Episode 10It was a lovely sunny day when we set off from Bishkek.firstly we headed east towards Izzy Kol, the large lake to the east. we weren’t going as far as the lake though, having visited that on our last visit here and not being particularly impressed by it we were only going as far as the Burana tower. This tower dates from around the 11th century but is mostly a reconstruction from the Soviet era. It stands where there was once quite an important post on the Silk Route. By the way there wasn’t just one ‘silk route’ it seems to have had many branches depending on which direction the traders were coming from/going to.Having paid a small entrance fee we climbed to the top of the tower where I was placed on the parapet, clinging on for dear life while L fiddled about with the camera before taking my photo. It was a bit breezy up there, I could well have been whisked away never to be seen again. What a fate to befall this ‘bear’.As we meandered about the grounds we were suddenly over taken by hoards of people when a wedding party arrived. looking like the scruffy travellers we are we made our way back to the car and departed.Then we went into the foothills of he mountains and back to a National Park not far from Bishkek where we had a very pleasant stay in the cool mountain air and camped beside a fast flowing mountains stream. My lot set our for a walk to the waterfall leaving me in the car on care taking duties; I ask you, what the hell could I do if someone decided to break into the car; never-the-less that’s my job apparently; Mind you, with all the car troubles we’ve had lately any b***** silly enough to try and steal the dam thing would get what they deserved.Off they set up the path; then some time later D comes back on his own: No L! It seems that the path got too steep and the day too hot for him to continue. And they had both forgotten their hats, silly b*****s!Well, there we were, both D and I resting in the car and waiting. and we waited and waited, and eventually L returned triumphant, well into the afternoon, she had walked to the waterfall at around 2800m. She did admit that it was a good job the waterfall had not been much higher or she wouldn’t have made it. She was quite knackered and her left knee had just about given out on her. Must say I was relieved to see her return even though I was’t happy with her for leaving me behind. Along the way she had met a group of glaciologists from a University in Idaho in the US. They were heading up to one of the glaciers to do some measurements and study and invited her to partake of their picnic with them. She gratefully accepted as she hadn’t taken any food with her, not expecting to be gone for such a long time or have such a strenuous climb. She had made things worse by taking a wrong path and going 300m or so up a very steep path, the one to the hikers hut apparently, before realising she was heading the wrong way. She is a silly sod isn’t she.After our pleasant time in the NP we headed off to cross the Tor Ashuu pass on the road to Osh. The tunnel at the top of the pass is around the 3200m level, so it’s quite a pull on a switchback road that leads up to the tunnel. The views along the way are quite wonderful. Once through the tunnel, about 3ks long we emerged into sunlight again with a spectacular view over the valley below and across to another range of mountains, another pass to cross. All the way down to the valley floor were lots of yurts with roadside stalls selling something my lot think is fermented mares milk and a sort of cottage cheese in a golf ball size knob. Someone we met had been given one of those ‘balls’ to try and said it had almost made him sick trying to swallow it while the people who’d given it to him watched.However, as always the car had another agenda, this car never did want to come to Central Asia and it was bloody determined not to go into Tajikistan. We had descended to the valley floor and taken a side road through the valley when the engine got a very nasty rattle. David, fearing the very worst, stopped at a small workshop we came to upon entering the first village we encountered. The rattle got considerably worse as he revved the engine for the mechanic to hear, not that he had much of a clue. A tow truck was called and when it arrived some time later the car was loaded on, and we set out back to Bishkek. Arrived back at the hostel in the middle of the night.Since then David has worked on the car to find the problem. It was a big end bearing. He managed to find the part he needed in one of the local auto markets and has replaced it. This took quite a lot of work over several days in the very hot courtyard of the hostel. Now the car is running again, though whether or not it will continue to do so is another matter. Some of the parts in the engine are worn, the crankshaft, and although David thinks it might get back to the UK as it is, he is not willing to take it any further into the mountains that we will encounter if we took it to Osh and into Tajikistan. So the car is going into a ‘stoianka’ storage place here in Bishkek while we continue on to Osk, probably fly there, then into Tajikistan. It won’t be the same I fear without my comfy ‘Rosy’ the car, but I shall just have to put up with it if I am to continue with my lot. Some mention was made of leaving me in Rosy while they went off, but I soon put paid to that idea, how can I blog if I don’t do the trip.Tomorrow we should be off to Osh.Latest development, we may be off to Osh with a couple of young guys who have just bought an old Mercedes car for around $1600AU. D says he’s none too sure it will make the trip through the Pamir these two guy are planning on doing. We shall only be going as far as Osh with them as our Tajik visas don’t start until 1st August and they are heading straight there from Osh.© Lynette Regan 25th July 2016