Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Welcome all! We are once again out of Bishkek - this time on the southern and eastern shores of Lake Issuk Kul. We did take our time getting our act together - I admit that… although, it was mainly car things that kept us in the city until mid afternoon, so I think that's justifiable! Firstly, we'd lost a bolt from the jerry can holder on the roof, and a bolt from the belly plates, so off to the car bazaar to scout out spares… then to a car wash. This took a pretty long time, but mainly because it was the mother washing the car and berating the children at the same time, so you have to respect that.
We got to the southern shore but were miles from any where, or so we thought… we set up camp and made ourselves some dinner. The next morning we were greeted by another herder, who was interested in the car… here in Kyrgyzstan hospitality is the name of the game, so while Fintan is showing off the car I pull out the bread (seen as holy here - a must for offering to visitors/guests), nutella, coffee, tea, sugar, milk… I know - taking on a very traditional role here… eek!! Susie Homemaker! Maybe not just yet!!
It was a nice enough place for the night but we wanted to get on a bit further, and we were rewarded with a lovely isolated, sandy beach - perfect. As we sat with our feet in the cool, but not cold, water some wild horses came down to the beach and waded in to cool themselves and get a drink. Fintan expanded his culinary skills to garam masala hamburgers with green beans and potatoes and we sat back enjoying the view of the lake and the "sunny" mountains watching the storms build over the lake and in the mountains behind us.
The next morning was cold! Actually cold. It's the first time I had to put on a jumper for… I don't know! Months!! Although we thought about staying by the beach, the weather was looking pretty rough and we decided to pack away and head to Karakol. Karakol is THE place for hiking in Kyrgyzstan, so really we should do something in the next few days… especially seeing as I have new boots…
When we arrived we found a hostel with a courtyard to hide the car away and found an internet café virtually next door! Woohoo! Good coffee and chocolate brownies!! This town is also a Peace Corps hub! So checking our emails we had heard from our friendly Chinese tour company and Ms Liu had some good news for us, for once! Our new entry permit has been approved! But she issued quite a firm warning not to get too excited:
"until you have entered and exit China we will not yet consider this tour a success, and remember it is a very strict and serious"
So… well, this is the plan… and we have the lure of SE Asia on the other side… 13th November we should be in Laos… fingers crossed…
I have to say we have really enjoyed Kyrgyzstan, but two months is probably pushing it for things to see and do… the only thing we haven't done is a several day trek into the Tian Shen Mountains, which would require a permit from the Chinese (again)… Fintan had been keen to climb a mountain, but then we read 'Into Thin Air' about the Everest disaster of 1996, and now the weather is turning for the worse… the last three afternoons have been very rainy and stormy here, guaranteed to be snowing in the mountains themselves. There are some smaller hikes up the Karakol valley, so we went to the tourist information 4 blocks down the road to get a map…
It was open, being a Saturday that's a surprise, but they had no maps until 3pm, and they closed at 2pm. A bit of a confusing conversation… we went across the street to the CBT office, who said we were too late in the season and all their maps were gone. Hmmm… so we think we will try on Monday at the tourist information.
All going well, we will leave Kyrgyzstan in a couple of weeks and head north. I can't say I'm excited by the prospect of heading back into Kazakhstan, but maybe I will be surprised, and at least it means we will be on the road again!
- comments
Mum Wow! We are at lake Tahoe. Great campsite. Food, beer, mountains, lake all brill!x