Kyrgyzstan

The small landlocked country surprised us with mountains, beautiful scenery and Soviet nostalgia.

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Bishkek (19.-21.06.)

We head back to Bishkek to our well-known Couchsurfing hosts Annett and Nurmukhammad. On our last day in Kyrgyzstan we take a stroll over the Osh Bazaar and try to spend our last Kyrgyz Coms.

In the morning of the 21st we take a Yandex taxi for the last time and reach Manas International Airport as we (ecologically speaking sadly) have to take a flight to the capital of China – Beijing!

Yssyk-Kul (17.-19.06.)

We decide to relax a fair bit and stay in the same yurt camp where we already stayed at. This time we even have a better view for the lake from our tent. Here is the result of our location decision:

The morning refreshment is done in the lake. Some go further in than others.

We couldnt do nothing at all though and so we decide to hitchhike to a small canyon landscape close to our campsite. It works for a little payment. The Сказка Canyon – which translates into Fairytale Canyon – is a sand stone landscape that is a dream for any geologist on this planet.

When hitchhiking back we have to wait a little longer than on the way there but we are brought all the way to our campsite.

In the evening we witness a spectacle of nature as it rains in the distance. Of course later that night the rain reaches our tent.

Karakol (13.-17.06.)

We continue a trip by Marshrutka (of course) to reach the Eastern end of Yssyk-Kul, to be precise the city of Kochkor. The city is strongly influenced by Dungan people. For the first time we use a city guide that was created by the US-Aid program – by app! It worked pretty good and had not too much and not too little information.

We learned about the Dungan mosque in Karakol that is basically a mosque with Chinese elements. The Dungan people fled from China many centuries ago and started settling down in the East of Kyrgyzstan – hence the cultural mixture.

Apart from that the city was founded as a Russian frontier town. It is especially obvious when seeing all the wide roads and plate buildings in the centre.

As the city and region are known for the Dungan culture we decided to visit a small Dungan village. We saw a small museum that was presented by a sympathetic Chinese-Kyrgyz guy named Luke-Lee. He told us a lot about traditions, customs and the migration of the Dungan people from China to Kyrgyzstan. In the end Lucas noticed the chess board on one side of the museum and he is challenged by Luke-Lee. As he didn’t play for a long time (and time is short) he decides to end the game quickly and is immediately dominated by Luke-Lee. Of course this was consensual, that’s for sure. Or somehow similar, details are blurry…

The trip ends with a huge feast and we prepare our own Ashlam-Fu. We didn’t need to feel any hunger throughout the whole evening anyways.

Every Sunday the animal market takes place in Kyrgyz cities. As this is an interesting and new atmosphere we haven’t experienced yet, we decide to wake up early and visit the market. The area is divided: In the entrance area sheep and goats can be bought and the further one walks into the market center, the more expensive the animals get. In the main part bulls, cows and horses can be found. Some bulls are so massiv that even the Kyrgyz people stop to take pictures with their phones. The market feels like a huge structured mess and the whole ground is covered with animal feces that is responsible for the intense smell of the market.

Still hearing the screams of animals, we take another Marshrutka (what else) to start a last short hike to Altyn-Arashan. The destination of our hike are some natural hot springs that are surrounded by beautiful mountains.

At first we enjoy the outside hot springs. Nonetheless those are not really hot and so we decide to head for the indoor hotsprings. After a hike those hot springs are perfect.

In the evening we stop on our way to the tent at a small guest house to have a beer and start a talk with the host. He tells us a lot about the bride stealing „tradition“ of Kyrgyzstan. This tradition is also sometimes used if the groom can’t pay enough to the bride’s family.

Later our host gets the UNO game and we play two rounds. After all international rules are agreed upon it is of course Diana who wins. This rule seems to apply in every country.

The next day we return to Karakol and continue directly to Bakonbaevo where we stay to last days at the shore of Yssyk-Kul.

Song-Kul (08.-11.06.)

The weather improved and we meet our former couchsurfing host Annett from Bishkek in the small town of Kochkor. In the morning we want to leave for Song-Kul, a picturesque mountain lake at 3.000 m asl.. The tent, sleeping equipment and cooking gear is stowed in our backpacks. We wanted to leave early on the morning but it was raining cats and dogs and so we delay our departure for a few hours.

Two hours later the sun is shining and our trip begins. The first part of the hike stretches around 21 km along mountain ridges and valleys until we find a suitable location to pitch up our tents for the night.

On our way we meet some horse riders from time to time and two of them are really interested in us. The tall one on the horse and the small, fat one on the monkey ask question in Kyrgyz which Annett can understand. „How much weighs your backpack? And his? Why is his backpack smaller than yours? Are you two his wifes? Where is your husband? Where are your children?“ The questions are just flowing and they are always having a laugh because of our answers.

As we finished putting up our tents it starts to rain. It doesn’t matter though as we can cook inside the tent. Our tents are situated on 2.400 m asl. and the first night is warm and comfortable.

The next day we start our hike along yurt camps and can see a yurt without being set up.

Our hike continues over 3.300 m high mountain ridges and as we arrive in the sun we can enjoy a great panoramic view.

We decided to pitch up our tents as close to the lake as possible. This is the result of our location decision.

Most of the coastline of Song-Kol is swamp but there are those small bumps and birds fly through those like canyons.

It is a windy and rainy night – and as we are on approx. 3.000 m asl. a lot colder than the night before. The next day we wake up more or less rested, enjoy our NRG-5 breakfast, pack our tent and start our day trip along the lake. In the distance we can see some rain falling down on the lake – it’s quite romantic if it ain’t above oneself.

In Kyrgyzstan there are no real signs for the hiking paths and as we decided to cross a certain pass we ask for directions at some yurt camps. Must of the time they offer us accommodation but we always point to our own tents and say малинки Йурт (small yurt) which always puts a smile on the people’s face. We stop at one yurt camp to have some tea and to wait for the rain to pass (which finally came upon us). Communication did work good on Russian and Kyrgyz and even without GoogleTranslate. After the land lady left the yurt her young granddaughter visited us.

This never tired girl especially liked Diana and both play together. Later we decided to continue our hike and as soon as we leave snow sets in.

After we pitched up our tents again the clouds got rid of all the rain and snow they had in them. After a short power nap we woke up to this view:

The weather is changing all the time though. Here are some impressions of the landscape around Song-Kol:

After the coldest night in the tent, but at least without rain or any other precipitation, we wake up for a perfect sunrise.

We pack up our tent for the last time and start the crossing of Uzbek pass. It is even covered in a thin layer of snow.

On our way down we pass some yurt camps again and a young woman waves at us and show us to come to her. We follow the invitation and are served Кымыз (fermented horse milk) immediately. It doesn’t smell great in the beginning but tasted quite alright actually. To make our hosts happy we finished our cups.

After those drinks our hosts showed us the functionality of their yurt and opened up the Tunduk for us. They presented us the inside and explained that all the ribbons are self-made. They wanted to take some pictures with us which you can see here (along with some impressions):

We say goodbye and end our four day trip in a small village and head back to Kochkor.

Yssyk-Kul (05.-07.06.)

We pitch up our tent along the shore of Yssyk-Kul to relax a little bit. Although the weather is changing all the time we have some opportunities to swim in the refreshing water.

Kochkor (04.-05.06.)

The day starts pretty good: the night before we found out that a group from our hostel goes to Kochkor – the same place we wanted to go to next. The route from Toktogul to Kochkor is not frequented by marshrutkas or shared taxis. We had some hitchhiking luck and took this long route by a bus monstrosity.

In Kochkor we wanted to hike up to Song-Köl – a mountain lake – but the weather didn’t want us to do so. We decided to go to Yssik-Köl to have a few relaxed days instead – the biggest mountain lake in the world (–> mountain lake refers to a lake that is located above 1.500 m asl.).

Toktogul (03.-04.06.)

There is only one daily marshrutka going from Osh to Toktogul. Sadly, it leaves at 7.40 am. Nurmukhammad’s father takes us to the new bus station and we arrive on time. As soon as he switched off the motor the normal blockage of taxi drivers starts and we missed the bus for one minute. We want to try our luck in the next town though and take a marshrutka to Jalal Abad. As we arrived we got the last marshrutka of the day to go to Toktogul. As the whole trunk was already full we needed to take our backpacks to the seating area and the game of tetris began. Sometimes the bus was so full, that alternative seats had to be used – although our driver sadly didn’t have any wooden seats with him …

After a few hours we arrive exhausted in Toktogul. The small village is characterized by its proximity to the Toktogul reservoir. The lake is turquoise due to sand.

Osh (01.-03.06.)

Osh is the second biggest town in Kyrgyzstan and the unofficial capital of the South. We stay in a central hostel for the first night. Osh is known for its big and cheap bazaar in the town centre, that we wouldn’t miss of course. The reparation of my pullover’s zipper was done within one hour. Therefore we bought the zipper for 50 Com and brought it to a sewer shop and they repaired it for 100 Com – a total amount of less than 2€.

Those chess matches often find viewers. We also take a peak and withness an interesting match of chess. Both players are highly concentrated until one of them loudly screams „Schach!“. The other player evaluates the boards for a few seconds and hastingly puts away all the figures while the winner is loudly laughing. The viewers are walking away in all directions of the bazaar.

A small part of the bazaar is dedicated to the preparation and retail of meat. In Kyrgyzstan people often eat sheep meat and in the sense of sustainability every part of the animal is used. Therefore, people can buy sheep heads that includes the eyes in the skull. One option is to get them smoked or all raw.

The following picture is probably not for everyone as it contains really raw parts of animals.

The atmosphere of the bazaar is good and there’s a group of local musicians walking around, playing songs that never end – the remind us of the Cantina Band.

Osh is characterized by the Sulayman-Too mountain in the center of the city, that is protected by the UNESCO. On top one can find the smallest mosquee we have seen on our trip so far.

In Osh are also many children that are fascinated by our cameras and wanted us to take pictures. Some of them were so excited that they even forgot to eat their sandwiches.

We spend our second night in Osh at the parents of Nurmukhammad or couchsurfing host from Bishkek.

Sary-Moghul (30.05.-01.06.)

We board a marshrutka with the first rays of the sun and take the ride to Osh. We arrive at the new bus station that actually looks like it is quite old as well. We try to find out if there’s a bus going to our destination Sary-Moghul. The answer is short – No! We continue to ask were the bus is leaving. At the old bus station.

In comparsion to the old bus station the new one is a magnificent building. This is due to the fact that the new one is bright and open and the old one underneath a dark bridge – there seem to be structures that we can’t get behind though. Luckily there’s always someone talking to you: „Bishkek?“ „Sary-Moghul!“ we say and 10 seconds later our backpacks are put into the back of a tight marshrutka and we are on our way towards the border of Tadjikistan.

Although the bus driver knows that we want to exit in Sary-Moghul we almost drove past the small village. There are approximately 3.000 inhabitants over there. As we decided to stay in a CBT Homestay after our great experience in Arslanbob we learn that CBT doesn’t equal CBT. It is far more expensive and the hosts are equal to hotel workers. As we only stay one night, we don’t care too much about that and start our sunset walk through the village. Many children come to greet us from the houses and want to take pictures: „Hellooooo! Kamera? Foto?“ The reaction when the pictures are shown are always smiles.

We also meet a group of boys that only have nonesense in their minds and want to take pictures with our cameras. Here are some of the results:

One of the boys wanted to take one of those cool pictures…

The next morning the clouds disappeared and open up a spectacular panoramic view around the village – this can actually only be seen when you get up early in the morning:

Later that day we start our hike to the bottom of Pik Lenin – 23 km through the high plateau. The sun is shining the whole time and as we forgot to use sun protection we both get sunburned. After 6 hours we reach the yurt camp, which is our accomodation for the night and greatly located.

Our first night in a real yurt! Those nomadic tents are heated by small ovens that spread a wooden-smoky scent in the yurt. After a hike like this a yurt is definitely a good place to stay at.

The yurts are supervised by an old woman, that lives up there from Mai to September. That she doesn’t feel bored, she owns a smartphone – it is not charged by the electricity line that goes to the yurts but a small decentral solar panel. It takes one day to charge the battery from 0 to 100 %.

The next morning begins early and we enjoy a cloud-free view of Pik-Lenin. The landscape is characterized by glacial events, e.g. 49 kettle holes that are filled with water.

Later, we start our return to Osh. We want to hitchhike as the CBT only offers high prices. After waiting for one hour a small transporter picks us up (for a little amount of money). For this ride we have a way better view then when we got to Sary-Moghul.

Arslanbob (27.-30.05.)

We leave Bishkek early in the morning to take a ride to Arslanbob. We take a very scenic route above high mountain passes, plateaus, through gorges with turquoise rivers and desert landscapes. After 10 hours of NeedForSpeed-driving we arrive in Arslanbob.

In Arslanbob we use the local tourist agency CBT (abr. Community Based Tourism) for the first time. The project that was initiated by a Swiss agency started 20 years ago in Kyrgyzstan. It enables foreign travellers to get information, book trips and organise homestays at local families. We spend our nights at a family that lived in Arslanbob for many years already.

It is a lot warmer than in the North and we start our day to see the nature around Arslanbob. As soon as we leave the house two boys come running towards us: „Helloooo! Fotoapparat?“ We show our cameras and the two boys tell us to take a picture. We follow the command and present their picture. „Хорошо!“ the say as the run away giggling.

We continue to walk through the village towards the small waterfall. On the way many children greet us with long, happy Hellos. Shortly before the waterfall a lot of different souvenir shops appear, selling colorful bracelets, toys and cheese balls (special snack that can be bought anywhere in Central Asia). We can already hear screams coming from the waterfall and as soon as we reach it, the source of the screams is identified: Many children run underneath the waterfall and take pictures with wet clothes. Later we hear that it was the last day of school before the summer holiday starts and there are usually trips to the waterfall.

We walk on a small trail to the panoramic point and are granted a great view:

The trail further leads us directly into the famous walnut forests. It is quite cool over there (compared to the midday sun) and we can imagine how the residents of Arslanbob hurry around the trees during harvest time to collect all the walnuts in a short periode of time – during our visit no single soul was around though.

In the evening we go to the panoramic point again to withness the sunset. We almost missed one of the many forest habitants:

The next day we walk to the CBT in order to find Ibragim, a friend of Dianas doctor father. We shortly see him and agree to meet up for afternoon tea. Like that we have a fair bit of time to walk across the small bazaar, that is a lot cheaper than the one in Bishkek.

As we made our way to Ibragim’s house we are overwhelmed – the view of the mountains is amazing from his garden. Ibragim is a pensioneer, who used to teach German and English at the local school and is strongly involved in the village community and CBT Homestay Programme. We stay at his place for 2.5 hourse and listen to his interesting stories about Arslanbob and Kirgistan. He tells us about the walnut harvest and that it needs to happen in a very short periode of time before the first snow is falling, covering the nuts on the ground. Therefore, many young men climb to the top of the tree and shake the branches to make the walnuts fall. There are no ropes or other means of safety in use and in the last year 35 men fell from the trees and 5 died during this dangerous task. At the moment there’s a GEZ-project running to distribute ropes. In Arslanbob a family collects 2 tons on average – 1 kilogram is usually sold for 2 USD.

We leave Ibragim’s house with many new impressions. Additionally, we want to share some insights of the village with you:

In the evening during dinner we notice that the season hasn’t started yet – besides us and an old Kyrgyz couple the restaurant is completely empty. A happy waitress is coming towards us and hands us the menu. When we were almost finished eating, she asks us a question in Russian, but our words are not enough for that. She runs back to the kitchen and returns with a book and reads in English: „Are you married?“ We tell her no and she is surprised. She points towards her daughter and tells us that she was 19 when she was pregnant the first time. We respond that that it is not normal in Germany and people usally marry when they are older…

At the minute of sunset a big group of residents comes to the restaurant – it is time to break the fast.

Ala Archa (24.-26.05.)

The Ala Archa nature park is one hour South of Bishkek and comprises multiple mountain peaks on more than 4.000 m altitude, thus giving the Kyrgyz capital a spectacular background. We take our tent and everything else we need and go by marshrutka to Kashka-Suu. It’s still 20 km to the nature park and we decide to hitch a ride – which works but only for money. In Ala Archa we take a step way up to a marmot-infested plateau and enjoy a spectacular view to the valley of the Ala Archa river.

We continue to hike further up but the weather conditions get worse and we need to turn around at an iced part of the path. Close to the Ak Sai waterfall we pitch up our tent and finally spend the first night in our tent.

The rain stops in the middle of the night – it’s 4.30 am. We wake up. There’s a scratching sound close to our tent. What’s that? We are quite sure that there are no wolves or bears in Ala Archa. But can you be entirely sure of that? We decide to check on it. The scratching sound is still there and quite loud. We pick up stones as we leave the tent- just in case, you never know. It is quite misty and we look around with our head lamps but there’s nothing. No trace of wolves or bears. We listen. The sound is back again but it appears to come from the top of the trees… There were squirrels working on nuts and branches – good that we checked. We crawl back into our tent, our pulse goes back to a normal level and we fall asleep.

In the morning we wake up and hike towards Ala Archa river. On our way we meet many habitants of the nature park:

In the evening we pitch up our tent again, this time close to a river.

In the next morning we head back to Bishkek. This time our hitchhiking attempt is very successful and we are taken for free. Tomorrow we want to head for the Southwest of Kyrgyzstan, to be more precise to Arslanbob (the research area of Diana’s PhD supervisor).

Bishkek (20.-23.05.)

In the morning we go to the bus station of Almaty, buy a ticket to go to the Kyrgyz capital and wait until the bus is full. After 3 hours we expect to cross the border in a similar manner to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan but we are surprised: within 10 minutes we crossed the border. It wasn’t full and the stamp was in our passports within a few seconds. For the first time since we left we travel a country without a migration card or the need of registration.

In Bishkek we notice some similarities between the cities of Central Asia – for example the never ending traffic jams… When we arrived at our Couchsurfing hosts Nurmukhammad and Annett we learn the hard way that there are still many Soviet structures in Bishkek: The hot water pipes are old and are switched off for four weeks in spring in order to prevent damage. This means that there’s no hot water if a house doesn’t have a boiler, resulting in very cold showers.

In Bishkek there are a few bazaars, one of them just around our corner. When walking around it the first time we notice a calm atmosphere and we realize that nobody is shouting at us to praise their goods. No active merchants are around and we can calmly have a look for all the different products that are sold – a nice change for sure.

Kyrgyzstan developed differently than the other GUS-states. Parlamentarism was introduced and it was refrained from introducing a single strong president. Compared to Nur-Sultan and Tashkent we didn’t find any megaprojects or glorified images or statues of head of states. In the center of Bishkek, along Chui-Prospekt, we found many old buildings that reminded us of the architecture we saw in Russia. By the way, Kyrgyzstan is the only country in Central Asia that didn’t build a new Presidential Palace after gaining independence.

To navigate through the city we mainly use marshrutkas (derived from the Russian word Маршрут – route). Those small buses do not belong to a transport network, but operate on a selected route only. The drivers keep the money they make and therefore stop whenever someone wants to get on or off – even if there’s no stop. Additionally, marshrutkas are filled until there is no more space available. The traffic jams do the rest for the riding comfort. But a ride through the city is only 10 Com – approximately 13 cents.

Bishkek is a good starting point for hikers of all sorts. At Trekking Union we get all the maps and information we need for the following days. We also find some real antiquities: A map of Bishkek that was printed on 1991, shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union. The map states that there are 600.000 people living in Bishkek – the city grew around 50% to almost 1 million inhabitants.