Adventures in Asia: Osh, Kyrgyzstan

The Pamir Highway tour is done now after arriving in Osh late yesterday afternoon. I said goodbye to Rick and Sarah at their hotel, then the driver tried to take me to a medical clinic to get another rabies shot (I am supposed to have five more!). The clinic was closed for the weekend, however, so instead I simply went to my hotel. I was a bit anxious about getting the shot, however, so I walked to another two places close to the hotel and had a bit of an adventure communicating, but ultimately determined that not many places have rabies shots. 

So, I went back to being a tourist. It was really hot Saturday afternoon, but a large park is close to my hotel and provided some shade and also let me visit the large Lenin Statue. 

Lenin stands right across from city hall.

Here is Lenin from the backside.

The park was an extremely popular place to be on this Saturday afternoon, and I enjoyed watching people relax with their families, partners, and friends. 

Eventually, from Toktogul Park I walked northwest along the Ak-Burra River. At this spot, above the small river, there was a fashion show happening!

I reached another park, where I was hoping to find an old Aeroflot airliner I saw pictures of online that had been here for years; but, apparently, the airplane has flown away (or, more likely, scrapped). So, instead, I rode the Ferris wheel I found!

I actually enjoyed riding so much I considered going around twice, but settled for one spin. I had some nice views, including of Osh's holy mountain, Sulaiman Too.

I walked back along the river again to my hotel, tuckered out from all the walking in the heat! It was interesting to think that I began my day walking in snow and now was struggling because the weather was too warm!

This morning I used my newly downloaded taxi app to ride to the Jayma Bazaar. The bazaar is over two thousand years old. Certainly the cell phone paraphernalia and (knock-off) name brands let you know you are in the 21st century, but in other ways I imagine much is the same as it has been for centuries. 

I took the opportunity to buy some new headphones, and then walked across the river to find a couple of old mosaic advertisements that intrigued me. They are both from 1980, when Moscow was hosting the Olympics. The first has the Olympic mascot . . .

. . . and the other is for Aeroflot, with the five digit phone numbers to call if you want to book a flight. 

There are other historic mosaic murals in Osh that are not advertisements, such as these two.

The mosaic murals are all pretty cool relics, and I hope they can continue to be preserved! 

I walked for a few more blocks, but it was getting hot. I knew I wanted to visit the holy mountain Sulaiman Too, but figured that would be more comfortable later in the day once it cooled down some. By the way, Sulaiman Too is a very special place to folks in Osh, and is even featured on bus stops.

As I crossed an pedestrian overpass, I could see the mountain again across the city.

I took a taxi back to my hotel for the afternoon, however, and took it easy having lunch, visiting a cafe with my book, and so on. 

Around 17:00 I caught a cab to Sulaiman Too. 

It was still very hot, but starting to cool down as I climbed the path upward.

Along the way up, I passed one of the many sacred spots--this rock, which is worn smooth from people sliding down it; apparently, a ride down the rock slide leads to increased fertility. I settled for a photo.

Of course, as you climb there are also lots of good views of Osh, including the mosque below the mountain.

Climbing Sulaiman Too was a nice way to end my visit to Osh, and really Central Asia altogether, because tomorrow I fly to Europe.

Adventures in Asia: to Osh, Kyrgyzstan

Just before noon today we left our yurt camp in the mountains and rejoined the M41 to head to Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second largest city, and the unofficial end of the Pamir Highway. Although the most well-known and "other worldly" parts of the Pamir Highway are behind us, we were still in for some beautiful and impressive scenery. For example, check out this switch-backing descent!

As I mentioned previously, with school ending for the summer on Friday, families are heading out with their flocks to spend summer on the land. Over and over again we ran into herds blocking the highway. Our driver was extremely unimpressed, but as a tourist it was quite interesting!

We also stopped intentionally sometimes, such as above this village where a photo simply cannot do the scenery justice. 

But even at our gas station stop the setting was lovely.

As we approached Osh, and entered the lush and fertile Fergana Valley there was a large Kyrgyz flag, the weather was turning hot and the traffic getting much worse. It was clear we had left the remote, cool, and sparsely populated Pamir for sure now!

Once in Osh, it was well past lunch time, so a plate of lagman noodles hit the spot!