For those who didn’t know, I’ve temporarily left the bike in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital. And I have bought a horse. He’s called Sarala. He’s a very cool, chilled-out dude who doesn’t make any demands except for grass. But he does that often, and noisily. But that’s OK.

Sarala
Sarala

Anyway, I bought him from a quiet chap from a village called Temir Kanat near the south shore of Lake Issy Kul. I also bought saddle, bridle, rope, picket and some cheap chinese bags that I converted into panniers with a couple of leather straps. Then I filled the space with food for 5 days and off we set, to trek over the Tosor Pass, down to the hot springs of Jiliu-Suu, through a beautiful gorge of autumn colours and down to the small village of Eki Naryn. From the it was just two days on to Naryn then main town here. We arrived 10 days later, sun-burned, wind-whipped, a little lighter and a lot dirtier!

This is just a little preview really of how it has gone so far… I’ll upload the best photos from my good camera and give a full account when I am reunited with my laptop and wifi.