“Locked out” (Crowded House)

From Lake Song Kol we headed to Bishkek. However we did have to put some effort into leaving the lake as we had managed to run the batteries down and the truck wouldn’t start! With an almighty push by the whole group we were able to push the 12 tonne truck backwards down a slight incline, just enough to enable Pete to start it, and we were off. Another feature of the scenery which we have become accustomed to seeing is yerts. These sturdy looking structures are able to be put up in 25 minutes by the locals and must be the inspiration for Ikea as they are entirely flatpack and easily transportable. As we journeyed on from Lake Song Kol we continued to see countless yerts and horses, together with more amazing mountain scenery. We arrived in Bishkek and were staying at a hostel. Unfortunately the hostel had a 12 midnight curfew that was not well advertised, so we didn’t make too many friends that night, among either staff or other residents (of which there were plenty!) Oops. Our reason for coming to Bishkek was largely to go to the Pakistan embassy to apply for visas. However we received the very disappointing news (well, disappointing at the time, perhaps fortunate given recent developments) that it would take a month to get our Pakistan visas, and therefore another alternative route would have to be found. After offering messages of support to the crew on loo roll, we left them to it and headed off to enjoy the facilities of a town including a huge supermarket selling all manner of toiletries and foodstuffs, a cashpoint that issued US dollars, and an internet café. By 6pm there was a new plan and, suitably reassured, we headed off to celebrate Simon’s birthday with a Chinese meal (we had all been avoiding eating Chinese in preparation for overload in China, but now it is on for young and old!) We had a great meal with the most superb egg fried rice ever! The following morning was spent booking flights for the revised route (more detail later), and shopping for the coming days, and then we were off to Lake Issyk-Kol where we camped right on the shores of the lake in the shadows of massive snow capped mountains. The new route now sees us heading from Kyrgyzstan into Kazakhstan and then flying from Almaty, the capital of Kazakhstan into Delhi. From Delhi we pick up another truck and drive across to Calcutta, spending quite a bit of time in Nepal. From Calcutta, we fly to Bangkok and recommence our original itinerary through south-east asia, seeing Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore. We are still waiting on visas (and are expecting to have a rather interesting morning of hair pulling, punching and pinching in two days time when we try to pick up our Kazakh visas) and the visas will determine the exact timing, but everything seems to be falling into place (although falling is perhaps the wrong word as it is certainly taking every effort of the crew to sort it all out and try to stay sane!)