10 days in Kyrgystan

Our trip took us on a big loop around Issyk Kul, which I learned is the 2nd largest alpine lake in the world and never freezes due to its depth and salinity. We did a 7 day tour and our group was awesome; such a great mix of people and senses of humor. A stellar vibe all week.

Bishkek - coming from Almaty, it felt a bit older and more Soviet. We visited Ala-Too square, the Osh Bazaar and the Central Mosque, which is a really amazing looking building.

Altyn Asharan (via Karakol) - we hiked up to Altyn Asharan which is a breathtakingly beautiful alpine valley. The hike was \~15km each way along a gushing river that cuts between mountains and takes you through grazing sheep and dense pine forests. I also took what might be one of my favorite photos ever (#9) — the river was catching the sun which made it look like its glowing and its cutting through the deep green forest of tian shan spruce & juniper. No edits were made, only the recipe I use on my fuji (Leica X).

We saw an eagle hunting demonstration that was incredible. The family who does it has been eagle hunting for nearly 5 generations. We learned that it is done in winter, females are the best hunters (bigger than males) and they catch foxes and hares. The humans use the skins for traditional clothing and the eagle gets the meat. Their claws are massive which they use to clench their prey to death. We all got to take photos holding an eagle which was way heavier than I expected (can’t post the photo here).

Song Kul - we rode horses from a small village called Kyzart through the Chaar-Archa pass up to Song Kul. On the way up the weather was abysmal with rain and hail pelting us. Thankfully when we arrived the sun broke through the clouds and the views were stunning. We stayed in a yurt which was cozy. The stars that night were beautiful. Our ride out the next morning had better weather and we got to enjoy the sweeping views as we crossed the pass again. We had a good time on horses despite it being quite a challenge and physically demanding. I’ll be OK if I don’t ever ride a horse again, but very glad I got to experience it.

The families who run the yurt camps and guesthouses in the mountains were so nice, warm and welcoming. We got to meet local kids along the way and see the different games they play, like Knucklebones (using sheep bones) and lots of futbol (Ronaldo is definitely the most popular). So many cute pups along the way too.

The food was delicious. We tried a bit of everything since we stayed in yurts and guesthouses which had home cooking. Lots of vegetable soups, manty, fresh vegetable salads, various meat & noodle dishes (yes we tried horse meat a few times; tasty but not my flavor) and lots of different types of tea. My favorite dish was ashlan-fu which is a Dungan spicy, cold noodle soup with thick rice noodles and thin wheat noodles. Apparently it is considered a hangover dish and seen as the unofficial dish of Karakol. Highly recommend trying if you visit.

All photos taken with Fujifilm XT30II + Tamron 17-70mm.