ITCHY FEET SYNDROME

I had a feeling that "itchy feet syndrome" was about to return soon. I had wanted this rest so badly, but now after 5 days of drinking tea in the shade, I want to get back on the bike. What Uzbekistan has in architecture, Kyrgyzstan has in mountains and although I've enjoyed my time resting in Osh, you don't come to Kyrgyzstan to visit its cities. I've met some very interesting cyclists in this town. There was Jurgen from Germany, who has spent the last 2 years riding across Europe, Africa and Asia. His favourite country was Iran but he has been robbed twice in the last week and understandly, he feels its time to fly home from his epic adventure. He'll be home for the weekend. There is Kyle from America who's just rode 7000KMs across China. His stories of China are enough to make me consider following Jurgen's path and going home for the weekend. And then there is Markus from Austria. He rode his bike from home to here and had spent the last week living with some goat herders in the mountains. This time last week, I was tired of cycling. And I had considered putting my bike into storage and travelling Kyrgyzstan by public transport, but with recharged batteries, I've decided to join Markus on the 650KM ride north through the mountains to Bishkek. This is going to be a challenging cycle. We are presently at an altitude of 950M, but theres two passes we need to cross to get to Bishkek and both are over 3000M. The highest passes I've crossed since starting the trip have been about 2900M in eastern Turkey. Its time to select a low gear and go back up to the snow line.