Stage 102: From Niyazbotir to Osh

After an exciting day with Mohammed and his family, I still had a little bit to go to Kyrgyzstan. After 25 flat kilometers, I arrived in Andijan and had enough time to briefly explore the city and have a leisurely lunch. In the afternoon, it was a slight uphill climb to Kyrgyzstan. I reached the border crossing in the early evening. I was a bit nervous because there is a registration requirement for tourists in every city. If you stay in a hotel or hostel, the accommodation takes care of the registration. When leaving the country, a seamless registration needs to be officially proven. However, since I also camped and spent a night at Mohammed's place, I didn't have these. In fact, an officer at the border asked me for my registrations. I handed him a few proofs and asked if he wanted to see my train tickets as well. But that was too much work for him, and after looking at two proofs, he waved me through. Lucky me! My luggage was also checked on both the Uzbek and Kyrgyz sides, so all in all, a relaxed border crossing. Nevertheless, it was already dusk when I finally arrived in Osh. At the hostel, I found out that a Russian cyclist had already arrived today. I met him directly, as he was staying in the same room. We talked a bit about our previous routes. His name is Aman and he comes from a small village in Yakutia, where it gets around 55 degrees below zero every winter. During our conversation, I also noticed that we probably come from two different worlds, but I was curious. We agreed to explore the city together the next day. For me, it was also very practical to have someone with me who can communicate with the locals.

So the next day, we walked through the bazaar, through a park, and to the Osh Museum. Most of the explanations were only in Kyrgyz and Russian, but I had my translator with me. He also explained a lot to me about his religion, Tengrism, which is very reminiscent of shamanism and is still found among some Mongolian and Turkic peoples. After visiting the museum, we climbed Sulaiman-Too, the mountain that overlooks Osh, for a better view. Aman was mistaken for my guide, and we let them believe that. Later, he helped me get a SIM card. In the evening, we cooked together and had 'German Cuisine'. After realizing that we had similar ideas about the route through Kyrgyzstan, we decided to start together from Osh heading north and see where the journey takes us. A trip south on the Pamir Highway would have also been interesting, but unfortunately, there are frequent conflicts between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which is why the shared border is currently closed. After another rest day in Osh, our joint adventure began.