Remember this crew?

Kazu, Satori, and I had first met in Almaty, Kazakhstan through a two-day hiking trip organized by Steppe Spirit. We tackled a long and challenging hike in the Tian Shan mountains together and feasted over delicious pan-fried laghman noodles.

We also got to make dinner together one night “Japanese-style”, a type of meal that I love for its simplicity and playfulness. It’s always fun to eat with your hands, and we’d create several toppings (scrambled eggs, ground beef, cucumber, tuna) to top off our seaweed and rice rolls

I was feeling quite burned out after bouncing from town to town around Kyrgyzstan, even though I’d only been there for two and a half weeks. I had enjoyed my hikes and made friends with fascinating people, but I’d forgotten how mentally exhausting it can be to always be planning ahead and making sure that I have somewhere to sleep that night, researching how to get from town A to town B, having all the emergency supplies for my hikes, all while getting enough nutrition and rest each day to stay healthy.

I had just arrived to my next destination Naryn and was struggling to decide what to do. One option was to add on a multi-day hike to Kel-Suu, a spectacular alpine lake that is hard to get to and therefore quite expensive, that is often deemed one of the highlights of Kyrgyzstan. Another option was to skip Kel-Suu and make my way from Naryn (east side) to Osh (west side) in order to base myself close to the hikes in Western Kyrgyzstan.

Unfortunately it wasn’t quite as easy to get from Naryn to Osh, and I was feeling overwhelmed trying to decide what to do. On the map it seems quite easy to go from Naryn to Osh, and some travel blogs had verified that it was possible to get a marshrutka to take you from Naryn to Osh with potentially a single change of buses between the two cities. In reality, it was a lot more difficult and expensive than that - the journey would require a shared taxi and two marshrutkas totaling a journey of at least 12 hours on extremely bumpy road. The other method to get to Osh was to take a marshrutka back to Bishkek (north) and then fly from Bishkek to Osh (30 min flight), and this method was actually cheaper than the first! But in taking a marshrutka back to Bishkek, I’d be retracing the road I had just taken to get to Naryn*.

I was beating myself up for not realizing all of this sooner and vacillating on what to do. I took a quick peek at my phone to see if the screen could magically give me an answer when I received a message from Kazu out of the blue. Kazu and Satori had just arrived in Naryn and were planning on resting in town before making their way back to Bishkek. Holy smokes! The universe was providing me with a direction of connecting me with friends right when I needed it. The odds!

It turns out that we were all feeling quite similarly and grateful to be able to spend time together just relaxing without any pressure to “do something”. It was so nice to be with people who understood what it’s like to be a long-term traveller. As wonderful as it is to be able to travel the world, it can sometimes be tiring and it doesn’t always feel appropriate to publicly voice that sentiment since I know I’m privileged to be able to do this type of travel in the first place.

We ended up taking the marshrutka back to Bishkek and spent the evening cooking dinner and catching up on our recent travels. What a gift it is to have friends all over the world and to be able to completely relax in each others’ company!

Some more anecdotes about transportation in Kyrgyzstan…

Flying to Osh

I ended up flying to Osh the next morning on a quick 30 min flight. Buying the flight ticket had been confusing - fellow travelers had said the ticket wouldn’t cost more than $30 USD but all the Google searching I’d done had only yielded tickets upwards of $100 USD - I didn’t know what I was doing wrong!

It turns out the airlines that operate the Bishkek to Osh route on a budget are local Kyrgyz airlines that are not up to EU aviation standards and therefore don’t necessarily show up on Google searches. I had to ask someone for the names of those airlines (the one I flew is TezJet) and go directly to their website to buy a ticket.

The TezJet plane was one from my early memories of flying - everything was a bit outdated and the airplane was definitely a model that is no longer used in the US! I was so tired and subsequently conked out during the entire flight, so I didn’t experience any of the shaking or turbulence that is allegedly a regular occurrence on these Kyrgyz budget airlines.

Hitchhiking to NARYN

I had just come back from a two-day hike near Kochkor and was ready to make it to my next destination Naryn, which would be the base for more hikes (which as you know, I ended up not doing).

Taxi and bus drivers in Naryn are notoriously known for inflating prices for foreigners, so I confirmed the 300 som fare with my guesthouse. However once I got to the bus station, I was told the fare was 500 som and the drivers were unwilling to bargain.

Some travelers adopt the mindset of “oh well the difference is only a couple of USD so I’ll just eat the cost” but I try to avoid that mindset for several reasons: 1) I have no income so budgeting is extra important to me, 2) the cost of living varies from country to country so while $1 USD might not get you much back home, it can sustain you longer abroad in certain countries, and 3) the principle of things.

A local young man saw that I was struggling to bargain with the drivers and stepped in to help. He also was unsuccessful in negotiating a better rate for me even though the local passengers next to me were paying the regular fare. During our conversation he shared that sometimes when the locals see tourists, they see money rather than people and try to make as much money as possible. Obviously this isn’t unique to Kyrgyzstan and happens around the world, but no one likes to be taken advantage of! He ended up offering to drive me to the outskirts of town where it’d be cheaper to flag down a car headed to Naryn. I followed him to his commercial truck, which was filled with the day’s groceries, and squeezed between him and his brother as he drove out of town.

On the way out of town we started chatting in English. My new friend was eager to practice his English as he dreamed of opening his own travel agency in the future. His brother sat silently next to me as he didn’t know English, but he was friendly and made sure that I was comfortable and not squished by the produce.

Once we reached the point where the local road merged with the main road to Naryn, we exited the truck and stood on the side of the road, ready to flag down passing vehicles and ask for a ride.

I didn’t have to wait long! The first vehicle that passed was a long-distance freight truck empty of its cargo that was headed through Naryn. The truck driver said that he’d be passing through Naryn and was willing to take me for free. So, I jumped into the truck cab (very difficult - did not realize how high off the ground these are!) and said goodbye to my new friend, ready for the next adventure.

Traveling in the truck was a fascinating experience. The truck driver and I didn’t talk during the two hour ride other than me offering him some of my snacks, which he politely declined, but I think we were both content to sit in peaceful silence. It probably also was due to the fact that we couldn’t speak each other’s language).

I spent part of the ride dozing off (long drives + strong sun + high suspension = sleepy time) but had some observations along the way:

• As I mentioned before, truck cabs are very very high off the ground. To even reach the first step to the cab was a stretch! I needed the truck driver’s assistance to get my backpack into the cab. Add in the high suspension and you are gently bouncing along the road - it’s almost like an amusement park ride.

• It was fascinating to see the interior of the cab because it’s the driver’s living quarters while he’s on the road. There’s an entire bed behind the seats (see above photo) and some storage space above the bed as well.

• It was also fascinating to get a glimpse of what life is like for a truck driver. I remember watching a documentary about a female long-distance trucker and her life on the road, and bits and pieces of that came back to me as I watched my truck driver navigate the roads. He would radio other truckers to let them know when it would be safe for them to pass another vehicle on the road, if they should slow down due to a hidden police car around the bend, or to watch out for the cow plodding its way across the road. At least I think that’s what he was saying - I’m basing this off of the visual and audio cues I put together since I don’t speak Kyrgyz. I’d like to imagine that the trucker community is friendly and kind if they are radioing each other about driving conditions and looking out for each other’s safety

Once we got to Naryn, the driver pulled into the town’s outskirts and helped me bring my bags down (high cab - remember?). He was so kind and I’m incredibly grateful for his generosity. I then made my way to my guesthouse and funnily enough was waved down by a woman whom I had met in Almaty, Kazakhstan! She ran across the street to say hi before I continued my walk to my guesthouse.

I had always wanted to try hitchhiking because it seems like something a “real” backpacker would do (yes, I know that there is no such thing as being a “real” or “fake” backpacker). I’d never attempted it previously because well, safety concerns, especially being a solo female traveler and stranger danger. I’ve met plenty of solo female travelers who have had no issues, but I’ve also heard horror stories and tend to be more risk averse. I don’t know if I’ll hitchhike by myself again, but I’m glad I tried and had a good experience with it. It was a nice reminder that there are good and kind people out there.