Hi All, I had been trying to get through China for the last 4 years, using Horizons Unlimited I had frequently posted trying to find people to share the cost. I had the bike already kitted out sitting in the garage. Finally in late 2012 it all came together I sent off my deposit and was now going!. I never met any of the group we had our entry date of June 20th at the Torugart pass. Leaving Italy on May the 27th meant I had to press on, not much time for site seeing and the strict entry date focused my attention. I arrived in Bishkek Kyrgystan on the 11th of June and now felt able to spend a few days site seeing. Bishkek was a revelation lush green and the public buildings and soviet era statues all were clean and in good repair. After 3 days off the bike it was back on and onto Issyk Kul lake. Its classed as an alpine lake and is the second largest after Titicaca, over 180km long and 80km wide it never freezes despite being at over 1600 meters, in part due to salinity and also geo thermal warming. I spent a pleasant two nights on the lake and rode around it. I set off on the 17th for Naryn and the Dolan pass, around midday the wind picked up and eventually was blowing a real gale, it became very difficult to control the bike in the gusts and with thoughts of the Dolman and its 3000 meters I decided to abandon the day and stay by the lake. In the evening it snowed and though it did not settle by the lake the snow line came lower. The following day I again set off for Naryn, as I climbed higher snow started appearing at the side of the road and then it began to snow, the wind increased and I found myself riding in a blizzard. Visibility became a real problem with my visor misting and ice forming on the outside. It was getting really cold and conditions were far from comfortable. There were lorries stranded at the side of the road and the road surface was slush,mud and snow. There were long section under repair with long diversions onto unsealed and pot holed slush and mud. I pressed on , worried how much worse the conditions would get. Near the summit I met four Bikers coming the other way. We stopped to exchange information, they told me it was another 70km before conditions improved and that currently it was minus 3.5 ! and they collectively thought it was too dangerous and they would not have tried to cross had they known. It was further back than it was to carry on so I continued. A snow plough passed me on its way up...the descent seemed to take forever but gradually the snow disappeared and my spirits lifted, Naryn I was almost there.