WALKING ON NOMADS LAND

A nice bazaar in Osh and a dodgy money exchange including police and an inexpert thief using the same trick twice with us in less that one minute, is what we will remember from the two main cities in Kyrgyzstan...

With the view of the Tien Shan range and excited to leave behind the boring cities we reached the Yssyk-Kul lake, known as the "warm lake" which due to the thermal activity it never freezes in winter but it does never get really "warm" either in summer as we will find out later on.

Karakol is the main hub for the numerous trekking around the Tien Shan, so we haste organizing everything before the hordes of tourists reach the snowed peaks. Food, tent, cooking set, sleeping bag and a pair of boots is all we think we will need to carry with us to pay a visit to the mountains that we can see from the shore of the lake while we enjoy the cold bath.

Few hours up along the valley taking us away from the city are enough to realize that we are entering the nomads land as many yurts and cattle appear in the green slopes beneath the snow.Master horse riders as their ancestors were, shepherds families built their houses for the spring and summer months to fatten their cattle with fresh green grass growing everywhere.Some of the nomads, curious and still not focused on tourism as many others do nowadays, offer you a place to seat and enjoy of some tea and the strong taste of the fermented horse milk named kumuz.

With the backpacks getting heavier and the slopes stepper towards the high pass that will take us to the next valley, it is time for us to rest and camp before the menacing storm discharges all its fury on us. A rough night trying not to get wet inside the tent is the price that we have to pay to enjoy the breathtaking white landscape that we can see next morning as we come out of the nearly buried in snow tent. The feeling on the top is certainly worth every single drop of sweat going up in the fresh snow that hides the path that we are supposed to follow. Over the pass and after few stops to enjoy to eat and enjoy the views we make it to the big city again just on time to visit the animal market where locals trade their cows, sheep and horses.

Our visa expiring soon and willing to get into China, we leave behind the mountains that definitely have left some funny memories, including our skeptical look at the cooking pot that was closer to a watering pot than to something to cook with, when we went to collect some water from the river; or meeting some stupid "trekker" that after hiring a guide and a porter was hiking with sandals over the snow -"just for the fun of it" , as he said.