The road to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, took me through a wide range of terrain. Hot, flat valleys, heavily populated and with lots of cornfields, deep gorges with fast flowing rivers, a huge reservoir used to generate hydroelectric power, two 3000 meter passes, a wide sunny valley at 2000 meters altitude, a scary, poorly lit 1.5 km long tunnel at the top of a pass, an incredibly long and steep downhill ride, and a traffic filled potholed road leading to Bishkek.

I will let the pictures tell the story.

Here are a group of Russians I met. They were cycling up into the mountains of eastern Kyrgyzstan and then going mountain climbing. So in addition to all their cycling gear they had ice axes, crampons, ropes, etc. Crazy. Several locals came out to inspect their gear as we talked.

A common site: kids on donkeys pulling carts of hay or other stuff.

I rode past the Toktogol reservoir, part of a huge hydroelectric plant. Completed in 1982, it took 14 years to build and contains 19 billion cubic meters of water.

You see people selling fish from the reservoir by the roadside.

Some views of the road.

A typical Kyrgyz cemetery. I don’t know for sure but it looks Muslim. It is interesting that these structures seem more robust than the houses people actually live in. Very odd.

One of my campsites. A nice quiet spot.

During the night this little fella build a web right outside my tent.

Someone’s house in one of the valleys. I guess they don’t like neighbors.

I thought this was an amusing site. You see lots of this: people working on broken down vehicles. Preventive maintenance? Never heard of it.

More yurts in one of the valleys. This was an early morning photo and I liked the way the sun lit up the yurts while the background mountain was still in shadow.

Some Kyrgyz kids selling honey by the roadside. They love having their picture taken, especially when they can see it afterward.

More yurts in the valley. I find them fascinating because the lifestyle of these people must be so different from my south beach condo life.

I came across a couple guys gutting out two horses. It turns out they were hit by a truck during the night (the horses I mean). The smell was overwhelming.

In this family run cafe the women are preparing mutton.

Unfortunately this too is a common site. Engines groaning, these trucks lumber up the steep slopes belching fumes of black smoke. At least they were thoughtful enough to route the exhaust away from the shoulder where I was riding.

On the way up the pass. Trucks inching up the switchbacks.

I met these two Swiss cyclists on the way up and we rode together for a day. Here we are at the pass, 3100 m (10,000 feet).

Me at the pass before riding through the tunnel of death. It was designed and built by the same people who built the Moscow city subway system.

An amazing bird’s eye view of the road downhill from the pass. Thankfully I rode down this not up it.

After the Soviets pulled out of Kyrgyzstan in 1990 many Russians began leaving. But there are still a fair number still there, mostly in the north. Here is a Russian girl I saw on the way to Bishkek.

The country seems to be divided into two regions. The southern part is rural, mostly Uzbek and Muslim. But in Bishkek, in the north, you see a lot more Russians and few Muslims. The women in Bishkek dress western-style as opposed to the Muslim attire of Osh.

Doggone It

One annoying thing about Kyrgyzstan is the aggressive dogs. I only had one dog chase me in China. Here, a couple run after me almost daily. I used to get frightened by this but ever since I studied Haganah, the Israeli self defense system, I have a different attitude.

Haganah teaches you first that in any conflict there is a predator (I prefer the term aggressor), and a victim. Initially, if someone attacks you, you will be the victim. But Haganah prepares you to quickly turn that around. YOU become the aggressor and your would be attacker becomes the victim. You must be prepared mentally to inflict serious violence upon your attacker, including breaking bones, gouging eyes, elbowing throats and kneeing groins. The idea is to surprise your attacker by overwhelming him/her with unexpected violence. Of course, they also teach you techniques for doing this.

Once you have this mindset and have learned the techniques your attitude changes when you are out walking in public. I am now super sensitive to anyone who even comes close to me on the street. I am ready to kick or elbow anyone who even brushes up against me. It has helped: My first day in Kyrgyzstan a kid (drunk or on drugs I suspect) tried to take one of my water bottles from my bike I threatened him with an elbow to the face and he backed off. Another time a drunk guy stopped his car and offered me a lift. I politely declined but he insisted, and even grabbed my handlebars as I tried to ride away. A quick karate chop to his wrist encouraged him to let go and he stared at me as I rode away. Haganah teaches you to go for the weak areas: eyes, throat, groin, joints, etc.

You can read more about the Haganah system here: http://www.fight2survive.com/fight-system.html

Anyway, back to the dogs. I used to try to pedal away frantically when a dog chased me. Now, I stop and turn the attack around. I become the aggressor and dog becomes the victim. I stop my bike, pick up some rocks and chase the dog back to where he came from, throwing rocks and yelling like a madman. The dogs always turn and run. Sometimes I chase them for hundreds of feet well into their own territory. Once I chased one all the way into the house and threw a rock that landed on the front porch. Fortunately no one was there.

As I ride away I have to chuckle to myself. The locals must think I am a nut, running wildly after their dog screaming and throwing rocks. But I also consider it a favor to the next cyclist who comes by. Perhaps the dog will think twice about chasing future cyclists.