Nothing marks the city of Nevaket from the road except a low mound in a field, and the Chuy valley holds a lot of mounds like it. The town once stood on the Silk Road, in the green plain north of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too range, close to the modern village of Krasnaya Rechka, and archaeologists have found there the foundations of a Buddhist temple and a Nestorian Christian church. Sogdian merchants from Samarkand and Bukhara founded towns like this one to trade silk, metal and horses with the steppe peoples, and the faiths of those travellers travelled with them. It is one of the sites that make up the Silk Roads corridor listed as a World Heritage property in 2014, along with Ak-Beshim and the tower at Burana, which is on the route.
For a rider, the Chuy valley is one of the easier introductions to Kyrgyzstan. The plain is broad and flat, with poplar windbreaks, irrigation ditches, wheat and sugar-beet fields and, to the south, the white wall of mountains that rise above Bishkek to more than four thousand metres. The main road, the highway east, is busy with trucks and minibuses, and you must watch for livestock, potholes and drivers who treat the centre line as advisory. Early starts help. In the morning light the peaks are sharp, but by afternoon heat haze softens everything and the summer sun can be punishing.
The ride goes on toward Balasagun, where the Burana Tower stands, the surviving minaret of a medieval city, built around the eleventh century and now about two dozen metres high after earthquakes shortened it. The site has a museum, a collection of carved stone figures called balbals and a view over the plain, and it makes a pleasant stop. Nearby the Kyrgyz Ala-Too has gorges you can follow upward, with rivers, pine forests and yurt camps where you can drink fermented mare's milk, kumis, and eat fresh bread.
Fuel is not a problem on the main road, as the valley is the most densely settled part of the country, and Kant, the nearest sizeable town, is only a few kilometres away, with stations and cafes. Bishkek, not far west, offers everything else. Take cash, since cards are patchy outside the capital. Spring brings green fields and snowy peaks, while autumn is golden and dry, and the best months to ride here are May, June, September and early October. In July the valley floor is hot, and the mountains are the place to be.