Day 8 - Kazarman to Osh

September 16, 2023

Our instructions for today were breakfast at 06.45, and departure at 07.30. Expected arrival time in Osh 17.00. Surely it wouldn’t take nine and a half hours to go just 270 kilometres, would it? Well yes it did.

After 3 hours we’d been averaging just over 15 miles per hour. We had, however, climbed over 2000 metres on truly atrocious roads. The climb was phenomenal, bend after bend, and bump after bump. Additionally, we encountered a couple huge sheep herds that hindered our progress. As per the day before, the views as we climbed were superb, but the sheer drops to the side as we went were distinctly unsettling. We stopped initially 300 metres below the top of the pass. This afforded our final views of North Kyrgyzstan.

At the top of the pass we got sight of Southern Kyrgyzstan for the first time. We took photos, and James, our Leader climbed up a massive statue of an eagle. He’s climbed Mont Blanc 5 times, amongst other things.

What goes up, must come down. So another festival of bumps and bends occupied the the next 2 hours. After that, the road straightened significantly, and eventually changed to tarmac as we rolled into Kyrgyzstan’s 3rd largest city Jalal-Abad in time for our lunch at 13.00. Olga, our local guide promised that we’d see a marked difference in ethnicity and dress in Southern Kyrgyzstan.

Apparently you can divide the country into three sections where there is a predominant ethnic group. Around Bishkek, the capital the Russian ethnic group narrowly exceeds the Kyrgyz. Obviously the Russians with distinction European features and pale skin. Immediately to the south of that, and to the southeast the Kyrgyz are hugely dominant. Their features being best classed as Mongol. Finally, in the Southwest the Uzbeks dominate. Although their features are different, it’s the more traditional Muslim dress including a hijab that sets them apart. (Long dress and headscarf, but the face visible).

Southern Kyrgyzstan is also the main agricultural area of the country as it’s not nearly as mountainous. So, as we drove towards Osh there lots of roadside stalls selling all kinds of produce. Incidentally, 83% of Kyrgyzstan is classified as mountainous, which means that the remaining 17% has to be very productive. The final 80 kilometres from Jalal-Abad to Osh still took over two hours, as the road was incredibly busy, and passed (very slowly) through numerous towns. A positive benefit of the slow movement was that it made it possible to get candid pictures of various people in those towns.

Eventually we arrived at Kyrgyzstan’s second city, Osh. First port of call was Central Square to see a massive statue of Lenin. Around the area there were numerous memorials and statues to all kinds of conflicts, dignitaries and disasters, including to Chernobyl. The most impressive was of woman grieving the loss of her son in a war. A different and chilling way of remembering the victims of war.

According to Olga, this is peak season for weddings, so the were numerous wedding parties milling around taking photos. That also made for great candid photos.

Our last visit before heading to our guest house was to Suleiman Tor (Solomon’s throne), a five peaked rocky crag around which the city has grown. This meant a nice walk and climb after a day of being cooped up travelling. Up on one of the peaks is Dom Babur. A reconstruction of Babur’s house. Zahiruddin Babur went onto fame as the progenitor of the Moghul Dynasty, which of course had such wide a impact in India. To one of our group, Chris, this was a massively impactful moment, as he loves India and has only been there 80 times. Talking of Chris, I could do a couple of days blogging on him alone., but that can wait.