We woke up at 6:30 am (well Mike did) and like other camping days, the sun was already. However, the Kyrgyz highlands air temperature was below freezing. Our tent had frosted over as had the the grassy pastures, edelweiss flowers, and cow pies outside. Thankfully, our sleeping bags could handle the below freezing temps. Finally, packing my long underwear and three Toro winter beanies had paid off.
Outside, while freezing, the views were unbelievable. Walking around the lakeside pastures among the grazing cattle and horses while the sun glistened off the morning frost against the backdrop of the Kyrgyz Alay Mountains, I constantly thought to myself - “Never thought in my life I’d be camping in the Kyrgyz mountains”. It was a special moment - solitary and silent (apart from the distant moo’s of roaming cattle). See pics below.
Camping spot at sunrise.
After a slow breakfast and gazing at more herds of cattle and horses roll through our campsite, we began our drive to the other side of the lake. The night previous we had camped on the south side. The drive to the north side took near an hour and a half over bumpy gravel before a 10 km stretch of “offroading” through dry grass. There was a “road” but it was essentially just tire tracks through grassy pasture. We chose a yurt stay near the water. Most yurt stays are licensed through the Kyrgyz government to ensure that tourists stay at yurts that are managed by local Kyrgyz people. Our yurt stay was just that - it was family-run with everyone doing a different job. The elder woman managed all the cooking while her younger boys sped around on horseback running errands and herding livestock. A teenage girl spoke a bit of English but thanks to Google Translate we were able to communicate effectively. It was back-and-forth at times, but finally we were able to arrange a horseback ride for 2 hours into the mountains to catch the sunset over the giant lake.
We basked in the afternoon sunlight before walking down to the rocky shore of Son-Kul Lake. It was perfectly partly cloudy and with the sun higher in the sky, the water had turned a lighter blue. After a quick rinse in the cold, clear waters, we chatted with some other trekkers who were admiring the views. The Israeli group was doing a 3 week trek to other alpine lakes in eastern Kyrgyz - again a reminder of how little of this beautiful country we are seeing with our few days here. Later, closer to sunset, we embarked on a horseback ride up the rolling hills beyond our yurt for better views of the lake. I think they would have let us gone without a guide, but given that none of us are equestrians beyond childhood horseback rides, we opted for a guide. In 2 hours, we trotted up the hill to observe some epic views of the lake - it’s a giant lake at dimensions. On horseback in the mountain setting, we were quick to make Lord of the Rings references to the Riders of Rohan. We made our way down to our yurt camp safely and thoroughly enjoyed our ride, well apart from Joe’s stubborn horse who lagged in the back.
Dinner was a spread of huge proportions - plov (some of the best of the trip), lagman, breads, candy, cookies, melon, salad, chai. We ate till we couldn’t and called it a night in our yurt which was toasty hot from the cow pie burning furnace inside. Tomorrow we leave Son-Kul, one of the most beautiful places on the trip, and head for Kazakhstan. -FWY
Edelweiss, a symbol of the Alps, are abundant here
