16-Days Central Asia 2026 Day 7 : Fergana (Uzbekistan) to Osh (Kyrgyzstan)

Tuesday, July 14, 2026

16-Days Central Asia 2026 Day 7 : Fergana (Uzbekistan) to Osh (Kyrgyzstan)

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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures

Central Asia 2026
Day 7 : Fergana (Uzbekistan) to Osh (Kyrgyzstan)

Central Asia 2026 Day 7: 21st May (Thursday)

Medium-size Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan):

Day 7 - Fergana (Uzbekistan) to Osh (Kyrgyzstan):

Fergana (Reikartz Fergana)>Quva>Asaka>Andijan>Dustlik Border Post (Uzbekistan)>walk>Dostuk Border Post (Kyrgyzstan)>van>Osh>Restaurant Navat>Suleiman Mountain>Teshik Tash Market>Osh Grand Hotel Chavo.

This is page 7 of a 16-page blog. Click Here To Go To Title Page.
< D6: Fergana | Go to Other Days | D8: Bishkek >

Route recommendations, here are some tips on travelling to and around Uzbekistan, Central Asia:

1. Traffic Directions!

Central Asian countries are left-hand drive, and vehicles drive on the right side of the road. So do bear this in mind when crossing the road OR when sitting at the front passenger seat. I made this mistake several times and boarded the car at the driver's side with the driver giving me a surprised look 😂.

2. Getting to and from Central Asia.

Several airlines fly direct to Central Asia from their originating country. We were fortunate that AirAsia X flew direct from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
We flew return via AirAsia X, starting from KLIA Terminal 2 to Tashkent International Airport, and returning from Almaty International Airport to KLIA Terminal 2, buying tickets earlier to get cheaper fares. We also packed light (20kg checked-in luggage for two people plus an additional 7kg of cabin luggage), totalling 41kg of luggage.

3. Getting around Central Asia.
We were on a private guided tour, and had a 15-seater black Weichai Eurise vans (Chinese version of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter), with local guides taking us between the cities/towns.
Within Uzbekistan we took the Sharq Train from Tashkent to Bukhara, and from Samarkand to Tashkent.
Note: Traders in bazaars, markets, and small local shops only accept cash. The "sum" (ISO code: UZS) is the official currency of Uzbekistan. The "som" (ISO code: KGS) is the currency of Kyrgyzstan. The tenge (ten-gay, code: KZT) is the currency of Kazakhstan. It is divided into 100 tiyn.
Touch 'n Go e-Wallet can be used in Kazakhstan, just make sure the e-wallet is set to Kazakhstan.

4. Immigration & Customs Requirements

Malaysian passport holders do not need a visa to enter most Central Asian countries for short-term stays and can visit Uzbekistan visa-free for up to 30 days. There is no need to fill in immigration forms.

Note: Malaysian passport holders can install the MyBorderPass app for fast immigration clearance to get in and out of Malaysia; use the app to generate a QR code just before passing through the 40 dedicated MyBorderPass gates (only at KLIA & KLIA2, 20 gates each), and getting through will be a breeze!

5. Places & Things of Interests

There were many scenic and interesting places along the route, but one should not miss the following places (Note: click on the GPS coordinates below for a directional map to the respective places):
- Uzbek-Kyrgyz Border Tamozhennyy Post Dustlik (Do'stlik nazorat punkti) (GPS: 40.57297, 72.75954) on the Uzbekistan side.

- Dostuk Kyrgyz-Uzbek Border Post (Достук чек ара пункту) (GPS: 40.57105, 72.76187) on the Kyrgyzstan side.
- At Osh:
- Suleiman Mountain (Сулайман Тоо) (GPS: 40.53025, 72.78507).

- Sulaiman Mountain Museum (Сулайман тоо музейи) (GPS: 40.52861, 72.7829).

- Babur’s House (Мавзолей Бабур-шаха) (GPS: 40.53044, 72.79029).
- Teshik Tash Local Market (Тешик Таш базары) (GPS: 40.53817, 72.79438).

6. Food

a. Breakfast

Inclusive Western Fare at the Reikartz Fergana (GPS: 40.38227, 71.78895) in Fergana.
b. Lunch

Kyrgyz fare at Restaurant Navat (GPS: 40.52278, 72.80075) in Osh:

Local Floral tea, Kyrgyz Bread (Tandyr Nan), Boortsog Buns, Horiatiki Greek Salad, Cucumber Slinky Salad, Vegetable Soup, Beef/Chicken Manti Dumplings, and cut fruits.
c. Dinner

Kyrgyz & Russian at Osh Grand Hotel Chavo (Гранд Хотел Чаво) (GPS: 40.53546, 72.79315) in Osh:
Kyrgyz Green Tea, Russian Olivier Salad, Creamy Potato Soup, Pan Seared Salmon, and Fried Rice.

7. Accommodations and Tour Costs

This was a recce-guided tour that included all ground arrangements, food, entry tickets to parks, and accommodations, but excluded return airfare to and from Central Asia. We booked Air Asia flight tickets online through their website at a return fare of around RM2,000 per pax. Co-travellers who booked later paid more. Our two pax airfare included 20kg of checked-in luggage and an extra 7kg of cabin luggage, giving us a total of 41kg of luggage..

The ground arrangements included 16-seater van transportation between and around cities; Sharq Express Train fare from Tashkent to Bukhara, and from Samarkhand to Tashkent, and domestic Tez Jet airfare from Osh to Bishkek. The 4x4 Russian truck ride to and from Karakol to the Altyn-Arashan Valley was optional and cost USD40 per pax. So was the 4x4 van ride from Saty to Kaindy Lake and Kolsay Lakes National Park, which cost USD20 per pax.

Accommodations were in three-star hotels, homestays, and a yurt camp. For those interested in this tour, contact Eddie at +6012-6122600 for more details and ground arrangement costs.
One night at the Osh Grand Hotel Chavo (Гранд Хотел Чаво) (GPS: 40.53546, 72.79315) in Osh.

8. Communicating with Each Other

When travelling in a group, it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest.
I pre-purchased the Maxis 15-day Multi-Country Roaming Pass at MYR99 and had it activated on the first day of our tour. This pass included a complimentary Maxis Travel Care insurance for the pass validity period - i.e. MYR50,000 hospitalisation, and MYR2,000 lost baggage, T&C applies.
Alternatively, an almost similar GOGO physical sim card for 15-day 20gB can be bought from Lazada for MYR120 (excluding delivery).

9. Communicating with Locals

Our local guides spoke excellent English, and those in the travel industry or bazaar traders spoke passable English. Other locals speak their local language (Uzbek, Kyrgyz, or Kazakh) or Russian (as they were former Soviet republics). Or one can use Google Translate on one's mobile.

10. Weather

June is the beginning of summer, and the weather in Uzbekistan is dry, sunny, and hot across the board. In Fergana, daytime temperatures average 29°C, and in Osh, daytime temperatures average 26°C, while nighttime averaged 15°C.
A useful weather forecast site for Fergana and Osh is AccuWeather. For more detailed weather, including cloud cover and wind speed, use Weatherspark and Ventusky.

11. Navigation

Geo-tagging of places of interest was via FaceBook, Google Maps or Yandex Maps and Yandex Navigator.

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PRELUDE

Yesterday, we bid goodbye to Tashkent and headed to Fergana, to explore Uzbekistan beyond the bigger cities; along the way, we visited a palace and wooden mosque, and also some of the cottage industries, such as the Mingboshi Ceramic and Margilan Silk Factory, for which the region is renowned.

Today, we leave Fergana AND Uzbekistan to cross the border to Osh in Kyrgyzstan, to start the next stage of our Central Asia Adventure!

___________________________________________________________________________

DAY 7: TASHKENT (UZBEKISTAN) TO OSH (KYRGYSTAN)

Medium-size Group (Non-cycling) Tour of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan & Kazakhstan)

Day 7 - Fergana (Uzbekistan) to Osh (Kyrgyzstan):
Fergana (Reikartz Fergana)>Quva>Asaka>Andijan>Dustlik Border Post (Uzbekistan)>walk>Dostuk Border Post (Kyrgyzstan)>van>Osh>Restaurant Navat>Suleiman Mountain>Teshik Tash Market>Osh Grand Hotel Chavo.

(Click here for the Central Asia 2026 Day 7: Fergana (Uzbekistan) to Osh (Kyrgyzstan) Route Map.)

Most of the posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post to read more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out of your Facebook first.)

Western breakfast at Reikartz Fergana; simple and good.

Leaving Fergana (Uzbekistan), we will be crossing over to Osh (Kyrgyzstan), it will be a 145km journey that will take three to four hours, depending on border immigration and customs clearance. Fortunately, instead of the usual 15-seater Weichai Eurise van, the tour organizers have put us on a very comfortable 45-seater tour bus.

En route and passing by Quva.
I am using towns as checkpoints for our route. Luckily, I did, as the pre-tour route plotted out was different.
Quva is famous for its fruits, specifically pomegranates, cherries, and peaches. It is also is the birth city of Abū al-ʿAbbās Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Kathīr al-Farghānī (800/805–870), also known as Alfraganus in the West. Alfraganus was an astronomer in the Abbasid court in Baghdad, and one of the most famous astronomers of the 9th century. The lunar crater Alfraganus is named after him.

10:30am - First Rest stop at Propan Gas Station, Asaka. There was only one rest room, and the taps were dry ..... so we did the only thing logical - held our breath.

Weather here at Uzbekistan is hot; often at the roadside are stalls selling Halva ice-cream. These ice creams are made with Halva, a type of confectionery that is spread throughout North Africa, East Africa, Eastern Europe, the Balkans, West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. The name refers to a broad variety of recipes, generally a thick paste made from flour, butter, oil, saffron, rosewater, milk, turmeric powder, and sugar. It originated in Persia (modern-day Iran).
These stalls were near Andijan. Excuse the blurry photo; it was taken from the bus.
We did get to savor these treats several times during our lunch or dinner.

11:30am - Arriving at the Uzbek-Kyrgyz Border Tamozhennyy Post Dustlik border checkpoint.

Long queues of trailers on our side, so we had to go counterflow, which seems to be the normal thing to do. We will be changing buses after crossing the border; this bus will go back to Fergana. We will have to drag our luggage a fair distance through immigration and customs for both countries. On the Kyrgyzstan side, a Kyrgyz guide and bus will be waiting for us.

Eddie did a good job, and the changeover went smoothly!

Saying goodbye to our Uzbek driver to head for the border control checkpoints. The walk is somewhat like going through a shopping mall; we passed by shops/stalls before border control.

Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!
Nazirah, our Kyrgyz guide, greeted us with her cheery smile, and her van was already there waiting for us.

2:15pm - Kyrgyz Lunch at Restaurant Navat, our first meal in Kyrgyzstan!

Interesting fare of:

Local Floral tea, Kyrgyz Bread (Tandyr Nan), Boortsog Buns, Horiatiki Greek Salad, Cucumber Slinky Salad, Vegetable Soup, Beef/Chicken Manti Dumplings, and cut fruits. I love the Cucumber Slinky Salad, not just for it's unique Slinky cut but also for it's refreshing dressing. Oddly, I found that it is a Chinese creation.

It was a good lunch that energised us for the next thing, a climb up Suleiman Mountain. Still, it was a hot day; luckily at the bottom of the climb, a stall was selling Shoro brand Kvass, Maksym, Chalap drinks with casings featuring the World Nomad Games.
Kvass is a fermented, cereal-based, low-alcoholic beverage of cloudy appearance and a sweet and sour taste. Maksym is a fermented grain beverage from Kyrgyzstan made primarily from malted barley, water, and sometimes wheat or corn, producing a mildly sour, slightly effervescent drink with low alcohol content. It is consumed throughout the country, especially during warm seasons, and is commonly sold at street kiosks and markets, where it is dispensed cold from large metal tanks. Chalap consists of qatiq or suzma, salt, and carbonated water.
Having tried Kvass before during a 2019 Russia Tour, I went for it.

Energised, we climb up to the mountain, which some researchers and historians identify as the famous landmark of antiquity known as the "Stone Tower", about which Claudius Ptolemy wrote in his treatise "Geography". The Stone Tower marked the midpoint on the ancient Silk Road, the overland trade route taken by caravans between Europe and Asia.

Midway up is the Sulaiman Mountain Museum. The most striking attraction of the museum is that it is located in a mountain cave. The museum contains petroglyphs, some of which are millennia old, as well as at least twelve holy caves visited by numerous pilgrims. In ancient times, hermits lived in these caves, altars and mazars were located, so people came here to pray and ask for help from the saints.

With local Kygrz girls dressed in Korean Hanboks, at the viewpoint at the end of the museum cave.

From there, it was a climb down to the exit, which was not that easy for this old AhPek like me, as the stairs were quite steep.

James Bond has the "Man with the Golden Gun", here we met "The Woman with the Golden Teeth!"

The golden teeth are very common in Kyrgyzstan. It is a sign of wealth and prestige. It is similar to wearing gold accessories. During the Soviet era, especially in rural parts of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, gold teeth and full gold crowns became surprisingly common. Dental care was limited, and modern materials weren’t always available. Gold, on the other hand, was durable, accessible, and easy for dentists to work with. So it became the go-to solution for fixing damaged teeth.

Today, one mostly see it in older generations, especially women. For younger people, it has largely disappeared.

5:00pm - At the New Osh Bazar (Osh Novyy). We were a bit disappointed as it seems more like a supermarket with stalls selling Chinese-made goods rather than local handicrafts or traditional souvenirs. So we didn't spend much time here.

A saving grace, as we left the place, was seeing differing mountain views in the distance. On one side were green fields leading to green hills, and on the other was craggy grey mountain.

Nazirah, our guide, seeing our dissatisfaction with that "Bazaar", took us to an authentic local market - the Teshik Tash Local Market.

Thank goodness! As this old bazaar dates back to the founding of the city, some three thousand years ago and full of local character with the most colorful passageways to the bazaar and stalls selling local fruits and vegetables. It is quite big, with a trading area of about 12 hectares, which incorporates 1,750 trading stalls and 500 pavilions. Within this large areas is the Altyn (Gold) Bazaar, Artisan Section, and even a historical Blacksmith Row. Unfortunately, our visit was too short to be able to see all of these.

6:30pm - Checked into Osh Grand Hotel Chavo, our first night stay in Kyrgyzstan. It was a clean, comfortable hotel.

Straight away after checking in, and even before going to our rooms, we had Kyrgyz & Russian dinner at the hotel's restaurant, on the table: