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**saralou** · #**2461** 9 Aug 2017

Once the sun was down the temperature plummeted to I need to be in my long johns and in my -10 c bag now! We are at 3000 m and you can feel it. Dan and I were warm and toasty, but the other 2 not so much.

Kyrgy Song-Kul-24 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Song-Kul-26 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Song-Kul-25 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2462** 9 Aug 2017

We set the alarm for 1 am so we could see the stars and WOW it was amazing. Sara was only out for 3 min (it was about 2-3 degrees) and back to the Marmot bag. There was frost on the grass at 5 am.

Kyrgy Song-Kul-31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Song-Kul-27 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Song-Kul-28 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Big Dipper and shooting stars!

Kyrgy Song-Kul-29 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Song-Kul-30 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2463** 9 Aug 2017

Off to Mongolia tomorrow and likely off line for a week or so. Wish us luck!!

**troppy** · #**2464** 9 Aug 2017

Awesome shots of the stars folks, what camera did you use for those?
Cheers

**saralou** · #**2465** 10 Aug 2017

Quote:

Originally Posted by troppy

Awesome shots of the stars folks, what camera did you use for those?
Cheers

Dan has a Sony A6500 with a Sanyang 12mmF2 lens. We will catch the Persied Meteor shower in Mongolia!

**Rondelli** · #**2466** 10 Aug 2017

Outstanding, Dan's getting the hang of it now ha ha

Good luck guys, look forward to the report

Gino & Fiona

**saralou** · #**2467** 20 Aug 2017

July 21 Kaji-Say 273 km

As soon and the sun rose the warmth was immediate and by 730 it was very nice out. We had a leisurely breakfast and packed up.

Kyrgy Song-Kul-32 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Song-Kul-33 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2017-07-21 at 20.44.07 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2468** 20 Aug 2017

Today it is 65 km to the pavement and then we plan to see how far we get on the south side of “the big lake”. Setting out the road is again very firm and we were doing 60-80.

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

There is a choice to be made at the east side of the lake the first right is less km to the tarmac, but has a steep challenging switchback section or the longer but easier dirt road. We oped for the challenge. The first 4 curves are right on top of each other and were a bit hairy with the steepness, rock chunks and camber, but the lower ones are easy. The rest of the road was good firm dirt.

Screen Shot 2017-07-21 at 21.12.53 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Screen Shot 2017-07-21 at 21.13.13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2469** 20 Aug 2017

It rises up over a second pass and then drops down over easy switchbacks and finally ends at the paved road.

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-4 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-5 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2470** 20 Aug 2017

Here we made some miles. We stopped at a road side place for some lunch and when we were leaving we saw this Korean rider and his son across the road. They are headed to the Pamir.

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-6 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

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Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2471** 20 Aug 2017

We spotted some camel off to the side of the road and did a small detour. They were pretty relaxed and let us walk around. They SMELL terrible!

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-11 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-12 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2472** 20 Aug 2017

We motored on and ended up on the south side of the lake. A communist era monument.

Kyrgyzstan Kaji-Say-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-13 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-14 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Kyrgy Kaji-Say-15 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The town of Kaji-Say is small and there are not too many options, but the Art hotel was in the GPS. It did not look like much from the outside, but inside the gate was a very nice courtyard for us to put the bikes. The price included dinner and breakfast so that was a no brainier. The rooms were simple but comfortable and the water hot and plentiful. The bonus was great internet.

**saralou** · #**2473** 23 Aug 2017

July 22 Orn’ok
We were divided about the plan today some of us wanted to “go around the lake” and others did not…Around the lake it is.

Screen Shot 2017-07-27 at 19.31.31 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Nothing to see and in fact Dan did not take 1 photo all the way. At Cholpon Alta there is about 10 km of dirt, on which they are spraying water from tankers in the construction zone= mud. The town of Cholpon is a mad house of Russian tourist there for a beach holiday. It is crazy and we could not get out of there fast enough. Further down the road we came to Orn’ok and found a “resort” that actually had space as most were full. It is a bit like a summer camp. You check in and the rooms and in 2 story blocks and meals are served at given hours. The beach is clean and the water clear. The food is very marginal at best. It was the best we could do in the heat when we did not want to camp. It was a bit like communist era family camp.

Ornek Bishkek-3 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Ornek Bishkek by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Ornek Bishkek-2 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

**saralou** · #**2474** 23 Aug 2017

July 23 Bishkek

The original plan today was to take a mountain road towards the capital. Stating up the “road” from Orn’ok it is more like a track and very rocky and sandy. This “road” up the first pass is 23 km and after this the route is marked as a track for a further 70. After 3-4 km we decided that it was not worth the time and effort for a scenic detour. The second reason is the shock on Dan’s 800 is making a disturbing squeak and all we need today is to blow that out in the mountains. So we decided to turn back and go on the main route to the city. We had booked into a guest house for 3 nights to get some rest. Orvar had decided to stay one more night at the beach.

Screen Shot 2017-07-27 at 19.32.43 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

The ride into the capital is right along the Kazakhstan border. We had again no trouble with police despite constant warnings by other riders. Bishkek apparently has strict rules regarding which streets motorcycles can ride on. We tried to stay on the main roads and the few police we passed ignored us. The fine is apparently 2000 Com (30$usd).

**saralou** · #**2475** 23 Aug 2017

We had planned to meet up with ADV inmate Allen here in the city. He has lived here and in Uzbekistan for almost 2 decades. They run an orphanage for over 20 kids. He was kind enough to meet us at “the container mall”. This is where Dema and his wife have the only motorcycle “shop” in the city. Dema had gloves for Trevor, some full synthetic oil for us, and a connection to a guy to work on my pannier. I was also able to buy another tubeless repair kit for my bike. The mushroom kit we have has come with the wrong tip and this is why we can not get the plug device to work. Back to old school with the goo ropes. The crash I had in the deep sand torqued the box and the top so the lid closure was a challenge. The Bumot did great as far and the metal, rivets, and welds. Dan and Allen rode over to a mechanic shop where the owner was “one of the biggest humans” Dan had ever seen. He looked at the box for a few minutes and then got out a jack and some 2x4’s and voila perfectly back to square.

Ornek Bishkek-8 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Ornek Bishkek-10 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Ornek Bishkek-7 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr

Ornek Bishkek-9 by Sara & Daniel Pedersen, on Flickr