Our yurt camp was within sight of
the impressive stone structure that
looked half buried in a mountain-
side. We left a few beers in the creek
running beside the camp to cool and
headed further up the valley to check
out the caravanserai.
Travellers and traders on the silk
road would stop at a caravanserai to
shelter themselves and their animals
from the elements as well as bandits,
so they came to resemble small for-
tresses on some of the more remote
and dangerous sections of the Silk
Road.
After checking the structure, inside
and out, a number of our crew de-
cided a nearby mountain top would
provide a better view of the scene.
Being bikers, it was obvious to them
that the best way to get up there was
to ride, so off they went.
The view was reportedly spectacu-
lar from the high ridge and when we
returned to our camp, the beers were
cold, the banya was hot and we were
in total bliss.
This was day 4 of 14 of the Com-
pass Expeditions Kyrgyzstan Explorer
tour and each day lifted the bar in
terms of riding and spectacular scen-
ery. So far, we had explored Kyrgyz-
stan’s second largest and oldest city,
Osh, sampled Kyrg hospitality at a
TRAVERSE 56
homestay in Kazarman and also at the
mentioned comfortable, but slightly
strange, compounded hotel in Naryn.
Each of these days was a series of
twisting and climbing gravel roads,
over mountains that need to be
seen to be believed, the landscapes
changed constantly with each moun-
tain pass and alpine pasture. Some
ranges folded like green velvet fabric,
others were bare rocky outcrops,
there were brick red cliff faces, yel-
low rounded hills of earth and frac-
tured escarpments.
The one thing it all had in common
was that it was mind blowing spectac-
ular and the smiles on our faces at the