Adventures between a Cliff and a Wet Place. Brighty in Central Asia and Mongolia

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by Northstar Beemer

Look like a fantastic trip!!!

Originally Posted by timolgra1

Love the photos

Glad you like the pics. Will try to get some more up soon.

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by sambor1965

These horses in the lake in Kyrgyzstan... Awesome!

Yeh, the pic is from Song Kul. A truely enchanting place. Kyrgyzstan was my favourite country on the trip.

I bumped into a couple of Polish Af Twin riders in Tajikistan (Radek and Marek) and we were "evicted" back to Kyrgyzstan together. Really great guys. I recall you were advising Radek on his slightly dubious clutch.

[Mr Pif]

continue please!

[Arek Kontrol]

Im in


Thanks for posting.

[ChrisUK]

A few more pics…

All are in Kyrgyzstan



A slight mishap befell the bike at the Kaz/Kyrg border. The thing just fell over. Side stand snapped… Found this helpful chap who repaired and made it better than new:




Not a Borat Man-kini, but the same shade of green…


Kids who seem happy to see you and no intention of begging. There were loads more like these.


Meeting the locals


Permit to pass. Next stop the cliff…

[Ruan]

Awesome. Thanks for posting. I'm in...

[Comrade Art]

Amazing scenery! Keep posting

[motoreiter]

Chris, have you posted your route anywhere? I'd like to see where you went in Mongolia. Sounds like you rode from the western border with Russia along the "middle route" to Ulan Baator, is that right? What "cities" did you hit? Where'd you go after Ulan Baator?

[Toysrme]

cant wait for updates!

[Llamaha]

Awesome pics

[SR1]

Love it! I'll be back in April to visit family (my wife is Kyrgyz). Can't wait!

[nightflyer]

Originally Posted by ChrisUK

After riding in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan for 2 weeks I returned to Almaty and then continued towards Semey and Russia. Riding through a town that was so unforgettable (I recall it had lots of casinos) I got pulled over by another fat cnutstable.

Must have been Kapshagay.

The story goes like that: After reading «Peau de Chagrin» from very dead french writer Honoré de Balzac, the First (and only so far) President of Kazakhstan, decided the bad influence of the casinos will not be tolerated anymore in Almaty. So he only allowed casinos in the city of Kapshagay, I love moral virtue.

End of hijack, very nice ride you did there, totally envious!!!!!

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by nightflyer

Must have been Kapshagay.

The story goes like that: After reading «Peau de Chagrin» from very dead french writer Honoré de Balzac, the First (and only so far) President of Kazakhstan, decided the bad influence of the casinos will not be tolerated anymore in Almaty. So he only allowed casinos in the city of Kapshagay, I love moral virtue.

End of hijack, very nice ride you did there, totally envious!!!!!

No hijack at all. All helpful information gladly accepted The problem with me navigating by gps (using OSM) and having Walter's waypoint list was that I'd put the hotel in Semey into the unit and didn't even bother getting the paper map out of my tank bag. By the end of 2 days (day 1 350km, day 2 750km) riding I knew what Semey was in Kazakh script (it was on every roadsign, or a least I think it was...), but every other town remained anonymous. Call me a philistine. Sorry.

[ChrisUK]

Originally Posted by motoreiter

Chris, have you posted your route anywhere? I'd like to see where you went in Mongolia. Sounds like you rode from the western border with Russia along the "middle route" to Ulan Baator, is that right? What "cities" did you hit? Where'd you go after Ulan Baator?

Hey Tom
Give me a couple of days and I'll put a screenshot or 2 from Mapsource of my tracks here. I can email you my tracklog and if you download OSM for the region, you'll be able to see where I rode.

cheers
C

[ChrisUK]

A few action clips heading up a river north of Issykul, just south of the Kazakh border.


Jan crossing a river


With a little help


“What the fcuk happened there!” The terrain had been a lot harder previously. This bit was easy… there are 2 possible explanations: 1. Rider error. I’m not the type to blame others or the machinery. It could well have been totally my fault that I rode off the edge of the cliff. However, I wasn’t riding like a tosser, and can’t explain the train of events, so… I have no idea.

Or 2. Blame the machine… (A few hundred miles later one of the CDI units on the bike expired. It’s a common fault, particularly on early Transalps, usually starting with an intermittent fault… I then replaced the CDI with a spare I was carrying). 1/2 hour before riding off the cliff the bike was riding like a dog. It was only about 3000m above sea level, but I took the air filter off. The bike seemed to run better. So possible explanation could be the bike was running on 1/2 power, then suddenly the second cylinder kicks in and as I was slightly misaligned to the track, I was launched off the edge. Or not. See Point number 1 = Rider error.

I leave you to decide. I have my views, but to a certain extent, who cares. I’m very lucky I wasn’t killed.


The mx boot in the foreground ads a sense of perspective. The luggage has already been removed.


Maarten (he’s pictured in the first pic of this RR) stays with me while my soon to become ex riding “buddies” leg it to somewhere more comfortable for the night. He fetches water from the river in the far distance and then convinces me we can recover the bike. My dark mood, influenced by the comments from the missing 3, said it wasn’t possible. Or maybe it was that I had tried getting the bike back up the hill, but without everybody’s help nothing was going to happen. I forget the exact train of events.

Maarten suggested we drag the bike down the landslide and then try to wheel /push / ride it horizontally to a point on the track below and to the right of where the photos were taken (across two huge landslides). This is what happened. The bike had been upside down for about 3 hours with petrol p!ssing everywhere before we tried to move it. When it was on its wheels again it started first push of the button! Aren’t Hondas great! I say “we” toiled for about 5 hours to move the bike a few hundred meters, but it was Maarten toiling and encouraging me not to give up. I did my bit, as much as I was physically able to. At night fall we gave up about 150 meters from our goal of the track. I cooked the food.

The following morning the other 3 reappeared (2 to collect their stuff) and Jan also helped manhandle the bike the remaining distance across the second landslide.

Maarten ended up in a really bad way, vomiting from exertion/sleep deprivation. As we lost altitude he seemed to recover a bit. I felt really bad about this. He knows how grateful I was for his help. As I didn’t kill or injure myself in the crash I would have survived: That is, walk out without a bike or any possessions, just the clothes I was standing in. He is solely to be credited that my bike trip continued.


One careful (lady) owner. Never been abused or off road. Mint condition. Viewing recommended. Lots of interest. Won’t be available for long.