So – after almost 2 months in China (I still can’t believe I crossed the whole bloody country east to west!) - I find myself in Kyrgyzstan. These are some words I’ve never thought I’d say… Funnily enough, crossing from China into “Kyrgy-land” (as we’re affectionately calling it) felt a bit like homecoming: from the land of eating rice with chopsticks and of absolutely no way of communicating with the locals unless one speaks Mandarin Chinese to the land of post-soviet architecture in the cities and the familiar diet of bread, meat and potatoes (all of which I grew up with). Plus I can actually talk to the locals as I remember surprisingly much of my primary school Russian!
But the absolute unexpected highlight of Kyrgyzstan is the landscape outside the cities. 92% of this country is covered with mountains and pretty spectacular mountains at that. Everywhere you look you see glaciers, snow-covered mountain peaks, lakes, streams perfect for white-water rafting, herds of horses and sheep, yurts, and abundance of hiking trails. I have been told that Kyrgyzstan is one of the most beautiful countries in the world but still nothing quite prepared me for how beautiful exactly it is. It is virtually impossible to take a bad picture of its mountains and sunsets (which I hope the new pictures on my Snapfish website prove).
Some of the highlights of my last few weeks in Kyrgyzstan include:
Zety Uguz: extremely picturesque mountaineering camp where we camped for couple nights in below 0 Celsius temperatures, almost continuous rain and – inevitably – heaps and heaps of mud. It was by far the coldest temperatures I’ve ever camped in. Most of us slept in several layers of clothing, in our all-season sleeping bags and under several blankets. And my nose was still freezing cold and red when I woke up. To keep ourselves from freezing to death we resorted to entertainment such as drinking insane amounts of Kyrgyz vodka and singing Russian revolutionary songs by the campfire (don’t ask me why but it does help with the cold weather). Oh, and let’s not forget a whole lamb roasted on the fire that some local guys cooked for us… Amazing…
Altyn Arasan (which means Golden Spa): another absolutely breathtaking spot in the Kyrgyz mountains where we camped for few nights. It serves as a mountaineering camp and has an added benefit (which we happily indulged in) of hot baths with steaming hot water from the underground springs. Nothing better after a freezing cold night and a day of hiking than jumping in your bikini (or without) into the hot spring with an obligatory glass of vodka.
Lake Ysyk-kol: we spent few days driving around the entire lake, camping along the way. It was such an amazing change from the rain, mud and snow of the high-altitude mountains: we camped directly at the lake waterfront, swimming and sunbathing all day in the glorious hot weather. Swimming in this lake was a very memorable experience with its crystal blue water and snow-capped mountain peaks at both sides of the lake. Water temperature was similar to that in the Baltic Sea in summertime, which means that most of us Europeans jumped right in but most Australians wouldn’t dare. We spent the evenings by the campfire (those Russian revolutionary songs again!) eating the fish that our local guide caught in the lake. I even learned how to cook vegetarian goulash and raspberry tart! This was a perfect example of what Donna - our lovely crew member – said: “when you wake up in the morning on these overlanding trips you’re never entirely sure what and where you’ll be doing in the evening”. So true: in the morning I woke up in the freezing cold mountain and jumped into the hot springs at 6 am. By 5 pm on the same day I was swimming and sunbathing in summer weather by Ysyk-kol lake. Life is amazing!
Next stop: Kazachstan!
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