Captured by : PG2. LEAD - Paradise found_1
On a lazy Sunday afternoon in July, I was enjoying siesta time when my brother passed me an auto magazine. “Check out the page I have marked, you might find it interesting” he said. I opened the magazine with curiosity and saw a full-page advertisement for a motorcycle tour in Central Asia! The page had a single horse grazing in vast grasslands, with snow covered mountains in the background. I immediately dialled the phone number mentioned on the page and spoke to one of the co-founders of the tour company, Piyush Sonsale.
Piyush and his partners run a road trip company named Embarq Motoring Experiences that organises motorcycle tours and self-drive car tours in offbeat places. The location of their Central Asian tour was Kyrgyzstan, a tiny nomadic country to the north of India. I was amused by Piyush’s description of Kyrgyzstan but the most interesting part of the tour was the attention to detail. The tour price included the rental motorcycle and fuel expenses, insurance for the bike, accommodation, all meals, back-up vehicle with a mechanic and space for rider’s luggage, a local sim card with preloaded balance and much more! It almost sounded too good to be true.
So I visited the Embarq website and scanned their facebook page. I was convinced by the client reviews and photos they had and decided to go on this adventure in an unknown part of the world!
The tour started on October 2 in Kyrgyzstan’s capitol, Bishkek. The Embarq team received us at the airport and took us to a plush hotel in the heart of city. I went for a walk in Bishkek that evening and was pleasantly surprised to discover how beautiful it was. By the time I returned, the bikes had arrived at the hotel. While most of the group was riding Suzuki DRZ400 dualsport bikes, Embarq gave me a BMW F650 to suit my height.
There were nine riders in the group including Piyush, who led the tour himself on a motorcycle. We rode east from Bishkek on the first day and reached the midpoint on the northern shore of the marvellous Lake Issyk Kul by the evening. The sight of the lake is a real treat for the eyes. A large water body with crystal clear water reflecting many shades of blue and turquoise under sunny skies.
It took us two more days to circumnavigate the lake (yes, that’s how large it is) before we rode south into the Tien Shan Mountains. The town of Naryn was our base in southern Kyrgyzstan for a couple of nights. We did a day trip to the well-preserved Tash-Rabat caravanserai, a 500-year old relic of a rest house for silk route traders, and rode back to Bishkek from Naryn on the final day.
After a rocking farewell party by Embarq on the last night, we were shuttled back to the airport in the wee hours of next morning for our flight back to India, and back to reality because the last seven days sure felt like a dream.
The natural beauty of Kyrgyzstan is an experience that cannot be explained in words, but let me try. Imagine riding on twisty mountain roads or arrow straight stretches of asphalt cutting through endless grasslands. Snow-covered mountains mark the horizon on every side and the landscape is dotted by grazing horses and cattle. The fall colours make the place even prettier as the trees have many different shades of yellow, red and green.
The food in Kyrgyzstan has influences from Chinese and Russian cooking styles and I really enjoyed the local cuisine, including the lunch where we had horsemeat! Apart from the local food, Embarq had organised several experiences like the show of Kyrgyz horse games, visit to an eagle hunter’s home, a demonstration of carpet weaving and folklore performance to give us an insight into the Kyrgyz culture. The tour also included a fair bit of dirt road riding through stunning valleys where we had picnic lunches by the side of a pond and in the grasslands.
I must also mention the endearing contrast between Bishkek and the rest of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is a well-planned city, quite like our own Chandigarh. Everyone drives big American or Japanese SUVs and I could not spot a single two-wheeler. Almost half of the six million population of the Kyrgyzstan is found in Bishkek and there is a great mix of ethnicities.
Step out of Bishkek and you find a post-soviet era country with a rustic charm. Nomadic people with weather beaten faces and a simple lifestyle live in sleepy villages or Yurts (Central Asian round tent). The modern cars are replaced by old Russian Ladas, horses and even donkeys and there is hardly any traffic on the roads. The locals look puzzled by the sight of several bikers passing through their village while the kids wave at you with excitement.
Exploring a country on a motorcycle was a first for me and I loved every bit of the experience.
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Pics: Embarq Motoring Experiences
In Paradise Found, #TGLife aims to help readers discover new lands and rediscover forgotten getaways. If you have an interesting experience that you would like to share with us, then mail us on [email protected]
