Wake up to the sound of a passing rain shower and then notice the pain in my quad muscles. All that standing from yesterday.
I have some fantastic homemade pancakes and coffee and I leave the homestay. Shireen (phonetic spelling) was a great host and told me to come back and tell everyone I know passing through Kazarman to stop at her guesthouse.
After 2km of tarmac the gravel starts again. I'm not feeling it at that moment and wished I could have had some extra warm up time.
Today the ride was going to Song-Köl lake high in the mountains. Yesterday I was told it was a 4 hour drive to get to the town at the base of the mountain where the lake is. I see why as the road is a gravel track. There is a small bit of tarmac at the entrance to Ak-Tal. I fill up the tank and ask about places to eat. Only shops in the town but possible at the lake. It's about 50km from the town to the lake and the road if the worst I've been on so far. To make matters worse I've seen some black clouds and hear the rumble of thunder. I'm heading into a storm!
I'm very lucky today as I've caught the tail end of the storm but I still get wet on the way up the mountain pass. What's worse is that the road now has little streams on it making the rocks that bit slippier. Taking it easy as I'm on my own and don't want to fall off the edge nor do I want to pick up the fully loaded bike.
At the top of the pass the lake comes into view in the distance and it looks like the sky has fallen to earth. A glorious blue colour. I start to pick up the pace as the road is hard pack gravel/dirt and I'm having fun. Until I go over a blind crest and see a dip in the road full of water. No time to hit the brakes so I adopt the brace position and hope for the best. I slam hard into the water and I lose my footing on the pegs and get splashed with water. I've survived by some stroke of luck.
Found another homestay for this evening, nice comfy place, no internet but run by a sweet little old lady.
I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking for today.
Total distance: 315km.
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