Life's an adventure expedition

[ryanh1006]

I drove the SsangYong mercs a bit when I was working in Korea and also in Malaysia when they were exporting them to Asean. It was a solid engine, simple and had a good reputation. Sadly I know nothing about that tranny other than it was basic, and a bit notchy. The automatics seemed solid though. You may want to consider one of those too.

I love the pics. I spent some time in XinJiang and in the Flaming Mountains (火焰&#23665 on the Chinese side of the Tian Shan in 2006/07.

Beautiful region, and I loved the history around every corner.

If I make it to Kyrgyzstan (If I have trouble driving from Iran to Pakistan this fall I may come up and over) we will definitely stop in and see you and get a tour!

Have fun!

Looking at the T5 out of the Musso just because I think it's cheaper to adapt it than to rebuild my Nissan trans. Would like to keep it manual, I feel it is better with under-powered engines. Everyone is saying great things about the engine (the opposite of the RD28T that it will replace), so definitely going for it...only the trans is left up in the air.

Hope you can run your trip as planned, but if not would love to see you here! By all means stop in and we'll go find some nomads. Kumis (fermented horses milk) here we come!

 

[ryanh1006]

We'll looks like gonna need a new clutch cable (or a rebuild) on the motorcycle. Caught it just in time to not lose the clutch in traffic today!

 

[mapper]

Wow. cool stuff here. Thanks for sharing. sorry you have needed to become so familiar with the engines in your stable. At least it provides good knowledge going forward though.

 

[ryanh1006]

Wow. cool stuff here. Thanks for sharing. sorry you have needed to become so familiar with the engines in your stable. At least it provides good knowledge going forward though.

That's life when you've got a lot of cars in a rough environment! Like my mechanic always says, if you have a lot of cars, you have a lot of problems.

 

[ryanh1006]

Got out and did some driving last weekend. Breaking in the rebuilt engine on the Jeep. Runs like a dream. Kept the RPMs basically under 2k and drove around 1600 km. Managed an average fuel economy of just 7.4 liters/100 km (in US numbers thats 31.9 mpg)! Took my wife with me so we made it a mini vacation and stopped a few places for fun. Jeti Oguz sports some pretty awesome rock formations, but most of the road was mud from melting snow. Summer highway oriented A/Ts weren't ideal, but got through ok.

After a 2nd night in Karakol, we decided to head up Barskoon gorge before heading back to Bishkek. Barskoon has a collection of 3 waterfalls, a random Kamaz truck on a pedestal, and two busts of Yuri Gagarin (because, the legend says, he saw Issyk Kul from space and came to visit after his flight). The waterfalls were still frozen in March, one is visible in the top left of the first picture in this set.

The older Yuri Gagarin bust:

Partially stripped, random Kamaz on a pedestal:

I like the thought process with this fence. Nice and efficient use of natural resources.

 

[seeNik48]

What a beautiful country. Thanks for posts and updates. Maybe, I missed it but how did you end up there with a touring/guiding venture? Do you own it or just manage it? Great adventure, anyway.

 

[RMP&O]

Just went through most of your thread. Very cool. Maybe I missed it, did you move to Kyrgyzstan to start a tourism business? A tour company?

Most Patrols and Cruisers can be very picky about head gaskets. It is best to use OEM or NOS original. Many people who don't use these keep having head gasket problems. Check out www.patrol4x4.com if you haven't been there.

Cheers

 

[ryanh1006]

Basically my wife and I wanted to move somewhere else in the world that was a little more "crazy". We did a bunch of research and picked Kyrgyzstan. We got jobs teaching English so we could try it out and move somewhere else and do the same if it didn't work out. The plan was to start a business if things did work out (exact business unknown, I had started a home inspection company in the US). After almost a year we were very much in love with the Kyrgyzstan so we started a transport project that quickly morphed into car rentals and tours. So that's the short version of how I came to own a tour and rental business in Kyrgyzstan.

 

[ryanh1006]

Motorcycle Retrieval last weekend

A friend of mine runs a motorcycle rental company in Osh, Kyrgyzstan and had a motorcycle break down last year at Tash Rabat (Naryn region, near the Chinese border). They didn't have time to retrieve it last summer, so as soon as the snow cleared enough I ran down there to pick it up in our one-ton Vito. That was last weekend. Evidently the snow hadn't completely cleared as I got stuck in 4 snow drifts on the final 15km road to the ancient caravan stop (caravansarai). Dawned on my at some point that I drove across a Central Asian country to a 1000 year old, fortified caravan stop, picked up a broken motorcycle, and spent the night in a village farm house with yaks in the yard, but it felt normal! Some days I love my job!!! Bit of an overcast weekend, but here's the pictorial version of the story.

Dolon Pass heading to Naryn.

Heading out of Dolon Pass into Naryn

Vito in front of Tash Rabat

Tash Rabat itself

Entryway

Standard room

Yours truly in the great room. Just trying to imagine a roaring fire and the place filled with travelers from all over the world.

The Soviets "rebuilt" the structure rather crudely. The modified parts are quite visible here.

Interestingly the small domes from each room are mostly covered in dirt. Maybe this had a moat at one time, but it seems strange to have a tall, fortified wall, but have it easy to step over in the back!

Motorcycle retrieved

The road back down from the caravan stop:

We spent the night in the village of Kara Suu with a local family that runs a yurt camp near Tash Rabat in the summer time. Their grand daughter was very cute and kept us (my wife and I) entertained. She wanted to play "tea" with my wife, then said she needed to prepare food. She proceeded to "cut" the throats of some of her play animals and then had Barbie gut and clean them. So Kyrgyz!

The randomly nice highway near At-Bashi (name means "horses head")

The pass between At-Bashi and Naryn, and part of the reason I replace so many suspension parts!

There are few historical structures in Kyrgyzstan. Most of it's buildings are distinctly Soviet or Russian. One unique feature is their "Cities of the Dead." They have hills covered in elaborate structures made from metal, brick, or mud as graves. The tradition can also be seen in Kazakhstan, but usually not as elaborate. Here is a small part seen on the hill entering Naryn from the south.

Checking the straps while fueling up in Naryn. Vitos are great motorcycle transports!

Naryn region is gorgeous, but the city itself is a bit bleak.

The main entrance to the city of Naryn, however, is reasonably stunning.

Finally back on good pavement after Dolon Pass.

The turn to Song Kul. Can't wait for summer time and lot's of trips up there again.

Trip Length: 900 km
Average Fuel Economy: 7.5 liters/100 km (about 31mpg US)
Drive time: 17 hours over two days.

 

[ryanh1006]

Gonna add to the fleet soon! 2014/15 Ford Ranger 4x4 Double Cab waiting for me in Kazakhstan to bring home! 2.2 diesel (150 hp, 375 N-M) with 6 speed manual transmission. Soon as it gets here it'll get new tires, probably 265/70/r16 Kenda Klever A/T KR28. Hopefully some great Pamir Highway trips and maybe even Afghan Wakhan region coming up.

Truck should be identical to this one that we test drove a month and a half ago.