I slept extarordinarily well and was ready to tackle my first full day in Kyrgyzsatn, now my 11th country so far on this trip. I'd organised to meet Dan and Neil for breakfast and we went to a small cafe in the bazaar that served up excellent pies and a couple of fried eggs. The market sellers were already in full flow and it was heaving by the time we left the cafe. In true Central Asian style people had set up shop in every nook and cranny. At one point a row of yoghurt sellers had set up shop in such a small space that the passing traffic almost stepped on them and their goods.

Osh is another low level green city with wide avenues, little traffic and a Soviet feel. In fact it was pretty much destroyed and rebuilt by the Soviets leaving it with little historical charm. It's skyline is dominated by Soloman's Throne, a craggy brown mountain which has been converted into a muslim site of pilgrimmage because the Prophet Mohammed is said to have once prayed there. It does however have a number of open parks, where entrepreneurial restoranteurs have set up traditional Kyrgyz yurts and have set up small shashlyk barbeques.

The sun was beating down on the road as I made my way to try and find a travel agent. It seemed a waste to take a taxi when the weather was so beautiful and so I walked 45 minutes to find that they were off for lunch. I decided to stop at a local, empty cafe and grab a small bite myself. There the restaurant owner interrupts my lunch and comes over to talk. In the end I spend a couple of hours chatting about everything and nothing before realising that I should probably get back to the travel agent and see if I can work out how to get to Naryn and the nearby sight of Tash Rabat. This is pretty much one of the only remaining Silk Road sights in Kyrgyzstan with the rest having been destroyed either by the mongols or, more recently. by the Russians.

The road that my map depicts is in fact not a road anymore. It was once a dirt track accessible by 4WD but for two years has gotten so bad that nobody uses it. How the mountain communities survive is a mystery, though donkeys and horses cope better with such harsh terrain. To get to Tash Rabat I must go round a long way almost via bishkek taking 1200km and the trip will cost a staggering $600! I decided that it's not worth that and am resolved to finding a way up there from Bishkek. This will waste a few days and so I decide that I must leave shortly to avoid ending up rushing my trip. Plus I have plenty of things that I need to do in Bishkek so perhaps it will be for the best.

I walk all the way back to the centre of town and now the weather has cooled and become cloudy. It's a welcome respite from the heat. It's been a frustrating day and even to leave Osh seems to be fraught with complications. It's not that far to go to Bishkek, but the road is in dubious condition and has to cross two 3000+ metre passes. It is a real indication of just how divided this country is in geographical terms. The south feels very much out of touch with Bishkek in the north. Indeed just in the town of Osh there is a high Uzbek proportion who  are separated from their true countrymen by a ridiculous man-made border. This is evident by the fact that the few words of Uzbek I learned are still much in use here.

Osh is these days though a major transport stopover for those going from the Ferghana valley to China and vice versa. During the days of the SIlk Road it too found itself an important city being situated to the major Silk Road town of Ozgen just 55km away. Travellers and truck drivers still use this as a stopover point though most merely pass through as there remains little to see of interest. Despite this it has proved a pleasant place and I look forward to being able to explore it some more tomorrow.

I spend the evening with Dan and Neil swapping travelling stories over more shashlyk at a nearby tea house. As we finish our meal, Joe (who travelled through Turkmenistan with me) appears. It really is a small world. We are heading in opposite directions but amusingly this suggests how important Osh is as a transportation hub rather than as a tourist destination!

Bazaar Vendor selling a variety of leftovers from animals...