"If not now-when?"
I left Bishkek with more comfortable feeling of being alone, than when arriving there. I had figured out that there are many different types of feeling of loneliness and these feelings will pass away as well, so no need to panic. Sometimes, when I am going through the rollercoaster of feelings, I forget to breath and let things pass. My cycling day started with rain, but I was just happy to be back on the road, so I didn't mind putting my rain jacket on and hit the road. I was planning to try to catch up women on wheels, even though they were few days ahead of me. My first day on a bike was hectic, I cycled over 100km, had a talk in a local English school and spend the night with the most wonderful family. In the school, I was happy when the teacher asked me to talk about dreams and my trip. I loved that little English school, the walls were covered with quotas that help people to be who they are. The school visit ended with performances of Kyrgyz traditional songs and dances. I was also asked to perform Finnish traditional dance and the only one that came into my head was "letkajenkka", so that's what I teached for the children.
The next day was day of climbing and climbing and some more climbing. I thought I would never make it to the top of the first 3250m pass and before making it to the top, I was already thinking that there would be another big monster waiting me the following day. I was facing the highest mountain pass that I have ever cycled and it was a beast. I knew the pass was close, only few kilometers away, but when the speed was 4km/hour and my lungs were out of oxygen and it was raining and snowing the few kilometers seemed the longest I have ridden for a long time ( I also felt that I hadn't been cycling for a while). It's amazing how many thoughts there goes through my head when the snow-rain is hitting the face and the only way is constantly up up up, and it had been so for over 40km. First thought was: How come I chose to come here especially after long holiday from cycling, I could cycle around flat country like Holland instead? Then comes the few hounded meters that I felt strong to breath and the legs were moving and I was thinking that there is not gonna be big enough mountain to stop me from this adventure. I was smiling alone and feeling like a superwoman, for five minutes. Then the moment is gone and my mind was telling me how I come from Finland, from a flat country, I should not be here climbing over 3000m mountain passes. Then comes the precious moments when I catch my breathing and mind goes quiet and there is no disturbing thoughts in my head, just sound of my own breathing and enjoyment of present moment. Mind games, I love them.
Eventually, all the fun stops and the mountain pass came, and I got a lift through dark and long tunnel from a friendly truck driver. After the pass the storm was over, but I was tired and found an empty ski resort that the WOW had recommended to me. There I was alone with an old man, who happily fed me with some simple slimy rice that tasted so strongly like an animal fat that for the first time I was struggling to eat my food. I was just thinking that I should just get used to these fermented flavors, because this is the food I will eat the next months. My new papa fed me also in the morning, this time with three days old noodles, which he kept reboilg. At the same time these food culture is very fascinating, because of it's simplicity. Kyrgyz food is a product of long history of pastoral nomadic lifestyle and rough environmental conditions. First time it seems to be hard to be a vegetarian, because the the meals are overwhelmingly meat-based. The good news are that Kyrgyz people love tea and almost all the meals are accompanied by tea. On the road the local people love to invite me for a tea and try to speak Russian with me. If I eat in the restaurant, I normally put down my longest sentence in Russian and tell that I do not eat meat and then they bring me eggs, bread and noodles.
Kyrgyz people still move around with their herds, everyday on the road I have seen huge packs of horses, goats and cows who are brought up to the mountains for the summer season. It's always from three to five men, two on a horse, one on a dounky and one man walking, going with the herd. One man or often a child on a horse walks in front of the group with red flag in order to warn the car drivers of the upcoming herd. And this all happen on a highway, everyday! The whole family follows the herds and for them setting up a jurt-home does not take long time. Outside of the permanent villages people live in jurts and in a movable container-cars. I love this country for that.
During my first cycling days in Kyrgyzstan people were wondering why am I alone? Where is my husband? My Russian is improving fast, since people do not speak English. By now, I already manage to tell that my husband either does not exist or husband is at home making money, or cycling few kilometers behind, depending on who is asking. People also have been warning me, that on the rural areas people might kidnap me, because it is in an old tradition to kidnap a wife. Some years back few foreigners were kidnapped!
Back to the cycling, in between the passes I met Tom, Japanese cyclist, who was looking for his lost phone cable, we decided to cycle few days together, since our direction was the same. We made it over the second 3200m pass, and I was impressed how much easier the climbing felt with company (the inclination was also smaller). After the pass, we found abundant house, where we pitched our tents to escaped the cold rain. The next morning, when we woke up, sun was shining and we had 60km downhill waiting for us. The first sunny day for a along time. We decided to roll down extremely slowly in order to enjoy the landscape. We spent seven hours going down 60km! The easiest cycling day ever and the landscape was something I had never seen before. I was amazed and could not stop smiling and wondering how beautiful is Kyrgystan and the lifestyle of people. I could also live on these green mountains in my jurt with 15 horses, what else would I need?
I was happy I ended up to Kyrgystan, even though it was not on my original route. This is absolutely a country for all outdoor lovers. Clean nature, changing landscape, interesting culture and so many horses everywhere. We decided to cycle to Osh without a day off and I was just admiring the beauty of nature all the time. The road was one of the most beautiful, I have ever driven. How come I didn't know this country existed before? I felt that after every mountain ( the 600 km and something road from Bishkek to Osh was up and down all the time) the landscape changed dramatically. Every evening we had a little storm, and one time my tent flew up the mountain with the wind while the thunder storm gave some heavy showers to us. I was laughing while running after my tent and totally soaked Tom was just saying that, this is bicycle touring in its best. We spend one night at the locals people house in Jalalabat, where man wanted to give us little comfort in luxurious house. I also got my first dog attack, luckily the dog attacked only my panniers, not my legs.
What more can I say of the road from Bishkek to Osh ? Tarmack was in a good condition, mountains were big, but the mountains in India and Nepal were more challenging. Camping almost every night, swimming every day in a cold rivers and lakes, eating fruits and berries from the trees on the roadside, watching stars during night time, eating ice cream every day, laughing with my new samurai friends and wondering the beauty of our Earth, changed my chain by myself for the first time, sweated on +38 degrees, drove downhill too fast 60km/h and being just simply happy to be back on the road again.
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