Another early start and a 2 and bit hours drive to the Kyrgyzstan border. The immigration process has become 2nd nature now. Stamp, walk, check, walk, stamp and you're in! Our new Kyrg leader is Kuba, who will be with us for the remainder of the trip. First stop is the town of Osh. Sulayman Too mountain is the focal point of the town and from the top there is virtually a 360 degree view. The mountain has some religious signifiance and as a result there is a constant stream of locals going up and down. Apparently 10 visits to the top is equivalent to 1 visit to Mecca. After an exellent lunch we pay a visit to the Osh Bazaar, which is the biggest bazaar in Central Asia. We only have time to see a small portion of it, but do manage to see the woman with a budgerigar which selects your fortune card from a bowl. I think I'll chance my luck in this regard. Tonight we are staying in a homestay in Arslan Bob, a village set relatively high in the mountains. It's around 8pm when we arrive and the last half hour or so of the drive is through a thunder storm and rain. The group is split across 2 houses, but the rooms are very comfortable. It seems to be a total family affair, with even the young children helping to serve meals and clean up. After a delicious home cooked stew we are all ready to hit the sack. The next morning we set off for what was supposed to be a 3 hour return walk to a waterfall. It took us about 2 and half hours to get there and just as we arrived a thunderstorm started coming in. So we made a hasty exit but still got caught in a hail shower here the hail stones were about the size of peas. The decision was made to hire a Russian jeep to get us back to our homestay. With 13 of us in it, including 2 standing on the tail gate, it was an interesting trip back home. I spent the afternoon just relaxing at the homestay, bringing my diary and blog up to date. I think i now have about 7 blogs written but with no internet for the past few days there is no opportunity to actually post the blogs.