My first was also my last city in Kyrgyzstan, Osh. I had finished my loop of Kyrgyzstan and did not regret that I replaced Kazakhstan with Kyrgyzstan. In Osh I had to spend three days until my bus drove into the Chinese city of Kashgar. In the first article I have written about Osh, that there is not much to see in Osh except the bazaar. In the three days that I spent there on my second visit, my point of view has not changed. I only realized that the bazaar was much bigger than I thought it was. Besides the usual things (clothes, food, products of daily use and cafes / restaurants), there were carpenters, blacksmiths, shoemakers, saddlers, live poultry dealers, bicycle salesmen and a number of other stalls, which I cannot remember anymore.
This time, the hostel was not fully occupied and the owner, with whom I had spoken only ten days earlier for a few minutes, spotted me on the street and called me by name. In the hostel I met the Dutchmen Robert, who had been waiting there since a few days earlier and until a fellow traveler would receive his approval for entering the Tajik-Kyrgyz border region.
My daily routine in Osh was getting up late, eat lunch and maybe buy something or go online. In the evenings I went out with Robert to eat and then a few beers. Bonjour tristesse.
On the last day I tried to spend about thirty dollars, I had left in local currency. After I went to eat, bought souvenirs and was in the supermarket, I had spent only a little over ten dollars. I gave up the idea and changed the equivalent of about ten dollars into Chinese Yuan. Fortunately, I asked at the travel agency, where I had bought my bus ticket, if everything goes as planned. Because they made me aware that the bus would leave from a place in the city center and not as stated in my guide books from the long-distance bus station.
I showed up at the departure point twenty minutes early. About three hours later the bus drove off. This was my first experience in a sleeper bus. Instead of seats the sleeper bus was equipped with bunk beds. The three upper beds at the end of the bus even had almost the right length for me. I cannot say anything about the panoramic road which the bus took to the border post. However, I can say that the potholes were of the highest quality. While driving, I was either asleep or airborne depending on road conditions. From about three to eight o’clock the bus had to wait in front of the Kyrgyz border. At eight o’clock the border was opened.
This time, the hostel was not fully occupied and the owner, with whom I had spoken only ten days earlier for a few minutes, spotted me on the street and called me by name. In the hostel I met the Dutchmen Robert, who had been waiting there since a few days earlier and until a fellow traveler would receive his approval for entering the Tajik-Kyrgyz border region.
My daily routine in Osh was getting up late, eat lunch and maybe buy something or go online. In the evenings I went out with Robert to eat and then a few beers. Bonjour tristesse.
On the last day I tried to spend about thirty dollars, I had left in local currency. After I went to eat, bought souvenirs and was in the supermarket, I had spent only a little over ten dollars. I gave up the idea and changed the equivalent of about ten dollars into Chinese Yuan. Fortunately, I asked at the travel agency, where I had bought my bus ticket, if everything goes as planned. Because they made me aware that the bus would leave from a place in the city center and not as stated in my guide books from the long-distance bus station.
I showed up at the departure point twenty minutes early. About three hours later the bus drove off. This was my first experience in a sleeper bus. Instead of seats the sleeper bus was equipped with bunk beds. The three upper beds at the end of the bus even had almost the right length for me. I cannot say anything about the panoramic road which the bus took to the border post. However, I can say that the potholes were of the highest quality. While driving, I was either asleep or airborne depending on road conditions. From about three to eight o’clock the bus had to wait in front of the Kyrgyz border. At eight o’clock the border was opened.
