East to Kyrgyzstan – 2019

Time was not on my side in 2019 and I had two weeks free to really “go somewhere”… and that somewhere was central Asia… the very edge of the Himalayas… the centre of the Silk Road between China and Europe.

I collected my trusty but aging KTM from емандиеви мото in Burgas and clocked up 5,600km in 11 days of actual riding through Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Transnistria, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Some high points?… kind strangers in Romania who noted that my bike would run better if the battery was actually connected, the memorials of Volgograd/St Petersburg, the nothingness of the Kazaqkh steppe and the first high mountains south of Bishkek.

Some low points?… diabolical potholes from Saratov (Russia) to the Kazakh border, lenghty delays between Ukraine and Russia (unsurprising), running out of fuel towards Shymkent (8km short of a petrol station), 46degs centrigrade while hitching a ride after running out of fuel.