A few years ago we enjoyed the pictures taken by family who visited Kyrgyzstan. "That's were we want to cycle" we said. Because of some circumstances we did it 'slowly' the last cyclingtrips but now it's time again for a bit of adventure.
We looked critical at our packagelist and we lost 1400 g. by leaving or replacing articles. We do take a MSR Miox to purify water. We always cycle in the neighbourhood of a river so we don't need big waterbags.
The GPS tracks are placed in the distance schedule. When you copy/paste the coördinates, included in the pictures, into
Google Maps you know exactly were it was taken.
(K.Koomen thanks for the advise about cameratechnics and the inspiration/ good example of course)
Info Kazachstan & Kyrgyzstan 2009
-Central Asia 1:1.750.000 by Gizi Map
-Central Asia 1:1.750.000 by Nelles Map (not the best map, there are not many roads on it)
-Central Asia 1:500.00 van EWP; Karakol, Aksu en Naryn.
Guide:
-Lonely Planet Central Asia.
-Lonely Planet Phrasebook Central Asia.
Photobook:
-Kyrgyzstan Panorama by Andreas Kramer.
Apply for a Letter of Invitation for Kazachstan:
-Stantours.com very helpful and quick response on questions!
4 August. We received our visa. Kyrgyzstan single entree and Kazachstan a dubbel entree. Because of the dubbel entree for Kazachstan we need a LOI.
That looks like this.
Dogs:
When you like dogs you will have a great time in Kazachstan/Kyrgyzstan. They come running and barking towards you and show their big teeth.
If you don't like dogs then you have a problem, there is no escape. We got attacked about 50 times but 3 a 4 of them were really dangerous en close to a
bite. The others lost their interest after 100 m. running close to us. The highest risk is in small villages and near yurts (sheepdogs are big!).
Money:
In Almaty (Kazachstan) you can use the ATM but you have to try a few before you find one who accepts international cards.
In Kyrgyzstan it is more difficult. There are some ATM's but we never got money out of them. You can change Euro's/US$ to the local currency at the bank.
Roads:
The quality of the roads is mainly bad. Many holes and rough tarmac. The unpaved road are very stony en on the sandy parts there is a lot of wasboard
(good for your kidneys).
The road between Bishkek and Almaty (250 km) is good but a lot of traffic, 30 before Almaty it gets crazy :)
The tunnel at the Tor Ashuu pass (near Kara Balta) is 2.6 km and at a height of about 3100 m. The ventialtion is very bad, a lot of lights don't work and
there are some holes in the road. We cycled it, but it feels not save.
You can watch our documentary about this trip here.
Schedule:
The GPS tracks of day 12 and day 13 is nice because those days we cycled a road that isn't on any map. We also have a GPS track from Hotel Turkistan
(Almaty) to the airport, here.
| Date | Route | D (km) | A (km/u) | M (km/u) | H (m) | GPS track | Hightprofile | 01 sept. 2009 | Almaty-Baiseit | 130.80 | 18.5 | 28.5 | 282 | Dag 1 | Dag 1 | 02 sept. 2009 | Baiseit-Kegen | 126.97 | 14.6 | 32.5 | 1769 | Dag 2 | Dag 2 | 03 sept. 2009 | Kegen-Novovoznesenovka | 75.84 | 12.4 | 21.0 | 593 | Dag 3 | Dag 3 | 04 sept. 2009 | Novovoznesenovka-Karakol | 41.56 | 15.9 | 27.5 | 289 | Dag 4 | Dag 4 | 08 sept. 2009 | Karakol-Km 108 | 109.27 | 17.6 | 27.5 | 422 | Dag 5 | Dag 5 | 09 sept. 2009 | Km 108-Balikchi | 118.92 | 16.3 | 38.5 | 783 | Dag 6 | Dag 6 | 10 sept. 2009 | Balikchi-Kochkor | 59.60 | 15.9 | 25.0 | 397 | Dag 7 | Dag 7 | 11 sept. 2009 | Kochkor-Km 80 | 79.85 | 14.0 | 26.5 | 1213 | Dag 8 | Dag 8 | 12 sept. 2009 | Km 80-Naryn | 51.93 | 17.1 | 35.0 | 373 | Dag 9 | Dag 9 | 14 sept. 2009 | Naryn-Jangy Talap (Kurtka) | 94.66 | 18.1 | 36.5 | 339 | Dag 10 | Dag 10 | 15 sept. 2009 | Jangy Talap-just before Song Kol | 47.48 | 9.0 | 20.5 | 1561 | Dag 11 | Dag 11 | 16 sept. 2009 | Just before Song Kol-to Chayek | 35.41 | 10.6 | 18.5 | 264 | Dag 12 | Dag 12 | 17 sept. 2009 | To Chayek-Chayek | 61.32 | 13.8 | 33.5 | 224 | Dag 13 | Dag 13 | 18 sept. 2009 | Chayek-on the Karakol river | 76.49 | 13.0 | 26.5 | 762 | Dag 14 | Dag 14 | 19 sept. 2009 | Karakol river-Kara Balta | 112.90 | 15.7 | 41.0 | 1163 | Dag 15 | Dag 15 | 20 sept. 2009 | Kara Balta-Bishkek | 63.84 | 18.0 | 22.5 | 79 | Dag 16 | Dag 16 | 23 sept. 2009 | Bishkek-Km 106 | 106.59 | 16.3 | 34.0 | 731 | Dag 17 | Dag 17 | 24 sept. 2009 | Km 106-Almaty | 139.19 | 19.3 | 33.5 | 548 | Dag 18 | Dag 18 | Totaal | 1532.62 | 11792 |
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