We got to Bishkek just one night before Sarah and Jonas arrived and we met up once they arrived. Our first day together was filled with buying some last supplies and having dinner at a traditional Kyrgyz restaurant. Leaving Bishkek meant busy roads but at least it was flat enough to get used to cycling for the other two. Our first camp site was close to the mountains and a great teaser of the amazing landscape we would get to later. The first challenge for us was Too Ashuu pass that we had to cross in order to get further South. The pass is 3200mm high and you start climbing from 700m. This was the longest single climb on our trip so far and Sarah and Jonas had to tackle it on Day 2 of their holiday - quite a challenge. We ended up taking two days to get to the top and they struggled in parts but in the end we made it. Luckily we found a ride through the narrow tunnel on the top and enjoyed a beautiful descent into the highland on the other side. There you are always surrounded by snow-capped mountains while passing through the vast steppe of Kyrgyzstan.

In the tiny village of Suusamyr we took a break day to give our legs and butts time to recover in a lovely homestay. We enjoyed the sauna and local food they made before getting back on our bikes to get to the village of Kyzyl-Oi. It is located in a narrow valley surrounded by crazy mountains and we had to take a day to go hiking there. The owner of our homestay recommended to walk to a remote waterfall in the mountains and said it would be a 5h return hike. We ended up finding the waterfall but without a proper trail, it took us 3.5h to get there and another 3h to get back. The scenery along the way was worth the effort and just the feeling of wilderness is hard to describe with words.

Another two days of cycling got us through some more stunning mountainous country until we reached the village of Kyzart which is the gateway for visiting the alpine lake Son Kul. We were not sure whether it was already to possible to hike up to the lake but when we arrived we were happy to find out that there were already yurts at the lake, meaning there is a place to sleep after hiking for 25km. We left our bikes at our homestay and started our hike, but that is a story for our next video and post.

Cheers from Kyrgyzstan,
Vroni, Droni, Sarah & Jonas²