Uzbekistan: Tashkent to Osh

HJ’s bike repaired we were finally ready to depart for Kyrgyzstan.  We were excited to head out.  We have met some good people in Tashkent but the time has come to continue our journey. 

We decided to take our time to Osh and make it in 2 days.  We stayed in Kokand the first night and Fergana the second.

HJ weaving between cars and pot holes

The view over this first pass out of Tashkent was amazing

On our way out of Kokand, we decided to stop in the small town of Rishtan.  There is a nice ceramics museum apparently, but we did not go.  While sitting for a drink, a local motorcycle enthusiast came up to us, grabbed us and walked us over to our bikes.  His name was Maluf.  He wanted to ride them.  We obliged him.  After a quick spin on both bikes, we followed him back to someone’s place where lunch was being served, Plov.  It was a very kind gesture.  We ended up spending about 3 hours with him speaking in sign about motorcycles.  It was a pity that we did not have more time to spend, but Kyrgyzstan was waiting for us.

Plov with Maluf

Maluf and friends

We had a proper escort out of Rishtan - thanks again Maluf!

In Fergana, we stayed at the Golden Valley homestay.  Shaxira runs the place and is quite interesting to speak with.  HJ realized that his bike was leaking a lot of fork oil and it was not a good sign.  She called a “master” to come have a look but the guy had no clue about suspensions…we would have to wait to get to Osh to find something.  As if the leaking fork oil was not bad enough, HJ was not feeling that great.  Scott’s stomach bug had somewhat passed (finally) and now HJ was feeling a bit of nausea and vertigo. 

Fergana

We woke up in Fergana and wanted to set out early.  We had no clue how long the border could take.  With a quick stop for food/drink and meeting a lot of locals in Andijon, we were off to the border.  We spent about 2 hours on the Uzbek side to leave the country and about 20 minutes on the Kyrgyzstan side to enter the country.  Osh center is very close to the border.  In no time we were in downtown Osh, looking for the Osh guesthoust and our two cyclist friends, Jeremy and Eric.

Welcome to Kyrgyzstan