Day 2 in Kyrgzstan-Shared Taxi to Osh City

Myself and Gary were up well before 800 AM-anxious to get on the road the the long drive to Osh and eventually Borbash village (another 1 hour east of Osh). Adilet was 1.5 hours late in picking us up. We eventually reached the renown Osh Bazaar (not related to Osh City), to find a shared taxi.

Adilet negotiated a ride for us for the price of 1000 Kyrgz som (about $14.50) for the journey. However, standard practice is for the taxi to not leave until it is full (all seats taken). This makes business sense, but only if you have more time than money. Several people came and went after inspecting the minivan/taxi. I had wondered what criteria they were using in their selection process.

We eventually departed about 1130 AM. The passengers were myself, Gary, an elderly lady, and a group of 3. By some strange chance the group of 3 passengers were able to speak some English, and one of them spoke very well!

We proceeded to head out of Bishkek. About 1-2 hours into the ride I stopped second guessing myself about flying into Osh, as the scenery was actually interesting. The fellow in the front seat, named Nursultan, had asked the driver to stop at the highest motor-able point in Kyrgyzstan, so we could take pictures.

The video below was taken just after we cleared the longest tunnel I’ve ever been in. At 3 km long it seems rather dangerous, but we made it out. Nursultan later told us of getting stuck inside the tunnel as a teenager and having to push their bus out.

At a rest stop I struck up a conversation and got to know Nursultan better. he was a doctor currently residing in Ankara, Turkey who was taking his brother and sister (other remaining 2 in the group of 3) home to Osh during the school holiday. After sharing a few stories it turned out that we both knew my friend Yuri, back in San Francisco!

Well they say it is a small world and this was an unbelievable stroke of chance! Of the many taxis in Osh bazaar, Nursultan could have chosen any but happened to get into mine, THEN, it was luck that he spoke English and THEN we both knew Yuri! It turns out Yuri (a Kyrgz friend in San Francisco who helped me prepare for my trip) and Nursultan were high school classmates in Osh!

It was turning out to be a very interesting trip only 2 days in…

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Nursultan treated us to lunch at one stop. We later stopped for a brief rest in the town of Jalalabad (not to be confused with Jalalabad, Afghanistan).

Most of the Kyrgz economy is based in agriculture an namely livestock. I had several opportunities to take video like this one:

If I remember correctly, we arrived in Osh around 1100 pm and said our goodbyes to Nursultan, his brother and sister. In a bit of a strange occurrence, there were 3 youths in Osh looking for a ride to Nookat (and town on the way to Borbash) who jumped into the taxi with us. They sat in the back of the taxi and for about 30 min were continuously sniffing and snorting. Draw what conclusions you may….

After dropping them off in Nookat, we arrived at the head English teacher Kunsuluu’s house in Borbash near 1230 AM. She and her whole family were up and waiting for us! The driver wanted an extra 200 Kgs for having to drive us from main road to the door (on undeveloped roads) which we paid.

Our host family arrived at Kunsuluu’s home to collect myself and Gary. Tamara and Sharif were grandparents- semi retired, and helping out with the community youth club as several of their grandchildren attended. We briefly made our introductions over tea, and headed to the country style Kyrgz home at about 230 AM. I had foolishly promised to go running with Balot , the family’s 17 year old son, at 800 AM the next morning.

Well that’s it for day 2! Interesting? Please share, leave a comment, ask a question AND subscribe!

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