Thanks all for your interest.
Now - where were we?
Ah yes, the leisurely breakfast and it seemed that overnight Richie (Rachid in reality) had reflected and conferred with family and concluded that it might not be the wisest thing to throw in his lot with an unknown Irishman and a Californian
.
So after many farewells and selfies and the usual bits and bobs we were on our way…to a gas station (after Gary had to renew a running repair of his helmet which had lost a visor fixing and was loose).
Buying petrol is challenging here even if cheap as they want to charge you before you have filled and we don’t know how much we need…so it usually takes one of us negotiating inside with the cashier while the other (connected by Sena when charged!) tries to fill up.
By this stage we are approaching 11 with a long day ahead to Batken where we will attempt to cross into Tajikistan. There is the minor manner of the Kyrg and Tajiks being at loggerheads with the border having been closed for some time. What could possibly go wrong?
We stop for morning coffee which morphs into a delicious lunch of samsa freshly cooked.
The rain is falling and we out in waterproofs which attracts a lot of local kids
Our route is an interesting one and we have to be careful to avoid a little island of Uzbekistan in our path (as we aren’t allowed to cross it).
We plug in and start to get tantalising views of the mountains guarding Tajikistan
There is an incredibly strong wind blowing us all over the shop, to Gary’s surprise as a larger gentleman.
We eventually get to Batken the last town before the border and get diverted into a network of mud farm lanes to bypass some roadworks.
Because of this we bypass the main gas station and both decide (foolishly) not to stop before the border at a grubby little station.
Although the Kyrgyzstan border is closed, we have learned that a good travel agent can get you as a foreign tourist onto the the Foreign ministry list to allow out of the country there.
So we roll up about 3 excitedly, only to find only one of us is on the list. Gary’s phone doesn’t seem to have signal but I manage to get a call to Erali the agent who arranged it and after much to and fro we are allowed in to a completely deserted but modern border post, complete with shuttered Duty Free supermarket. No photos for obvious reasons, we were on best behaviour because the alternative to this crossing was a 3 day trek around and into Uzbekistan
.
Guards speak no English but call a local lady who speaks good English who says the
guards need
1. Passport- check
2. Vehicle Registration card (a little plastic card)
Also, she says, “we must show the guards are most secret hidden places but they are not allowed to touch”
.
I ask here if we are going to be body searched???!!
It seems fortunately they only want us to open our panniers and they really don’t look.
However Gary cannot find his Vehicle Registration Card which he last saw when he entered Kyrgyzstan 3 days before so for 30 minutes there is a long series of phone calls to the other border post/ asking agent about using the Power of Attorney and Gary is very concerned how we will get the bike back to Kazakh without the Registration Document.
So a complete search of everything Gary owns ensues:
No sign of the document and we (or he) are facing a significant obstacle to leaving Kyrgyzstan.
Then suddenly he checks his passport and there it is, neatly inside, which the border officer had had for some time.
Great relief and repacking and we are processed out of Kyrgyzstan- the official tells me the border has actually been closed since 2021!
We ride off through the gravelly no man’s land with keen anticipation of visiting Tajikistan…and turn the corner to another large and deserted border station with its gates securely locked and no one in evidence.
I spot a side gate which is ajar and walk through calling out - and a sentry emerges from his guard post at the far end where the gate to Tajikistan lies. He looked bemused and went off to find someone.
A tall and imposing senior officer emerged and shook our hands and said: Border Closed - Nyet Nyet Nyet!
He had little English so called his daughter on his phone who in fluent English told us: Border Closed for many years: YOU CANNOT ENTER.
We argued at length that I had a visa and Gary did not need one , only to come up again with an emphatic: NYET!
We called Erali again who talked to the senior officer and also got the Nyet answer. As a Kyrgyzstan citizen Erali had no standing. It seemed that he had not been asked when he actually got somone INTO Tajikistan as opposed to out of Kyrgyzstan
.
So it looked like that horrible wind-battered ride across bare steppes faced us again, to get back to Osh and then start again through Uzbekistan. It was already 3.30 pm and we resolved to stay in the last town we had passed, Batken, as we were tired.
We walked through the pedestrian gate to our bikes when we heard a cry of “Wait!”
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. After their second coffee and samosa I remind them we have a long way to go so we need to move.
he seems to be the common denominator for things going wrong lol 
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