Kyrgyzstan

Me in front of Son Kul 

We drove from Almaty to Bishkek. It was a pretty drive through the Kazakh steppes (this part of the trip became more about nature than seeing historic places). Bishkek was also a big city, but didn't feel quite as European as Almaty. We went straight to the mall to try and buy warm clothes for our trip up into the mountains. We didn't find too many options, but Lorelei and Chantal did get jackets. After that, we looked at the Eternal Flame monument and wandered through a park with a lot of amusement rides, then went to dinner.

The next day before heading to the mountains we made a shopping stop at a local felt workshop. My mom bought a lot of silk scarves decorated with felt which were handmade and gorgeous. We then started our long journey to Song Kul, the high, hard to get to mountain lake. 

Before we got to the mountains we visited one last tower that used to be a minaret. It was then a beautiful, winding drive as we headed up through the mountains. We passed by goats, sheep and herders riding horses. 

Yurt camp in the morning

We arrived after dark at the yurt campsite that was to be our accommodation for the night. The ones we thought we would be staying at in the main camp were fully booked, so we were sent to a nearby extension camp. This yurt experience was extremely different  from the first one we had in Uzbekistan. It was FREEEEZING. No lights. No running water. The staff spoke no English. It was rough, to say the least.

Petroglyphs of goats

The next morning we hiked up a nearby ridge to see some ancient petroglyphs. We then rode horses with two local boys along the edge of the lake. We had a quick lunch, then headed out back down the mountains to a town, Kochkor. We were staying at someone's house and it was surprisingly comfortable and sweet.  We spent the night there after a delicious dinner and the next morning went to a local felt workshop collective. We spent forever at the felt shop looking at carpets and various artifacts, and ended up buying quite a lot.

Felt Carpet

After shopping, we drove back to Bishkek. We went to a local fabric market to look for materials for my sister Chantal, but they were all imported Chinese fabrics. We visited the History museum and saw a couple other sights around the city.



 That was the end of our Central Asian adventure. The next morning we flew to Istanbul

Details of what we did:

Day 14, Wednesday, August 21, Almaty- Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)

·       Border crossing. Sove’t with us this time so able to get lots of help. More chaotic, more people than other border crossings as lots of Kazakhs going to Issy-Kul resort.

·       Sum Central Universal Mall: top floor of shopping mall to look for souvenirs, antiques and warm clothes for Song Kul stay.

·       Eternal Flame and walk through Panfilov Park filled with rides and amusement arcades

Day 15, Thursday, August 22, Bishkek- Song Kul (7 hours drive)

·       Philomonic Building stop

·       Stop at workshop house of “Seven Sisters” Bought lots of silk/felt scarves.

·        Drive to Song Kul

·       Burana Tower (minaret, with museum and grave stones)

·       Beautiful drive through mountains –see yurts and local herds of goats, sheep, horses, yak etc

·       Song Kul Yurt camp at 3016m above sea level  –arrived after sunset. The yurt was cold, the furnace not lit, the roof had plastic covering the gaps where the felt had gone. It was altogether cold and fairly miserable. This stay was the only major hiccup of the trip.

Day 16: Friday, August 23, Song Kul –Kochkor 140 km, 3 hours

·       Walk up hill (difficult at this altitude) to see rock petroglyphs of Ibex rams

·       Visit local nomad yurt lady and taste fermented mare’s milk –kynus –like a tasty lassi.

·       Horse ride along the lake for an hour.

·       Spectacular drive over “33 Bends” pass to Kochkor

·       Local home stay – surprised to find it very clean, pretty and comfortable

·       Fatima’s felt shop 

·        

Day 17: Saturday, August 24, Kochkor- Bishkek (200km 4 hours)

·       7.30am Breakfast at home stay

·       Fatima’s felt making workshop –very interesting and interactive. 

·       Drive 3 hours to Bishkek

·       Medina Market to look for embroidered local fabrics for Chantal but could only find cheap fabrics imported from China

·       National History Museum –needs to be updated but interesting to review what we have seen and learnt

·       Lenin’s Statue +Mana Statue in Square

Day 18: Sunday, August 25, Bishkek –London

·       flight to London via Istanbul