A spring in our step
11 AugWe leave Sary Tash at 6am. We have woken the entire town by trying to start our car!
It’s 180km to Osh from here, with a 3300m pass inbetween. We climb the first pass slowly and get down the other side. It’s really dusty, and there are lots of trucks trying to make the Chinese border near Sary-Tash prior to it closing at lunch, and they are going really fast.
The view from the top of the first pass.
Our view coming back down.
Although slow, occasionally we do pass the odd vehicle:
On the way down the pass we pass lots of Yurts and traditional Kyrgyz families. As we drive past kids run out to the car. We start handing out some of the toys we have to any child close to the road. We take a few photos, although mostly we just get confused expressions.
Not long after the base of the pass we find a petrol station selling good 93 fuel. I think our luck has changed and we fill up. However, whilst filling I notice that the right rear leaf spring has broken. This is a problem. The leaf spring holds the body of the car up, and i is now resting on the bump stop. It also located the differential longitudinally. Luckily, we’ve brought a spare from England. I ask the man from the garage is we can borrow a jack to change it (our jack cannot lift the car high enough). He tells us to wait, and makes us some tea. I set about loosening the bolts. Some men turn up with a jack, and start using my tools to dismantle the spring. After buying the fuel we don’t have enough local money to pay for the work. Also, they are rough as guts, using adjustable spanners instead of sockets, and even attempting to remove a nut with the vice grips. I tell them to stop, and there is an argument. They want 200 som for us to borrow their jack. This is around 6L of fuel. We pay them and I set about working. They sit 1 foot away from the wheel and watch. I need a longer socket to get a nut off. I ask them to borrow a tool and they shrug their shoulders. They seem to be sulking that we won’t pay them for the job. It’s too much for my frayed temper. I give them the jack back, tighten the bolts I’ve loosened and put my tools away. I make som gestures about how we’ve just given toys to children all of the way down the pass, and all they want is money, take the 200 som back, and then we drive off. I ask Stephen what he thinks of the situation and he says he can see both sides.
The consequence of this is we must drive 80 miles with a broken spring, which gives me a long time to think about my decision. We can’t risk further damage to the other spring or the driveshaft, so we travel at 15mph, and reach Osh in about 6hrs. The road is rubbish, and I’ upset. I eat lots of lollies to console myself.
The roadwork sign on the road to Osh. Someone needs to tell them resurfacing 42,700km of road is a bit ambitious:
We arrive in Osh without realizing we are there. It’s around 4:30pm, and we stop at a mechanics shop, because it looks a reasonable size. Someone says hello to us in English. The owner (or master as they say) comes and looks at the spring, and returns with a jack. He’ll loan it to us, and he also loans us a suitable socket. Stephen and I struggle for about 2hrs removing the rusted bolts, and have the spring hal installed when two of the mechanics come along and finish the job (I think they were keen to go home). It takes around 3.5hrs in total. They don’t ask for any money, but we give them 20L of 80 fuel from Khorog, one bottle of beer, and some $US. These were fantastic guys who really pulled us out of a pickle. Stephen describes them as his favourite people from the trip so far.
The group of mechanics who helped us:
We drive into Osh, finally get some Kyrgyz money, fill our car and jerries with 93 fuel and find a guest house. We are both filthy from changing the spring and we get a lot of funny looks around town. Here I am with a man from a shop. He had this massive bottle of beer for sale, which I found amusing.
We eat at a local hotel. Stephen has something which translates to chicken under snow, and it’s stuffed chicken breast. It has a bizarre flavour, to me it tasted like the smell of a rubbish tip. Stephen eats it but he does briefly regret it the next day.
The spring issue has left us further behind, and we hope for a better day tomorrow. A day with no problems perhaps?
