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The past two days we have traveled from Almaty to Bishkek crossing the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border in the process. I think it would be reasonable to describe these two days as very representative of the hassles and discomfort of traveling in Central Asia.

We got off to a bad start yesterday (Saturday) morning. From our camping spot near the Mercedes Dealer we drove down Suyunbaya (as we have done a number of times now) only to be stopped at a police checkpoint. It seems that on Saturdays and Sundays trucks (thats us) are not allowed on this road. We did not see any signs to this effect, but could not really argue.

Out on the highway heading west the day was hot, another 100+°F day. We took a couple of rest stops under whatever shade we could find and thanked our generator and aircon for a degree of comfort. Late in the afternoon just before we stopped for the night the truck decided to have another one of its transmission fits and in the space of a few miles it dropped into neutral maybe a dozen times. This time around I seemed to be able to influence (not control) the incidents by keeping the transmission in a lower gear and keeping the RPMs high. We camped in a truck stop about 50km from the border.

Sunday (today) morning we drove into the border town of Korday, bought some fuel, and then continued to the border post. We had no sooner pulled into the border post line than we were told by a young man selling souvenirs that "trucks cannot use this crossing". Thereafter followed a 45 minute session where we searched for and eventually found the truck crossing. This was not the end of the confusion however because even at the truck crossing there were two entrances, one that was taking private vehicles like cars, and SUVs and the other that seemed to be servicing semi-trailers with cargo. We got shuffled back and forth between the two for a while and eventually started our processing at the cargo crossing. All in all the exit from Kazakhstan as a "cargo truck" took 2.5 hours, involved getting a form and having it signed and stamped at least 12 times by various parties, not to mention having the truck inspected by customs and then x-rayed in a large scanning facility. But people, including other truck drivers, were helpful and eventually we were done.

The Kyrgyzstan entrance was quicker and simpler. We confirmed that a visa is not required for Kyrgyzstan just a stamp in our passports. Customs was quick but the customs form was only in Russia and so we were thankful when one of the officers took it upon himself to fill it in for us. Only after this was all over did the officer tell us that the fee for his secretarial services was $50.

So now we were out of the border post and on the roads of Kyrgyzstan. Within the first mile we came upon a boom gate and a police stop. Seems we need yet another document that will allow us to drive our vehicle in Kyrgyzstan. So after 40 minutes and $100 we have the supposedly necessary document.

After that all went well for a while. A rest stop under some shady trees, and some good navigation got us into the streets of Bishkek and within a couple of KM of our hotel and then another police stop waved us over. The police officer was of the opinion that I turned right on a red light. This time I negotiated the $100 down to $50.

A few minutes later we were at the Silk Road Lodge, parking our truck in their secured yard.

To say that I was relieved to be off the roads and out of the sights of Kyrgy officialdom would be an under statement.