Rides bikes, paddles sea kayaks, takes pictures. Life on the road & my home in Cornwall.
Lemon Trees
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Delicious solitude and sublime riding as the season begins to turn...
A dusty grid of streets with an interesting blend of urban and rural – banks, a couple of small supermarkets, and a cafe, and yet with goats and cattle grazing the verges, backyards full of turkeys, and roofs stacked with hay for the coming winter. Baetov was exactly the sort of place a travel guidebook would skip over with “nothing there”… nothing there but friendly, engaging people and a laid back vibe that I liked very much.
Baetov
The couple of days of rest did me good and I left town looking forward to the trail ahead, albeit with a degree of trepidation. The season is turning and the previous day had seen single digit temperatures with heavy rain and snow. The day I pedalled out of town towards the newly snow-capped mountains was fine and bright, albeit chilly, but with more rain and snow forecast for the following day; with two 3400m passes, Mels and Kulak, to cross I was expecting some rough weather.
Baetov
As it happened the weather was kind to me; the rain and snow did arrive but slightly earlier than expected, in the middle of the night while I was tucked up nice and cosy in my tent on the lower slopes of the Kulak Pass. Yet another band of very heavy rain and snow arrived the following evening, but by then, somewhat unexpectedly, and thanks to a raging tailwind, I’d found shelter in a welcoming little homestay in the village of At-Bashy.
I spent the night on a comfortable couch, in a room newly reminiscent of a patch of richly carpeted jungle.
Run by a lovely, slightly eccentric, old couple with a large collection of potted, and generously-sized, lemon trees, my arrival it turned out had been most fortuitous. With snow sweeping down from the mountains as dusk fell, I was quickly co-opted into moving them all indoors for the coming winter. By some logic unknown to me, the trees were generously hosed down, top to bottom, before moving, such that I could happily have forgone the cold shower on arrival in favour of the dowsing from dripping foliage as we manoeuvred the heavy trees awkwardly up steps and through doorways; as a result I spent the night on a comfortable couch, in a room newly reminiscent of a patch of richly carpeted jungle.
Baetov
As I write I’m enjoying some decent coffee in Naryn; a place I cannot decide if it is a small city or a large town. The typically post-Soviet concrete jumble is confined to a narrow, elongated shape by the valley in which it sits at around 2000m altitude. There’s a nice vibe to the place with some good food, and a bustling market, and as usual for Kyrgyzstan the folk here are friendly and welcoming. It’s tempting to keep pushing on, but I have time and Kyrgyzstan is not a place to be rushed I think; it’s far too good for that. Besides the next few days look like they might be challenging and I shall enjoy them all the more for leaving town well fed and somewhat rested.
BaetovMmmm.. trails like these… Leaving town.Cemetery on the ‘road’ out of Baetov.The climb of the Mels Pass starts gently enough…… suddenly steepening as the switchbacks begin.Some four hours of creeping skywards later, I enjoyed truly booming views over the surrounding plains and mountains.Another hour or two of what at the time felt like a series of cruel false summits….… and I reached the pass, with its odd monument. Almost all of the previous day’s snow had gone, sublimed away under the powerful sun.The track descends to a high plateau between the Mels and Kulak passes… I was appropriated by this work crew (nearby animal sheds) for a late lunch of bread, salami… and, unavoidably, kumiss – the slightly fizzy fermented mares milk that is very much an acquired taste. I cannot see myself acquiring a taste for it any time soon…Water stop. The climb from Baetov is completely dry, however the low temperatures worked in my favour and I only consumed 2 litres during the climb. There are a couple of streams for water on the plateau, around 50km from Baetov.Heading towards the climb of the Kulak Pass… my energy levels were rapidly fading, and with an eye on some ominous cloud building around the peaks…… I dropped my tent at around 4pm on the side of the valley at an altitude of about 3100m. A chap out checking his herds invited me back to his house/yurt for the night. I declined being keen on just having some time to myself to rest and enjoy the solitude rather than having to try and be sociable.Views from camp.Morning. Heavy rain in the night, snow higher up, froze on my tent fly. Packing up was easy, a good shake of the tent and all the ice fell off.Omnipresent horses…There’s only so much variation on empty space it’s reasonable to photograph. I savoured the climb of the Kulak Pass in the crisp air. With only 300m or so to climb it wasn’t a leg-buster.Spotted from a yurt on the hillside as I slowly winched my way up… this little girl came running across the steppe for a high-five. At least, she got a high five, she might have come running for chocolate and gone away disappointed, but judging by the enthusiastic waves from behind as I moved on I suspect not.It’s a terrific descent from the pass with fine views across a wide valley to the next massif. I hadn’t expected to be able to go all the way to At-Bashy that day, some 80km from the pass, but the tailwind had other ideas as I happily cruised along a quiet dirt track at the foot of the mountains. The countryside became increasingly pastoral with small villages nestled amongst extensive wheat fields. By 3pm camping options looked non-existent anyway so it made sense to just keep going.At-Bashy.Fresh bread.. when it’s hot from the oven this stuff is deliciously chewy and flavourful. It travels reasonably well on a bike for a few days too which is handy.This bread oven was on the road out of the village. I only needed to buy two, one for lunch and one to chew on as I trundled off east on a heavily corrugated dirt track.Mig 21. I had to take a picture, I like old Soviet aircraft – it was an interesting time for aviation. As an aside while working in the 5-metre wind tunnel at Farnborough years ago I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to climb all over, and talk to the crews, of a bunch of interesting cold-war aircraft when the Russians brought a variety not shown in the west before to the airshow that year. The engineering seemed crude compared to western aircraft, but very rugged with some interesting twists. As I recall the Yak 141 was banned from further flying after it burned holes in the runway….Also… horses enroute somewhere…Anyway, I digress.. It was a slow morning, climbing for a few hours with freshly snow-capped mountains gleaming in the bright sunshine. This is the village of Akmuz.Sublime riding.A late lunch stop before the long, steep descent to Naryn.
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15 thoughts on “Lemon Trees”
Hi Mike,
Like many others, I check out your website and blog every now and then, so thank you for putting ‘pen to paper’ in such an engaging way. The photos and text this week are even more inspiring than usual! Enjoy the rest of your time out there. Cheers, John
hehe, cheers. re the simple things… good question. I do miss the simplicity of life on the road and the empty spaces, but equally it’s nice to have a shower and get some good food. Usually what happens after a few days on the trail is I’m really looking forward to a shower, a rest, eating… that lasts a couple of days until the fatigue and memory of the hardships fade, and then I want to be back out there, if that makes sense.
I also struggle a bit with the rest days, in the sense that I’m not “out there” on those days… somewhere like Kyrgyzstan the scope for exploring is enormous, but my body needs to rest from time to time.. and more so than even just a few years ago (I’m 52 now) so I have to plan time for doing nothing instead of pushing on. Usually I plan a couple of days off early in a trip to help my body adapt to the demands of this sort of riding again. I didn’t get that opportunity this time, instead diving straight in to the severity of the Kegety and Karakol passes, hence needing 3 days off here in Naryn.. but in theory the next 700-ish km looping back to Bishkek via Issyk-Kul via a bunch of passes will be easier for it…
Im just now seeing the rest of your reply, for some reason I only got half?
I would need at least 3 days to hype myself up for a severe pass! I hope you’re over the food poisoning!
Have you quit kayaking?
Safe journey!
Thanks for your reflective thoughts Mike. It reminds me of a friend Sarah Outen who cycled across Russia and China on her round the World journey, Yours John Perrott
it is. I’ve been down with food poisoning for a few days but about to set out on the second to last leg of this trip, 5 days… and will be picking up a load of it on my way out of town :-)
I forwarded your latest write up to a friend in Calgary whose son is much like you. From an early age he began cycling in South America, often to places not even on the map. He did this is the summertime and in the winter on the mountain rescue team in Banff. He went to Peru many times.
After a lot of cycling on his own, he met his wife who was also cycling in the same area he was. His mother sent the following update:
“Many thanks for the update on Mike Hayes. I agree he’s so much like my adventurous Julian.
He and his wife are on a biking vacation. Day one Whitefish, Montana then headed out to Morrison, Colorado for a biking trail network Red Rocks.
Took in 3 concerts of course! On to Crested Butte camping for 3 nights at 8900ft!! Then The Black Gunnison National Park and rode up to 11200ft!! Great lungs!! Arrived in Telluride then Durango but a storm came in. Beautiful Aspen trees and mountains of red and grey.
They are heading to Canyon De Chelly National monument in New Mexico and West toward Grand Canyon slowly into Flagstaff and Sedona, Arizona.
Hope you can follow Alma, Julian leaves me breathless and his wife Shauna is with him – crazy animals! So hard to keep up with them, but they message when they have cell time.”
Alma
Hi Alma, thanks for forwarding that on. Their trip sounds great, many of us on bikes in the UK look at the wilderness in Canada and the US with envy…!
cheers!
I hope the food poisoning has cleared your digestion. In the 1990s I drove across Turkey to Malata with our buyer, to inspect apricot crops and improve their quality for export to Europe. When one 20 tonne containers arrived I smelt & tasted the dried apricots and said that the moisture level was 26.5% causing them to ferment with fruit mites present.The Turkish people were so hospitable and kind.
Hi John, yeah all good here thanks! I concur re the Turks, away from the tourist areas on the coast I found them to be wonderful… in some villages I wasn’t allowed to pay for anything… such hospitality :-) 20 tonnes of fermented apricots… apricot liqueur?!!
Hi Mike,
Like many others, I check out your website and blog every now and then, so thank you for putting ‘pen to paper’ in such an engaging way. The photos and text this week are even more inspiring than usual! Enjoy the rest of your time out there. Cheers, John
Thanks John, that’s very kind, thanks. I enjoy the hobby of putting a few words together from time to time, especially when readers enjoy it :-)
This post made me smile. What a journey!
Are you melancholic for the simple things when you get back to “civilization “?
hehe, cheers. re the simple things… good question. I do miss the simplicity of life on the road and the empty spaces, but equally it’s nice to have a shower and get some good food. Usually what happens after a few days on the trail is I’m really looking forward to a shower, a rest, eating… that lasts a couple of days until the fatigue and memory of the hardships fade, and then I want to be back out there, if that makes sense.
I also struggle a bit with the rest days, in the sense that I’m not “out there” on those days… somewhere like Kyrgyzstan the scope for exploring is enormous, but my body needs to rest from time to time.. and more so than even just a few years ago (I’m 52 now) so I have to plan time for doing nothing instead of pushing on. Usually I plan a couple of days off early in a trip to help my body adapt to the demands of this sort of riding again. I didn’t get that opportunity this time, instead diving straight in to the severity of the Kegety and Karakol passes, hence needing 3 days off here in Naryn.. but in theory the next 700-ish km looping back to Bishkek via Issyk-Kul via a bunch of passes will be easier for it…
Makes perfect sense!
Im just now seeing the rest of your reply, for some reason I only got half?
I would need at least 3 days to hype myself up for a severe pass! I hope you’re over the food poisoning!
Have you quit kayaking?
Safe journey!
hey, no, not quit kayaking.. lots more of that in my future :-)
Thanks for your reflective thoughts Mike. It reminds me of a friend Sarah Outen who cycled across Russia and China on her round the World journey, Yours John Perrott
cheers John!
Stuck for the minute… food poisoning.. gah!
Dramatic landscapes…, lovely bread!
it is. I’ve been down with food poisoning for a few days but about to set out on the second to last leg of this trip, 5 days… and will be picking up a load of it on my way out of town :-)
I forwarded your latest write up to a friend in Calgary whose son is much like you. From an early age he began cycling in South America, often to places not even on the map. He did this is the summertime and in the winter on the mountain rescue team in Banff. He went to Peru many times.
After a lot of cycling on his own, he met his wife who was also cycling in the same area he was. His mother sent the following update:
“Many thanks for the update on Mike Hayes. I agree he’s so much like my adventurous Julian.
He and his wife are on a biking vacation. Day one Whitefish, Montana then headed out to Morrison, Colorado for a biking trail network Red Rocks.
Took in 3 concerts of course! On to Crested Butte camping for 3 nights at 8900ft!! Then The Black Gunnison National Park and rode up to 11200ft!! Great lungs!! Arrived in Telluride then Durango but a storm came in. Beautiful Aspen trees and mountains of red and grey.
They are heading to Canyon De Chelly National monument in New Mexico and West toward Grand Canyon slowly into Flagstaff and Sedona, Arizona.
Hope you can follow Alma, Julian leaves me breathless and his wife Shauna is with him – crazy animals! So hard to keep up with them, but they message when they have cell time.”
Alma
Hi Alma, thanks for forwarding that on. Their trip sounds great, many of us on bikes in the UK look at the wilderness in Canada and the US with envy…!
cheers!
I hope the food poisoning has cleared your digestion. In the 1990s I drove across Turkey to Malata with our buyer, to inspect apricot crops and improve their quality for export to Europe. When one 20 tonne containers arrived I smelt & tasted the dried apricots and said that the moisture level was 26.5% causing them to ferment with fruit mites present.The Turkish people were so hospitable and kind.
Hi John, yeah all good here thanks! I concur re the Turks, away from the tourist areas on the coast I found them to be wonderful… in some villages I wasn’t allowed to pay for anything… such hospitality :-) 20 tonnes of fermented apricots… apricot liqueur?!!