and you will be a lot lighter. But then you are not able to go wherever you want. So the best option in my opinion is to have the camping gear as a backup and keep it as light as possible.

We went up to gather our stuff and leave our flat. The important thing in a trip like this is to have a good balance. You have to know your limits, but also those of your buddy. As ex military I have some experience in stretching limits, but I also know it always comes at a price. You need recuperation at some point.

By balance I do not only talk about physical balance but also the trip itself. It is a mix of things. You have the riding, on road or off road. Visiting places, hiking, talking to people, relaxing. The weight lies differently for everybody. But once you know where it lies for you, you can have a great trip. We have had a little rest now and our batteries were back at 75 percent. Ready to go!

We fueled up and did the usual talk at the gas station. We left Osh and the roads were excellent. It was all good asphalt. We were riding through the Fergana valley which is a fertile area. We were also very close to the Uzbek border and going north.

 

At some point it got quite hot and we approached a major hydroelectrical dam. Behind the dam was a huge lake which we followed for more than an hour.

It was a very scenic ride, but the offroad level was zero. It was all nice asphalt. All of a sudden we saw to cyclists. We stopped next to them and said hello. To our surprise they spoke Flemish! The guys were even from East-Flanders, where I come from and they Gent well of course. What a coincidence!

We continued our trip and went through some small tunnels. By the evening we got to a huge lake. We rode around it and arrived in a village called Toktogul. The sun was almost setting so we called it a day. Bishkek was still a long way to go. We found a cheap gostinitso and went looking for a cafe.

I had wanted to eat the local dish called besh barmak for some time, but it was not available in the last places we tried. We found a place here though. But we had to wait one hour. No problem, and we took off for a nice evening ride. We went downhill to the lake. We watched a beautiful sunset. We almost lost track of time and quickly rode back, offroad to the main road and the cafe.

The dish was lovely. It was a Saturday evening. But instead of going out like most people do in the West, we had a quiet evening and enjoyed our environment. A simple life like this was all I needed…