The Silk Road overland East to West - Visa strategy

When travelling on the Silk Road in Central Asia is is never long before the conversation between travellers turns to visas. For a successful overland trip a visa strategy has to devised before departure. It is not a region which can be travelled through on a whim. With a little planning visas can, however, be picked up along the way. In this post I will describe how we did it, which we managed without requiring the services of a visa support agency. There are obviously thousands of permutations of how to cobble together all the visas needed for such a trip, but I thought I'd simply write about how we did it - as I think the post is long enough as it is!!

First of all here are some general tips on Central Asian visa planning and execution.

• Plan exactly when and where you will get each visa.
• Know how long the visa process takes and then add on more time in case of unexpected embassy closures, like those for public holidays which an embassy will take both for the country the embassy is in and those for the embassy's national holidays.
• Have plenty of passport photos and photocopies of your passport to hand.
• Have a good idea of the dates you will be entering and exiting the country, how long you will need a visa for and an address of where you will be staying (any address is fine).
• Speak the language, take a person who does or, at the very least, take a phrasebook, if applying in person at an embassy.
• Know how much it is meant to cost. Question any price rises.
• Overlap your visas by a couple of days. This means that you are not relying on crossing a border on one particular day. Borders are sometimes closed at weekends or on public holidays.
• Always enquire about an Express Visa Service. Sometimes this doesn't cost any extra.
• Consider getting multiple entry visas for flexibility.
• Use forums, such as the Lonely Planet Thorntree, for up to date info and tips, but beware of tips from people who haven't actually done it!!
• Use Caravanistan's Central Asia visa guide, an up-to-date resource on visas as well as border crossings in the region.
• Finally, apply flattery liberally, even when you are clearly being obstructed.

Here is a summary of how we got all the visas needed to travel overland from Kathmandu to London. We were travelling on British passports from Nepal westwards through, Tibet, China, Central Asia, across the Caspian Sea to the Southern Caucasus, before entering Turkey and the final stretch through Europe to the UK. All the visas we obtained were single entry tourist visas and obtained in person at an embassy unless otherwise stated. DISCLAIMER: This information may already be out of date!!

Country	Cost	How long for? Number of entries? When does the visa time start?	Obtained where?	Length of visa process
Nepal	$100	3 month Multiple entry as standard	On arrival at Kathmandu airport	On the spot
	Remember to have a passport photo hand in your hand luggage.
Tibet	$37	14 day	Kathmandu agent as part of Tibet tour	On the spot
	See Arrange a Arranging a Tibet tour in Kathmandu – the good, the bad and the ugly for more info.
China	Travelled in mainland China on Tibet Permit. See above.
Kyrgyzstan	£60.00	1 month (visa starts on specified entry date)	London by post	1 week
	Applying for a visa through the Kyrgyz embassy in London was a very simple process. Fill out the online form here and then send your passport and relevant documents to the embassy.
Kyrgyzstan extension	1065 Som	1 month Multiple entry (visa starts when previous runs out)	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan	1 day (submit in morning collect in afternoon of same day)
	At the OVIR office we were required to copy by hand a Letter of Invitation, in Russian, which we submitted with an application form and passport photo.
Kazakhstan	Travelled on our Kyrgyz tourist visas. Note you must has a double or multiple entry Kyrgyz visa to be able to re-enter Kyrgyzstan. For more information see A couchsurfing minibreak in Almaty.
Tajikistan	£100 (+£50 for GBAO permit)	2 months Double entry with GBAO permit (visa starts on specified entry date)	London by post	1 week
	We followed the instructions on the Embassy website here. Together with an application form, our passports, photocopy and photo a travel itinerary was required. We simply wrote a letter with where we planned to be when and this appeared adequate.
Tajikistan Visa registration	135 Somani	Visa registration for a double entry 2 month visa	Khorog, Tajikistan	On the spot
	We read that if you have anything more than a 1 month single entry tourist visa you are required to register. We went to the OVIR office and were directed to the neighbouring bank to pay. Returning to the OVIR
Afghanistan	£70.00	1 month (visa starts on entry which can be any time within the stated 6 month period)	London in person	5 days
	The details for applying at the London embassy can be found here. Along with the usual documents the website states that utility bills are required to verify your current address in the UK. When we presented these the embassy said that they now no longer require them instead we needed a letter from our place of study or employer. After a day of frantic phones calls we got the letters and then the application went very smoothly. Hindsight I would have got a visa in Khorog, Tajikistan which takes 1 day.
Uzbekistan	$62	1 month (visa starts on specified entry date)	Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan	7 days
	To get a visa you must phone (in Russian) the embassy the day beforehand and get your name put on a list. Fill out and print off an application form here. The following day take the form, a photo and a copy of your passport to the embassy at 10 am and join the queue. A week later you need to get your name put a list the day before again. Return at 10 am with your passport and the visa is put in your visa then and there. We had a slight problem in that the official wasn't keen to give us a visa more than 3 months before our entry date (it was 3 months and 6 days before our planned entry). Luckily we managed to talk him into doing it for us. Note that a tourist visa (denoted as T on the visa) only allows for the holder to stay in hotels registered to take foreigners. For each stay you are given a registration slips which needs to be retained. We only got asked to show them once, on the Tashkent metro, when we were staying with friends and didn't have any, but we managed to get around this problem, and continue staying with our friends.
Turkmenistan	$85	5 day TRANSIT (visa has specified dates and entry point)	Applied for in Dushanbe, Tajikistan Collected in Tashkent, Uzbekistan	7 days Express service
	See Turkmen Visas – a riddle wrapped in an enigma for the long version of this.
Azerbaijan	$101 (I think we might of got scammed on this)	5 day TRANSIT (visa specified a months period for travel)	Dushanbe, Tajikistan	On the spot
Georgia	No Visa	3 months
Abkhazia	$10	1 month (specified	Online application. Pick up in Sukhumi, Abkhazia
	For details see How to obtain a visa for Abkhazia when in Georgia
Armenia	$10 or 3000AMD	21 days	Georgia/Armenia border crossing by rail
	Note that at the current exchange rates it is cheaper to pay in AMD (have the correct change if paying in $)
Nagorno Karabakh	$10	14 days	Yerevan, Armenia	On the spot
	For more information see How to obtain a Nagorno Karabakh visa. Remember to register the visa on entry and exit of Nagorno Karabakh.
Turkey	$20	90 days Multiple entry (standard visa)	Sarpi border crossing between Georgia and Turkey	On the spot
	Can pay in US dollars, Euros or UK pounds but not Turkish Lira.
Total Cost	$928

Although we didn't need to use a visa support agency this is an option to consider. If you need a visa in a hurry or are not near the required embassy a visa support agency can help. It could be cheaper to pay for some else to organise your visa, than paying for food and accommodation in a place you don't want to be whilst waiting for a visa to be processed, and it will almost certainly be less hassle. I heard excellent reports from travellers who used Stantours and did contact them myself at one point to make some enquires when I was weighing up our options. They responded to my email very quickly and seemed very knowledgeable.

Crossing the Kyzyl-Art Pass into Tajikistan

So, just as I had mastered the spelling of Kyrgyzstan we were on our way south to Tajikistan. We spent the day before the journey trying to source a suitable vehicle. Luckily we had become wise to making sure we viewed the vehicle before agreeing on the journey. James rejected one vehicle which was so old that it looked like it should be in a museum. It was a 40 year old Russian jeep known as a Uza and required a handle in the front grill to be turned rapidly to start it. Even then it needed more tweaking under the bonnet before the engine spluttered into life. Eventually, after waiting 4 hours for a jeep driver to show up, we found a suitable vehicle even if time keeping wasn't the drivers strong point.

The following day, after the driver was only an hour late, we headed south towards the Kyzyl-Art Pass. If international reports are to be believed this was the border crossing of choice for heroin smugglers. It didn't seem like a particularly busy heroin smuggling day when we crossed, however. We saw 3 other jeeps and a truck in total. Despite the lack of vehicles, and the absence of any searches, it still managed to take 2 1/2 hrs to have our passport passed from one office to the next (owner need not be present) and then drive the several kilometers of no man's land. I hate to think how long it would take had they had a rush on. On the Kyrgyz side a well bred spaniel ran ferral around the port-a-cabins. I imagined that it had once been a highly trained sniffer dog, donated by some western government. Now, like the wilded eyed border guards wearing a mix of army uniform, trainers and Kangol caps, the dog had returned to its pre-trained self. But both were harmless enough and we made it into Tajikistan without a problem.

Our jeep at the remote Kyzyl-Art Pass border crossing (still in Kyrgyzstan)

Made it to Tajikistan!

The trouble with Osh

On the 10^th June 2010 an argument broke out outside a casino in Kyrgyzstan’s second city. Located in the south of the country, in the fertile Fergana valley, the city of Osh dates back to the 5^th century BC and has an ethnic split between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. The argument last year was over some money and happened to be between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz. Simmering tensions have long existed between the two communities. The Uzbeks have historically been more urban dwelling people whilst the Kyrgyz have traditionally been nomadic. However, in recent history the Kyrgyz have abandoned their nomadic lifestyles and increasingly moved into urban areas, particularly in Soviet times. In Osh the Uzbek community had well established businesses and spacious homes. As the argument continued on that day a completely baseless rumour was spree by text that some Kyrgyz women, living in a University dorm next to the casino, had been raped. This rumour spread like wildfire within and beyond Osh. Within hours people poured into the city enraged. Four days of violence ensued. Homes and businesses were torched, people murdered and women were forced to walk down the streets naked before being gang raped; as the police did nothing. The official figures are that 487 people died and over 100,000 Uzbeks fled across the border to Uzbekistan. People across Kyrgyzstan were terrified that this would initiate war with Uzbekistan.

A year on as we drove into Osh in a shared taxi an old Uzbek man silently pointed to every burnt out building we passed. He kept he hand low so the driver could not see what he was doing but he wanted to make sure that we saw the extent of the destruction. No one talks openly about what happened, everyone wants to forget about it and move on. Apart from the ruins, it would be quite easy to travel in Osh without realising what had happened. Many of the Uzbeks have returned and the market is bursting with fruit and vegetables, albeit with stalls set up amongst the burnt out ruins. After staying a while we noticed small things which revealed a continued fear and suspicion between communities; the Kyrgyz taxi driver who drove the long way around to avoid an Uzbek part of town or the suspicions of how communities had made their money with baseless accusations of drugs smuggling.

The situation is incredibly complex and there is no one explanation, many people argue that there is no underlying problem between the Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities it is the politicians who exploit the different ethnicities for their own benefit and a lazy media who explain every incident in ethnic terms. But combine this with the drugs trade, water insecurity and corruption, and the mix can be explosive. For us, however, our various stays in Osh throughout our two months in Kyrgyzstan were pleasant. Being situated in the Fergana valley, the bread basket of Central Asia, we gorged on fresh fruit and vegetables. When we first arrived it was cherry and apricot season but by the time we left it was peaches and watermelons which could be bought for pennies.

There are many NGOs now working in Osh on conflict prevention and reconciliation but it is an uphill struggle when so few people want to talk about what happened. Moving forward will no doubt be a difficult and painful journey and it is impossible to say which will be the best strategy to take but one thing I am sure over is that  trying to sweep everything under the carpet and ignore what happened is not a long term solution.     

 Osh market carries on despite being burnt last year

The Walnut forest of Arslanbob

After Peak Lenin I was completely exhausted. All I wanted to do was eat and sleep. After such a limited diet I thought I would crave fresh fruit, vegetables and bread but actually my body wanted protein; meat, fish, eggs and cheese. Luckily this isn’t a problem in Kyrgyzstan as kebabs are sold everywhere. We spent a couple of days in Osh, gorging on kebabs and staying with Matt and Maggie, an incredibly hospitable American couple with whom James had already spent the last 3 weeks whilst I was in the mountains.

James had itchy feet, and I want to visit Arslanbob, so despite still feeling unable to brave another long journey we decided move on. Arslanbob is a village in the largest walnut forest in the world spread over 60,000 hectares. It has several waterfalls nearby and most tourists in Kyrgyzstan visit at some point.

We travelled with two Dutch women from Osh and together headed straight to the trusted Community Based Tourism (CBT) office when we arrived for information. The friendly manager came to open it up after we telephoned him and helped us organise a homestay. He informed us that there were currently only another 7 foreign tourists in town. However, whilst visiting the closest waterfall that evening, it was apparent that Arslanbob was extremely popular with domestic tourists. Soon the waterfall became a side show and the foreign tourist were the main attraction. After posing for many photos we managed to escape and head back.

The homestay we were staying in was an Uzbek-style house which was home to an extended family. That evening we ate dinner on the large topgen (covered seating area) with fantastic views over the valley towards the forest. As an aperitif we were given yogurt balls. These are firm little white balls which seem to have been made from old rancid mare’s milk. There really isn’t much that I can’t force myself to eat but these are one. We discreetly throw them into the trees and imagined a pile of yogurt balls gathering at the bottom of the hill from foreigners unaccustomed to this taste.

Every morning and evening our hosts would ask us what time we would like the next meal. However, the meals were never served at the time we specified. Instead they just came when they came. This was fine by me as I still wanted to just sleep and sleep. After a late breakfast we explored the walnut forest. I enjoyed getting lost in the leafy forest. The walnuts would not be ready to pick until October but the trees offered cool shade from the blazing sun. Sometimes the forest opened out into a meadow or field with someone cutting hay but otherwise we were completely alone.

Neither of us wanted to leave, as we felt so relaxed, and I still hadn’t fully recovered, but we needed to continue north to Bishkek for a few days. This would enable James to finish his Winston Churchill Fellowship research in Kyrgyzstan. Eventually we managed to drag ourselves away to endure another long journey.

Dinner at Maggie and Matt's

Relaxing at our homestay in Arslanbob

James makes friends with the toy sellers

Peak Lenin - As slow as a pregnant snail

After three rest days recovering from the acclimatisation climb, and sitting out some bad weather, we were ready to make our summit bid. To be honest I was surprised I managed the acclimatisation, having found it really tough (2 months of overland travel through Asia had not been good preparation), so was under no illusions about strolling to the summit. I had packed as minimally as possible and was ready to go hours before Alexander and Jaroslav again. As I tried to stay warm I wondered about Andy and Bob. No one had heard from them since we had seen them heading to Camp 3. More worryingly another team had been to Camp 3 for acclimatisation and had seen them neither at the camp nor at the alternative camp at the col. I had been becoming increasingly worried about them.

Across the glacier we headed back into the maze of crevasses. Today we reasonable weather as we headed to Camp 2. I hadn’t actually expected it to feel easier but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was and the acclimatisation had made all the difference. At Camp 2 I managed to have quite a reasonable night’s sleep and felt ready to go the next day. After waiting a couple of hours for Alexander and Jaroslav to get ready I was bored and cold. It was not necessary to be roped between Camp 2 and 3 so I set out breaking trail up the steep slope. It was exhausting work and the others soon caught me up. A Swiss team was now in sync with us. A giant of a man, Marcus, selflessly dump his rucksack (or luggage as he endearingly called it) and broke trail until the slope eased before returning to his rucksack to repeat the ascent. I became very familiar with the front of my boots and the next footprint, as for hours I trudged on upwards to the sound of my rasping breathes. Alex drew something in the snow and asked me what the English word was. I eventually managed to decipher the drawing and asked if he meant a snail. 'Yes', Alex said, 'we are as slow as a pregnant snail'. As we reached our previous high point we saw two figures making there way down from Camp 3 to my relief it was Andy and Bob. I later found out from two Polish guys that Andy and Bob had moved up to the rarely used Camp 4 where their lighters had stopped working and they ran out of matches meaning that they could not light their stove and therefore melt snow for water to drink or rehydrate their meals. It wasn't until I was back in Osh that I also found out that Andy had suffered frostbite to his right hand. This had thwarted their summit attempt.

After alternating the trail breaking with the Swiss we eventually made it to Camp 3 (6100 m). That night I slept terribly. I kept waking up gasping, thinking that I was underneath the duvet and needed to escape for air, except I was not underneath a duvet there just was no air. At 5 am I tried to force down some porridge. It sat like lead in my stomach. There was no need to rope up again so I set off, ahead of Alex and the Russians, plodding up the snow slope. The Swiss team was in front and I used their trail. I was now on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and could see across the mountains of Tajikistan to the south and Kyrgyzstan to the north. After an hour or so the Russians had caught up with me and we continued together.

At Camp 4 the gradient flattened and there was a long stretch of deep snow. At this point one of the Swiss guys decided to turn back. We continued taking it in turns to break trail and altitude slowed us even more. Looking at the time it was now midday and we would need to turn back at 3 pm. We were only half way so I knew there was no chance of summitting. As we started the next steep section I had slowed, needing 3 breaths for every pace. I was slowing the team down and I didn't want ot get blamed for them not summitting so I decided to turn back. I was at the altitude of 6650 m.

Alone, I took my time on the return to Camp 3 I really started to appreciate the view and stillness of the mountains. I followed the trail back to Camp 4 and then dropped down to the col. The killer was the 100 m of ascent from the col back to Camp 3 which seemed to take forever. Exhausted I gladly accepted a cup of tea from one of the Swiss guys and then organised the tents.

The others returned at gone 7 pm. They hadn't managed to summit despite continuing upwards until 4 pm.

So that was it. No one had summitted yet this season. It wasn't until the following day that we heard on the radio, as we descended that, using our trail, another Russian team had made the summit. That day I descended to Camp 2 alone as my Russian team mates were taking forever in the morning. At Camp 2 it was roasting hot and I then boiled as I waited 3 hours for them to catch up so we could rope up across the glacier. Back at Camp 1 the kit needed to be organised so it could be put on the ponies to get it back to base camp the following day.

Walking alone back to base camp I could enjoy the views of the mountains. One thing that was immediately obvious was the smell of the grass and flowers. After 3 weeks of camping on the moraine or in the snow it was completely unfamiliar. I just wanted to roll in it. A night in base camp and then we were heading back to Osh but not before a celebration with the Russian who summitted and the Tien Shan Team who were very pleased to have got the first person to the top this season. The base camp staff had made a cake in the shape of cake Peak Lenin to celebrate.

Camp 1 to Camp 2

Camp 2 to Camp 3

Looking back to Camp 3 from the summit ridge (Tajikistan on the left, Kyrgystan on the right)

Back at Camp 3

Deep snow on the descent from Camp 3

Looking down on Camp 2

Looking back towards Camp 1

Volleyball at Base Camp with Peak Lenin in the background

Celebration at Base Camp - the man in the red jacket was the first to summit in the 2011 season

Peak Lenin - Acclimatisation

Our tactic for climbing Peak Lenin in expedition style. This required spending many days acclimatising which involved climbing high before returning to Camp 1 (4500 m) to rest before ascending via Camps 2 (5300 m) and 3 (6100 m) and then the summit (7134 m). On my first day with the Russian team we crossed the glacier to the least fractured part, where it steepen, to try to gain an altitude of around 5000 m before returning to Camp 1.  

We caught up with Andy and Bob below the steep section where they seemed to have been taking a rest for a while. Alex, our guide, expertly negotiated the crevasses and at that point I realised that Andy was crawling out of a crevasse he had fallen in. They followed us through the steep section to where the angle eased again.

It was hard-work ploughing through the deep snow and this was with only carrying a day pack. The weather closed in when we were just below 5000 m and we returned to Camp 1 for the night. Late in the afternoon we could see Andy and Bob making painful progress on towards Camp 2. I wondered how I would fair the next day carrying a full pack. It felt like this day had been hard enough.

The following day it soon became apparent that Alexander and Jaroslav weren’t the most efficient in the mornings. Packed and ready to go I stood around stamping my feet to keep warm whilst they did, what, I never found out. After the acclimatisation walk the previous day I had realised that the weight of my rucksack would be absolutely crucial. This meant that anything not critical to survival was not included. Shelter, clothing, food, water and a means of cooking were critical, everything else was not. This meant no change of underwear, no means of washing including tooth brush and toothpaste and toilet roll were all eliminated. As you can image after the 3 days we spent moving up the mountain to acclimatise I felt pretty grubby.

With Alex I made the mistake of telling him that James was my boyfriend rather than my husband. This meant that I was still fair game. Despite my rather grubby state he continued to make passes at me. I began to revel in my grubbiness and leave my pee bottle (too cold to pee outside) lying about the tent but he still persisted. The dehydrated food that I ate also gave me terrible wind but still this didn’t put him off, if nothing else his persistence was admirable although a little irritating. He didn’t really have a lot of choice – I was the only woman on the mountain above Camp 1 at the time (in Camp 1 the camp manager for Tien Travel was a woman). Luckily I had a secondary line of defence – the considerable layers of clothing I wore as soon as we stopped walking. At night I would then be wrapped up in a micro-fleece liner, huge sleeping bag and a bivi bag with the draw cords pulled tight so only my nose was exposed.

Nearer Camp 2 the weather closed in and we were forced to pitch the tent until it clear so we could negotiate the crevasses safely. However we could not stay camped here as it was below an icefall and in an area at risk from avalanches - the site of the 43 deaths in 1990. When moving the tent to the correct site of Camp 2 we passed Andy and Bob camped directly below the icefall. They had spent the day there resting but when our guide pointed out the dangers of that site they followed us to Camp 2.

The next day the weather was good but the snow deep. It lay looking pristine white and beautiful but soon we were cursing it. We spent a day toiling through it to gain 400 more metres, a distance that looked like we could touch it in the morning. Andy and Bob followed. That evening more cognac and lemon, which stung my sunburned lips, this was acclimatisation Russian-style.

The next day we returned to Camp 1. As we retraced our steps we watched Andy and Bob carry on up to Camp 3. Despite the late start the descent was depressingly quick. Wanting to get back for a late lunch, and with my patience wearing a little thin with all the waiting about, as soon as we were able to unrope I set off back to camp at my own pace.

The human skull is a very distinct bone, it cannot be confused with an animal's. Alex turned it over with his walking pole. It was the back of a human skull with 4 or 5 vertebra still attached. Completely shocking to see but not surprising as 10 years ago so many people had died and their bodies had been swept down the glacier and entombed there. Now the glacier was melting and exhuming the harrowing reality of its history. This discovery made for a sobering walk on the final stretch back to Camp 1.

Team tent at Camp 2

The trail from Camp 2 to Camp 3

Moving towards Camp 3 - slowly

Peak Lenin – Defecting to the Russian side

So, that was it, my chance at climbing Peak Lenin, something in the planning for a year was over, ruined by some mountain con man. I was faced with trying to get myself and all my stuff back to base camp and then to Osh. I turned to the Tien Shan Travel staff manning Camp 1 for some help and advice. The local Russian guides were gathered in the kitchen tent when I went to talk to them. I was upset, but I could have tried harder to hold back the tears. The men in the tent immediately tried to offer me vodka as a solution, but I insisted that I was British, and a cup of tea would suit me better. Over tea I explained the whole sorry mess. They were really helpful and offered several practical options which would allow me to continue the expedition. They directed me to a local guide, Alex, who was guiding two Russian clients but had had a third drop out. After some negotiation, organisation of kit, food and gas, and making sure that all parties involved were happy I became part of the Russian team.

 

I immediately knew that I had done the right thing leaving Andy and changing teams. I suddenly had the urge to write and take photos again. The worry of Andy’s competence had been more consuming than I’d imagined and I hadn’t felt creative at all, but now it had come back.

Peak Lenin is a 7134 m peak on the Kyrgyzstan/Tajikistan  border. It is renowned for being the technically easiest 7000 m peak – although, as I was to find out, there is no easy 7000 m ascent. Paradoxically, it is also infamous for being the site of the worst ever mountain accident. In 1990 an earthquake initiated a massive avalanche in the night. The avalanche wiped out Camp 2 killing 43 people.  Now Camp 2 is carefully located away for the avalanche prone slopes in a safer position. Peak Lenin is a significant peak in Soviet mountaineering as it is known as one of the Snow Leopard 5. If an individual manages to climb all of these 5 mountains located in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan it is seen as a great mountaineering feat and the person is known as a Snow Leopard.

My new team was made up of a local Kyrgyz Russian guide called Alex and his Russian clients, Alexander and Jaroslav, who were father and son. Alex spoke reasonable English but I was worried about communication with Alexander and Jaroslav. As it turned out that they appear to be practically mute through out the entire expedition, so it didn’t matter that I didn’t speak Russian, as they didn't really speak full-stop. They were, however, generous with their cognac which they would even carry up to Camp 3 at 6100 m and was accompanied with slices of fresh lemon.

Camp 1 in the snow

Peak Lenin – The showdown

The initial plan was for James and I to climb Peak Lenin together but when I saw a heavily discounted commercial expedition advertised from the UK I thought that by joining this trip it would allow James more time on his Winston Churchill Fellowship Research. It would also allow me to learn more about expeditionary mountaineering from an experienced guide. It seemed the perfect solution. However, if something looks too good to be true then it probably is.

I met the ‘guide’ and a single other client at one of the nicer hotels in Osh and that afternoon we had a rather haphazard shop in the market for expedition food. James joined us and helped to negotiate discounts for bulk buys of pasta and the like. The following day he waved us off and we drove the 6 hours to Peak Lenin Base Camp, a meadow below the mountain where a series of yurts which we pitched our tents next to.

My concern started when Andy, the ‘guide’, seemed to be referring to the wrong mountain during our first couple of days acclimatising in and around base camp. This was quite strange for someone who had been to Peak Lenin twice before. The mountain is quite distinct in its ugliness and I could easily recognise it from the postcards I’d seen in Bishkek, but to make doubly sure I scrutinised the map. This identified Peak Lenin as the same mountain – the highest one. But we all make embarrassing mistakes so I didn’t mention anything.

Over the next couple of days we acclimatised and spent time establishing ourselves at Camp 1 on the edge of the glacier. As with base camp, Camp 1 was also well managed by the agency we were using, Tien Shan Travel, who helped orangise a kitchen tent and the horses which bought the majority of our food and equipment up from base camp. Heavy snow fell during our first night at Camp 1 and the following day Andy changed the plan again and we went for a slightly aimless walk across the glacier before he decided, with some prompting, that a training session on crevasse rescue would be useful. He invited me to teach it. I declined and suggested that as a mountain guide I’d be interested to learn from him. It wasn’t any surprise to me that his demonstration was chaotic and lacking some fundamental detail, one element was even just plain dangerous. Not to bore you with the technical detail but it was now completely obvious to me that Andy was not the qualified mountain guide he had been making himself out to be. Not only that, but I doubted 95% of everything he said and seriously questioned his experience. There were so many other little things that were odd about Andy. For example he said that it was the first time he had ever seen a marmot. These fat rodents live in burrows across the mountainous regions of North America, Europe and Asia, for which the grassy approach slopes to Peak Lenin were no expectation. They would stand on their hind legs and whistle their alarm calls anytime we would get too close. It was completely shocking that someone could not understand the consequence of lying about their qualifications and experience, it’s not as if I was employing an accountant with the risk of them getting my accounts wrong.

I took Andy aside and as unemotionally as possible confronted him. He maintained that everything he had told me was true. I gave him two options, firstly, from the 5% of what he had told me that I could work out was true, I had deciphered that he did in fact have more high altitude mountain experience than me and therefore maybe with the other client, Bob, we could continue climbing but as if we were a group of friends, having equal say in the decision making. Financially this would mean I would not pay him as a guide (as he wasn’t one) but we would continue the expedition together. The second option was that I leave. After much mumbling about his insurance and other nonsensical things he responded by saying that I should leave. So I did.

Base Camp

Approach to Camp 1 with peak Lenin in the background (that's the one on the right Andy)

A couchsurfing minibreak in Almaty

Reading the small print of visa regulations is a particular pastime of mine and I had found out that it was possible to travel to Almaty in Kazakhstan on a Kygryz tourist visa, thereby negating the need and expense of getting a Kazakh visa. However, when we asked Mike, the Honorary British Consul, about this he wasn't aware of the rule. The border is only about 20 mins away from Bishkek so we thought we would give it a try not actually expecting it to work. The Kyrgyz stamped us out and we waited nervously at Kazakh immigration expecting to have to do a lot of explaining but it was no problem at all and we were allowed straight through.

Not actually expecting to get to Almaty, we hadn't done too much research on what there was to do. We did, however, know that accommodation was expensive so had arranged to couchsurf with John. Couchsurfing is a fantastic organisation which enables travellers to get in contact with people to host them. Back in Sheffield we had hosted couchsurfers, although not many as Sheffield doesn't seem to be big on the tourist hit list in the UK - can't understand why. Not only are there obvious financial benefits (you surf for free although we like to take a gift or cook one night) but it is a great way to meet local people. When travelling it seems easy to meet every other nationality in the hostels and hotels where backpackers stay apart from any local people. Couchsurfing with John in Almaty we had landed on our feet again as it turned out that he worked at the University as a lecturer in Journalism having worked as a journalist throughout Central Asia. This gave James a chance to ask him and his colleagues about freedom of the press in the region which was useful for his Churchill Fellowship research.

Just 4 hours away from Bishkek, Almaty was a bigger and smarter version, the oil wealth obvious. We encountered our first traffic jam in months and initially found it too busy, but within a morning we had soon slipped back into city life and enjoyed a proper coffee and even indulged in some gratuitous spending in the shops. As Almaty was actually a city before the Soviet era, unlike Bishkek, it has some nice older buildings although the Soviet architecture dominates. In 1998 Almaty ceased to be the Kazakh capital when this status was moved to Astana. However, it remains the capital of apples as it is said that the fruit originated in the Almaty region. It was a pleasant stay and for a short while we didn't felt like backpackers but it was back to a traveller's life in Bishkek dominated by visa battles and navigating the piles of washing up at the Bishkek Guesthouse.

Zenkov Cathedral in Panfilov Prak

Tourists

 

Second World War monument - very Soviet

Song-Kul Horse Trek

By the end of this trek the total number of things James had lost would consist of 2 hats, 2 books, numerous pairs of pants (exact number unknown), toilet paper at critical moments, the investigation was still ongoing to his involvement in the loss of my headtorch and one………………………. horse.

Kyrgyz rural life is based around horses, so to fully experience it we would have to hire mounts and ride into the mountains. We headed to the fantastically organised Community Based Tourism (СBT) Association for advice on a suitable trek. Our requirements were a 5 day trek, no camping or self-catering if at all possible, quiet ponies, spectacular scenery, a knowledgeable guide and the chance to see local rural life. They recommended a jailoo (settlements that spring up during the summer at the best pastures) hopping trip around Song-Kul lake in the Tien Shan Mountains staying with families in their yurts.

Two days later everything was organised and we caught the bus to our starting point of Kochkor to stay with Mrs Guljat the night before starting. Our homestay was the cleanest place we had stayed in to date with the cleanest toilet this side of Tulufan VIP lounge. James spent the evening revising Russian verbs of motion.

The following morning we met our guide and set out in a taxi to where our horses were located. The car showed promise to begin with but 10 miles in it spluttered to a halt. Some handy work under the bonnet later and we made it another 200 m before rolling to a halt again. Six breakdowns later (and a total of 10 so far in Kyrgyzstan) and the problem was finally located to the fuel pipe. After much swearing, which James wouldn’t translate instead saying, “and that’s an expletive and so is that….”, we eventually got going again and made it to Kyzart Pass.

Breakdown #6

Breakdown #7

Breakdown #10

At the pass we were introduced to our trusty steeds for our trip. The two ponies had totally unpronounceable Kyrgyz names to we called them Jeffery and Steve. Jeff was a 4 year old bright bay whilst Steve was an iron grey 10 year old stallion. We managed to clamber aboard and with our guide in the lead headed into the green hills. We rode past caravans surrounded by flocks of sheep and herds of horses and cows and continued up and over a 3500 m pass and then down the other side.

The hills were flush with spring grass which softened their curves like the skin of a peach. We were in sight of our first night's homestay when there was a rumble of thunder and it began to rain. Within minutes it was hailing and then the heavens let rip with hazelnut sized hail stones and thunder and lightning crashing overhead. Steve and Jeffery swung their backs into the wind and refused to move. Fortunately we were near a cluster of farm buildings with a little lean-to barn. Our guide evicted the cows and we took shelter until the worst of the storm had passed.

That evening we snacked on a traditional spread of cream, jam and bread washed down will gallons of tea, before dinner of the rice dish plov. This meal routine would be repeated throughout our trek but varied with fried fish fresh from the lake and sometimes with the fermented mares’ milk. Breakfast usually consisted of semolina or a rice pudding. The diet was so heavily based around dairy products that anyone who disliked milk or had a dairy allergy would struggle. This posed a bit of a problem for James who has an extreme aversion to milk therefore meaning double portions for me and near starvation for him. After dinner James revised verbs of motion and then we bedded down all together on the floor of the yurt, as is tradition.

The following day we rode over a second 3000 m pass and got our first glimpse of Song-Kul framed by snowy peaks. The spring flowers were in full bloom, yellow buttercups, blue forget-me-nots, purple violets and white edelweiss covered the ground making it look as idyllic as it sounds. These were the summer pastures for the Kyrgyz and their herds and yurts were still being built as families relocated for the summer. 

Over the next couple of days we circumnavigated the lake stopping for lunch or staying in yurts. The air was so clear that we could often make out our destination which would then take 5 or 6 hours to ride to, never seemingly getting closer to the dismay of our aching cheeks. We watched the storms roll in across the lake. Sometimes they would hit us sometimes not. One morning our guide gave a 7 year old boy a lift to his herd of horses. The boy made polite conversation with James and asked the name of his horse. ‘Jeffery’, James replied, ‘Jeffery’ the boy repeated. A few minutes went by and then the boy said, ‘I’m sorry what is your horse called again?’ Our guide, who had a great sense of humour, was chuckling to himself.

We stopped for lunch on the penultimate day at a yurt at the side of the lake. A drunk staggered over to us and tried to introduce himself. He grabbed James’s hand and decided that they should get to know each other better through the medium of wrestling. James eventually managed to extract himself, rather dishevelled.

On the final night we stayed with a wonderful family in their homely yurt. Granny, Mum and their 6 children (4 girls and 2 boys) were fantastic hosts. A riot nearly broke out when they worked out how to use James’s itouch. Before long, dozens of sticky fingers were pressing every icon simultaneously. Of particular amusement was the imitation police siren with flashing blue lights which disturbed James’s revision of verbs of motion.

We were sorry to be leaving the following day but packed up our stuff ready to go. However there was no sign of Milan and our horses. Milan eventually returned with Steve and his own horse but there was no sign of Jeffery. When the 5 year old boy in the yurt heard about the missing horse he saddled his donkey immediately and with his 3 year old sister set out to join the search. James was rather concerned that two under 6s and a donkey had been recruited into the search but their big sister soon called them back for breakfast. Jeffery hadn’t shown any signs of being a trouble maker in fact he had shown very few signs of anything, plodding and munching his way through each day. However, despite 4 hours of searching Jeffery could not be found. This meant that James had to walk over the final pass back to the village of Kyzart. The consequence of arriving so late was that we had another night at Mrs Guljat in Kochkor, which was actually a bonus.

Green pastures

James riding Jeffery with Milan our guide

Rolling hills

Me and Steve

Song-Kul

Steve's ears

Lunch stop

The team

Yurt stay - only another 4 hours!

Jeffery looking like butter wouldn't melt

Big skies

Our hosts

Song-Kul under 6s search and rescue service