Our starting point was 20km out of town because recent rains had washed away half the track along the original route, so we had to do a detour. Up and down we went in the Mercedes van til we came across a whitewashed farmhouse perched on a hilltop looking out over the river below, with a good 300 goats milling around. Lush green grass covered the hills, eagles soared above, perhaps looking for a weak young one for brunch.

Robert looked over at me and laughed.

I understood immediately. It’s sometimes too perfect on these trips, when everything you imagined it might be like is suddenly right there before you.

To top it off, a local guy suddenly appeared from the trail we’d come from wearing an orange Sou Wester and jeans, riding a town bike that wouldn’t have looked out of place in Amsterdam. His tires looked about 25mm and his bike had cantilever brakes and two canvas panniers. He nodded a hello, rode right through the herd and off up a trail to the right.

Where is he off to? I asked Dmitry.

To Beshkik. Can do it in a day. Only 180km, he said.

People here are built different. To me, 180km over this terrain and surface, on that bike, I’d be more than slightly apprehensive that I’d likely not make it through to see another dawn…

Finally off we went and it was 40km of decent but hard up and down, 1km up, 500m flat, 1km up, on and on, with rough, loose gravel below that forced you to concentrate. Yet it was smiles all round, because we’d been waiting for weeks for this and here it was. To the left the river flowed, that mysterious glacial blue, so arresting, with flat land for about 200m behind it, then these large, smooth, curving red hills rising up to the enormous clouds.

We rounded a bend and could see that behind these hills were mountains and glaciers, glistening in the mid-morning sun. The ice shimmered and danced, and it looked for all the world that it was moving, as though a river of ice.

We stopped for lunch behind a hill as we were facing a stiff headwind. We set a table up behind the van and then the treats came out, simple but delicious. Local breads that could grace any Italian restaurant, a tangy local cheese sliced thick, pickled cucumbers and quite possibly the most delicious tomatoes I - and Robert - have ever had.

Our local crew - Dmitry, Alex and Taala - looked at us as if were mad for going on about a simple tomato! But trust me, these are pallate-popping good.

After lunch we had 5km of flat and then a 20km climb that did test us quite a lot, the incline going from 4% up to 10% in places, with an average of 6%. On sharp loose gravel, that is not easy. We then encountered more rollers as the river widened and the temperature hit 30 degrees. We were hammering the downhills and forcing the uphills, all the while casting glances here and there to appreciate the stunning landscape that enveloped us.

Quite clearly this place is not Mongolia, which I imagined it would be similar to - it’s a whole lot bigger in scale, more dramatic.

Robert unfortunately flatted twice and darkness stopped play, so we jumped in the van and drove the final 15km to our little guesthouse that was sat right by a river. Another cracking meal ensued, and I am definitely going to need to go on a diet after this tour!

Kyrgyzstan THE ENTICING - Day 2

Kyrgyzstan the Breathtaking - Day 3

Kyrgyzstan the Mighty - Day 1