Gael warning on the Pamir Highway

[jasp]

I'm in and have a great trip.

 

[(RIP) Bin Ridin]

Bon Voyage Simon!

 

[jjwill]

Have a great trip and looking forward to the reports

 

[simondippenhall]

Thank you all for your kind wishes.

It is hard to leave home when the weather turns so lovely and I spent an evening soaking up the rural beauty of Hampshire (and some red wine )

Then it was time to rationalise all that packing

So yesterday afternoon my long suffering wife dropped me off in good time at Heathrow Terminal 4 for my flight via Istanbul to Almaty.

Which would have been great if the flight had been leaving from there but yours truly the renowned world traveller hasn’t noticed it was from Terminal 2!

Hence the joys of manoeuvring my bags down to the Underground to make an unplanned trip to T2. On the bright side, I had my first trip in the Elizabeth Line and it was free

After abandoning my trolley and lugging 34 kgs on and off the Tubs, I was pleased to find T2 empty and check in smooth and brief, with zero queues at security and a smooth trip to Istanbul, seen here in our night approach

I then had a couple of hours to while away in that big and modern airport, idly noting the Kabul flight had been cancelled and hoped that no irate mujahideen would vent their frustrations on any bystanders

Eventually I boarded a crowded 737 for the 5+ hours to Almaty and by misfortune had a ‘leg spreader’ sitting next to me who also annexed the arm rest so a rather sleepless night.

Arrival in Almaty was prompt and I was let in, although only after that rather nerve wracking moment when the border agent scrutinised all my exotic passport stamps (Pakistan seems to be a top trump!) and went off to confer with a colleague.

However, finally

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[simondippenhall]

I sailed through Customs, got a large number of Tenge from an ATM without difficulty, and made my first use of the Yandex app (a form of Uber) and within 5 minutes was sailing off in a well driven car with a non English speaking driver so my few words of Russian are already coming in useful (thank you, Duolingo!)

Almaty drivers seem very obedient and less than 10 minutes later my driver braked sharply for a light turning red, as did the taxi beside us. The lorry behind was less observant and a loud screech presaged an impact - fortunately on the adjacent taxi, not us

I was expecting fireworks as it was a big impact- but after an initial sign of dismay both drivers shook hands politely and we left them to resolve the matter.

My guest house is run by Vladimir, of Russian descent or birth (like a third of the Kazakh population he tells me). So we converse in a wild mix of English and Russian ( Google Translate).

He cooked me breakfast and showed my my warm, comfortable and spacious room which I shall enjoy in the knowledge that from here on, homestays up in the mountains will be way less warm and comfortable

A bathroom with a heated floor…what bliss!

I realise that, sleep deprived or not, I need to shower and get out to explore Almaty and get some daylight to start adjusting the Circadian rhythms.

But first Gary drops by, overjoyed to receive the replacement wheel (and assorted service items)

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[Northern jock]

It's always interesting to see the mix of destinations on a foreign departures board and Istanbul didn't disappoint!

 

[simondippenhall]

However joy is soon dashed as the excellent (seriously, this time) mechanics Gary has found soon spot that the wheel won’t fit Gary’s disks and ABS ring. (One has 5 studs, the other wheel 6). So all that hassle and expense may be as naught.

On the plus side they have good truing equipment and are well qualified to recuperate his existing wheel.

So as I write Gary is with them and working out his options. In any case he is leaving the AT in Almaty for a month while we ride the rented DR650s so that time may ease a solution for him, as he hopes to ride on to Mongolia after the ‘Stans.

Meanwhile I was having an interesting wander around Almaty, particularly the Green Bazaar

All horsemeat, apparently

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[simondippenhall]

So Monday was a pleasant day of wandering around Almaty….I had done 14,000 steps by noon so decided a lazy afternoon was in order ahead of Tuesday’s departure on the moto.

A few happy snaps of Almaty, a relaxing and pleasant city.

I know enough Russian now to understand this note is saying: “eff off and park outside your house not mine”

Magnificent, wood built Orthodox Church

Probably the healthiest lunch I will have for a while

Talking if lunch, my lazy preparation meant I forgot to bring the essential lunch box - and So I wander if to FixPrice which is a Mecca for cheap and cheerful plastic stuff, and also deliver one to Gary’s palatial hotel:

My lodgings are rather more modest, with the kind host Vladimir whose English only marginally exceeds my Russian:

He has an old Russian van in the garden which he says he is restoring:

Here he is: a former operations engineer who now runs his Homestay where his son and 16 year grandson also stay during the week for easy access to work and school

This many-storied concrete ode to the Soviet ideal is where Gary has been laying his head

He was struck by a severe head cold and spent the morning recovering while I walked the city so we agreed to meet at Marat’s at 0900 Tuesday to be issued our bikes.

I woke early today (Almaty is the extreme east of Kzh and yet the time zone as the rest of the country so it gets light at 4 am.

I get an Uber (actually a Yandex, the local ride hailing app) over to Marat’s and a slightly surprised the bike issue and packing is to be done in the street.

First we are given a run over if the bikes which look really well maintained, and various tools are explained (because we are travelling remote areas where no assistance will be available). Most important is ‘the stick’, used for service of chain/ removal rear wheel:

However I get on with it, strapping on the Magadans and my Ortlieb on the back - after fitting the excellent loaned Airhawk which required saddle removal.

Here’s the final product ready to go:

Above, ‘The stick’ as used to raise the front wheel.

I would like to say that at that point we were ready to go ( especially as I had publicly debagged myself in the street and put on my riding trews and boots! ).

However it seemed that there was more to be done before Gary was content with his bike…..


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[richardbd]

Excellent. Take good care of the stick Simon...

 

[Micky]

Ah .... the ubiquitous stick, every travel motorcyclists companion

Our Long Way Home adventure 2009, eastern Turkey

 

[Santa-2512]

Liking the winterised rugged look Simon

 

[Northern jock]

So Monday was a pleasant day of wandering around Almaty….I had done 14,000 steps by noon so decided a lazy afternoon was in order ahead of Tuesday’s departure on the moto.

A few happy snaps of Almaty, a relaxing and pleasant city.

I know enough Russian now to understand this note is saying: “eff off and park outside your house not mine”

Magnificent, wood built Orthodox Church

Probably the healthiest lunch I will have for a while

Talking if lunch, my lazy preparation meant I forgot to bring the essential lunch box - and So I wander if to FixPrice which is a Mecca for cheap and cheerful plastic stuff, and also deliver one to Gary’s palatial hotel:

My lodgings are rather more modest, with the kind host Vladimir whose English only marginally exceeds my Russian:

He has an old Russian van in the garden which he says he is restoring:

Here he is: a former operations engineer who now runs his Homestay where his son and 16 year grandson also stay during the week for easy access to work and school

This many-storied concrete ode to the Soviet ideal is where Gary has been laying his head

He was struck by a severe head cold and spent the morning recovering while I walked the city so we agreed to meet at Marat’s at 0900 Tuesday to be issued our bikes.

I woke early today (Almaty is the extreme east of Kzh and yet the time zone as the rest of the country so it gets light at 4 am.

I get an Uber (actually a Yandex, the local ride hailing app) over to Marat’s and a slightly surprised the bike issue and packing is to be done in the street.

First we are given a run over if the bikes which look really well maintained, and various tools are explained (because we are travelling remote areas where no assistance will be available). Most important is ‘the stick’, used for service of chain/ removal rear wheel:

However I get on with it, strapping on the Magadans and my Ortlieb on the back - after fitting the excellent loaned Airhawk which required saddle removal.

Here’s the final product ready to go:

Above, ‘The stick’ as used to raise the front wheel.

I would like to say that at that point we were ready to go ( especially as I had publicly debagged myself in the street and put on my riding trews and boots! ).

However it seemed that there was more to be done before Gary was content with his bike…..


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Hopefully Gary was sorted out easily and you can get going

 

[simondippenhall]

So Gary had gone to drop off his Africa Twin so the wheel problems could be worked on during the month we are away.

He was not happy with the phone mount on his rental bike (it was a bit wobbly) and wanted to get his heated jacket leads fitted to the battery in light of the cold we may experience on the Pamir Highway.

The offending phone holder

So we eventually ride East (away from Bishkek ) through the lunchtime traffic to the mechanic who fits the leads to the Suzuki battery and finally we set off West about 1.30 pm.(although still without the RAM mount Gary sought).

After an hour of heavy traffic leaving Almaty, we stop for a cold drink and a gear check at a big filling station. Then G’s bike won’t start and pushing doesn’t help. So it’s saddle off (not easy with Giant Loop style luggage bag) and check battery connections

All else failing I take my jump leads (without power) and that seems to bring the neutral light on and we can start the bike. We refit everything and it won’t restart….so rinse and repeat (it’s a very warm day BTW).

In desperation we remove the heated jacket connection from the battery terminals and all is good again .

So we set off west for a generally good ride before turning south to the Kyrg border on fabulous curving roads. The Kzh motorists don’t like us passing them but the occasional roadworks allows us to dirt ride ahead of the traffic. The bikes seem very comfortable at 100 km/h and (thanks Mike S) due to the Airhawk I too am comfortable

I am leading using maps.me on an old iPhone and it performs perfectly…the first time I have used this app.

It’s a great ride and all is well with the world again

To Gary’s amazement (and indeed my surprise), we exit Kzh and enter Kyrg in under 15 minutes, one of the smoothest border crossings I can remember and with friendly officers on both sides.

We have stopped from time to time so Gary can tighten the phone holder repeatedly as it has been slipping around and threatening to eject the phone. Finally it comes apart and Gary tells me he is going to detach it.

We ride directly to our hotel Asia Mountain which is friendly and indeed has a yard full of Marat’s bikes

Tired (it’s 7 pm by now, but light) we shower and head out for a celebratory beer and a meal.

I am also drinking to 111 (Kyrgyzstan will be the hundred and eleventh country for me to travel in).

Tomorrow the plan is to ride to Toktogul Lake, what promises to be a cooler ride with a 3000+ metre pass to climb.

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[simondippenhall]

I woke this morning with a bit of a sore head after the beer (I am a notorious lightweight) and some buzzy insect biting me during the night.

After a great breakfast and a well filled lunch box, whilst Gary is doing his stuff I sort all my luggage into ‘stuff I want overnight’ which fits into the Ortlieb on the back rack and ‘stuff for emergencies or occasional use’ which goes into the Magadan panniers so now I only need to bring in one bag. ( such are the trivial pursuits of a travellin’ biker).

Gary does a bit of light nicking from Marat’s fleet to secure a RAM mount for his bike and loads his luggage.

The good news is that the bike starts, but less food is that Gary has spotted that the power lead to the phone holder he removed is exceedingly .

So (you guessed it!) it’s off with the saddle and remove the offending lead from the battery terminal, back with the saddle. God I hate Giant Loop bags!!

Finalising his packing, Gary leaves the engine running and next thing I see billowing smoke from the headlight area and quickly turn off the engine….inspection shows the headlight loom has ignited and it’s a mess of melted and bare wire

So for now we are grounded although hoping we are close enough to base that Gary can get his rental bike replaced . Better to happen here than in the Waukan Corridor!

So hey go it’s bike gear off again, and a day of exploring Bishkek:

This is followed by a light lunch

Gary has also acquired a spare phone he can use for navigation and leave his iPhone free to take photos.

We also got some local money from a Bankomat- proved more challenging than expected when it got to Gary’s turn as his run of bad luck continued and the machine immediately put up a sign saying ‘Out of Service’.

The only other ATM we could see was on a ‘work to rule’ and would only give £20 per withdrawal so locals were queued up playing it like a fruit machine to get out larger sums.

Now we await news of whether G may have a bike for us to depart tomorrow


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[richardbd]

Bit of a fraught start Simon! Fingers crossed for a replacement bike for Gary...

 

[Redboots]

I know a man like G

 

[Drumacoon Lad.]

Hope you get back on the road soon Simon!

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[Northern jock]

Is it possible to get an auxiliary power socket (new) with an inline fuse, fit it to his next bike, know it is working and the jacket or whatever can be plugged in when required? Keep the extra connections to the battery to one and it's a new one?

 

[Hustler]

I woke this morning with a bit of a sore head after the beer (I am a notorious lightweight) and some buzzy insect biting me during the night.

After a great breakfast and a well filled lunch box, whilst Gary is doing his stuff I sort all my luggage into ‘stuff I want overnight’ which fits into the Ortlieb on the back rack and ‘stuff for emergencies or occasional use’ which goes into the Magadan panniers so now I only need to bring in one bag. ( such are the trivial pursuits of a travellin’ biker).

Gary does a bit of light nicking from Marat’s fleet to secure a RAM mount for his bike and loads his luggage.

The good news is that the bike starts, but less food is that Gary has spotted that the power lead to the phone holder he removed is exceedingly .

So (you guessed it!) it’s off with the saddle and remove the offending lead from the battery terminal, back with the saddle. God I hate Giant Loop bags!!

Finalising his packing, Gary leaves the engine running and next thing I see billowing smoke from the headlight area and quickly turn off the engine….inspection shows the headlight loom has ignited and it’s a mess of melted and bare wire

So for now we are grounded although hoping we are close enough to base that Gary can get his rental bike replaced . Better to happen here than in the Waukan Corridor!

..............

I'll reply using the words of Basil Fawlty - "Otherwise OK ?"

 

[Kitsilano]

Can you not save a bit of space by travelling in your crash helmet and off road boots ?
Or is there some rule and regulation that says not allowed.
Good luck, bon voyage.

Not sure there's a rule against dressing like that for the flight but it would certainly give every other passenger the Willies.....