And so we headed away from Deity Orgus to a town called
Kochkor for a night in a homestay.
Everyone was looking forward to some home comforts after the
bushcamping. We got there and were just
getting settled when the power went out, and with it the hot water! Not good, after 5 nights camping but
thankfully there was just enough hot water left in the tank for me to squeeze
in a quick shower J
The reason for the power cut soon became obvious – it was
snowing! It was the middle of June so
this took everyone by surprise, even the locals who had never seen snow in June
before!
It was Phil’s birthday that day so we had cake after dinner
and then a few of us headed out to try and find a bar to toast his birthday – a
combination of the snow, lack of power and it being a Monday night in the
middle of nowhere meant that nothing was open but Phil was grateful for our
attempts.
Snow is falling....
The next
morning we headed to a felt factory where we had a demonstration on how to make
felt. The lady demonstrating was lovely
and had a few people up dancing on the felt to compress it down! The finished product (which in case you can’t
recognise it is a lovely design of our truck Calypso) was given to Pernille as
a present as it was her birthday.
Kyrgyz hospitality
Felt demonstation
Bruce and Dav wiggling their butts on the felt!
Louise and Spike getting in on the action
Our finished product, can you tell what it is???
Me trying on felt hat
After
grabbing a quick lunch we started to head to Lake Song-Kul, the second largest
in Kyrgyzstan. It was to be our first
real foray into high altitude on this trip, with the lake being over 3,000m
above sea level. With all the required
advice given about taking it easy and drinking lots of water given, we started
to ascend. The snow in Kochkor had
started to melt when we left but as we got higher it returned with a vengeance……..
Herd of yaks!
Me with Lake Song Kul behind me
Snowy mountains
Beautiful view of Lake Song Kul
When we got
to Song Kul it was exceptionally cold and whilst looking for a place to camp we
managed to get the truck stuck in the mud and snow. Once it had been dug out we started to set up
camp. I was on cook group and made a
start on that first – it was hellish, the water was freezing up on me as I was
washing the vegetables. At one point I
had to stop peeling as I couldn’t feel my hands anymore! It was also very difficult to cook on the
fire (we had lamb stew with the remaining meat from the spit roast 2 nights
previous) as there was not enough oxygen to keep it going. Once we finally had dinner it was time for
bed, some guys had taken the option of an upgrade to a yurt whilst others,
including myself, stayed with camp. I
basically got into bed wearing almost all my clothes plus a buff, gloves and
hat. I had also bought a blanket that
morning which I had over my sleeping bag.
Thankfully that was enough to see me through the night when we reckon temperatures
dropped to around -8 degrees.
Calypso stuck again!
Mary and Becs making a snowman to pass the time
Warren doing a penguin dance to keep warm - Jo looking on bemused
Young nomads watching us with interest
Me!
Setting up camp in the snow!
The next
morning when we got up the sun was shining and the snow was starting to
melt. We had initially planned to spend
3 nights here and a meeting was held for the group to decide whether we stayed
or found somewhere at a lower altitude and higher temp. As the snow had started to melt we all agreed
to stay at least one other night, although in the end we did stay for the 3
nights. During this time we had the
opportunity to witness some goat polo, a national pastime in Kyrgyzstan. It basically involves 2 teams who are on
horseback wrestling each other for a goat carcass. Once they have it they have to place it on a
square piece of canvas to effectively score a goal. All very bizarre!
The camp by lunchtime the next day - all the snow is gone!
Young nomad visiting camp
waiting for goat polo
Crazy goat polo
Mahala settling in to watch the entertainment
Some guys also went horse riding, walking etc. I wrote a quiz and became pub quiz master for
the evening. Well done to Andy, Anna,
Dav, Teresa and Anton for being in the winning team. Dad, you would have been proud – one of my
questions was spell Reykjavik!
Storm approaching......
When it came time to leave Song Kul, rather than go back the way
we came we had been told we could go over a pass and head straight on. We went to investigate and whilst the road
was stunning, Simon made the very sensible call that it was passable for
vehicles but not for a large truck with 22 passengers! We thankfully turned back the way we came and
found a nice spot to camp near a river, where we managed to do some toasted
marshmallows which Anton, our guide, had never had before. He loved them!
To pass or not to pass!
A happy Louise!
Toasting marshmallows!
A quiet night in a homestay followed to give us the chance to
get a shower and some clean washing done before we started to head to the Chinese
border. Our final night in Kyrgyzstan
was to be as near as possible to the Kyrgyzstan checkpoint on the border. We got to within 2km and set up camp before
some border officials came up and told us we couldn’t camp there! 22 unhappy travellers then had to pack up
tents etc and load up the truck to drive the required 20km back away from the
checkpoint and set up camp all over again!
To be honest, it was just a taste of the bureaucracy that was to come in
China!
Overall we spent 2 weeks in Kyrgyzstan and for the most part it
was great (freezing cold nights aside).
The country has some stunning scenery, great walking and hiking
opportunities for those who are interested as well as some amazing friendly
people. Staying in a yurt will remain a
highlight!
That’s all for now – China instalment to follow, I promise J
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