Travel Story: lawrence bransbury - kyrgyzsta
At Kyzyl-Kyya we filled up our tanks and one spare
fuel container from a bucket scooped out of a 44-
gallon drum locked away in a dusty shed.
quickly narrowed and became steeper. We had to
push our way through large herds of horses and
sheep making their ponderous way up the pass, a
rock wall on one side and a steep drop-off into the
Gareth looked up from his GPS and informed me, river on the other. The Kyrgyz drovers, usually two or
"Twenty kilometres and the map runs out..."
three on horseback accompanied by a few large,
No more data. We would be on our own, half way ragged dogs and a donkey carrying their belongings,
up a scary range of mountains, with just a dodgy map largely tolerated our presence with an ageless
and the track.
phlegmatism.
About half an hour later a metal
pole across the track signalled the second army
The sun beat down on us from a sky in which
checkpoint. In a single-roomed building were
cumulus clouds were just beginning to form. At least soldiers and a bed. One was asleep and roused
it wasn't going to rain - yet, I thought. At times, when himself drowsily to speak to us. He checked our
I could chance taking my eyes off the road, I looked
papers, asked us where we were going and then
up at the mountains ahead that barred our way and I insisted, "Daroga nyet!", crossing his forearms in
could count five consecutive ranges, like massive
front of his chest and shaking his head.
waves in a turbulent sea, each higher and more
hazed with blue than the next, the final mountain
Not willing to give up until we were forced to, we
covered with snow and completely dominating the
persevered, showing the soldier the track we
horizon.
originally intended to take and indicating, with the
same crossed-arms gesture, that the Sary-Tash road
At the first army checkpoint behind a high,
was blocked.
gaited fence, our papers were scrutinized by a young
soldier with a firearm slung over his shoulder. The
Eventually we managed to persuade him and he
"office" was a converted metal container. There was raised the barrier to allow us through; we continued
an army 4X4 parked out back; the track ahead still
on up a track that grew still narrower and more
had signs of tyre marks and the soldiers didn't laugh covered with rocks that had tumbled from the steep
in our faces when we showed them on the map
mountain slopes all about us.
where we intended to go, so, momentarily, my hopes
rose. If a 4X4 had made it to this point, maybe
Then we came upon the third and final army
others had made it right over the top and, if they
checkpoint. And here the tracks ended. No vehicle
could do it, surely we could too?
had travelled further than this that we could see.
Papers checked and the gate opened to let us
through, we pressed on along a stony track that