Day 109: Kyrgyzstan

Overview

Driving duration: 6:12 h
Distance: 206 km
Avg Speed: 33 km/h
Start: Close to Tash Rabat
End: Kol Suu Basecamp
Night Location: 40°44'37" N 76°24'8" E

Kyrgyzstan

An amazing day, first it was back to the main road from the camp close to Tash Rabat. Then we had nearly 100 km of quite good tarmac, sometimes a bit bumpy. So you always had to be careful, but still, we made super good progress. Then we came quite close to the Chinese border and there we went on a dirt track that goes to Kol Suu. When we picked up our permits, the lady told us that the road is not passable because of the water crossing. Obviously this couldn’t stop us.

The drive along this dirt track was one of the best of the whole trip, a wide valley, a good road, amazing nature and no people. This is how we imagined it! Along the way we made a quick lunch stop and got passed by a couple from the Netherlands in a rental car. We really enjoyed the ride, but then we reached the end and with it the big water crossing. And the lady wasn’t completely wrong, it wasn’t for the faint of heart. Because Sprinty had the best ground clearance, we went first and managed to get stuck in the river. Mostly my fault, I just went too slow, lost momentum and with it the grip on the quite soft river ground. Thankfully there was a car on the other side, with 4 German tourists who quickly pulled us out. After that, the others could all pass, we found a bit of a better route in the river and they just used more speed.

We then reached the “main dirt road” to Kol Suu and the road got worse, because way more cars drive it. After around another 20 km we reached the Basecamp, which consists of many many yurts.

Pictures

Activities