Thursday 18 JULY – Free day at Köl Suu

Join us again for the 4th part of our amazing roadtrip through the breathtaking landscapes and challenging mountain passes in Kyrgyzstan.

The second free day of the trip. And what better way to start a day off than by enjoying yet another magisterial view. For breakfast, we had some porridge with bread and tea.

Horse riding

It was agreed yesterday that we might ride on horseback to Lake Köl Suu today. On foot is also possible but it is still about eight kilometres from the yurt camp and you have to go through quite difficult terrain.

Apart from Evelien, I don’t think there was much horse-riding experience among the rest of the group. The instructions we were given were fairly basic but apparently riding a horse is not that difficult. Although sometimes they also had their own will and sometimes went galloping for no reason.

We travelled through some small rivers, but I had the impression that the section of swamp where the horses sometimes had to sink up to their knees in the mud was quite heavy for these animals. We are at about 3500 metres altitude and with daytime temperatures of +/- 14 to 16°, the advice to bring a good jacket was quite useful. At night, temperatures drop to around or below freezing even though it is the middle of summer. Even snowfall did not seem exceptional.

Once we arrived at Lake Köl Suu, we soon forgot about our aching behinds. This has to be one of the most beautiful places in the country. The lake was created by a landslide in the 1980s. A natural dam was created across the Kurumduk River. The lake is between 100 and 907 metres wide and just over 12 kilometres long. Its depth varies between 5 and 10 metres. The lake sometimes disappears completely into underground caves only to reappear afterwards through new water inflows.

After an hour and a half of walking around here (or sitting as above), flying the drone and taking numerous photos, it was time to head back towards yurt camp. Everyone noticed that by now it had also turned colder.

To my knowledge, there are almost no pictures of the return trip, but I think everyone can still remember it vividly. First it started to drizzle softly, then it started to rain harder and a little later we were hit by a heavy hailstorm with wind. Everyone without exception sat on their horses freezing cold. We hardly had any feeling left in our fingers as they had almost frozen off 🥶. Fortunately, by the end of the ride, the hail and rain had stopped. Just before we entered the yurt camp, Sasha’s horse slipped, causing him to fall off the horse and get stuck in the stirrup. Dieter’s horse also spooked and reared up causing him too to land on the ground. All in all, no damage to either the horses or the riders.

After everyone had put on dry clothes, we gathered back in the hangar to eat together. The deliciously hot soup and dumplings were enjoyed, of course there was a lot of talking back and forth about the day’s experiences.

Nobody really made it late that day, in fact, we were looking forward to our newly installed stove. The yurts were all new and the stoves they were still installing. As usual, it was filled with dried cow dung and as kindling they just chopped a dash of petroleum over it. The fun was short-lived though, a good two hours later our cachet was out and all that was left was a stinky smell….

Friday 19 July – Direction of Eki Naryn

We slept well in our almost new yurt. It was just a pity that the stove gave off an unpleasant smell all night. After a fresh splash of water in our faces, we were instantly awake. It also seemed that temperatures were close to freezing again this night. Maybe it sounds strange, but despite it being July, most people here still sleep in thermal underwear.

Since we are quite early birds, Urmat had already given us the permits for the inspection. So we could leave whenever we wanted. The drive went smoothly and we were once again treated to amazing landscapes.

And rickety bridges…

Unexpected passengers

We arrived at some kind of checkpoint. So we stopped and I took our permits which I showed to the man who had come up to me. The man turned out not to be interested in that at all and he made it clear to us that the checkpoint was a long way away. What he did make clear to us was that he wanted us to take three people to Naryn, 60 kilometres away. I never worried for a second during the whole trip, but here the feeling of ‘what if they are illegal immigrants’ came over me.
Meanwhile, Tim and Jasmijn had also joined us. The man in the background with a machine gun over his shoulder helped us make the decision to take them with us. It turned out to be about that man’s wife and two small children. Dieter moved to Tim’s car and the three passengers took a seat in our Bukhanka. When I asked for their permits, they turned out not to have any. The man would call the checkpoint.

Once we arrived at the checkpoint, everything went smoothly and very friendly. Our passengers turned out to be acquaintances for the controller and we were allowed to continue our journey towards Naryn.
Arriving in Naryn, we had to refuel again and from there our passengers continued on foot, but not without having their picture taken.

Flat tyre

Earlier by chance, I noticed that Tim’s right rear tyre was flat. Dieter immediately sprang into action (with Tim’s help) and in No-time the wheel was changed and Tim and Jasmijn could continue their journey.

The drive to the yurt camp was through a hugely varied landscape where we could once again feast our eyes, my god what a beautiful country this is!!!

Since we were again first at the final destination, we had a choice of available yurts, there was one with three beds and the others had five. Since there are only three of us Belgians, that choice was quickly made :-).

Things were very convivial with chips, beer and vodka. Moreover, we were able to enjoy good food and afterwards a good mattress in the yurt. Slept wonderfully that night in a yurt heated to sauna temperature.

Saturday 20 July – Tosor pass

Under the motto ‘Save the best for last’, we will cross the Tosor Pass today. The Tosor Pass, with its highest point at 3,893 m, is part of the Terksey Ala-Too mountain range. This pass is accessible barely four months of the year, the other eight months it is covered in snow. We drive the pass from south to north, which would be a lot easier than the other way round. Anyway this should not be done in an ordinary car. A 4×4 is really necessary here and a bit of experience driving a car won’t hurt either I think.

We ride through streams several times and it is a constant dodging between the stones, but it is fun to do. My fellow passengers grumble about my driving skills but it’s still fun.

The pass is impressive and we overlook a glacier with a small lake at the bottom.
The descent is driven by Dieter, my moment to comment. Because no matter how gently you try to drive here every now and then we all still almost hit the roof of the car with our heads😉 .

Once the Tosor pass was behind us we looked for something to eat. After driving around for a while, we stopped in Barksoon at a kebab stall that looked very neat. We ordered three Shoarma wraps, which turned out to weigh about a kilo each, were extremely tasty and cost 450 som for the three together, so that’s 4.5 euros in total 😳.

Yuri Gagarin monument

We had decided the day before that we were going to see the monument to Yuri Gagarin. It was a total diversions of about an hour and a half but worth it in retrospect. It is just a big boulder in which Yuri Gagarin’s head is carved but the way there was like driving through Switzerland.

After his famous space flight, Gagarin went to a sanatorium near Lake Issyk-Kul to relax. During that time, he undertook several hikes to the Barskoon waterfalls, among other things. Locals erected these monuments to commemorate the visit of this famous visitor.

Lake Ysykköl

Final destination for today is Lake Ysykköl. Lying at an altitude of 1606m above sea level with a maximum length of 182km, a maximum width of 60km, a circumference of 688km and a water area of 6,236km², Ysykköl is the second largest mountain lake in the world after Lake Titicaca.

A little before the last turn-off towards Lake Ysykköl, we found ourselves driving behind Tim & Jasmijn’s Bukhanka. It was not going as fast as usual, so contacted them via walkie-talkie and they turned out to be in tow through Urmat.

The Tosor pass had become too much for the engine of Tim & Jasmine their Bukhanka. From then on, we had extra passengers back 😉.

Canyon of the forgotten rivers

Again, we drove through completely different-looking surroundings. They looked like sand hills where the wind has caused natural erosion for years.

A sometimes narrow road allowed us to follow the southern shore of the lake and explore the lunar landscapes of the Canyon of the Forgotten Rivers. The canyon has been named Canyon of Forgotten Rivers in tribute to the hundreds of dried-up rivers that have cut through the rocks over the centuries. Succulent plants and multicoloured flowers punctuate the landscape. The occasional small lizard crosses the dusty road and eagles circle high in the sky in search of prey. It is possible to camp at the lake and swim along small deserted beaches. And that is what we will do.

We were able to park our Bukhankas just at the beach where we would spend the night in our tent on the beach. Since it had been about five days since most of us had seen a decent shower, we all spontaneously jumped into the lake to refresh ourselves. A little later, we were told we could use the facilities of the yurt camp you can see in the background. Believe me, even though it was a primitive shower it really did feel good. The evening ended with a nice piece of marinated meat on the bbq and of course the necessary pints of beer and shots of vodka, a big thanks to the team.

Sunday 21 July – Direction to Bishkek

The last day dawns and Sasha treats us to a delicious breakfast on the beach.

Eagle show

A little later, we can experience an eagle show. In itself ok but I think most had expected more from this. It was all just a bit too ‘manufactured.

That does not alter the fact that they are fantastic animals that also look quite beautiful in photos. Apparently, these animals can live up to more than 40 years and in diving flight they can reach 200 km/h, which is a lot faster than our Bukhankas 😳.

After the eagle show, another group photo was taken by Sasha. Then most of us left for Bishkek. It took a bit of fitting and measuring to get Tim & Jasmijn’s luggage in as well after which we could leave. By the way, it was quite cosy to do this last ride with five.

We had quickly booked a hotel in the capital and that turned out to be a good decision. We were able to enjoy a nice shower to wash away all the dust from the last ride and still get a few hours’ sleep. Around 2.30 am, we left for the airport with a pre-booked taxi.

Last movie

Above you can see our last of the four YouTube videos, we hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Conclusion

Kyrgyzstan is a fascinating country with contrasts we have not encountered anywhere else so far. Breathtaking nature with exceptionally friendly people, we would recommend it to anyone. However, the way we visited the country with The Lost Boys is not for everyone. You have to like driving the car, you may not care to sleep uncomfortably at times, take into account possible altitude sickness and washing yourself properly is sometimes not in the cards for several days. The toilets are sometimes improvising from a plank with a hole in it to the wild.

But then again, I think the stories after such a trip last more than a generation.

Missed the previous articles? Here are the links to PART1 / PART2 / PART3