Hi, this is Sandy Van Soy for Trekking the Planet. Today we're in the country of Kyrgyzstan
in Central Asia. Behind me is Sankhal Lake. It's the second largest lake in the country
and it's the ending point of our 10 days here. We started in the capital city of Bishkek
and then moved on to three locations in the country to do a series of radio hikes
to experience different regions of Kyrgyzstan. Let's take a look at what we did.
Kyrgyzstan, formerly Kyrgyzia, is a rugged country situated in Central Asia. The capital
of Bishkek is a modern city with a public transportation system, parks and restaurants
offering international cuisine. You can still see the Soviet influence in the buildings as well as
uniforms worn by the army. While in Kyrgyzstan we visited three locations, the first was
Karakal Natural Park, a day's drive from Bishkek. On the way there and back we visited
two archaeological sites each dating to the 11th century.
When we arrived in the park we were in first surprise on our first so-called
acclimatization hike. We started at about 8400 feet or 2,560 meters and peaked out at over 10,800
feet or 3,300 meters in only three miles or five kilometers. Needless to say this was like no other
trekking we had done so far on this expedition. With the weather getting bad we decided to call
this hike short and return to camp. The second site we visited was Tash Rebat, the location of
a well-preserved 15th century stone traveler's rest house. Although others argue it could have
been a Christian church or Buddhist monastery. Tash Rebat had another worldly super remote feel
to it. The hike here too was challenging. We had covered 13 miles or 21 kilometers in a little
over seven hours including breaks and lunch. We gained 1,600 feet or 488 meters during the hike
and then there was some scrambling required to hike up and down over two river valleys.
By far the most beautiful and even awe-inspiring site was Songkul Lake. This is another remote
region of the country that is used almost exclusively by nomads during the summer months
to graze their cows, horses, sheep, goats, and yaks.
While we were there we had the opportunity to interview a nomad.
When we arrived she and her daughter were rolling out cheese balls made of goat's milk.
We had the opportunity to drink mare's milk which is the milk of a female horse.
After trying the milk we had a chance to ask a few questions. It turns out that this woman's
family arrived on June 8th and planned to return to her village at lower elevations on about October
1st just before they anticipated the temperature to really drop. Her husband's family had been
coming to this very location for generations. However, because of the communication gap
we weren't able to determine the exact number of generations. Her primary language was Kyrgyz.
We very much enjoyed our time in Kyrgyzstan. It was so refreshing to see the wide open spaces
and meet the delightful people here. We are looking forward to visiting our final country
in Central Asia next, which is Uzbekistan. That's all for now. Check back later for more updates.
Thanks.
