Bicycle Touring stunning remote Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan #42
We continue our around the world bicycle journey at Issyk-Kul, a massive lake in Central Asia. With the Pamir Highway behind us, it is time to explore the north of Kyrgyzstan and then some of Kazakhstan before it gets too cold! Despite fairly impressive mountain ranges and the shared Soviet history, Kyrgyzstan is surprisingly different from neighbouring Tajikistan. For one thing, it is a lot greener, mainly because the average elevation is less extreme. Don’t get me wrong, Issyk-Kul lies at a lofty 1607 metres above sea level, just like most of the country. Accordingly, winters are harsh, but the summers are almost moderate. And then of course, there are the horses.
Some more horses. Horses everywhere! Traditionally nomadic pastoralists, Kyrgyz people love horses so much, they even are a main staple of their cuisine. That’s not cruel, that’s just protein. Living as bicycle nomads and without a refrigerator for a while now, it actually seems like a pretty good idea having your food walk right next to you. Well done, bro! Well done! Is this training? No, no! Championship. Championship? Gold! Apparently we arrived just at the end of a tournament. Does the horse have a name?
Yes, yes… Mercedes Benz! Mercedes Benz?! Quite confident on our steel horses after 11.000 kms, we don’t know how to ride a proper horse. A farmer back in Turkey had let us sit on his tired horse one day, but these are of a very different breed. I try to stay calm. The stallion below me is waiting for any signal to race down the field. He is so ready, but I am so unprepared. Thanks a lot! Have a nice holiday! Come again! We were allowed to ride professional horses right after the championship. So cool! That was an exhilarating experience.
We continue along Issyk-Kul towards Karakol, a city about 180 kms away on the north-eastern tip of the lake. From there we will circle up north into Kazakhstan and then west to Almaty, the second biggest city in all of Central Asia. There we have to hop on a plane, but more on that later. Note the vehicles in use here in the countryside. Many are from Russia or even soviet times, but the biggest group are several decades old cars from Germany. It is lunchtime and we are hungry. Well, actually we are always hungry. At the market of the village we find a small and simple restaurant.
Boso Lagman, this is what I want! Lagman, originally from the Uyghur people of Xinjiang, was brought to Kyrgyzstan through centuries of Silk Road trade. Made with hand-pulled noodles, lamb or beef, some veggies usually including bell peppers, a good amount of onions and garlic, and a blend of spices, it’s prepared in three different ways. Boso Lagman is stir-fried with a rich, flavorful sauce, while Shurpa Lagman is a noodle soup.
The locals on the neighbouring table all ordered Boso Lagman as well. A good sign! These ladies are having a birthday party and gave us this. I don’t know what this is but it looks quite meaty. This one is the “Buyru Lagman” which is not fried and comes with more sauce. It is mid October and the potato harvest is in full swing. In the late afternoon we meet a man that is delighted to hear where we come from. He was in the military in Germany. Oh wow!
“Deutsch Dem… Respublika.” DDR German Democratic Republic In the 70s’ he was in Germany with the military of the Soviet Union for two years in Leipzig most of the time and he liked it very much apparently. Thank you! Bye! Germany… people are good, *unintelligible Thank you! Bye! Its name, Issyk-Kul, means “warm-lake” as it doesn’t freeze over despite air temperatures falling as low as -25°C during winter. Cycling along the northern shore of Issyk-Kul, we have the Küngöy Ala-Too Range rising next to us. Part of the Tian Shan Mountains, these peaks reach over 4,700 meters. Setting up our tent in a nice place has rarely been difficult in Central Asia. We absolutely love that as it adds a great deal of freedom. To our south the massive lake shimmers in
the sunlight. At 182 kilometers long, 60 kilometers wide, and up to 668 metres deep, it is the second-largest mountain lake, and third-largest saline lake of the planet. More remote, the southern side was our preferred route, but extensive road construction made us choose differently. While this old poplar lined road on the northern shore looks gorgeous, it is narrow and does not have a hard shoulder. Traffic is not
particularly heavy, but felt quite threatening nonetheless. That is because most Kyrgyz drivers do not switch lanes or slow down on overtaking and we developed a theory why that might be. Hello! So many horses everywhere. With only 7% of the country arable even today half of Kyrgyzstan's agricultural output still comes from pastoralism, with sheep, cattle, and horses grazing on vast natural pastures. Over millennia
of nomadic lifestyle covering long distances on horseback must have become second nature and, oh boy, are they fast and furious! We’ve seen groups of riders drive their horses into a relentless gallop, muscles tensed, eyes locked ahead. The hooves pound the ground like rolling thunder, dust rising in swirling clouds behind them. Man and beast move as one, cutting through the landscape in a blur of speed and power, and all that with their horses literally bumping into each other side by side! In any case, this is how they drive their cars. One of the major attractions of Karakol is this beautiful wooden mosque built by Chinese artisans between 1907 and 1910. The city only started to develop in the second half of the 19th century when explorers came to map the peaks and valleys of the Tian Shan separating Kyrgyzstan from China. From 1878 on Karakol's population
surged with an influx of Dungans, or Hui people, Chinese Muslims fleeing persecution and hardship in the aftermath of the failed Dungan Revolt. Designed by a Chinese architect, the building is constructed entirely without nails. Instead of a minaret the mosque features a wooden pagoda. We are visiting a very unique church in Kyrgyzstan in Karakol. It’s an orthodox church built out of wood, which looks amazing. I think it’s Russian, because in this region most orthodox churches are Russian.
The first Holy Trinity Orthodox Church was destroyed by an earthquake in 1889, but by 1895, it was rebuilt entirely from wood. Unlike stone structures, timber provides flexibility, reducing the risk of collapse during seismic activity. After spending a couple of cold and rainy days in a guesthouse editing videos, we leave Karakol behind and head north towards the Kazakh border. The skies are clearing for a last wonderful week of golden October.
Scattered across the vast landscape, Kyrgyz graveyards stand as silent witnesses to the country’s deep-rooted history and traditions. Unlike the neatly arranged cemeteries of the West, these burial sites blend into the rugged mountains and open steppe, shaped by centuries of nomadic heritage, Islamic faith, and Soviet influence. Many graves are marked by ornate metal structures, some resembling yurts, the traditional round tents, a tribute to the nomadic past. Others stand as brick or concrete mausoleums, often crowned with crescent moons, symbols of Islam. Yet, alongside them, Soviet-era graves bear red stars and black-and-white ceramic
portraits, remnants of a different time. These haunting yet beautiful graveyards are often found on windswept hillsides, a tradition that elevates the dead both spiritually and practically, away from the threat of floods. Despite their isolated, almost forgotten appearance, these resting places are far from abandoned. Families return to pray, remember, and honor their ancestors, keeping the connection between past and present alive. Unfortunately last evening as we built the tent the worst case happened. The
tent pole broke in this position. Unlike before we can not just slide a thin metal pipe over the broken tent pole. As it has to go through the connector, it just wouldn’t fit. With the MSR Elixir 3 there
are two tent poles and they are held together by these connector bits to give the tent the shape. Unfortunately our tent pole broke exactly where it has to go through the connector. There is no way for us to stick the poles together right now, because this bit is missing completely. Last night we used duct-tape and a tent peg to hold it together. Luckily this did not happen on the Pamir Highway. The last couple of days we did a lot of kilometres. Because it is getting colder and we need to get to Almaty in Kazakhstan.
There we will take our flight to Bangkok, Thailand. We’re very excited to get there. A big culture shock for sure, because everything is different. Here the population density is very low. Yes, there are many cows, but not so many humans. While the remoteness and difficult terrain in Central Asia had been challenging at times, we really came to love this part of our Amazing World Bike Tour. I had not been a huge fan of cycling through this part of the world, but I have to admit, somehow Central Asia has exceeded my expectations. I just can’t go past a horse without stopping and taking a picture. I really love horses and I think this country just won my heart because
of the horses and the beautiful mountains. What I find amazing about Central Asia is the mixture of many influences, that is Chinese, nomadic, Turkic, Persian, and of course Russian or Soviet. We are both in a mood today. Some aggression in the air. The road is shit. We are about to leave Kyrgyzstan. Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow for sure. I just gave 200 Kyrgyz som to a drunk man on a horse. I guess it was a kind of misunderstanding.
Until now, the only somewhat threatening encounter we had was here in the remote end of Kyrgyzstan. There was no one else around, just mountains and nature. A very drunk man with a bleeding forehead rode up on horseback and asked us for money. Fortunately, we still had some local cash we could give him, but his demeanour left us unsettled.
It felt a bit like a shake-down and as he was quite drunk, it is better to be safe than sorry. While we came across enough people with an alcohol problem in former Soviet Union countries, they usually remained a minor annoyance at best. So, this was an isolated incident and should not at all discourage you from visiting the country or Central Asia. After a steep and bumpy descent we make it back to the main road.
Like so many roads in Central Asia it is also getting modernised by large Chinese state-backed infrastructure companies. They are literally paving the way for Chinese products to dominate these markets for decades to come. So, this is it with Kyrgyzstan. We’re almost at the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border. The road hasn't gotten better, but I have high hopes about the other side of the border. Kazakhstan and now we’re going to Almaty! The road on this side is already brand new, with a wonderful perfectly smooth surface. Just another 270 kms to the former capital
of this vast country. The landscape looks a bit flatter and dryer, but there are still horses around. Plenty of horses actually. On our second day in Kazakhstan we pass by Lunar Canyon, the southern end of Charyn Canyon. Albeit considerably smaller than the Grand Canyon, it has been described as equally impressive by some. Unfortunately we didn’t know that at the
time and missed the junction. The last pass before Bangkok. Awesome. Now it is 200 kms down to Almaty. Soon after descending to about 800-ish metres above sea-level we leave the main road. The mountain range on the left is the same one we saw cycling along Issyk-Kul. The landscape really opens up now. If we continued west-northwest for about 2500 kms, we wouldn’t see much but the fairly flat and seemingly endless Kazakh steppe and desert.
The following day we continue along the KB-49 road. For about half the day that is quite lovely, but as we get closer to the big city the traffic gets very intense. We made it to the outskirts of Almaty alive, which is not a given. The Kazakh people, like most Central Asians, drive absolutely recklessly. They will never break. It doesn't matter if there is a curve which they can't overlook, or head-on traffic,... or if there is only 10 cms between you and
them and they are going 120 kph, because they want to overtake where it is not okay. Or they drive a 40 ton truck 20 cms next to you full speed, they will never, ever break. So that is something that needs some getting used to. But we are here, so that is good. Today was a record day, 130 kms. That means we have an extra day to work on our next video for you before we take our plane to Bangkok. Just when we were about to search for a guesthouse in the area, Almaz, a thoughtful local, spontaneously invited us to his almost finished new home. While still under construction we could take a shower and had a safe,
clean and dry place to sleep. These unexpected acts of hospitality and kindness never get old. We are in Almaty in front of the Ascension Cathedral, a Russian orthodox church. Apparently it is the second highest wooden church in the world. It is hard to believe, but in this city
we met someone for the third time! Hey guys! Hey! I’m really happy. So, Hussein, this great cyclist. We have met in Iran, then in Dushanbe and now in Almaty! Together with Hussein we check out one of Almaty’s most iconic landmarks. Built in 1907, it stands as a masterpiece of Russian Orthodox architecture and engineering marvel. While not made exclusively of wood, at 56 metres tall it is one of the tallest wooden constructions in the world. Like the mosque back in Karakol, not one nail has
been used in its construction. Some believe that decision was made because of Jesus' crucifixion. Beneath the colorful exterior lies a sturdy foundation allowing the Cathedral to move in rhythm with an earthquake. The flexible timber construction also helped it survive Central Asia’s seismic shocks for over a century. The 1911 8.1 magnitude earthquake for
example killed 452 people and toppled 770 buildings, pretty much flattening the city. During the Soviet era, the church was repurposed as a museum and even a radio station. Starting from 1973 on it was subsequently restored to its original glory. The following days, we are quite busy servicing and preparing our bicycles for the flight, editing videos and of course exploring Almaty. Formerly known as Alma-Ata, it served as capital until 1997 and with about 2 million people it is still the biggest city of Kazakhstan. It also remains the intellectual and cultural centre of the country, with an international, almost European flair. After months in remote regions, we thoroughly
enjoy the amenities of this city, like art galleries, exhibitions, museums, theatres, and even good public transport! Our fantastic host Marub, an Almaty native and friend of friends, takes us to all the best places, including a little culinary adventure. One awesome thing about Almaty is that it has many minorities like Koreans and Uighurs. Therefore the food culture in this city is really something! So, this is really exciting for me! So here we see many milk based products. Can you please tell me the difference between the colours? Тhe saltiness, the dryness, the smokiness… Salty. Spicy. Sweet. This is qurt, dried balls of sour cheese made from fermented milk. Also known as kashk, chortan, or aaruul, this long-lasting
calcium-rich, protein-packed snack powered travellers along the Silk Road for millennia. Traditional food for having a long horse ride. Yes, yes! This is from camels. Camel?! Yes. Wow!
Okay, this is qurt made from camel. Yeah, it is very salty, milky. Actually it’s a nice taste. It’s a little sour. There were no refrigerators in the old days, so they preserved it that way. The saltiness and oiliness were kept. I mean, they don’t spoil. When the Kazakh people were still nomads
they kept the butter in sheep stomachs. Mhm. Very tasty salty butter. This one looks like lamb or mutton. There is a section where they have horse meat. One section is for pork. Over there we have that section where they have all types of Korean salads, how they call them. Koryo-saram, ethnic Koreans, were settling in Russia's far east since the late 19th century. In 1937 all of them were deported to Central Asia. Today the majority of their roughly 500.000
descendants live in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. While few still speak Korean they retained parts of their heritage, like Korean names. As they could not supply napa cabbage, the main ingredient in traditional kimchi, they created new variants. Ever since morkovcha, and so called “Korean salads”, gained huge popularity throughout much of the former Soviet-Union.
Then there is a section where they have loads of fruits, vegetables, fresh herbs, everything you can imagine! Horse milk. Try it! Uhhh! The smell is already really funky. It’s hard to describe. Oh my gosh, there is so much going on. Cheers. Cheers. I don’t drink it. Huh.
Aehm. Wow. It does not really taste like milk. It is very light. It’s sour. There is a hint of cheese, sort of. Yeah, but it is actually kind of tasty.
There is alcohol in Kumis. Little percentage alcohol. Maybe that’s why I like it. Like a beer. So this is shubat. It’s a different kind of milk. This time from the camel. Does it have alcohol? No. No alcohol, okay. Hui. Mhm. Sour. Yoghurty.
Smokey. Smokey, yeah. So, I am going to try two different types of horse. This looks like a horse… Ham… Bacon?! Try it! Smells really good actually. Mhm! It is a bit sour, yes. The closest thing this reminds me of is cured beef actually. Pretty good. This is qazı. This is also horse. It is horse intestine stuffed with different parts of the horse.
As you can see there is a lot going on. Some very fatty bits and meaty bits. I guess this will be a journey. Let’s go. Okay… They put a good amount of salt inside. Even though horse meat itself is pretty dry, because horses don’t have a lot of fat in their meat. But the fatty bit gives it a nice juiciness.
It’s very flavourful. Very intense. Hard to describe. Like a kind of beef with sort of a chickeny taste? We’ve packed our stuff. Our boxes are ready. We have four boxes. Two bike boxes and two full with our panniers and stuff. So, now a taxi is waiting downstairs. A typical Central Asian car, I think a Damaz. Let’s go. Bye-bye.
So, this is Marub. He was so kind to host us for the last week and we went to his theatre two times. That was pretty cool! We just went to another play, then rushed to the airport. Now only the check-in needs to work out and then: Bangkok! Unfortunately it is impossible to obtain a Chinese visa in Central Asia forcing us to skip over China by plane for now. So, brace yourself for a slight culture shock as our journey continues 4000 kms south-east in Thailand! Over two and a half years ago we set out on this journey. To see and show the world as it is, and with the hope to inspire and encourage some people along the way. We believe that to be important, which is why we put so much into doing this.
On average we get about 60€ from Youtube per episode. However, editing one takes us about 10 full days. 10 days worth of food, accommodation, insurance, and so forth. With our savings pretty much gone, this is only possible thanks to the growing support of our amazing contributors through buymeacoffee.com/aworldbiketour and paypal.me/amazingworldbiketour If you want to chip in and help our project become sustainable, check out the links in the description below. Every little bit helps us to get another episode out. Thank you so much!
Until next time, and may the wind be at your back!
2025-05-17 16:29
