Leg 138, Kazarman, Kyrgyzstan, via Tajikistan to Shakristabz, Uzbekistan
DAY01_07.PLN (11.6 KB)
I’ll probably have to make 2 posts for this leg considering I have 65 screenshots from last night, oops. The mountain ranges of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, under last nights weather conditions were simply incredible. I had laid out a very difficult route as well, icing was a given, but I could have toned down a bit on all the stops at small airstrips. It was great fun, each landing with the continuous beeping of the stall warning due to icing requiring a rather higher landing speed than the short air strips demanded. Some were also shrouded in heavy fog or low hanging clouds.
Luckily the wind was nice to me and I only needed to circle for one crossing to gain enough altitude. The Bonanza still flies pretty well iced up but has its limits. I’m hoping the weather cooperates when I get to Mount Everest as my desired crossing requires 20K ft altitude, backup crossing 18K ft. Anyway that’s still a month away after India.
01-06 Kazarman UAFZ 8:18 PM
01-06 Sosnovka UASV 8:40 PM
01-06 Verkhnyaya Alaarcha UABH 9:02 PM Virtual vision landing, short runway, 2 attempts
01-06 Frunze Northwest UABS 9:13 PM short runway, 2 attempts, my sleeve pushes the throttle open again doh
01-06 Manas UCFM (Bishkek) 9:17 PM
01-06 Lugovoy UA36 9:49 PM
01-06 Talas UATL 10:15 PM Hard to climb mountains with icing…
01-06 Toktogul UATO 10:39 PM
01-06 Kerben UAKR 11:04 PM Heavy fog, icing
01-06 Namangan UTFN 11:17 PM
01-06 Pap East UTPB 11:26 PM Unclear runway
01-06 Pap UTPP 11:29 PM
01-07 Tashkent Vostochny UT63 12:12 AM
01-07 Yuzhny UTTT 12:15 AM Tashkent capital
01-07 Tashkent Sergeli UTTS 12:19 AM
01-07 Kalinovka / Angren UTTY 12:25 AM Runway? Nearly ran into the building
01-07 Chartak UTAI 12:29 AM
01-07 Ak Kurgan UTZA 12:32 AM
01-07 Soldatskiy Southeast UTZF 12:35 AM
01-07 Ina Chkalova UTGS 12:42 AM
01-07 Gulistan North UTGI 12:46 AM
01-07 Dustlik East UTDI 12:59 AM
01-07 Pakhtakor UT1Q 1:06 AM
01-07 Ayni UTAY 1:40 AM Virtual vision landing, too foggy
01-07 Garm UTRA 2:20 AM Virtual vision landing, heavy fog
01-07 Khovaling UTKV 2:46 AM Virtual vision landing, heavy fog
01-07 Dushanbe UTDD 3:11 AM
01-07 Gissar UT45 3:15 AM
01-07 Galyabita East UTTU 3:27 AM
01-07 Sariasiya UT72 3:32 AM
01-07 Zar Chob UTDN 3:41 AM short ‘runway’ on a hill
01-07 Shakristabz Southwest UTSZ 4:09 AM
Flight time 7:51 31 stops
Early morning climb over Gory Dzhamantau / Jamauntau mountain range, highest peak 13,520 ft
Karamoinok Chokusu Nature Preserve
Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan against Central Asia’s Tian Shan range
Ala too square with a statue of Manas
The epic of Manas is an important part of Kyrgizstan history
History and cultural values transferred from one generation to the next in the form of an epic poem
There are also exotic bazaars to be found in Bishkek, Dordoy bazaar and Osh bazaar below
Departure from Manas airport, still before sunrise
I could use some sunshine to ‘clean’ the windows
Near Oytal, popping into a corner of Kazakhstan for a little bit
On the way to Lugovoy
And further on to Talas, back into Kyrgyzstan
Mountain ranges are perfect as borders
The sun is up, yet no sighting yet
Entering the Talas River Valley
Mountain range on the North side of the valley
Maybe a local knows the name of the mountain range, not on digital maps
The view at Talas and another Manas monument
Flying over the It Agar river
Chychkan river and Route M41 below, more commonly known as the Pamir Highway
The M41 connects Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan through the Pamir mountains
Toktogul Reservoir
Naryn River, flowing out of the reservoir to Toktogul’skaya Ges, hydro electric power plant
As seen from the other direction. The dam remains hidden in the coulds.
Approach to Kerben
Gora Boboiob Mountain Peak, 12,369 ft
Akhangaran Reservoir below, mostly frozen over
Open pit coal mine at Angren
Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan
Known for its many museums and its mix of modern and Soviet-era architecture
Tashkent Vestochny airport in the distance
Amir Timur (also spelled as Taimer and Temur) museum and statue
Amir Timur (1336-1405) was a Turco-Mongol conqueror who founded the Timurid Empire in and around modern-day Afghanistan, Iran and Central Asia, becoming the first ruler of the Timurid dynasty.
State museum of history of Uzbekistan
There are many many museums in Tashkent, big and small.
Memorial and Museum of victims of repressions on the left.
Muzey Tykvy, small family museum on the right.
My poor ‘drivers’ don’t get to see much at all on this trip, so much ice
Window defrost is still in/op as well, I wonder if they have heat at least…
Near Pishag’ar
Coming up on Zaamin National Park
Another tough climb
I had to circle for a bit to finally skim over the top of a ridge into Tajikistan
Wee, down the other side
Approaching Ayni
Over the Zeravshan river
Ayni, one of the places where I had to use the virtual display to land
Named after the Tajik national poet Sadriddin Ayni
On to Garm
Through a spectacle of light
Along the Zarafshan Range
The windows cleared up, my lucky pilots get to see something as well
Sky and mountains competing who can look the best
It’s clearing up a bit closer to Garm
Rasht Valley where Garm is located
What are the odds Garm is inside that cloud…
https://i.imgur.com/izEQkmI.png
Looking away from Garm, which is behind me, inside the cloud
https://i.imgur.com/lAaFYqE.png
Leaving Garm after another virtual vision landing
https://i.imgur.com/7SeyU4m.png
Seri Khosor National Park
https://i.imgur.com/092aT59.png
https://i.imgur.com/meE3x94.png
Asobo, you are amazing
https://i.imgur.com/f1u4OHa.png
Kyzulsu or Vakhsh River in that little blue spot in the clouds
https://i.imgur.com/x32RV4H.png
Most rivers have no names, this one has two on the map
Getting ready to land in Dushanbe, approaching over the Varzob River
https://i.imgur.com/IpHsdUU.png
Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan
https://i.imgur.com/wHvgNrJ.png
Navruz palace / Palace of nations / The White house, the official residence of the president of Tajikistan
https://i.imgur.com/YwF9eSH.png
Flag pole park and Rudaki park and monument
https://i.imgur.com/w0ggmyX.png
Abū 'Abd Allāh Ja’far ibn Muḥammad al-Rūdhakī (858-951) better known as Rudaki and as “Adam of Poets”, was a Persian poet regarded as the first great literary genius of the Modern Persian language.
National museum of Tajikistan with instruments from Gurminj’s Musical Instruments Museum on the left
https://i.imgur.com/DahDtnJ.png
Tupolangdar’ya River and Tupalang Ges power station
https://i.imgur.com/FlBCvtH.png
Shirkent National Park
https://i.imgur.com/QZh9a2d.png
Tupolangdar’ya River near Chash
https://i.imgur.com/IDK035H.png
Crossing the border into Uzbekistan
https://i.imgur.com/jmNIHBB.png
My final stop was at Shakristabz where you can visit the remains of Ak Sary Palace
https://i.imgur.com/ym58ojD.png
Amir Temur ruled here as well, this was his 14th century summer palace
What an amazing and demanding flight. Now I’m kinda looking forward to a more ‘boring’ trek over the plains of Kazakhstan (in an hour or so from now). First more of Uzbekistan before making my way back to the Caspian Sea and Turkmenistan.