Progress
Started moving the last heavy items out today. The carpet cleaners come on Monday, as does a 2-metre rubbish skip for the aforesaid heavy items. $49 for the former (plus about $10 for the passage), a breathless $190 for the latter. The removalists cost me $330. I am hemorrhaging money just trying to move out of my flat!
I have also started assembling my baggage train, using the same travel pack I used for 2007-08 (a TaTonka thingy that I got cheap because it had lost its detachable daypack) and a new lightweight daypack that I am modifying to meet my requirements (fitting it with hidden pockets and other security features). More on that in a future post.
Tactical
The coup in Kyrgyzstan is a worry. Although the rebels do seem to have control in the north they haven't caught the ousted President, who is in Osh.
I had been thinking of going from Kazakhstan to Uzbekistan via Kyrgyzstan, as otherwise it's a long haul to Bishkek up from the south when I get there after Tajikistan. If the struggle becomes at all prolonged it could screw up my plans. I will still have the option of going back to Kazakhstan and into China that way, but it would be expensive in terms of visas. It'd probably be more practical to fly from Dushanbe in Tajikistan to Urumqi in China. But that would mean missing out on the Pamir Highway and having to either skip Kashgar or do it as an excursion from Urumqi – and I hate backtracking.
So let's hope, not just for my own sake but for the Kyrgyz as well, that peace settles on Kyrgyzstan.
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