After the rigors of the Pamir highway we were pleased to enter the more gentle hills over the border.
We had a brief stop at Osh the end of the Pamir highway before leaving for a lake at Song Kul.
However our adventures weren’t over yet
Although the hills were gentler the road we turned onto shortly wasn’t. Back to a dirt track winding up the hills and not much passing space. We eventually camped for the night in an area of grass and wild flowers next to the road.
The next morning we got back to tarmac and a town before too long. Just as well, we had a car race after us hooting and shouting that the truck was on fire. We stopped and all got out. Someone had put wood from the previous nights fire back into the wood storage on the back and the wind had got it going again.
Disaster was averted by quick action from our driver and tour leader. The wood emptied out and the back locker checked for damage to bags stored there, (some damage to two bags due to heat transference).
The adventure wasn’t over though. The road we turned into ran along the bottom of a cliff, and we started coming across rockfalls. The truck coped with these well, untill we came to the impossible one
A survey on foot indicated that we could not get around two car size rocks. It seemed we would have to turn around and go the longer route. However, as the truck was starting the several point turn a bright yellow machine arrived from the other side and started moving rock. It was soon joined by another and they made short work of the fall. We were soon back on our way! We discovered they had already been very busy further on. Later we found there had been an earthquake in the night – totally un-noticed by me.
On the way we started noticing elaborate graveyards with ornate graves.
After a lunch stop in town to pick up our guide we found ourselves back on the dirt tracks in the hills again up and up back into the snow, then down and off the dirt track onto the mud.
After a few slithers on the mud we got to the point of getting stuck. Here some mini vans came the other way and advised us that we had no chance if getting to our destination. We got the truck turned around and wondered what to do. No telephone signal here. At this point a couple of 4 wheel drive cars arrived- our hosts looking for us. After a bit of a wait we got organised into cars and delivered to our yurt village
This was out home for 3 nights, very well insulated felt yurts, each with a wood burner inside. We had 6 of us inside the yurt which quickly got warm when the burner was put on.
Our hosts provided a feast for us and afterwards I was asleep in no time so I completely missed the start of ‘”vodkagate”, as some rather loud fellow travellers got shouted at by an angry man from another yurt thankfully it stopped short of blows.
This area is all about horses so we got to go horse riding and also got to see a demonstration of horsemanship later with goat polo. For this they have to get a goat carcass in they’re goal. This means scooping it off the ground in a free for all against other riders tucking it under their leg and go for their goal while the other team try and stop them.
The pictures below show a couple of riders scooping paper off the ground as part of the games afterwards.
Ashley was the only person from out group who arrived in time to see the goat being dispatched prior to the game
Unfortunately “vodkagate” continued through this day as well. We came back to find the drinkers in our yurt as it was large and warm! Thankfully the vodka ran out and a further order for 10 bottles was cancelled.
For some reason the host lady kept saying to me – more vodka, I don’t know if she thought I had some influence 😅
Our last day was sunny and we just relaxed, went walking and played games. Some locals gave us fried fish on our walk.
All too soon we had to leave and that meant a journey back to the truck. This time it was in a van crammed in like illegal immigrants. Only Ashley & tour leader Brett got a seat up front. A bouncey journey back to the truck, back to the dirt road and eventually to civilisation .
And on to Bishkek the capital created by the Soviets. This was the first of the Stans where the guide talked about keeping their history and spoke well of the Soviet rule
The flag explains a lot about the country. Central is the window at the top of a yurt. The first thing a baby sees and the last thing above you after you die. There are 40 rays out for 40 tribes. The flag is to do with the nomadic lifestyle. The Russians brought cities and culture to the country.
When the Russian empire collapsed only 5 countries joined in the USSR originally. The stans went for independence and therefore count their independence from 1924. It was only 12 years later after 12 years of struggling that the Republic joined the USSR.
This is the statue to the legendary founder of Bishkek. Who took the lands back from the Mongols. When his father was killed by the Mongols, the night he was born his mother named him after horses milk fermented as he was to take the land back. He did this.
The animal on the sculpture is a snow leopard the national animal of Kyrgyzstan alongside an Ibex horn.
We were shown the first cinema and the first pub, built by the Russians. The mosaics are soviet era unusually left in place.
Below is Kurmanjan a great woman of Kyrgyzstan who helped unify the country under the Russians. She had a difficult history, she brought up to all the nomadic skills of a man. She was kidnapped to be a bride twice and escaped and work to improve things for women. This wasn’t appreciated locally and she took her horse and left for China to teach nomadic skills. She came back home as she wanted to marry but the people there wanted to execute her. The Chinese asked the king to intercede and he married her. He was eventually killed in a palace coup. When they were annexed by Russia she had the job of bringing about peaceful integration. He son was caught gun running and executed and she had to accept this as the law, putting her country ahead of her private hopes, soon after this she became a hermit, honoured by the Tsar even then.
The other picture is of the souvenir shop.
We saw the remembrance memorial for the second world war. This again has the yurt window at the top. After this was a building like a spaceship a circus, it seems a popular theme in ex soviet states.
Unusually a statue to Engles and Marx
Lastly we saw a monument to the 2010 revolution one of two since independence in 1991 and the Whitehouse.
From here onto our last Stan Kazakhstan.