KYRGYZSTAN SOLO-STAGE 5: NARYN-AT BASHI

Cycling Kyrgyzstan is not easy. Bad roads, few towns, wild nature and lack of suplies. Plan to get food for days, water(or a sterilizer), sleeping bag, tent, bike spare parts, knowledge about bike mechanics,... be self-sufficient!!!!!. But, doing that, you´ll find a wild paradise for bikers, a very different country, and, overall, awesome people.

CHAEK-KARA KECHE-SONG KOL LAKE: Toughest part of the route due to altitude, wind, road and weight. Awful roads, not paved, full of holes and loose rocks. First kilometers very exposed to high winds, later the road goes steadily uphill.
Plan a long day to reach Kara keche pass and descend to Song Kol; and be plenty of food and water. Don´t expect to find accommodation or food from Chaek to Song-Kol, the only human settlement in between is Kara Keche, where you can´t expect to get anything. I set off from Chaek late in the morning, and at sunset i was still crossing Kara Keche. I was invited to sleep there by a lovely Kyrgyz family (probably they took pity on me…), but i was really lucky because otherwise i would had to pick up the tent at 3000 meters, and, as I was told later, the area is full of wolf packs. No accomodation until Song Kol where you could find a yurt to stay.
From Kara Keche to Kara Keche pass it will take you 2-3 hours, and from there the road goes up and down to Song Kol lake through huge mountains with a stunning view of the lake. At Song-Kol lake you can find yurts to stay.
I cycled from Kara Keche to Kara Keche pass-Song Kol- Ak Tal the same day although i´ve split the track. You could also reach Ak Tal from Chaek in a single, very long exhausting day, but it´s better to do it in 2-3 days to enjoy it.

SONG KOL-AK TAL: From Song Kol, the same terrible road goes uphill to Moldo pass, and from here a long, wild descent to Ak Tal along a wonderful gorge.

AK TAL-NARYN: Good paved road, long but easy. At Naryn you´ll find accommodation (not a lot of places, just 2 or 3), and food (the latter also in Ak-Tal).
NARYN-AT BASHY: About 50 km of good road

AT-BASHY-TASH RABAT:
Paved road for 50 km, later you´ll turn left to take the road to Tash-Rabat. Here the road turns awful again for the final 25 km, cycling along a beautiful valley with the mountains besides you. Stunning final view of Tash Rabat caravanserai!!!