May 27, 2025
27May2025
There is something about crossing a land border on a bicycle that rings true with me. It's the excitement of crossing from one world into the next, having got there by my own steam, through all the trials and challenges that a bicycle tour offers. It's a sense of crossing over a boundary between cultures, currencies, cuisines, occasionally religions and SIM cards! It's a true feeling of travel, that is not apparent when flying into an airport. The land border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan was yet another land border that I crossed seamlessly. The officials on both sides were polite and friendly, and as often is the case at land borders, on the other side there were kiosks performing currency exchange and SIM card sales. So convenient. A few km after the border, Ed and I arrived in Osh, our final destination on this tour. I had woken up that morning with a lack of appetite and nausea from something I had eaten the night before, resulting in low energy levels, so I was very glad to roll into Osh and settle down to rest. The ride to Osh itself was short, at just over 50km, but was a gradual climb all the way. Ed and I rode together, when I could keep up! Small towns appeared and disappeared along the way, and eventually the foothills of the mountains of Kyrgyzstan were right beside us. Green slopes, with distant peaks looming in the clouds behind them. Osh will be my home for the next 3 days. Bike boxes will need to be sourced, and weather (and energy) permitting, a short sight seeing ride up to some viewpoints may be on the cards. For now, time to rest and recover, and day dream about the journey that just happened - a journey that began one dull grey day in Aktau, Kazakhstan.
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Today's ride: 51 km (32 miles)
Total: 2,128 km (1,321 miles)
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