Kyrgyzstan: ghost towns, wild camping, remote borders, and nomads.

We drive deep into the remote eastern borderlands of Kyrgyzstan — and explain to our mom what a VPN is: Get your own using NordVPN link here and you will get 4 months extra on a 2 years plan with the code NMEXP: https://nordvpn.com/nmexp
We travel through the Tian Shan, Soviet ghost towns, glacier valleys and rough tracks leading toward China.

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⏱️ CHAPTERS
00:00 The moms have landed
02:27 Heading for the Kazakh border
10:01 Over the 3,500m pass into Sary-Jaz
14:49 Storm, hail and a double rainbow
18:53 The long road to the glacier valley
25:11 End of the track: Engilchek glacier
29:49 Last days, and a road to China is coming
35:18 Rain, mud and the way out
38:48 Goodbye moms

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After making it into Kyrgyzstan, we head deep into the easternmost corners of the country — following remote tracks along the borders of China and Kazakhstan.

We enter the heart of the Tian Shan, where enormous glaciers, 7,000-metre peaks and vast valleys replace roads, towns and almost everything else. This is nomad territory: shepherds, horses, mountains and a wilderness that feels almost untouched.

But the further we go, the more difficult the journey becomes. The weather turns, the tracks disappear beneath the rain, and for hours we don't see another vehicle.

Eventually, we reach Engilchek, a forgotten Soviet mining town hidden deep in the mountains. And beyond it, we follow the road as far as it will take us.

Until it simply ends.

Our two mothers are still with us too — somehow happily driving a Land Cruiser through rivers, mud and cliffside tracks, sleeping in the back of a 4x4 while snow falls outside.

But this remote corner of Kyrgyzstan is changing. A new road toward China is already being built, and the place we found may soon become much easier to reach — and very different from what it is today.

So we pick up one last stone, say goodbye to the eastern borderlands, and begin the long journey back.

This is Kyrgyzstan. This is the Next Meridian Expedition.

Thanks for coming along for the ride. 🇰🇬
Nick & Mathilde

/// Episode 200 | Filmed August 2026 | Kyrgyzstan

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