OVERLAND TO TAJIKISTAN 4: Osh (too many men, not enough coffee)

8am and I’m roaming the streets of Osh, Kyrgyzstan searching for coffee. I urgently need to get caffeinated before starting on another all-day journey, a shared taxi ride along the Fergana valley to Batken, in the far east of southern Kyrgyzstan. 

Because I’m a foreigner without a Kyrgyz or Uzbek passport, I need to travel the long road that skirts around several small Uzbek enclaves in southern Kyrgyzstan. 

The hostel has booked me a place in a taxi that leaves at 10, giving me just enough time to find a cafe — if any are open at this hour — and briefly explore the city of Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s ‘southern capital’.

Opening the Jayma Bazaar

Bazaar Street is almost empty, but those men who are out already, sweeping the streets or setting up their stalls, stare blatantly at me, even though I’m dressed (fairly) modestly and wearing a headscarf. 

I peer at the stalls in the central Jayma Bazaar, spotting sharon fruits, pomegranates and carrots so pale they’re almost white. No coffee here, though. 

From the marketplace I turn into one of the little side streets, again followed by the eyes of every man I pass. The first cafes I come to are closed. The first one that’s open serves only tea, the beverage of choice here, not coffee. 

I’m starting to think crossly that Osh would be improved by having fewer men and less coffee, when finally I get to Istanbul Cafe. 

Coffee at last!

There, an old woman in a headscarf — the first woman I’ve seen since leaving the hostel this morning — produces a small cup of bitter, gritty coffee, strongly laced with sugar. It tastes disgusting. I gulp it down gratefully. 

The woman is keen to find out where I’m from, and when she learns I’m English she tells me here friend went to London, where she works in a factory. 

“She only sends back a little money,” she adds, rubbing her thumb and middle finger together. 

I ask her about Batken, where I’m headed for today, and she comments that “their mentality is normal”. 

“Is it interesting?” 

“No. But very nice people, friendly. It doesn’t matter if you are Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Russian or English.” 

It’s the first positive thing anyone has said about my destination since I started the trip two days ago. 

Climbing Soloman’s Throne

Coffee drunk and paid for, I head uphill towards Solomon’s Throne, also known as Sulaiman-too, the small mountain that rears out of the flat city. It has been a place of worship for at least 1,500 years, in Islamic and pre-Islamic times. 

Ancient petroglyphs were found here, and there are also more recent monuments like the 16th century Babur’s chapel, named for the Mughal emperor Babur. In July this year, Sulaiman-too was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. 

When I climb back down the steps built on the side of the rocky mountain, Osh has woken up. Women as well as men are out on the streets, queueing for buses on their way to work, examining the produce in the market and sweeping the pavements in front of the cafes. 

It’s time to say goodbye to Osh, Kyrgyzstan. There’s just time for me to hurry past them back to the hostel, housed in a Soviet-era block, and get ready for the journey on to Batken.