Our Route
Thursday, Sep 9 — Bishkek
I’m going to call this day the 9th, even though we arrive on the 10th, but we haven't really gone to sleep yet from the 9th, so it still seems like the 9th. Our Turkish Airlines Airbus 321neo landed at FRU Manas International Airport, Bishkek at 1:55am. After we cleared immigration, a health station asked for our PCR test, but we showed our vaccination cards instead and they waved us through quickly. After grabbing our bags, we meet our guide Azamat and driver, Alex. Azamat is a Kyrgyz and Alex has Russian ancestry, but he was born in Kyrgyzstan during the Soviet era. We chat a bit about the culture and history of Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz ≈ 40 tribes. Emperor 1000 years before Chris mentioned the Kyrgyz people “west of us”. Dungan people - mostly in China The 35-minute drive to the B Hotel goes quickly and we soon check in to room 203, a nice room with a large balcony. It is tough to fall asleep, but we eventually do at 4:00am.
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Friday, Sep 10 — Son-Kul Lake
The alarm goes off at 9:30am. We are exhausted, still being on Istanbul time, meaning for us it 6:30am. Breakfast is satisfactory and we are soon on our way to a local bazaar to buy some warm clothes. I find a blue Golunbia jacket and some socks and Zara buys a fleece top and trainers. And we hit the road.
We stop for lunch at a roadside cafeteria. I’m not really sure what to order, so I settle for a borscht soup, a tea mixture, which I soon learn is seabuck thorn berry tea with mint, orange slice, lemon slice and honey. Yum. A man outside is selling dried cheese balls—which I grow to enjoy, and Ephedra plant, where ephedrine comes from.
We drive for what seems like four or five hours, over the gorgeous Kalma Ashuu pass (3,400 meters / 11155') and down to Song Köl lake. We pull into the Ak-Sai yurt camp and unload our gear into yurt #3, which features a nice view of the blue lake in the distance. The weather is about 2 degrees Celsius so we all change into our warm clothes. Dinner at 7:30 consists of besh bar mak, aka: 5-finger pasta (thin spaghetti noodles, beef and broth), shor pah (beef soup), salad, tea, biscuits and sweets.
The camp hands put some coal in our yurt to heat it up and it got very hot in there. Tough night sleep with the altitude, minor jet-lag, heat and cold, and lump mattress, but we were all quite thrilled, nonetheless. What a day!
Saturday, Sep 11 — Tash Rabat
Cold morning, breakfast, drive to Tash Rabat. After breakfast drive over the Moldo Ashee pass (3,346 meters / 10,978 feet) and on to Tash Rabat. At one point we stop at a burial ground and see some dirt-brick mausoleums. We have lunch in Naryn at Anarkul Apa Café (Анаркул Апа Кафе) We ordered a Greek salad with some lettuce, meet dumplings, and a meet dish with wood-ear mushrooms. After lunch we do a quick shop, buy some beer and toothpaste and drive to Tash Rabbt. According to one author, Tash Rabat is probably the best-preserved Silk Road site you will find and “no other retains as much of its original atmosphere”. This is a carefully restored stone building that once housed an inn on the Great Silk Road. Its date of origin is strictly unknown - but there is archaeological evidence to suggest that the site was occupied in the 10th century. Set some 15 km up a small, beautiful valley in the foothills of the Tian Shan, embedded against the hillside. There is evidence that it was a place of both rest and worship and would have served to protect caravans to and from China from both the ravages of the weather and of bandits - from before the time of either Tamerlane or Genghis Khan.
After visiting Tash Rabat we drive to nearby Nazira Yurt Camp, pick a yurt and chill. I climb a nearby peak. There are a group of wild horses on the peak opposite the valley. Back at camp, I meet several dogs, some which are big, and a lamb which was kept around because its fur says Allah. We have a nice dinner of yak meat, carrots and potatoes, shredded carrots, and beef soup. There are many biscuits and sweets on trays around the table. We strike up a conversation with two Belgium chaps and their driver. They just completed a 7-day trek. They finish our potatoes.
It is cold again at night, but the clouds have cleared, and I brave the cold weather to gaze up at the Milky Way. I haven't seen this many starts in years. It is absolutely amazing.
Sunday, Sep 12 — Kochkor
We wake in the morning, have some eggs, cream of wheat oats, wild cherry jam and tea. After breakfast we notice a large group of yak are eating across the stream and coming quite close. We spend many minutes photographing them and enjoying their presence. The dogs don't seem too thrilled though and after some time, chase them away up a nearby canyon to the right.
We pack up, and walk for an hour or so back toward Tash Rabat, along the original norther Silk Road route. We chat a bit about the Silk Road and its history.
Zhen zen / Syma syan (spelling) a man from China who originally explored the Silk Road. East of China, he found horses, fat-tailed sheep, grapes. And China had silk, which was soft, light and kept away insects, so trade began.
The Silk Road lasted from the 3rd century BC to 16th century AD. But was then replaced by boats. Now tourism keeps the Silk road alive. All along, the road was an exchange of goods, language, culture, technology.
The road was more than an exchange of good; language, culture and technology were also traded, copied, and enhanced.
It begins to rain and driver Alex collects us. At some point we drive over the Dolon ashuu pass 3rd pass Sep 12 (3030 meter). We drive back to Naryn. and grab lunch at the wonderful Khan Tengri Hotel. (Xан Tенгри) We ordered meat dumplings again, vitamin salad (shredded beet, cheese, mushrooms and some arugula, lentil soup and Sichuan chicken. After lunch we stop at some road-side wagon where a family is selling Kumis, or fermented mare's milk. It doesn't really taste bad; the smoky fatty flavor is complimented with that fizzy, yogurt, alcohol taste. We then walk down the Old road Canyon and walk passed a herding family's yurt where two curious boys and two giddy puppies are checking us out as we walk by. After our walk, we drive to Guest House Mira and bring our stuff to the second floor room, which has a nice balcony and a heated-floor bathroom. There are many nice flowers in the yard and an apple tree with a hundred red apples. I take an hour walk around town to the bustling main street. For dinner we have a nice lentil, rice soup, beef with rice, and a wonderful cucumber, tomato, onion salad with a bit of oil and salt.
Monday, Sep 13 — Karakol
In the morning depart Kochkor and drive to Karakol. On the way visit to Jety-Oguz gorge. Your guide will tell you a legend about Jety-Oguz (seven bulls) and Broken Heart rock. After short walking around drive to Karakol.
City tour in Karakol: visiting Prjevalsky museum, Wooden Orthodox Church, Dungan mosque in Chinese style. We have a Lagma dinner at Uyghur house, including Samsa meet pastry, Dumpling with chive and meat, Cauliflower with egg These nations came to Kyrgyzstan from China and live in Karakol since 1869. Overnight in the guest house.
Tuesday, Sep 14 — Issyk-Kul
We drive to the small, lake-side town of Bulan Sogottuu and check into the Azure Sport Resort
Wednesday, Sep 15 — Bishkek
We drive to Bishkek. On the way we pass a sign that reads: To take care of the peoples lives is our main task.
photo from drive to Bishkek
On the side of the road, there are a lot of beautiful trees speeding by. My driver mentions these are pavalona trees from China, planted in Kyrgyzstan
The telephone and electric wires have huge glass bead in the middle of the span between the poles. I make a note to figure out the purpose of these massive glass beads; they look neat too
At one point the road veers into a Kazakhstan
We check into the B Hotel Bishkek
Thursday, Sep 16 — Flight to Tashkent
Our tour guide picks us up at the hotel and we head to FRU Manas International Airport. We board Uzbekistan Airways flight HY 780, and our Airbus A320-200 (UK32017) departs from Manas International Airport, Bishkek at 6:40pm, heading to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. We will miss Kyrgyzstan.