Lake Issyk-Kol and the Kyrgyz Mountains

Kyrgyz Yurt, Lake Issyk-Kol
Originally uploaded by rtw2007.

Hurrah: the van appears (touch every piece of wood available) to be working!!! And what’s more, the lack of a sodding diesel particulate filter appears to have made it a touch more powerful and a lot more fuel efficient. Who needs environmental filters anyway? And we haven’t actually noticed big black clouds of smoke coming out of the van either, which is what the filter is supposed to stop. So, it’s so far so good on the van front.

We left Bishkek nervously wondering how the van would fare and filled up with diesel for the first time since our fateful fill-up in Khorog. The road heads east (the far end of Issyk-Kol is, at over 78° east, the furthest east we will be until Delhi) and up in to the hills to the huge lake of Issyk-Kol. This is an enormous alpine lake (the second biggest alpine lake in the world after Lake Titicaca, fact fans) with a fantastic snowy mountain backdrop. For four days, we circled the lake stopping at small beaches overlooking the lake and the mountains to camp overnight. It has been lovely to have a really relaxed lifestyle after the past couple of weeks and some of our wild camps have been in really stunning locations. None of the beaches are ever marked or signed: it is just a case of finding a track that looks well-used and following it down to the waters edge to see what you find.

On our first day at the lake we were staggered to roll up behind a pair of cars sporting GB stickers (which we haven’t seen for months): we had found a group of 4 lads competing in the Mongol Rally. They are driving from London to Ulaan Batar in Mongolia in only four weeks, which makes us seem rather slovenly! The downside being that they haven’t seen much of each country, as they have to plough on through to get to the finish party in Mongolia four weeks after departure. Their cars are old one litre engine jobs (as per race rules) and are both covered in sponsorship stickers and good luck messages scrawled in marker pen all over the paintwork. They must get even more attention than us from the locals!

On the south side of the lake we found a small yurt workshop which builds the traditional Kyrgyz dwellings from scratch. A local chick showed us round – demonstrating all the machines etc. The machinery used is really primitive, not that this was a surprise in rural Kyrgyzstan, which other than the capital Bishkek feels like it hasn’t changed much in decades (the men in rural areas all wear traditional Kyrgyz felt hats, lots of people live in yurts on the jailoos (summer pastures) and the main modes of transport outside the capital are Lada and horse (they are really devoted horsemen around here). We used the opportunity of visiting the yurt workshop to buy some traditional shyrdak, a pair of coloured Kyrgyz felt rugs that we will ….. probably put in a corner somewhere at home (if they ever get back to Blighty in one piece).

Our final night at the Lake seemed as idyllic as the others as we sat on the beach in our deckchairs and performed the standard photo poses / autograph signings for a local family. Unfortunately it turned out that we had unwittingly gate crashed an all night party, featuring an outdoor stereo (with only 3 different Kyrgyz dance tracks) and some dubious substance being brewed in a large silver pot and then smoked. The enthusiastic partiers stopped at around three in the morning only to fire up the stereo again at 5.45am. Oh good!!

Rather lacking in sleep, we have now driven over the scenic pass towards China and are staying in the last Kyrgyz town, Naryn, from where we will tackle the Torugart Pass. It is supposed to be one of the most difficult border crossings in the world, both in terms of altitude / road condition and also in terms of bureaucracy (it is officially closed to non-Chinese or Kyrgyz nationals, so we have had to get lots of paperwork in an attempt to get ourselves through). If all goes well then we should be in Kashgar by Tuesday. If not then I guess we’ll be somewhere else, though goodness knows where. We shall see.

A few thank yous; firstly to Chris Arnold for (as promised) supplying up to date music for our iPod. Our most recent adventures in Central Asia have been undertaken to the sound track of Chris’ “50 Fresh Ones”. Much appreciated – Kyrgyz radio is not all it is cracked up to be. Also thanks for the recent morale boosting comments on the blog from Pam, Norman, Auntie Jenny and Scasey, and other good wishes by email. This has really cheered us up post van-issues.

Auntie Jenny: communication with the locals has been surprisingly OK. We are now masters of sign language; our pictionary skills have improved no end; and we have learnt enough Russian words to get by. Everyone understands Russian here and if you throw in a couple of Tajik / Kyrgyz etc words such as “hello” and “thank you”, they will give you all the time in the world to make yourself understood. Also, we have found the odd smattering of English along the way: if you really need it, people will often go and dig out a teenager or younger child in the village who knows some English (everyone seems to learn at least a little post the break up of the Soviet Union, and you find the off child who speaks English really well). So surprisingly we actually find ourselves pretty much forgetting about the language difference: we only really miss out on really in-depth conversations with people, rather than having day-to-day issues.

Anyway enough of all this – we need to enjoy our last night in Central Asia. See you in China.