Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Continent number 5 together

Our next trip is planned, two weeks in Spain in February. This trip marks two big milestones for us, first we will celebrate our ten year anniversary February 19th and this will mark the fifth continent we explore together. So excited to land in Andalucia in only 10 weeks.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

No ATM, near death drive and perfect last night

Our last stop, Arslanbob, was quite the journey to reach but more than worth it. We arrived with plans to camp, hike and maybe mountain bike but were quickly put on a tight budget when we learned there was no ATM or credit card access in town. In the end it worked our perfectly as we spent almost three days exploring the town and surroundings on foot.
The town is actually very popular with local tourists trying to escape the city heat and features a soviet time camp with little cabins over a sprawling area. We stayed in a home stay near the centre with a family. We had our own little second-storey cabin that overlooked the mountains. It was the best food of the whole trip and we had a great time blowing bubbles with the 3 year old. 
After using our last soms to secure a shared taxi back to Bishkek, we embarked on a nail biting journey over two passes and through open jailoos before arriving back in Bishkek. Total travel time was about 12 hours and we both were looking forward to our last day before our flight, we had no idea it would end up including new friends and a special tour of the city. 
We had contacted Azamat, the son of the family we stayed with outside At Bashi, whom we met for coffee our last morning. Although Kyrgyz, here received the opportunity to go to the states for the last year of high school and ended up staying through college for 10 years. It was so nice to sit down and reflect on our experiences and ask some burning questions about observations we had made about the country and culture. We were so fortunate to be invited to his flat for dinner where we met his wonderful wife and 9 month old son. Turns out we were all the same age and had a great evening sharing stories. They had recently bought a plot of land and took us to see it as well as the lookout point over Bishkek. It was a very special end to  an amazing trip. 
Although it is sad to leave this great country that really grew on us, it is merely a pause before the next adventure reveals itself, can't wait! 

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Reflections on Kyrgyzstan

There have been many facets of this country that make it unique to others and have particularly struck us. Here is an attempt at capturing some of them:

People: The Kyrgyz people are truly kind and eager to help. Unlike some other visited less developed countries, they are not opportunistic when interacting with tourists, but rather are engaging and fair. 
It was incredible throughout our trip how willing people were to help and the lengths of communication that could be obtained with gestures and patience. 
It is evident that the woman runs the home and is painfully busy completing tasks to keep the house moving forward. The man seems absent at times and appears to spend a great deal of his time socializing and resting, although hard work for farmers remains evident. This appeared true in most homes, however there was much more equality noted in cities and also in our home stay in At Bashi. 
Given the soviet influence, all are fluent in Russian and Kyrgyz; however, English is emerging particularly with the younger people. 
We had heard that alcoholism was a problem and it can be noticed, especially in the early hours of the day, in most cities. However, in all of our yurt and home stays consumption was null or minimal. 

Food: It is outlined in the Lonely Planet that one does not go to Kyrgyzstan for the food - this is quite correct. Although we have discovered some dishes we like, they are limited. Lagman, a Russian noodle dish is quite tasty and good served as a soup or  fried. Mantas or dumplings are quite gamey but okay. Almost all dishes include mutton and are usually eaten with nan or fresh bread. 
The national drink, kymys, fermented horse milk, is best in the yurtstays but the  sour and vinegary aftertaste is hard to get used to. It tends to be almost chugged at the end of each meal and is believed to help with digestion and good health. 
Tea is served all the time, the woman always fills your bowl/cup multiple times and locals heap tablespoons of sugar in each serving. Tea time appears to be all the time and is presented with breads and amazing homemade jams, usually apricot, strawberry or cherry. Tables are set with multiple bowls of nuts and dried or fresh food. 
Usually, the woman eats after the man and the guests, siting ready to top up tea throughout the meal. 

Landscape: Incredible, beautiful and amazing. There is really not much more that can be said except you just have to see it! Mountains, vast pastures, green rolling hills, beautiful alpine lakes; all of which are basically untouched and pristine. 

Observations: Whenever we visit somewhere new there are a few things that strike us. Here are some:
- locals believe fast flowing air in cars can lead to illness and therefore despite crowding and intense heat, windows are often shut leading us to wonder why and engage in battles with the window controls
- gold teeth, apparently a status symbol, quite the look
- the typical Kyrgyz hat, just so great 
- no need to drive in your lane. You can drive in yours, the other, or any combination 
- kymys, kymys, kymys, and more kymys
- tea, tea and more tea
- meat, meat, meat and more meat
- the juxtaposition between Bishkek and the rural villages and nomadic life
- the kindness of the locals
- a slower and more relaxed pace of life 
- yurts, so cozy and proof that entire families can live in one room
- a strong sense of family with multiple generations living under the same roof
- the responsibility of the youngest son to  stay at home and care for his parents 
- a Muslim influence that is present but not integral 
- an eerie sense that something else previously existed and now is undergoing change and rebirth as the nation comes out of Soviet rule and develops a sense of self 
- towns with mostly concrete soviet influenced and uninspired architecture that is in various states of decay 
- a strong sense of national pride and will to become a great independent country 
- incredible markets with great fruit 
- a "tourist" salad that I could eat everyday consisting of cabbage, dill, cucumbers and tomatoes
- an insane use of cooking oil literally covering most dishes 
- a unique experience being like a"fly on the wall" and openly discuss in front of others while not being understood and having others function at times like you are not there 
- a very strong sense of hospitality and acceptance of others into home and lives 
- family dynamics are often a little skewed as woman have many children particularly in the villages making it seem like children could be grandchildren and are raised partly by their older siblings

It's a good + Sergei + (Marshutka x 2) = Arslanbob

Our two day journey to the West of the country consisted of one private taxi, one hitched shared taxi and 2 Marshutka or minibuses. 
Transport from Naryn to Kazarman consisted of a taxi through incredibly varied landscape over a four hour drive. Mountains were replaced with arid desert followed by lush high altitude pastures, red canyons, each repeated two or three times. It was truly beautiful and took us through a very remote and uninhabited part of the country. 
Perhaps one of the best parts of the drive was our driver who although spoke very little English enjoyed telling us his opinions on various countries and their presidents via facial expressions and hand gestures. 
The town of Kazarman is truly bleak and serves as a place for families of close-by mines to reside. It is uninspired at best but served as a good stop-over before we tackle the long drive to our final destination of the trip, Arslanbob  via Jalal-Abad. 
We woke up early on our second leg of the journey to try to find a shared taxi and get a decent price. We found one quickly and were set to wait for a full car when perhaps the only Russian we have seen in the south, rolled up with his daughter in their little white Lada, we were negotiated over and set off on the epic drive towards Jalal-Abad. It consists mostly of a 3000m pass over a road that just barely opened for the summer. Although little communication was exchanged,Sergei and his daughter got us safely to the bazaar. Jalal-Abad was a bustling treed town with a busy Saturday bazaar. We grabbed lunch and then two consecutive Martzutkas to arrive in our final destination, Arslansbob, after 8 total travel hours. 
Arslanbob grabbed us right away, so quaint and green with a river flowing right through the middle. It helped that our guest house is very cute and dinner was delicious! 
Tomorrow we look forward to setting out on our last 3 days before heading back to Bishkek. 

Jailoo Yurtstay with Batma and Shaken

During our research leading up to the trip, we corresponded with Azamat, a local living in Bishkek, via a blog on Trip Advisor. He said his parents lived a nomadic life just outside Naryn and we planned to stay with them should our plans line up. We spent a total of three nights here and it is by far the best yurt stay we have experienced.
Batma and her husband, Shaken, met us and brought us to their low or early summer jailoo. We spent the afternoon speaking in broken English, a little Kyrgyz and Russian but mostly gestures.  It is amazing how must we were able to communicate despite very little common tongue. Shaken and Chad then engaged in multiple games of chess as the evening drew on. Near the end of evening we met Travis, an American doing research for a masters and living with the family on their farm for a few weeks and, Artur and Karol, two friends from Poland, literally spending a week wandering the hills around the family homestay. 
The next day, the youngest son, agreed to drive us to see Tash Rabat, a caravansary, a few hours onward. It was said to be used by travellers along the Silk Road and was a beautiful stone building literally constructed into the hillside. 
Our third day, we drove up to the see the family's higher jailoo. We hiked around the area all day with the two Polish travellers. Along the way we were welcomed into any yurt we passed and offered kymys kymys and more kymys. It honestly got to be way too much as the day went on and we tried to sneak it back into the barrel at any chance we got. 
We were invited into one yurt shared by two families that presented us with our most obvious Muslim influence. As a woman, I was not addressed or greeted by any of the men. The father of the family asked the Polish (given that they speak Russian) about whether we have children and we were told that it was shamed not to reproduce and practice his word. Although strong in his convictions, the man was still curious and  welcoming, to the men. 
Our last night we arrived back late at the yurt camp and settled in to prepare for the long journey to Arslanbob.

















One horse, one guide and one petroglyphs


We spent another day in Kochkor after our return from Song-Kol, we had read about another jailoo valley called Sarala-Saz and that there were petroglyphs about a three hour hike up the valley. We hired a driver and arranged for a local to meet us to take us up. What we got was a great day but not quite what we signed up for.
When we arrived at the yurt camp to meet our "guide" he indicated that he wanted to take a horse while we walked, far enough not everyone likes hiking, so we set out, up, up for about an hour when we arrived at a single petroglyphs. The guide pointed it out and then said okay and proceeded to take a nap for just around one hour. 
Although it was not quite what we expected, we had packed a picnic and enjoyed the beautiful views whilst he napped. 
We then hiked down and after some obligatory kymys and tea we were off again back to Kochkor for our last night. 


Sunday, June 15, 2014

Trek to Song-Kol

Day 1: We were met by our guide, Bek, in Kochkor before driving about an hour and a half out of town to start our four day trek around the Song-Kol region.
It was a tough first day mostly going either up or down but it seemed like mostly up! We arrived at our yurta camp early in the afternoon and were greeted with tea and bread as a storm rolled in over the pass. We were served kymys, fermented horse milk, to end our welcome, once again we got it down but it was well, interesting, slightly vinegary and also quite sour. 
A few hours later another group arrived, 3 guys our age from Germany. We hiked up a few peaks near the camp and saw our hosts milk the horses during the afternoon. 
We are now awaiting dinner to be served huddled from a second storm in our yurt. 
Day 2: Currently we are on the shores of Song-Kol teaching the 10 year old daughter of our hosts how to skip rocks. The day took us up over the 3500m pass  and the down into the valley where the lake sits. Our yurt camp is actually 5 yurts set up in a semi-circle, it has a small community feel and it appears that three generations of the same family are gathered here. The weather is perfect and we look forward to dinner including fresh fish from the lake. 
Day 3: Probably my favourite day of the trek as we hiked along the lake all day. Up and down the hills filled with little yellow flowers and in and out of little inlets on the lake shore. We ate our picnic lunch on a peninsula overlooking the whole lake with a mountain backdrop. The lake shore itself looked like the ocean with multiple blue hues from indigo to deep blue. We continue to hike fast as we arrived ahead of schedule to our yurt camp. The family was busy working on the daily tasks needed to be almost self- sustainable. From milking the horses to collecting dung to burn to hand making noodles for soup the women are always moving but it remains a slow and simple lifestyle. This has perhaps been one of the most interesting parts of this trek, becoming familiar with a "typical" day for nomadic families. To us it seems so strange to not really progress but rather work to sustain and exist. The only goal of being out here is to fatten up the heard during the summer months in the lush pastures around the lake. It is a good lesson about taking the time to be still and appreciate the moment as opposed to rushing around, however, the pace does seem counter to our regular life. 
Day 4: Today we hike out over a small pass to Kyzart village to catch a ride back to Kochkor to re-group and shower! 
This trek will definitely be a great memory of this trip. One of the main reasons we came to Kyrgyzstan was to witness nomadic life and the trek offered that as well as incredible scenery and the trekking we love.










Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Horseback eagle hunting

Today ranks up with some of the most unique and incredible travel experiences we have had to date. Eagle hunting is among the nomadic traditions that are still practiced in rural Kyrgyzstan, and was among the things we really wanted to do here. We organized it from Bokonbayevo with an eagle hunter named Ishenbek from the neighbouring village. We set out early outside of town and arrived at a small family farm where we were greeted with a bowl of maksym or jarma, fermented barley made with yeast and yogurt, after getting it down we were set to go into the hills on horseback with our guide.
In the end, we saw two attempts for a kill without success but an incredible sight none the less. Although the eagle was the main focus, being on horseback out in the landscape we had been seeing from a far was a highlight. 
After a full day we were greeted with more maksym and dinner with the family at the farm before arriving late back in town. 





Sunday, June 8, 2014

An egg with your vodka?

We spent the past few days in a mountain settlement outside of Karakol, we were able to get a ride up the 4WD track in a Russian like army van which was an experience in itself. There are only a few buildings at the top but the scenery is amazing and so untouched. Our hut also hosted some Kyrgyz friends getting away from the city, along with another couple from Switzerland. We quickly learned that homemade vodka was toasted with a boiled egg and that you cannot sit in front of an empty glass long before someone quickly refills it. We will spend the night back in karakol and then make our way around the southern side of lake Issuk-kol.

Friday, June 6, 2014

First days

When we arrived in Bishkek, we were greeted by a nice older lady who took us to our guest house in the centre of town. From there, we set out exploring. We quickly realized that the town was very laid back without much going on, even though it is the capital city.
After another day in the city we caught a bus to karakol. The by passed along Issuk-kol through the surrounding mountains, it was stunning. 
Karakol itself leaves not much to be desired and could be explored in about 30 minutes. We settled in for the night and planned to leave early for our first day of hiking. 
We waited for the minibus that never came before hiring a taxi to Jehti-Ogurz where we spent the day in the incredible 
valleys where summer jailoos or yurt camps were being set up. It was do serene and beautiful. 
We hitched a ride, yes now we can say we have only hitchhiked in Tanzania and Kyrgyzstan, back to town, and leave tomorrow for Altanarshan.



Just the beginning

Today was our first day in the mountains and open area, we confirmed why we came here. 

Saturday, May 31, 2014

On the Road Again

Our packs are sitting at the door ready to see what Kyrgyzstan has to offer. What a month it will be! 

Monday, February 24, 2014

Flights Booked

Next adventure booked!! Flights to Kyrgyzstan confirmed for June 1st 2014! 

The Lost Years

 The lost years cover from 2020 until current day. I feel like we did really well during the pandemic to keep up our travels. I stopped post...