No Journey Too Far: Mountains, Lakes and Yurts

And so another day and another border crossing, this time from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan. After our previous experiences we were all very apprehensive but prepared for a long day. The one bonus for Kyrgyzstan was that we didn't need a visa so free entry! This was welcome after the expense of some of the visas we had to get either en route or before we left. We got to the border early and it was fairly busy but efficient as we all queued up for get stamped out of Kazakhstan - this was done in around half an hour and then we all walked through no man's land to the Kyrgyz border. Again, all was very efficient and we were quickly stamped in to Kyrgyzstan. It had taken about an hour from start to finish - amazing. Now to wait for Calypso.......

We wandered through and found a shaded courtyard area to sit and wait, some went for tea, others read books and chatted and did general bits and bobs to pass the time. Our new guide, Anton turned up whilst we were waiting - he looked about 12 lol! He was in fact 22 and fairly new and inexperienced at being a guide but he turned out to be very good and helpful. After 2 hours of waiting we saw Calypso pull through - a 3 hour border crossing has been our quickest for a long time.

The hotel was only an hour or so away so we raced on and were very happy when we got there - it had a swimming pool! Our first one, result. A group meal at a German beer house had been arranged that night - perhaps a strange choice for our first night in Kyrgyzstan but across all of Central Asia from Turkmenistan to Kyrgyzstan the food is pretty much the same (tasty but the same) so we were happy to get some schnitzel and sausages!

Some of the ladies ready for their German meal

The next morning it was off for a walking tour of Bishkek, the capital. Anton, our guide, was great but it soon became apparent that there was not too much to see in this city. Kyrgyzstan is approx. 90% mountains and whilst the city was fairly modern, there was very little history or anything too interesting about the place. Here are some photos though....

Changing of the guard

Warren and Dave posing with their historical counterparts with matching facial hair!

Soviet style apartment block - the last we'll see as this is our last Stan

Andy

After the walking tour I headed off to the bazaar with Kelly, Hayden and Phil. We had decided to have a fancy dress party when we got to Deity Orgus and we had each pulled a name out of a hat for who we were buying for. We had a $5 budget to it was off to the bazaar to see what we could get. We split up and arranged to meet up again in an hour to get a taxi back - let the exploring begin. The bazaar was a complete maze, once I was in I wondered if I would find my way back to them! After much hunting I bought a belly dancing costume for Kelly then headed back to meet up with them. It was at this point that I learned that the others had been searched and questioned by the local police, later Phil also noticed that they had taken £40 out of his wallet. After his initial anger had worn off he had a laugh about it - he had been trying to change the £ since we were in Azerbaijan and no-one would change them so they were pretty much useless to them. Anyway, no-one came anywhere near me!

After that it was time to go back to the hotel and get some washing done and chill by the pool...

Overlanders getting their washing dried

Chilling by the pool.

The next morning we were off to Lake Issyk Kul, the second largest salt lake in the world. We've already seen the largest on this trip - the Caspian sea. We were all looking forward to some time by the lake but unfortunately the weather was not great! Firstly we got there and Calypso got stuck in the mud again.....

We all headed on to the beach area where we would be camping whilst the crew, helped by Andy, dug calypso out once again.

Skimming stones whilst waiting for Calypso

Becs and Pernille trying to light a fire at the lake.

To be honest the weather wasn't the only thing putting a dampener on the day. Until now the group had been fairly tight and everyone was getting along well. However, there were some tensions brewing and everyone could sense it and most people, including myself, were not in the best of moods. In fact, I could quite happily have come home that day. However, on a trip like this you have to accept a few things - firstly 22 strangers are not going to get on perfectly for 6 months, especially when living in such close proximity and secondly you are going to have bad days - you just have to make sure that the good far outweigh the bad and that has definitely been the case.

After Calypso reached us and we set up camp, almost everyone disappeared to their tents to avoid the tension. Later that night when we were having dinner it became apparent that Phil was not around and Phil never misses a meal. As we knew it was going to be dark soon we all decided to set off in pairs to look for him. Thankfully he was found safe and well although it was clear he was unhappy about something. The next morning we found out that someone had made a complaint about his behaviour when he had a few drinks and he was upset. In my opinion the whole thing was very badly handled as he was not given any specifics about what the complaint was. I am not questioning the validity of the complaint but it was definitely handled all wrong and to be honest just caused even more of a rift in the group. Anyway, onwards we went with our destination for the day a place in the mountains called Deity Orgus. En route, however, we had an included activity which was to see some eagle hunting. The weather was still miserable but stopped long enough for us to become acquainted with the eagle named Tamara...

After the photo ops we then saw a demonstration of the eagle hunting a rabbit - not for the faint hearted as it ripped it's limbs apart! Nature in action I suppose.

We were then off to Deity Orgus up in the mountains. Deity Orgus means 7 bulls, which are the rock formations below - however we counted more than 7!

Before we could get to camp we had 5 scary bridges to cross. For these we each got out and walked across whilst Simon and Teresa guided and drove Calypso across...

The weather was still awful, with heavy rain and no-one was looking forward to camping in the rain. we were all pleased when Teresa informed us that there was an option of staying in a yurt for a night - everyone was happy to pay to take up that option! I was in a yurt with James, Mahala, Dave and Warren and we were very nice and cosy and, most importantly, warm and dry!

Dav with his Kyrgyz hat in the yurt

Roof of yurt which is the same as the Kyrgyz flag

Our yurt from the outside

Nomad camp with yurts

Breakfast

Happy yurters eating breakfast

Nomad girl who served us breakfast

The next day the weather was glorious, in fact it was for the next 2 days. We all had a great time with some of us hiking, horse riding, walking, and just chilling, We had our fancy dress party and also, on the last day, Teresa and Simon had arranged to buy a sheep for us to roast. It was delivered very much alive at night and the nomad came back the next morning to kill and skin it for us so that it could be roasted over the fire - it was delicious!

Deity Orgus was a big success for us - now to go to a homestay for a night before we visit lake Song Kul - but that's another post. Here's some pics from Deity Orgus tho.....