What was included, and what did we have to buy?

I promised you a look at what supplies were included with our Kyrgyzstan campervan rental, and what we had to buy in order to make the experience better for our style of travel.

Of course we need to keep in mind that most people who rent a van like this only have it for a week or possibly two.  

Because it's our home for a full month, we probably needed a few more things than most renters.

This is everything we got. Click on the photo to make it full screen, and click again to zoom in if necessary.

One single burner gas stove, and two gas cannisters. We quickly learned that the gas cannisters don't last very long, but they're also widely available and not very expensive. A pot and a frying pan, both fairly new, and both decent quality. Plastic plates, cups, and forks. A variety of kitchen utensils. A couple of bowls and a plastic cutting board. And a bin to keep it all in. Oh, and a shovel.

For bedding, they gave us two thick comforters, and two decent pillows, but most people bring their own sleeping bags. The comforters were left over by previous renters, and not normally included as part of the deal. They had been cleaned for us, but they don't want to be responsible for that part of the business and don't want them back. We will donate them when we leave.

Here's what we bought.

A sheet set. A wooden cutting board, but only because it was inexpensive. A tea strainer, some metal forks because we didn't like the plastic ones. I corkscrew! A butane lighter. Laundry soap for doing hand wash. Two decent sized coffee mugs. A couple of food storage containers. Dish soap. Garbage bags, toilet paper. Two buckets... one as a toilet and one for other uses. 

I mentioned they supply a good sturdy shovel. It has two uses... one, if you get stuck trying some kind of 4x4 move that you shouldn't have, a shovel might get you out of it. And two... for number two! There is no toilet with this campervan, and public toilets are few and far between... and you may not want to use it even if you find one. This is our least favorite part of this type of camping, but you do what you have to do. As regular readers can see, most of our camping spots have been very remote and far away from any other people... it's normally very easy to use the great outdoors, and actually a lot nicer than a nasty public toilet.

I've mentioned this in the past, but I'll say it again. We can't figure out why some societies make it so difficult to find good, clean, well maintained public facilities. I mean doesn't EVERYONE need to go? Why wouldn't society make that easy, instead of difficult. We don't get it. And it can be done... just visit Singapore or South Korea or Australia, or Germany. And we've read that Japan is also very good in that regard.

Oh, and they also gave us decent quality camp chairs and a table.

Okay, let's carry on to our day on Tuesday. Sorry, we're still a day behind on posting. We'll try and get caught up later today.

First thing Tuesday morning we did a short drive into the small city of Kara-Kol. This is not the same city as the popular tourist eastern one called Karakol. We did a stop at our favorite grocery chain store, Globus.

Municipal plaza in Kara-Kol.

Something lost in translation?

We put in some fuel, although this is the second time I've been told they don't accept Visa for payment, despite having a visa sign on the entrance door. And I see the terminal sitting on their counter. Of course it's not easy to ask why not, so I just accept it and pay cash.

Then we made a breakfast stop and carried on to the next spot.

Scenery along the way.

We are now on the main highway running between Osh and Bishkek. 

This is the road we thought about taking by bus when we were here last time, but they warned about sections being closed due to snow. So we ended up flying, which in hindsight was definitely the best idea. At this time of year, there is little risk of closures.

This village entrance sign is made up like a typical Kyrgyz hat.

Scenery along the way.

This town had a nice rose garden display at the intersection.

Notice also that the traffic lights have countdown numbers. This totally makes sense.

Another Kyrgyz traffic jam.

We went about 2 kms up a rough dirt track to get to this beautiful spot.

Scenery around our campsite.

GPS 42.163133, 72.823205

Later on, we went for a walk further up the road.

looking back at where Vladdy is parked.

There were some people fishing at this river.

The dirt track ended up being busier than we thought it would have been. It turns out that there were several yurt camps further in.

But the scenery was gorgeous.

Yurt camp.

Notice the sky is not very blue!

We were sitting playing an afternoon game of backgammon when a herd of horses came up the road. Click on the photo to make it full screen, and click again to zoom in on the horses.

We can even see Mt. Everest from here... lol.

But in the evening, those clouds turned into rain. Lots of it, with thunder and lightning and it lasted all night long. Still spitting when we woke up in the morning.

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