Lake Song-Kol horse trek

We arrived in the town of Kochkor around lunch time on Saturday, just missing out on seeing the animal market which runs throughout the morning. However, there was still plenty of live stock around town to keep us entertained.

Our plan was to do a three day horse trek to Lake Song-Kol. We headed straight for CBT (Community Based Tourism) to get details of the tour the run and a quote. Unfortunately, they were quite expensive compared to the others. Jailoo, another tour operator, was the cheapest but they didn't speak English. We went instead with Shepherd's Life, which had good reviews and a reasonable price. Three days with a guide, breakfast, dinner and transport cost us 13,200 som - roughly $330 AUS for two people. We were looking forwarded to not having to worry about the logistics for the next few days and just enjoying the ride. Literally.

Day One - Jumgal Village to Kilemche yurt stay.

We were picked up from our home-stay, Sharem 14, where we had pitched our tents for 200 som each the previous afternoon. 

We started the horse trek from a little village called Jumgal. It was an hour drive from Kochkor and 15 minutes into the journey I was busting for the loo. Public toilets in Kyrgyzstan are few and far between, but I tried my luck, 'are we going past a toilet?' I was given a blank stare and asked, 'you need toilet?'
'Yes', I replied. 
The car instantly pulled onto the gravel and I stared out the window at a few stunted bushes. I guess this is the Kyrgyzstan equivalent of a public toilet and I wasn't fussed.

Before long we were saddling up for our journey at Shepherd's Life.

Our guide, Jomart spoke good English and was only 17 years old. He told us he had started riding when he was four. Pretty common for the Kyrgyzs. 

We trekked through some beautiful countryside, had a lunch break and practiced our cantering before reaching our first yurt stay at Kilemche.

Running free!

View of the valley below from Kilemche yurt stay. 

Claire and Jomart enjoying a tea break in the yurt with home made bread dipped into various types of jam and butter.

We had a little nap in our new home and when we woke up many other tourists had arrived. A couple from France, a couple from Belgium and a group of three friends from Austria. Most travellers so far have been from Europe. We stayed in the same yurt as the French couple and our guide Jomart who slept-talked so loudly he woke us up both nights. Classic.

Day Two - Kilemche yurt stay to Batai-Aral yurt village.

Our bums and thighs were a little tender from the previous day, but we were excited to get back on our horses despite this. We headed up over the pass and the view from the top was amazing. It was a beautiful clear day giving us fine views of Lake Song-Kol.

Claire and Jomart heading up to the pass.

View of Lake Song-Kol from the top of the pass.

After a long tea break in a yurt closer to the lake we rode with lake views for two hours before coming to Batai-Aral a yurt camp.

Sunset over the yurt camp.

Day Three - Batai-Aral yurt village to Kochkor

Jomart took the horses back to Jumgal this morning while I napped in the yurt and Claire played with a local dog. After sleeping in the tent for two weeks the beds felt so soft! I took advantage of thid and slept a lot of the morning while waiting for our transport to arrive.

The drive back to Kochkor was steep, rocky and windy, to which this picture will attest. It was a nice car, but unfortunately had no air con, and the driver had a CD of patriotic-sounding songs in Kyrgyz on repeat for the whole trip. The CD kept skipping every time we went over a bump, and one of the songs got stuck in Claire's head, so she kept serenading my with it all afternoon. Thanks, driver!

Lake Issyk-Kol and Skazka Canyon

After taking a day to recuperate from our epic hike, it wasn't long before we got back on the horse. Literally. After doing some reading on Trip Advisor we came across a horse trekking company called Bulak Say. We decided on the 'Panoramic day trip' starting at 9am and finishing at 3pm. Although it wasn't the cheapest in Karakol, paying around $80 AUS for the two of us, it was well worth it. The valley was beautiful with snow capped peaks, hundreds of brightly coloured wild flowers and no other tourists.

The next day we had sore bums and were thankful for an easy day on a marshurtka getting to the village of Tosor.

Tosor is a small settlement, relatively untouched by tourists, situated on the southern side of Lake Issyk-Kol. 

After scoping out the lake front, we found a place in amongst some shrubbery to pitch our tents for the night.

At sunset we headed down to the lake front and bumped into two Polish girls who had been on the same marshrutka as us from Karakol. They had a purchased a whole watermelon at the local store (they don't sell them in halves or quarters) and needed a knife to cut it and assistance in eating it. Fortuitously, we had just such a knife, so we passed the evening stuffing our faces with watermelon and sharing travel stories.

Five kms down the road from our camp site was the picturesque Skazka (also know as Fairy Tale Canyon).

We thought it would be simple enough to get a marshrutka, but had been warned that transport on the south side is a lot harder than the north. We waited on the roadside for 45 minutes before deciding to walk. After 10 minutes of walking, we saw a marshrutka heading down the road towards us and hailed it down. When we climbed aboard, we found the two Polish girls crammed in the front with their packs, also heading to Skazka. This was very handy because they spoke some Russian and made sure we were dropped off at the right place. 

We were soon at out stop and were met by this stunning view.

The two Polish girls headed to the beach to set up their camp for the night, while we headed on up to the canyon. It was such an amazing contrast to what we had seen in Kyrgyzstan so far. The red gorges can be likened to Utah with the contrasting colours of Lake Issyk-Kol in the background. It was beautiful and definitely worth the 50 som entry fee.

We spent several hours wandering around the canyon and climbing the beautiful red hills. Everywhere we looked was stunning, and we got a bit excessive with our photographing.

We stopped for lunch in the shade of a rock and slowly made our way back to the entrance. The sky started to turn grey and stormy as we walked, so we picked up the pace and high-tailed on outta there, but not before Claire took this beautiful photo.

Next stop, Kochkor, for some horse trekking around Lake Song Kol.