Osh

After the last couple of days of cheating by hitchhiking today was full on cycling. The road from Jalalabad to Osh was pretty flat, the highest point on the road required a 350m climb, & it was silky smooth. However it was a scorching hot day & we both arrived in Osh a bit frazzled, mostly due to the fast pace that I set in my enthusiasm to reach a fast Internet cafй in Osh & thereby reestablish communications with the outside world after a few days of isolation.

I was familir with road, having cycle up it while on the way to Bishkek in July.However the landscape has changed since then. The high summer heat had dried out the fields. The sunflower fields that were full of bright yellow faces have full of droopy stalks topped bydried out seed heads or bare harvested fields. Wheat has been taken in & in many cases the stubby fields burnt, ready for ploughing & the next crop. I preferred the brighter view in July.

I'm having issues to get back motivation for travelling. This has been the case since coming back from Geneva. I guess I've got my eye on the future there & not that of the next few days/weeks/months. We'll see whether the change of scene that crossing the next border will do anything about this.

In the coming days I will have left ex-Soviet Central Asia for China & the province of Xinjiang. Though the part of the latter country is also Central Asia I'm sure that the Chinese addition to the mix will be as potent as the Russian/Soviet one was to the 'stans. I hope to reach the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar before its famous Sunday market. My time will be short in China as from Kashgar I'll head South to Pakistan over the Karakorum highway. My Pakistani visa will only be valid if I enter the country before 14 September.

I cycled 108 km in 6 hours & 24 minutes
Total so far 10040 km in 146 days