Back to my new favourite airline, Turkish Airlines, for a thankfully uneventful connection through Istanbul to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. Arriving in a new country where everything is written in the Cyrillic alphabet at 4.30am after the usual lack of sleep on the flight continues to be a good idea… Long and slow-moving queues at passport control (no visa required) meant that my bag was slowly trundling around the baggage carousel waiting for me when I finally got through. I found my transfer and waited for some other people on the G Adventures trip I am doing to arrive.
We eventually got to the hotel at about 6.45am and I could thankfully go to bed for a couple of hours as I’d booked the hotel room for the previous night to make sure I could rest.
I reckon I had about 2 and a half hours sleep before heading out in the late morning with another person on the trip. We got a YandexGo (the Central Asia version of Uber) to Ala-Too square, a wide open space with a massive flagpole guarded by 2 young men. We managed to arrive in time to witness the changing of the guard which was an interesting ceremony where the participants were goose-stepping their way to and from their posts.
We then went into the History Museum which is situated at one end of the square. It was a very interesting museum explaining the history of Kyrgyzstan from the first settlers many centuries ago to its independence from the USSR and more recent history. There was plenty of information in English, alongside Kyrgyz and Russian. We would be in there a good hour or so I think.
After lunch we wandered back to the hotel through several very well maintained parks and squares.
Group meet-up in the evening and our first meal together, hilariously in a branch of the same restaurant we’d gone to at lunch time.
The following morning started with a walking tour of Bishkek, including revisiting some of the places I’d gone the previous day, though this time with more context from our local guide. Bishkek has a lot of parks with statues to all sorts of people from their history.
There are some quite contrasting architectural styles in Bishkek, from some quite beautiful Soviet buildings to some less aesthetic, brutalist buildings from the 1970s.
After we’d finished the walking tour, we headed out of Bishkek to the Burana Tower, essentially half a minaret and some petroglyphs are all that remain from the 9th century city of Balasagun. You can walk up the tower, up a dark, narrow staircase with very deep steps. My quads were still aching several days later.
Lunch was at a Dungan restaurant. The Dungan are Chinese Muslims who fled persecution in the late 1800s and arrived over the Tian Shan mountains into Kyrgyzstan. A delicious spread and some of the best noodles I’ve had anywhere.
We continued in the afternoon to Chon Kemin National Park. Some lovely views of the gorge close to the entrance, rolling mountains and milky blue rivers. We overnighted in a guesthouse in a small village. In the morning we walked up a nearby hill for 360 views of the area, where we could see several villages and neatly farmed fields. The trees starting to turn yellow as summer ends and autumn approaches. A good way to start the day before getting in the minibus and driving for most of the rest of the day, through spectacular scenery, to Song Kul lake.
The road was pretty good for a while and then we turned off to a dirt road which wound its way high into the mountains. Some really impressive views as we climbed higher. We eventually arrived at the yurt camp on the shores of Song Kul lake in the late afternoon after an increasingly bumpy ride. The clouds had come over by now and the wind had got up so we were all grateful to wait for dinner inside the dining yurt where the stove was on and providing some much-needed heat. The lake is at an altitude of over 11,000 feet and the temperature change from the first couple of days was quite stark! For the first time on my travels this year, I’ve actually brought a coat with me (the coat I’d had to buy in Japan!) and I was very glad I had it!
A simple dinner of lentil soup and stuffed dumplings before bedding down for the night in a yurt. The stove had also been burning in our yurt so it was toasty warm. And the beds had a thick duvet and a couple of blankets so despite the cold outside, it was very nice and warm inside. I’d be lying if I said I’d had a good nights sleep. Various animal noises from outside, a drop in temperature overnight and a very narrow bed variously contributed to an unsettled night. But it was a great experience to sleep in a traditional yurt.
The morning sky was beautifully clear and blue and as we waited for breakfast, herds of horses, goats and other animals were making their way to the lake for their morning drink. I’m not quite sure where they all came from as there weren’t these numbers around the previous night.
We set off after breakfast back down the bumpy mountain pass and to lunch in Kochkor. After lunch we continued driving east along the southern shore of Issyk Kul lake, the biggest lake in Kyrgyzstan. It was glistening a beautiful blue against the sky. We stopped in the late afternoon at Fairytale Canyon (Skazka Canyon). So-called because the rock formations are said to resemble buildings from fairytales. I’m not so sure… But a fun hour exploring the rocks before the final leg of the day to our guest house in Tamga. A beautiful guest house with an enormous garden and an abundance of apple trees heavy with ripe apples.
Another local dinner with some of the best mashed potato I have ever had.
The following morning started at a project support by G Adventures which is ensuring the traditional Kyrgyz crafts of felt work, needle work and yurt-making are kept alive. We learned about how the beautiful felt panels which adorn the inside of yurts are traditionally made, and also helped to construct a yurt. They really are quite ingenious dwellings. A lot of G Adventures trips include a stop at a project being supported by its charitable arm and this was one of my favourites.
We continued on and had a picnic lunch at Jety Oguz, another striking rock formation. The colours here really reminded me of Zion National Park in the US. A very picturesque spot for lunch.
After lunch we continued to our final overnight in Kyrgyzstan, in the city of Karakol which is the 4th largest city in Kyrgyzstan. When we arrived we had a short tour of the 2 main sights in town – the Russian Orthodox Cathedral and the Dungan mosque. Both quite striking, and both made out of wood. Our final evening meal in Kyrgyzstan was at a Uyghur restaurant. It’s been very good to have lots of different types of food here in Kyrgyzstan, from traditional Kyrgyz food, to Dungan, Russian and Uyghur.
We made our way northeast the next morning, through a gap in the mountains to the border with Kazakhstan and one of the more unassuming border posts I’ve seen.
Kyrgyzstan is a stunningly beautiful country which I’ve really enjoyed. Now off to my next Stan…
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