DAY 8, TUP – KARAKOL – BALYKCHYI (265KM)

29^th May 2013

It was already 9am when I wake up, and this was due to the sun which shone directly into my tent and makes me felt so hot and stuffy inside my sleeping bag. It was weird to think how the temperature changed very drastically here. I peeped outside and was amazed to see how beautiful this place actually was. There was a small hill with a gorge on my left and a river on my right. It was very peaceful. I boiled water to make Nescafe and heated my yesterdays left over curry chicken to be eaten with bread for my breakfast. Then, I just lazed, and almost fall back to sleep under a tree next to my tent.

 

 

 

 

The wind was blowing so nice and I felt so sleepy, however the ride must go on. I packed all my stuff and headed to Karakol, which was actually only 5kms away. I stopped at the Tourist Information Centre in Karakol to get some infos, use the internet and tried to find a gas canister for my portable stove. However, the gas canister sold here didn’t match my stove’s hose. Then, I continued on with my ride. I have been facing problem with my GPS since the past few days. Its charger (on my bike) became faulty and couldn’t charge normally. There were many times that my GPS was turned off by itself. Because of this, and since the locals whom I asked, were telling me different directions, I faced some difficulties to exit Karakol town.

 

 

After quite some time, I made the exit after all and was riding on the southern road of Issyk Kul. The road condition was not so good and there are certain winding and climbing parts to be done with caution. However, the view was much more beautiful here compared to the northern road. There were many times that the blue lake was near to the road side and I saw some people camping at the lake bank. It will be nice to camp here, but I really can’t take the chill.

 

I had thought of putting the night at a guest house in Ottuk, but it was such a small place and with no such facility. I need to get a quality sleep tonight and charge my gadgets, so I rode on to Balykchyi. A local helped me to find a home stay not so far from the banks of Issyk Kul. I took the opportunity for some photo shooting at Issyk Kul during sunset.

After that, since there is no place nearby for me to buy food, some locals who stayed at the home stay offered to take me out to buy food. Of course I agreed to the offer. However, after they send me back to the home stay, they asked me for ‘transportation money’. Hmmmm, not all help is genuine after all :)

 

p/s: A more detailed story about my journey will be told in my upcoming book. More beautiful pics of course. STAY TUNED.....