Kazakhstan

Wow. What a smooth border crossing.
Tom and I decided yesterday to spend the afternoon at the beginning of the Charyn canyon instead of crossing the border in the heat. We simply loved the place at the river, that felt like a little oasis. And maybe, just maybe, we hadn't been ready to leave Kazakhstan just yet.
But this morning, it is time to go. We pack up, drive for another 1.5hrs and are actually quite surprised when the border post in the Kargara valley shows up. After Kegen, there were no signs or stalls or gas stations at all, so the post feels a bit sudden. We're here by approx. 10.30am. During the summer months (May-October), the border is open ever day from 8-18 o'clock. There is only one car in front of us and everything happens rather quickly.
1. Our passports and the car registration are checked.
2. We're allowed in and proceed to the customs control.
3. The guards send me to the passport officer, he stamps me out of Kazakhstan and then I'm immediately pointed through to the Kyrgis passport office. No chance to return to the car to help Tom. Within 10min I'm done and am waiting in Kyrgistan for Tom and Hans to join me.
4. The Kazakh officers play some jokes on Tom (like "fishing rods are not allowed here"), but they're friendly and let Tom and Hans pass quickly. Tom's passport is checked again and he, too, is proceeding to our new destination.
5. The Kyrgiz side is no problem either, and within another 10min, I rejoin Tom in the car and off we go.
As I mentioned earlier: super smooth and easy. The only problem is: no ATM, nor car insurance seller, nor SIM card provider on either side of the border. And the next two villages don't look like they'd provide those services either. Hence we simply postpone all of it and drive to Jyrgalan, our first stop. As everything moved so quickly, we arrive at lunch time and have enough time to go on a mountain bike tour in this fabulous scenery. The steep ascend is (luckily) interrupted by an invitation to join a family party for a few snacks and horse milk (kyzmyz). What a lovely bunch of people. Afterwards we continue our way up, pushing our bikes through steep mountain sides, cursing ourselves for having brought them up here. But once we finally get the chance to ride down, the strenuous part is all forgotten.
First impression of Kyrgistan: amazing landscapes, super friendly people and lots of signage guiding tourists. We can't wait to explore more of this country (and we already have the impression so can't lots of other tourists 😉).Read more