Kyrgyzstan

(Journal below is in directly Google Translated from the Chinese version. Apologies for any inconsistency in meaning.)

We solve the breakfast with bread + canned fish, and then go on the road, the goal 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan!

The ride was very smooth in the morning, and teammate Kesava from India has gradually adapted to the high-intensity riding rhythm, keeping the speed above 22 yards. At noon lunch, we spent the last Kazakhstan currency Tengger to buy roast lamb, and then proceeded to the border.

After arriving at the border, the border inspectors were also more friendly, and the Kazakhstan side quickly let us go (I do n’t want to be slow like the immigration process, of course, the reason is understandable, the immigration inspection should be more complicated and cautious), and also to us Say: "Happy journey". It ’s very fast when I arrive at Jifang. I also want to like it for its simple and convenient electronic signing 👍

After entering 🇰🇬Kyrgyzstan, old-fashioned buildings and bumpy stone roads all reflect the country's backward economy. Citing data from the World Bank in 2017, Kazakhstan's adjusted purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita GDP was US $ 26,410, China was US $ 16,807, Uzbekistan was US $ 6,865, and Kyrgyzstan was only US $ 3,726.

The economy of this country mainly depends on its mineral resources and tourism resources, as well as its traditional tourism industry, but even if it is hailed as a "small island of democracy in Central Asia" by the West, its political reforms in 2005 and 2010 were carried out through coups, The political instability has made this country retreat in the fiercely competitive globalization of various countries, and the economy has not improved.

But people here are generally relatively friendly, and along the way, many Russians with amazing faces are seen, but after gradually understanding, they know that their lives are not easy: more and more Russians choose to emigrate back to Russia. Their grandparents were generally young people who came to Central Asia during the Soviet Union and later settled in Central Asian countries. At that time, Kazakhstan had the largest number of Russians, accounting for about 38% of its total population, and hungry masters in Kyrgyzstan accounted for the total population. 21.5%. However, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the prevailing nationalist trends in Central Asian countries marginalized the status of these Russians: they became local ethnic minorities, their political and social status declined rapidly, and they faced difficulties in schooling, employment, and promotion. At this moment, no one stayed here, only to go back home, although for this generation of Russians, the Central Asian country is their first hometown.

After arriving in the town of Kara Balta in the evening, we stayed in the Soviet-era guest house, took a shower and went to the capital tomorrow!

(Journal below is in directly Google Translated from the Chinese version. Apologies for any inconsistency in meaning.)

I started cycling early this morning, and the road was very bad because I encountered the China Railway Fifth Bureau to build roads on this avenue leading to the capital: half of the road was shoveled very bumpy, while the other half had already been paved with asphalt. This is also the first time we have intuitively encountered the Belt and Road project during our trip, which has actually benefited local people and facilitated trade.

In the process of chatting with the project leader, I learned that although the economic development level of Kyrgyzstan is only equivalent to that of China in the 1980s and 1990s, the people ’s ideas on that day were simple and easy to satisfy, so the people ’s happiness index was still very high; he It is also said that because road construction is a good thing in Islam, their relationship with the local people is relatively harmonious.

One of the little things is more interesting: he has a Chinese-Russian translator and his ancestral home is in Shanxi. His back is also related to the history of a nation-Donggan. They are descended from Gansu and Shaanxi Hui ethnic groups who moved to Central Asia. The ethnic group believes that they are homologous with the Hui ethnic group in China. In 2016, there were 67,000 in Kyrgyzstan, accounting for 1.1% of the country ’s population, ranking fourth among all ethnic groups.

The Chinese Hui people arrived in Russia in two batches. These Hui people were recognized as "Donggan people" by the Soviet Union in 1924. The first migration was the result of the Tongzhi Shaanxi-Gansu transformation from 1862 to 1878; after the failure, three of the Muslim teams (from Turpan, Gansu and Shaanxi) crossed the Tianshan Mountains into Russia in the severe winter of 1877. The second migration was after the St. Petersburg Treaty was signed on February 12, 1881. According to the treaty, the Hui and Uyghurs can choose to stay in the Ili area or move to Russia. Nearly 10,000 people migrated twice. After more than 100 years of integration, the descendants of these Hui people have become members of many ethnic groups in Central Asia.

And our translation is a Donggan person. His Mandarin still has a Shaanxi accent and has become the living fossil of this period of history.

After a while, something interesting happened: a big car honked its horn 30 meters away from us. At first, we did n’t know what happened. After checking back, we found that we did n’t find anything strange and we continued to ride forward. After a while, this big car was ready to overtake-looking at the three words "sprinkler" on the body, I knew that things were not very good. Sure enough, our body got wet in less than a second. My teammate Kesava and I stopped and smiled at each other as if we were washing the dust before entering the capital.

It is marked on the map-Deng Xiaoping Road (Deng Xiaoping Road), this is an east-west two-way 6-lane driving street, 3.5 kilometers long and about 25 meters wide. After checking the data, it was found that the idea of ​​naming the street after Deng Xiaoping was proposed by the then mayor of Bishkek and the famous economist Kyrgyzstan of Kyrgyzstan in June 1996. The purpose was to show that Kyrgyzstan China follows the example of the path of reform and opening up with its own characteristics. There are many trams on the road, like Beijing in the 1980s and 1990s, which has gradually developed in the booming industrialization and urbanization. As a vigorously developed city under the rule of socialism, unconventional road construction is required for war preparations.

Bishkek is the Kyrgyz people's name for the city since ancient times, and its Kyrgyz word means "stick to stir mare's milk". Bishkek is an ancient ancient town in Central Asia. It is one of the main stations of the ancient Silk Road that passes through the Tianshan Mountains, passes through the Western Regions and the grasslands of Central Asia. In 1878, the Russians called this place Bitsburk. In 1926, Kyrgyzstan joined the Soviet Union and became one of the republics. Bishkek also became the capital of this republic. Haier Frunze, the local government renamed Bishkek as Frunze. However, as Kyrgyzstan became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Kyrgyz government restored the place name of Bishkek on February 7, the same year.

After arriving at the hotel, we started preparing for the visa application for Kazakhstan's transit tomorrow. Looking out the window, you can also see the snow-capped Tianshan Mountains. I hope that tomorrow's visa application will not be off the chain, so that we can return to China on time.

(Journal below is in directly Google Translated from the Chinese version. Apologies for any inconsistency in meaning.)

There are not too many vehicles on the road leaving Bishkek. When we designed the route, we passed the Tokmark, the birthplace of Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. During Zhenguan years, it was called Suye City and Suye Water City, and it got its name because it depends on Suye Water. It was once the seat of the Ansidu guardhouse. But now this city is not well-known. I do n’t see much of the cultural symbol Li Bai in the whole city. It may be gradually excavated in the future of more cultural exchanges between China and Kyrgyzstan.

Unintentionally, the rear tire burst again, so the tires were repaired in a restaurant (the effect of the newly purchased glue in Chimkent is different). After that, we rode on the straight road and the Chu river, the boundary river between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, is only about 200 meters, and we can see green sentries from time to time.

In the afternoon, when passing by many peaceful towns, men, women and children are saying hello to us, perhaps because there are not many cyclists on this road, because most of the Silk Road cyclists end up near Osh Entered the Kashgar of China, and we entered from Khorgos port of Kazakhstan like this to us, and there were few knights in the area of ​​Lake Issyk Kyrgyzstan in the middle.

It was about sunset, when we saw a girl's bicycle fall off the chain, and I helped her repair it. They were also very shy when we looked at the two strangers. After saying thank you, they rode away. We also settled in the last town before entering the mountain area. Unexpectedly, there is a hotel in this town with complete facilities and Wi-Fi; but when eating dinner in a local small restaurant, the sanitation is really poor. There are flies in the cooked meal. . .

Anyway, tomorrow we will enter the real Issyk-Kul region, over the last mountain range we rode this 2018 Eurasian Silk Road.

(Journal below is in directly Google Translated from the Chinese version. Apologies for any inconsistency in meaning.)

I wake up late and plan to eat breakfast directly with lunch. After some small climbs to save time and weight, our lunch was prepared to empty the many snacks I bought yesterday for Kesava's stomach ache and over the mountain.

After sitting down, a child came very shy and shook hands with me, and said in a very clear childish voice: "Hello", and he ran away shyly.

To a small mountain pass, we can stand high and watch the entire Issyk Kul-the lake is like a mirror, reflecting the blue sky. Then we walked through the forest path. Finally, at 19:30, half an hour before dark, we arrived at today's destination. At the Altyn Ordo-Yurt Youth Hostel, after leaving my luggage in the room, I went swimming in the lake with Kesava. Before the water was launched, we were shocked by the scenery in front of us: on the right, the sunset was about to sunset, reflecting the delicate borders of the mountains, and the mist between the peaks enveloped it, adding a unique poetic picture; on the left, the sunset reflected the sky Pink, looking at the lake, the waves are also portraying the sky. All of this is as if only dreams can paint such a beautiful picture. I use a camera to record, and I also use my heart to treasure.

Several nearby restaurants were closed, but in the end I found a grilled fish shop. Kesava was really happy, not only because the taste was really good, but also because he could finally avoid eating beef or chicken for meat.

The taste of this grilled fish is really gone.

(Journal below is in directly Google Translated from the Chinese version. Apologies for any inconsistency in meaning.)

Our breakfast was solved in rice paste and eggs. After repairing the chain drop problem, we started to hit the road.

In the course of riding, you can still see the symbols of Communism-hammer and sickle, and Lenin's head in one place. This scene is in sharp contrast with the efforts of other Central Asian countries to de Sovietize I do n’t know whether this is because the Soviet Union has actually improved the lives of the Kyrgyz people, and the local people are grateful for the Soviet Union; or because the conflicts in Kyrgyzstan ’s own country have continued for 20 years after independence and they have no power to remove the traces of the Soviet Union? This question deserves more investigation and research.

Continue to ride the area where we left the lake, the flowers on both sides of the road are very beautiful. When we reached an empty place, we saw a huge snow-capped mountain range in front of us on the right. I looked at the map, which is the south of the Tianshan Mountains, and the other side is our Aksu region in China. This is the first time I have looked at the motherland with my naked eyes abroad. It is even more exciting to think about returning to the motherland in a few days.

During the continuous riding, the sky gradually became darker, and when we stopped to look back, this was another magnificent ink painting-the afterglow of the setting sun spread over the earth, and the layered mountains ranged from near to far , From dark to light.

So Kesava and I wanted to see a broader view, so we climbed up a small hill next to it. Soon I saw that a small hill next to it was covered with rain and fog. We quickly climbed down from the hill. After the luggage was protected from rain, we began to look for the nearest foothold. When we arrived at the nearby village, we wrote the request for self-introduction and overnight stay on google translate and translated it into Russian. After reading it, a man understood it and took us back to his home.

As soon as I entered the house, the layout of the house was very simple but warm. The innermost had two beds, a large bed and a bunk bed. There was a kid who was only about 1 year old playing with toys on the ground, and the other 2 big spots Child is watching TV. Seeing this home, we were quite relieved and reminded me of the room where I grew up in Chengdu.

Not long after, the hostess invited us to dinner. The steamed bladder of the vegetarian food was very suitable. It was served with warm milk tea. It also made us feel warm after experiencing light rain. We also use Google Translate to communicate simply. Afterwards, we fell asleep in peace.

(Journal below is in directly Google Translated from the Chinese version. Apologies for any inconsistency in meaning.)

I woke up at 6 in the morning, and after the steaming pouch and milk tea went down we started riding. On the smooth road, we enjoyed the morning sun and breeze. As a result, such a wonderful experience lasted less than 5 kilometers, and the road became very strange. At first I thought that such a broken gravel road was only partial. As a result, after riding 5 kilometers, the road became more and more bumpy, so I also prepared for the harder climbing.

It didn't take long for Kesava to push his bicycle when I looked back and asked him what was going on, only to realize that his back cramp (convulsions). He told me that the spasm would only relax with time, or that it would be relieved by buying a special spray, so I asked him to stop and rest quickly. A little kid riding a donkey came over and gave us some comfort.

At this time, in order to avoid the spasticity worsening, and to catch up with our schedule, we stopped an empty car carrying cattle and happened to go to the border town of Karkara. When we arrived, we were all shocked. This small town should only be described as a village. There is no border gate within sight. Under the conditions allowed by our teammates, we slowly rode down the sea to a border crossing.

After arriving, looking at this country gate is two fences with several offices. We went to the checkpoint, and as a result, the first sentence was that our Kyrgyzstan e-visa could not leave the port, telling us that only three designated ports could exit the country. At this time, I was wrong, because I remember that there were indeed restrictions on this port of entry when I checked the information, but the latest regulations were relaxed to all ports, otherwise, we should have entered the Chaldybar port next to Kara Balta a few days ago. It was stopped by the staff because the Chaldybar port was not among the three designated ports, but haven't we come over smoothly?

After negotiating with them for a long time, they also said that they wanted to help me, but the computer system could not pass here. He said it was caused by the country's complicated bureaucracy. So we had to find another way, return to the capital Bishkek, and enter Kazakhstan from the nearby Ak-J01 24-hour port. At this time, a tour guide who was also picking up at the border port said he was willing to help us. Later, after obtaining the consent of his guests, we returned to Lake Issykko with them. After that he helped us communicate with the driver and finally got on the bus back to the capital Bishkek.

The bus drove on the road by the lake, which was also the road we drove a few days ago, and the mood at the moment became more complicated. On the bus, we also happened to chat with a Tatar man next to us. An interesting topic was that the Soviet Union ’s national policy was similar to the Indian caste system, and people decided when they were born. The caste / ethnic identity of the country has restricted its own development. Although such a system has died out, its influence has been affecting people from generation to generation in society.

It was already 11pm to return to Bishkek in the evening. The Tatar friend we met on the bus told us that there was no taxi to Almaty at this time, so we looked for the previous hotel Stay. My teammate's back spasm has been much better, and he smiled at the moment when he lay on the bed: today is really tired, but with your company, everything is no longer difficult.

Tomorrow to the last big city on the Silk Road, home, is not far away.