Discovering Bishkek through people and places - Day 3 June 18, 2013

We woke up to a nice and cold morning. Clear blue skies, it looked like we were going to have a pleasant day ahead. Heard an alsatian barking a few blocks away; reminds me to take note that people here rarely keep pets. What a pity!

Today's mission: Buy the local road maps in English. After a solid breakfast we met two young cyclists traveling from UK for the past 110 days. James and Ashley. Their destination -"Till money lasts". On an average they traveled 100 Kms a day.

You can follow their trip on www.pedallingfree.com and feel the spark in you ignite. We exchanged cards and shared details about our own journey --The Silk Odyssey: Motorbiking with a cause -- with them. They were glad to know that the cause was associated to save children associated with 'Save The Children', which was founded in the UK in year 1919.

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Today we walked more than 8 kms asking many enroute for a road map from Kyrgyzstan to Russia in English. We checked out several places recommended but could not find one. Finally we met a shop owner who spoke fluent English but even she didn't have an idea where to find a map in English. Phew!

We had french fries and coke for lunch as no veg burgers were available in Bishkek. It was a nice public place to sit with water surrounding the sitting areas. We wanted to eat some veggies for a change but couldn't find any one serving them here.

Now Bishkek cities have taken this amazing idea and implemented it to make place for people like me to plonk themselves under a tree after a nice meal. They just cement a couple of wooden planks under the tree to work like a bench, and Voila!

Walked back to the guest house in the lovely weather that as expected lasted all day.

Later in the day we met an elderly German couple who travel very often. Thay have been coming to India for scaling peaks for the past 6 years. They said they love Nandadevi. Speaking to them about our journey was an absolute pleasure. They were, too, happy to note that we were raising funds for Save The Children through our trip.

They took the link for donating online from us and said they would talk to others back home too. Interestingly, their house is on the border of Germany n Switzerland. One can see the terrain of both the countries from his house. An open invitation was extended by them but as we are not going that way, maybe we will leave it to next time.

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We later received a call from our clearing agent that the bike should come by tomorrow. Hope that we get it ASAP. Booking Air Cargo internationally last minute is not a good option but we were left with no choice, thanks to China and Pakistan.

We had supper at a near by cafe where we were lucky to have a doctor having his meal who went out of his way to help us place an order as he knew some English. Chui Hospital is just next to the cafe so there are many doctors that come in to have their meals.

Hitesh, our mechanic, is not too well and is down with a sore throat. We called it a night with the hope of getting our bikes the next day.

Bishkek, our first experience with Krygyzstan June 17, 2013

Woke up to a clear sky. Had a superb breakfast laid out for us. We ate to our heart's content after which we had to visit the our clearing agent's office for the bikes.

The lady who owned the guest house we were living at spoke to the officer we were supposed to visit and arranged for her husband's car to drop us there. The gentleman didn't know a single word of English. With our SIM cards finally activated we started using the Google translator on our phones.

It had been raining since breakfast so we later set out to buy an umbrella or a 'zontik' as it is called here. What happened in the next few hours was pretty unexpected. We visited many stores, walking around looking for a zontik (umbrella) but discovered that it wasn't easily available although almost everyone on the road was carrying one.

In the middle of our mini treasure hunt we received a call from our clearing agent who wanted us in her office in 10 minutes. Luckily we were around her place and could make it there in time to sign some crucial documents to procure our bikes. She offered us some coffee which was more than welcome in the rainy weather.

Off again to find a zontik, we visited more than 4 malls, walked for about an hour and a half, asked the locals but still couldn't find out. In the meanwhile we ended up visiting a monument but had no idea what it was, or what it stood for. The only person who stopped to talk to us was a youngster, who spoke promising English but could not even convey the name of the monument to us. Finally we found out that it was called 'Victory Land'.

Language shall be a big barrier all through the trip until we reach UK.

Finally, however, we did end up finding zontiks at a road side market and bought three for 450 som.

What really appalled me ever since I came to Kyrgystan was the Som: Rupee value. Can someone please explain why the value of the Som is higher than that of the Indian Rupee? When we got there 1 Krygystani Som was equal to 1.2 Indian rupee. As far as I could see and find out, there are no industries here whatsoever, masses are poor and the standard of living is low. Parity between rich and poor is also very wide.

Now for some societal and cultural differences that I noticed on my short time here.

Almost everyone in a car stops and waits for a pedestrian to cross the road. A welcome change after the mind numbing traffic in India.

The food is tasty much like the food we get in India only less spicy and low in salt content. Vegetarian food is almost impossible to get. No chapatti, very little rice. However, the problem of figuring out what is listed on the menu is the most difficult part.

The younger generation speaks English in bits and pieces.

Today for lunch -- we visited Buhara a specialty restaurant that serves Uzbekistani dishes in Kyrgyzstan. One young boy in the restaurant could speak some English. But placing an order with him was also very difficult. This time we managed to convey what we wanted but went wrong with the quantity.

We ordered Lamb Sashlik and Chicken Tandoori. The food was delicious but heavy and so was the glass of their local draft beer.

Wifi is available everywhere which is a big boon. I had planned to rely on using the wifi connection whenever available to communicate with family back home and write these blogposts.

I do hope that wifi will be available down the line too.

The highlight of my day was the sight of more than 20 limousines parked at one place. I took some photos and couldn't help posing in front of the Hummer Limousine. :P It seemed like all the limos belonged to a single service provider. Pleasant surprise indeed.

After the heavy lunch we decided to walk back to the guest house which was about 3.6 kilometers away. We noticed state run buses, the only buses allowed to run, which did so on electric cables. This kept the speed of the buses in check and kept them confined to one side of the road only, hence not interrupting other vehicles on the road.

Walking was perhaps easier than using public transport as again language was the problem.

Most malls look dead from outside maybe because they were all factories in the country's pre-independence era, much like the mills in Mumbai converted into pubs. The busiest malls were the one that had electronic gadgets in them.

The shocking thing to note was we saw only one motorbike which passed us and one scooty. No one rides a bike here ?

It got very cold in the evening. We went to a near by cafe for dinner and were lucky to get some food as it was already 9 pm and all establishments close by then. By the time we were halfway through our meal we had to pay up as the owner was leaving. We were the last guest.

Back in the guest house as it was chilling. We learned that its never so cold in June here. Hopefully the weather changes and predictions are that it shall be sunny for the next three days.

Bike update:

We are extremely worried as our cargo has reached Uzbekistan but it will be a couple of days before we get our bikes. As soon as we get our bikes we shall leave for our extraordinary journey the very next day. Right now our scheduled date to leave Bishkek and go toward Osh is 20th June which seems unlikely now.

We pray for our bikes to come in ASAP.

We finally depart... Day 1 -- June 16, 2013

Mark Twain said - "There are only two things we will regret on our deathbed - that we loved little and traveled little".. Let us travel more frequently, love one another and remember that the path we take is less important than what we notice along the way. I, Kumar Shah, the torchbearer of the 'The Silk Odyssey' would use this blog to to share our extraordinary journey, day by day, event by event, moment by moment, through the wonderful eyes and spirit that The Lord has bestowed upon me.

I believe that every soul on this earth is extra ordinary and has something special to share. For the next 55 days I have my journey to share with you; through 14 countries, two continents, on 2 bikes, riding 15,300 kms.

Planning stage:

 Planning, planning and more planning was the order of the day for the last couple of months. Nobody I knew had the know-how to handle the logistics of the trip; the sheer magnitude scared every travel agent I tried to get in touch with.

Eventually, I only had my perception to consult before these plans were put into action. No one, I was told, had undertaken an expedition of this scale, which encouraged me even more and kept me going.

Of course I failed. I failed again and again; had to start many times over before I got things right. After all it was the first time I was doing this too.

It is like playing golf, competing with ones perception to get near to a net score of ZERO.

Plans kept changing till very last day before the final take off and they will continue to do so en-route. One thing the road teaches you is to surrender to it. Once you do, much like to life, and be happy without questioning things too much, you will sail through.

One has to be open to change. Make your itinerary, chart your map; make it again and again but you will have to be ready to throw it away at every fork in the road.

We had already driven to Delhi a week before as the last recce to test both the Man and the Machine. We needed to check the bikes in at the custom office, which is a huge headache.

Custom clearances are needed for the bike a week before the journey, as for the 42 kg-worth of spares we were carrying per bike.

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A ceremonial flag off was held at Baroda with all the fanfare one could anticipate. Cabinet Minister Saurabh Patel was present to flag us off and share words of encouragement. The Mayor of Vadodara - Smt. Jyotiben Pandya was also present to grace the occasion, so was the Standing Committee Chairman Dr Vijay Shah, to be a part of the event.

We had huge crowds from Vadodara to cheer us up.

There was a photo shoot arranged for well wishers, with the two Barodians, who were there to wish us luck.

People poured in from a lot of places to show their appreciation and bless us with their warm wishes. Hundreds of pictures were taken, even more hands shaken.

For the flag off we had no choice but to use my second bike as the one we were taking was already in the customs house at New Delhi .

At 10.30 am, June 9, 2013 we were flagged off with the entire media to report and picture us.

I was amazed at how much press turned up. Special interviews were arranged and many photo shoots done by various photographers from the press.

I had little time for a quick bite with my family and friends who had come down from far away places. I thank them all for the immense support and enthusiasm they have shown through out, including my wife, who never questioned my ambitions of a wild trip and my in-laws, who were taken aback to say the least, but eventually gave in, much at my wife's insistence. We then set out for Ahmedabad.

Upon entering Ahmedabad we caught up with a photographer form AFP. He some how got the message we were headed there, so he arranged for a special photoshoot with us.

At 5.30 pm, we were invited by the 'Gun Riders Club' at Kunal Resturant on Ashram Road by a junior from my school who is a coordinator and an active member of the club.

I was surprised by their welcome with flowers and rich snacks. I was so excited that I couldn't eat a bite. More than 20 bikers with their bikes had come to wish us in person.

We took many pictures and addressed the media there too. It was such a good gesture by fellow bikers. It was also nice to see many RkCians - as we are called because of my my Alma mater, The Rajkumar College, Rajkot.

We stayed over at a dear school friend's place that evening and were host to a wonderful time arranged by him. From there we headed to Udaipur and then Jaipur, where we halted, again, at a school friends place and then to Delhi.

The international leg:

 As per 'Plan A' we were to ride through Nepal - China to Kyrgyzstan. Some how, even after months of persuading, permissions were not through. We were hopeful that on June 14, 2013 we would finally get the go ahead through China, but it was not to be.

So we switched to 'Plan B'. We had anticipated this so were prepared with all custom clearances and had provisionally booked an air cargo as that was the only option. It is very very expensive but we were adamant to make this extraordinary journey.

Plan B is not what we wanted but God had other plans for us. Man proposes and God disposes, heh heh.

The two days before we departed from Delhi, as per plan B, were intense. We packed and unpacked our small rucksack in the aluminum box that was fabricated to be mounted behind the motorbike, again and again.

We must have packed it in several ways. First to make things fit in, as per use, logically and second, to reduce as much weight we could without removing the essentials.

The packing list was so elaborate, it was baffling trying to figure how to pack so much into such little space. We had bought special motorbike travel goods, which helped a lot not only in its functionality but also in reducing the weight.

Checklists on paper, checklist on the phone, one on the ipad; they were tallied again and again. Documents were to be sorted and packed.

Information on the computer compiled over several months was put in place and copied to USB devices. Thank god for technology.

Last minute tasks just didn't seem to finish. No matter what we did, there was always more to be done. Phone calls, emails, the works. Last minute emails had to be sent to sponsors, family and friends. My daughter bought me an ipad so that I can blog and compile data comfortably, without adding much weight to my luggage and my son bought me a new, the latest, cell phone to make me accessible. For the last couple of days I, the not-so-tech-savvy-guy, was struggling to get the buttons right.