The Yurt Camp, we went to, is on the shore of Song-Köl Lake. This is the second largest high mountain lake in Kyrgyzstan 3,016 m above sea level. It was cold and, as night fell, it began to rain. Wendy and I took refuge in the car. But then dinner was served in a large warm Yurt, which was convivial, with two friendly French groups sharing the space. Two French girls at our table were on a horse-riding holiday. Europeans seem to flock here to commune with nature.
That night we had a large Yurt to ourselves. It contained a charcoal heater that was completely inadequate. So, we ended up piling the bed-coverings from all seven beds onto our two. But that didn't help when, during the night, nature called. The dunny, for that was its best description, involved an unlit trek across uneven, frozen grass and plops of animal dung. Fortunately, I carry a torch when we travel. It was an experience to 'dine out on'. And we chose to come here to escape Sydney's winter!
In the morning, I took up the optional offer of horse riding and enjoyed an amble and occasional trot along the shoreline for 3 or 4 km, dotted by assorted groups of cattle, sheep and horses. They were surprised that I could ride unassisted. I got a big thumbs-up on my return - the universal language.
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Top: The Yurt Camp - ours was the one with the open door - the dunny is out the back
Middle left: Inside our Yurt - home - for a night - Kyrgyzstan style
Middle right: Off on my ride - as soon as he saw I was OK, my guide rode off to chase some horses
Bottom left: Wendy contemplating the scene
Bottom right: a tethered horse. His forelegs are loosely bound (hobbled)
Kyrgyzstan is all about nature and horses. This was the first time we saw a hobbled horse. Until now they had been running freely in mobs or just grazing. But the following day we saw one that had broken free of the tether and was making good progress, hopping its front legs together, along by the side of the road. Later, in the trip we discovered that such escapees are not uncommon.
This being a Muslim country some things we eat in Australia are off the menu: pigs, deer, some seafood and so on. I'm not sure about Kangaroo. But horses do not have cloven feet and can be halal, provided they are slaughtered correctly. Here a horse is at the top of the value table: chicken, mutton, beef, horse.
So, an important feast, like a wedding, is 'on the cheap' without a horse for dinner. Horses rank above beef and mutton when entertaining and/or establishing one's status. In the country, a desirable young man must, of course, be a skilled horse rider but he must also be able to slaughter a horse in the correct manner for a feast.
From the Yurt Camp our next stop would be close to the much bigger lssyk-Kul Lake. It's the second-largest mountain lake in the world behind Lake Titicaca in South America. Although at an altitude of 1,607 metres it's lower than Song-Köl Lake and less than half-as-high as Titicaca. Yet it's the second-largest inland saline lake in the world and doesn't freeze, giving it its name, which in the Kyrgyz language means "warm lake".
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Top left: On the Chinese road again
Top right: lssyk-Kul Lake
Bottom: Transmission towers of different ages.
Hydro-electricity is one of this mountainous country's most valuable natural resources.
The Switzerland of Central Asia
Having slept in a yurt, we would now learn how to make all the structural components in our back-yard, by steaming, bending, shaping and drilling timber, and how to assemble one, should we ever need to. In Kyzyl-Tuu village even a child can assemble one.
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How to assemble a yurt
Simple - even a child can do it
The little girl also took most of it down again - with some parental help.
On the road again, we encountered a pair of hunters who demonstrate their skills to tourists for a small fee. These are superb horsemen who employ both dogs and eagles to bring down prey. The baby eagles are stolen from the nest when fledglings and take around two years to grow and train. Like dogs and horses, they become devoted to their master. Hunters are licensed and there is a hunting season. This is off season for prey but on season for tourists. Initially sceptical, I was soon fully engaged as one galloped while holding an eagle to the top of the far ridge. The other dragged a mock animal on a string. The bird had no trouble in swooping down to catch the prey and be rewarded with a small titbit of meat. They put the birds through several more demonstrations and then demonstrated their dog's skills at running down a mock animal. A bit more familiar so, not as impressive. There are a couple of short videos in the Eagle Album (click on the eagle in the photo below to see them)
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How to train your eagle - the Kyrgic way
She was tethered when I was holding her. Her prize was a piece of rabbit - not my finger
En route to Tamga village is 'Fairytale Canyon' with a viewpoint over the lake. After a short hike we gave up, as several of the paths were steep and crumbly and we had neither suitable boots nor hiking sticks. This was the second time we'd pulled out of a hike and I sensed that Chynara would have liked to have gone on. There were some interesting patterns and colours in the rocks - due to the local mineralisation - mainly iron. But again, we were not as enthusiastic as some I subsequently found on-line, who count this as a top spot in the entire world. They haven't been to Uluru.
We continued driving to Tamga village. Nearby is a military resort (sanatorium), with formal parklands, from Soviet times. I was struck by the variety of fir trees. In more recent times its been used as an Olympic training centre.
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Left: Fairytale Canyon with its view to the lake
Right: Parklands around the Soviet sanatorium
Tamga guest house provided dinner and breakfast, was particularly commodious, and had a big garden with a large variety of fruit and berry trees.
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Tamga guest house grounds
The next day our schedule called for another hike, into Kyzyl Suu Gorge. We stopped at a supermarket and bought food for a picnic.
After lunch, we took a dip in the local hot spring, a reminder that there are active tectonics in these mountains. We were told that: "Optional swimming in hot water which has a temperature of about 430 C. The water is clear with hydrogen sulphide smell. Both of the springs are aerating and belong to the chloride-sulphate-natrium group." I wasn't carrying a thermometer but I doubt it was that hot; unlike those in Budapest it wasn't big enough to swim in; and while it sounds natural, 'natrium' is not something particularly good. It's either, sodium carbonate (harmless in cooking) or nuclear reactor feed-stock (not harmless). We certainly smelled sulphury (Beelzebuby) but the smell went away, without having to wade into the freezing river adjacent.
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At Kyzyl Suu Gorge
Taking a warm dip in mineralised water
Afterwards, there was the option of washing it off in the freezing river above
We didn't
Later that day we made an excursion to Jety-Oguz gorge, which is a lush valley with some striking red sandstone rock formations (the "seven Bulls" from which the valley takes its name). Here there is an impressive rock outcrop, formed when tectonic forces broke a fault in the once horizontal iron heavy sandstone (tertiary red conglomerates) thrusting this section up at about 45 degrees from horizontal. It's huge. The scale can be seen from the apparent size of the nearby resort buildings.
The name 'Jeti-Ögüz' translates to 'Seven Bulls' in Kyrgyz, referencing the unique shape of the rock formations. According to several on-line sources: "It's one of the most famous landmarks of Kyrgyzstan and is featured in many poems and paintings, as well as music videos."
As anyone who can count will realise, the name derives more from a legend about a khan's unfaithful wife than the actual number of 'bulls'. Another formation nearby is, even more imaginatively, called 'broken heart' and it is said that it originated from a beautiful woman who died of a broken heart after two suitors killed each other fighting over her.
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Jeti-Ögüz Rocks district.
Bottom row: Seven Bulls and Broken Heart.