Margaux and I left the hotel around 10:00h to meet Volodya at the Salut Hotel. We were halfway there when Margaux realized she may have lost her phone. She didn’t remember if she had it when we left the hotel, so we drove back while scanning the road with our eyes. I can’t remember now if she had it with her in the vest’s back pocket or if she had left it in the bed. In any case, we arrived around 10:30h and started the little photo session afterward.

When finished, we stayed at the hotel’s cafeteria chatting with other bikers who spent the night there. The owners of the hotel are bikers and were also at the closure party yesterday. Around 11:30h we moved to the city center taking advantage of the fact that we had the motorcycles. Margaux had already visited the city on another occasion.

For me, it would be the first time.

We didn’t plan to make a very extensive visit but simply walk around for a bit in peace. As we were walking through the main square, we saw a caravan with a French license plate parked not far from there. The vehicle belongs to a Turkish family traveling around the world for eleven months, “The travel of happiness”.

We stayed for a long time chatting with them. Originally from Turkey, Vincent and Sevgi are traveling with their son. They have their own YouTube channel where Sevgi, as a Native Turkish speaker, tries to share all their experiences in that language as it seems there aren’t many doing it. We stayed with them until after 14:00h.

We ended up abandoning the walk and heading to a restaurant.

Margaux took me to a restaurant chain with typical food from the country. On the inside, the decoration was just impressive. We realized when we ordered that they seemed to have some problem with cheese stock. Margaux had to choose three different salads before the waitress said it was available. We were told the first two were not available due to a lack of that ingredient. In the end, they brought us two salads. They took note of the first one even though it was supposedly not available.

After trying to explain to the waitress several times that she was not going to consume that dish, Margaux ended up using the translator. The waitress insisted that we keep it. She did not seem to accept the mistake, but above all, she emphasized that if we did not accept it they would deduct it from her salary. After the restaurant, we went to the market near the hostel to see if I could find any parts to help me repair the tank bag.

I entered the market and quickly got replacement parts for the zipper.

We made one last stop at the Bank before arriving at the hostel. Margaux will stay a few more days in the capital and I needed to pay for the hostel in cash. I am grateful I was with her at the time. Because she went in second place, she found out I had left my credit card at the ATM. What an idiot! This could have seriously risked my trip.

A few minutes after returning to the hostel, two Germans arrived on their motorcycles, Kai and Laura. They will stay only one night because the next day they have booked a hotel and they are going to deliver their motorcycles to a transport company. Kai offers us the rest of his coolant liquid, which I take.

These last few days the ‘Fi’ light has been coming on quite a bit.

Margaux takes a nap and I call home. Throughout the week it was quite difficult to communicate given the long days on the road and the time zone. As we were quite lazy, around 9:00 p.m. we ordered a pizza for both of us and we went to sleep.

Today I’m going to Taraz, about 4 hours from Bishkek, so I’m not in a hurry to leave. I went back to the market to try to get another zipper because the ones I bought the day before were not worth it. They slide, yes, but it doesn’t keep it together. I had to find another store in the market because the one I visited yesterday is closed.

Knowing how the other was called, it shouldn’t be difficult.

I found a woman who ended up giving me one because she didn’t sell them. She also told me I should go to another market to look for that type of replacement. However, since I didn’t have a local SIM card on my phone, it was very complicated to ask for directions. I can’t translate anything they say and I didn’t want to buy one for just two nights in the country.

Once at the hostel, I see that the new spare parts don’t work for me either. I joined Margaux for breakfast and said goodbye to Kai and Laura around 10:00h. I left around 11:30h. At the border crossing, I hadn’t even had my suitcases checked at one of the checkpoints. Another successful crossing without incidents.

I continued until I reached Taraz. The road had good asphalt all the way, which was a relief. Margaux had passed me a contact who may be able to meet me and, in turn, gave me the address of a hotel. In the end, he couldn’t due to work, and I took the opportunity to rest and put my affairs in order. Before going to bed, I requested to have breakfast at 7:00h so I could start early the next day.