Bishkek

We arrived mid-afternoon to our hotel, the Asia Mountains.  A really lovely place with beautiful gardens. 

For our farewell dinner we went to a local spot where they played videos of birds with disco music. We had a (several) bottles of REAL red wine, an assortment of local and Chinese dishes, and lots of laughs. I will miss these folks a lot. They were possibly the best part of this amazing adventure thus far. 

Our new family member, Sheena, from British Colombia, joined in. She'll work n just fine. 

Our full day in Bishkek included a visit to the local market where I bought a toilet seat...more on that later. We toured the city, its gardens and parks, and went to afrw museums. Really nice!  This place is a garden city and claims to be the greenest on Central Asia. 

We went to a German restaurant for our final goodbyes and enjoyed great sausages and really good beer.  Tomorrow we begin our trek toward Tougart Pass and into CHINA!  Yippee!

On to Bishkek

We broke camp and traveled out of the valley and onto the Bishkek plain. Along the way we stopped at Balasagym, the ruins of a 9th century city and famous stop along the Silk Route. The minaret was on great condition and originally stood 140ft tall. The gravestones were unique as well, each depicting a human form or face. The wildflowers were just starting to bloom and the sun had come out. 

An hour out of the city we actually drove through a short stretch of highway in Kazakhstan.  It was one of those land swap deals. No documents were required but there were barrier fences on both sides of the road. After about a mile we were back in Kyrgyzstan once again. So...put another country on my list!  Yippee!

We arrived in the city late  afternoon and settled in at our comfortable city centre location.  Two nights of comfort and convenience, a chance to wash  EVERYTHING in my bag, and a grand goodbye dinner await. 

Bishkek is the relaxed capital of Kyrgyzstan with a pleasant laid-back atmosphere. The city centers around Ala-too Square, previously known as Lenin's Square under the previous Soviet regime. Lenin used to stand in his concrete overcoat in the middle of the square, proudly gesturing towards the mountains. The century old oaks here and all along Freedom Avenue make Bishkek one of the greenest cities in Central Asia.  Quite pretty. 

Chong Kemin Valley

REAL fried eggs, cooked to order, and the best attempt yet at a slice of ham, started our day. It doesn't get much better than that! 

We stopped at the local market (pouring rain maketh not for a lovely shopping experience). We foraged for the next four meals and then said goodbye to Kara-kol and our really, REALLY NICE hotel.  

A six hour drive-we've heard that before...:-)-lay ahead.  However, before leaving civilization we did make a few more stops-a real grocery store for peanut butter and coffee beans (no luck), post office to mail cards, liquor store for MORE vodka, and back to the hotel for one last REAL toilet moment!

We headed north through the Kara-kol Valley and then west skirting Ysyk-kol lake and the Tian Shan mountains to our right. . These beauties are part of the Himalayas. We are now only a few hundred miles from the Tibetan plateau and we will be there...in about a week. 

This mountain range rises to 25,000 feet and is really amazing in size and scope. Watching them jut abruptly from the flat plains was stunning!  

Just before lunch we stopped at a few lake vendors and bought smoked salmon, rainbow trout, and caviar. We also got a jar of pickled mushrooms and a bottle of raspberry liquor. The fresh salmon caviar was a plus. All of that came to a grand total of $25. We'll be eating good tonight. 

We found a spot for lunch by the lake before heading up into the mountains and had a grand lunch.  We traveled through first, a desert canyon, and then through lush grassy mountains until reaching our campsite. 

We set up camp together for the last time as a large gruop amd my team was on charge of dinner. A 2 oz portion of Smoked salmon on a canapés with a Dijon mustatd dressing, served on cucumber and fresh rye bread with a tangy fig balsamic vinegar topping. Next was a generous portion of fresh salmon caviar served on a lightly baked shortbread biscuit. Second course was a hearty eggplant and tomato stew served over tasty egg pasta. Dessert was a chocolate covered biscuit (cookie) coveted with sesme and poppie seeds and accompanied by Krygyi cognac. Now this is camping!. 

We ended the night with another roaring campfire and several rounds of "I love you, man" fueled by vodka and a genuine appreciation for the amazing camaraderie of our group!

It's your turn

For all of you living vicariously through my   blog, PLEASE use the comment box once in a while. I'm out here in this huge amazing world all alone (oh poor me) and it would be nice to hear from some of you nice in a while. Hint...hint!!!!!

Jeti Orghuz Valley

We slept in, like until after 9:00! It was a VERY cold night. Sure glad to have that subzero sleeping bag! We all welcomed the warm sun and rising temps. Breakfast as usual was followed by a grand hike up into a neighboring valley and to a really splendid waterfall. Like all the British and Aussie adjectives I'm using?

I split off from the group and visited a family setting up their summer yurts. We chatted and I was invited to have tea. Didn't understand a word we each said. It was fun using sign language and sharing photos. We laughed a lot. So sweet and welcoming.

I found a huge open meadow on the way back and had lunch with a cow and a horse who seemed to be friends. They grazed together only feet apart for quite some time. The horse was interested in my apple. The cow not so much. In the end the horse won out and got half of the fruit!

Back in camp I set up a make shift pastry kitchen and made snicker/banana cream and strawberry/chocolate tarts-my gift to the group to follow our lamb BBQ tonight!

Erkin arranged for a group of fellows to BBQ a whole lamb in camp. They showed up in the late afternoon and put up their spit; started the fire. They used wood and then coal. It was a very hot fire. Then came the marinated meat and the turning began. The banquet lasted until none of us could move!

We had a grand bonfire. John and Ollie, we left you a huge tree by the campfire. Enjoy burning the last half!

Lake Ysyk-kol

We started our day with a second visit to the felt workshop. After dinner last night we compared our purchases and decided a return opportunity was in order. We also stopped at the market to shop for the next three days. We bought too much as usual. No one will starve. For a change there were many small grocery stores with a nice supply of some familiar products-especially Snickers bars!

With our retail needs satisfied we hit the road with Lake Ysyk-kol as our destination. It was an overcast day for a change and the coolness was welcomed.

Lake Ysyk-kol is a high mountain lake, in size and elevation only second to Lake Titticaca in Bolivia. It is slightly saline having over 200 rivers flowing in and no outflow (very much like the Caspian Sea). It is over 2500 feet deep. We reached the lakeshore in just a couple of hours. The terrain on the south side is desert and today it was very, very windy. The dust storm was intense. Through one little village not a soul could be seen as the huge dust clouds engulfed everything in sight.

We found a spot with a small "windbreak" of trees and made lunch in the truck. Horse meat and cheese sandwiches with lots of fresh veggies. Interesting. One of the family, it seems, discovered she's allergic to horse meat and broke out in hives. The wind died down and the rain started. An hour later it was calm and the sun came out. It was still quite cool.

Our activity this afternoon was an eagle hunting exhibition. We were met by the eagle keeper and drove to a secluded area in the desert. After introducing us to the golden eagle, he released a rabbit, took the bird up to the top of the ridge, and let it go. Within seconds the eagle had the rabbit and was devouring it before our eyes. Bones and all it only took about ten minutes for the prey to be gone. Gruesome and interesting at the same time. We remarked that back home this type of exhibition would never take place!

Following the eagle event the weather gods came back with impeding gloom and we opted to drive to Karakol, second largest city in the country, and a guest house instead of camping. For $11 per person we got the entire faculty with a full kitchen. The drive along the coastline was nice despite the weather. Views of the mountains were overwhelming at times. As we neared town the desert transformed into fertile farmland.

Bubble and Squeek

It was an overcast and rainy day with most ducking in and out of the truck. For lunch we brought out the last three days leftovers and made "bubble and squeak." That's Aussie/Brit for leftover stew. I get the bubble part, the "squeak" evades me. We cooked in the rain and ate inside Sura.

Packing up on the rain is a real drag. Wet muddy tents will remain that way for our next bush camp. Wet clothes on top of four days dirty laundry-virtually everything I have-and all smelling pretty rank may get even worse.

Hopes of sun and a light breeze were on everyone's mind as we drove out of the valley and to our warm hotel and hopefully a laundry facility.

At the first log bridge we discovered damage. We had to bring out the sand mats and reinforce the bridge with rocks and a new log. The "rebuild" took a while before it was safe to attempt a crossing.

Once back in Kara-kol we settled in at our hotel, connected via wifi and enjoyed a quiet evening vigor dinner we had a free night and went in different directions looking for something different to eat.