It's a good + Sergei + (Marshutka x 2) = Arslanbob

Our two day journey to the West of the country consisted of one private taxi, one hitched shared taxi and 2 Marshutka or minibuses. 

Transport from Naryn to Kazarman consisted of a taxi through incredibly varied landscape over a four hour drive. Mountains were replaced with arid desert followed by lush high altitude pastures, red canyons, each repeated two or three times. It was truly beautiful and took us through a very remote and uninhabited part of the country. 

Perhaps one of the best parts of the drive was our driver who although spoke very little English enjoyed telling us his opinions on various countries and their presidents via facial expressions and hand gestures. 

The town of Kazarman is truly bleak and serves as a place for families of close-by mines to reside. It is uninspired at best but served as a good stop-over before we tackle the long drive to our final destination of the trip, Arslanbob  via Jalal-Abad. 

We woke up early on our second leg of the journey to try to find a shared taxi and get a decent price. We found one quickly and were set to wait for a full car when perhaps the only Russian we have seen in the south, rolled up with his daughter in their little white Lada, we were negotiated over and set off on the epic drive towards Jalal-Abad. It consists mostly of a 3000m pass over a road that just barely opened for the summer. Although little communication was exchanged,Sergei and his daughter got us safely to the bazaar. Jalal-Abad was a bustling treed town with a busy Saturday bazaar. We grabbed lunch and then two consecutive Martzutkas to arrive in our final destination, Arslansbob, after 8 total travel hours. 

Arslanbob grabbed us right away, so quaint and green with a river flowing right through the middle. It helped that our guest house is very cute and dinner was delicious! 

Tomorrow we look forward to setting out on our last 3 days before heading back to Bishkek.