Wandering CrankWandering Crank

Biking the World one crank at a time

Journey

The Bike Lock and Caramel Waffle of Rage

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

Bike packed, taxi ordered and ready to roll.  I was getting ready for India and was excited to meet a completely different type of chaos and culture.  I thought this would be easy, but as usual, I underestimated my own stupidity!

It all started with the taxi.  Yandex Go said there were no mini-vans, as such I went with business class taxis.  My first mistake.  The taxi’s back seats could go down but because of the design of the boot, I could not get my rather large bike box through.  We tried various attempts to get it in, resigned to defeat the taxi driver kindly called for a mini-van!  I’m now running 30 minutes behind and my anger was building!

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Fighting Bulls and Kyrgyzstan’s jewel

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , , , ,

Hiking is one of the activities for tourists visiting Kyrgyzstan and Ala-kul is on everyone’s list.  Ala-kul is considered one of Kyrgyzstan’s jewels.  Duet Hostel serves as a hosting point for hikers in the area and offers lots of advice and will even arrange for taxis to the national park.

However, I decided on a matshuka (mini-buses used as a public transport service in ex-Soviet countries) and had two companions whom I met at the hostel.  Helena from Denmark and Laura from France.  This meant we had an extra 7km hike to the national park that day.

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Dead-goats and horse skills – the legendary game of Kyrgyzstan

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

Whilst making my way to Karakol and Duet Hostel I got the chance to attend a Horse and Birds of Prey festival in Tamchy.  I also got to meet my friends Harri and Sofia for a second time.  The festival was organised in a typical Central Asian style.  Despite being advertised, everyone was booked last minute and they were late setting up!

The festival was a chance to see a legendary game of the region called Kok-Boru.  A game where horse riders battle over the carcass of a goat to score goals.  People have referred to it as goat-polo.

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In the Need of a Rest…a holiday from the…holiday?

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , , , , ,

We arrived back in Dushanbe and the Pamir adventure had taken its toll on me.  I was very tired.  Whilst physically I would recover, I had lost 7kg in one month.  Emotionally, I was not present.  I had receded into the depths of my mind.  Not a place anyone would want to be.

Your doubts surface, you second-guess everything and depression creeps in.  I noticed this most when in the Hostel talking to other travellers, none of it was going in and I never really engaged in conversation.  Maybe I am exaggerating, but I guess listening to Adele while writing this paragraph would change the way I felt about the situation!

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Altitude sickness and the end of one adventure

by Nathan Molyneaux on category , ,

Murghab is the central town for the region and really the only place for fresh fruit and vegetables.  There was much restocking in the bazaar.  Unlike other bazaars, the shops here either run out of a container or have converted the container into a shop.  It is cheaper than building a proper shop.

Whilst wandering the paths of mud between containers I came across bananas and oats, something I was not expecting and a German couple, Henning and Maria. We had met briefly in Alichur.  I sat and chatted with them for a while and found out we were heading in a similar direction but we would probably leave a day earlier.

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