Saturday 29th June, 2019
Before leaving Kochkor, we attended the Animal Market which takes place every Saturday. From early morning, people from the neighbouring villages bring their horses, sheep and cows hoping to get a good price for them.
It is a busy place. There are designated areas for each type of animal .Potential buyers simply approach the owner who stands nearby and negotiate the price.
Sheep tend to arrive in the back of a standard car, 3 in the boot!
The market is also an opportunity for people to meet up with acquaintances and catch up on news as many live in isolated places.
We then headed for Lake Issyk-Kul, the 10th largest lake in the world ( 182km long and 60km wide). We will follow the southern shore up to the border with Kazakhstan.
B0KONBAEVO
We drove to Bokonbaevo, one of the major settlements on this side of the lake where you can get information on hikes, homestays etc. We then took a dirt road that led to a view point.
We settled camp nearby as we wanted to go on a hike the next day.
Sunday 30th June, 2019 – Kaji-Say
Across the small valley is the starting point for a hike to Tash-Tar-Ata ( 3,847m). We crossed a jailoo and then started a steep climb, right up the flank of the mountain, partly forested and then right in the open to a rocky outcrop. It was quite strenuous.
“Tash-Tar-Ata is considered sacred by the locals. The top of the mountain has a flat area where Manas( Kyrgyz folk hero) is siaad to have lived while protecting the Kyrgyz from their enemies. There is a stone pot in the ground here and it is believed that in order for young men to be strong they have to climb the mountain and drink from the vessel, asking for Manas’s blessing”( Bradt Guide – Lawrence Mitchell).
Monday 1st July, 2019
Just after breakfast, the keeper of a yurt camp close- by came round. Over a cup of tea he explained that the season had not started yet and it was a bit boring for him. There is no phone signal on this side of the valley and not much in term of entertainment whilst the tourists have not arrived ! We talked for a while.
We left after lunch with the intention of going to Fairytale Canyon. We followed the dirt road that goes inland as recommended by our ” neighbour” but it turned out to be quite in bad condition and with many big boulders across our path.
We ended up at the village of Kaji-Say, right on the shore of the lake and decided to stay for the night. We found a guest house with a pleasant garden, kitchen facilities and only 5mn walk from the beach.
Outline of the mountains on the other shore can just about be seen !
Tuesday 2nd July, 2019 – Wednesday 3rd July, 2019
Two days of doing nothing ! Noone else was staying at the guest house and we enjoyed a couple of lazy days in the garden … and doing some catching up on the blog !
Our hosts were friendly, invited us for tea and gave us cherries from the garden, pancakes and other goodies.
Thursday 4th July, 2019 – Fairytale Canyon
It was time to get back on the road, but we did not have to go too far. The canyon was only 15km away. Fairytale Canyon (Skazka Canyon in russian) is a canyon of red sandstone cliffs and outcrops which have been weathered by the elements to create fantastic shapes.
On the way to the Canyon we had stopped for lunch at a secluded place on a beach and we decided to go back there for the night.
Friday 5th July, 2019 – BARSKOON WATERFALL
We stopped at Tamga sanatorium on the way. We were curious to see what was on offer. The sanatorium has seen better days and has not had any refurbishment since its soviet heydays. The grounds are pleasant enough but the rooms were pretty basic with shared bathrooms. The cost was KS 1,000 pp fullboard/ 15 dollars per day per person – reasonable but we declined.
We drove on to the Barskoon valley where you have the choice of several hikes. We decided to go to the waterfall. It is a pleasant hike, quite demanding but not so long . It took us just over 1 hour to go up. On the way we saw a newly wed couple having some pictures taken! The waterfall is quite impressive and even though you cannot get too close, you can feel the spray from the distance.
Lower waterfall 
Higher Waterfall
Saturday 6th July, 2019 – KARAKOL
We rejoined the main road and arrived in Karakol midday. Karakol (“black wrist” in Kyrgyz) was initially a russian settlement founded in the second half of the 19th century .Its population grew considerably in the late 1880’s when an influx of Dungans – Chinese Muslims fleeing persecution in their home country – came to live in the town. During the Soviet period, the town was a ” forbidden city” due to the secret submarine and torpedo testing base at the nearby Mikhailovka inlet on the lake. Today it is one of the major focal point for outdoor and adventure pursuit in the country, as well as being a center for winter skiing.
The town has a number of attractions reflecting its past: Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, Dungan Mosque, History Museum as well as a Sunday Animal Market or you can simply enjoy the typical wooden russian architecture in its older quarter around the cathedral.
Sunday 7th July, 2019 – JETI OGUZ
It rained during the night and the weather was still unsettled in the morning but we decided to go to Jeti Oguz nevertheless.
The village is in a valley parallel to the Karakol valley and is famous for its rock formation called Jeti Oguz ( “Seven Bulls”) that lies a few kilometres south of the village. The rocks form a ridge of distinct red sandstone bluffs which do not ressemble bulls in anyway but the name comes from yet another Kyrgyz legend.
“The legend tells of a Kyrgyz khan who had stolen the wife of another khan who sought revenge for the deed. A wise man reluctantly offered counsel and suggested the aggrieved khan should seek out and kill his stolen wife so that the khan might own a dead wife rather than a living one. A scheme was hatched that enabled him to sit next to his stolen wife at a funeral feast, and as the last of seven bulls were being slaughtered he stabbed and killed her. Her heart gushed blood down into the valley below, taking the carcasses of the seven sacrificial bulls with it to become the seven large rocks which can be seen today. Another legend tells of seven rampaging wild bulls which were turned to stone by the gods in order to protect the local population.”(Bradt Guide- Lawrence Mitchell).
The road continues up to a sanatorium and then turns into a dirt road leading to the ” Valley of the Flowers”. We picked up a local man who flagged us down. He was going that way too. The track follows the river and crosses it 5 times before arriving on a jailoo where summer yurt camps are set up.
We dropped him off near a yurt and were invited for tea. His wife was preparing some traditional ” Boorsok”( fried pieces of dough) by a campfire. The water for the tea had to be heated in a samovar, placing small ambers in a metal funnel running in the center of the samovar. It was a slow process. Some of their friends arrived and soon we were called into the ” guest yurt” where the lunch table was set. We were asked to sit at the head of the table ( as we were the older persons present and guest of honor!) and they happily shared their meal with us. Their friends had come from Karakol for the day. Both men were working in the legal sector. They were interested to learn about our trip, family etc…
Before the meal, we had seem a young boy on a horse bring some kymis and we were served a bowl each at the table. This was not the fermented kind and was not so strong smelling as the one we had tried before. Our hosts explained that there were in fact 3 types of kymis: 1) the fresh milk from the mare 2) the milk which has been beaten for a period of time and 3) the fermented drink
Drinking kymis from a pyala ( small ball)
Towards the end of the meal, the vodka came out and we , as guests, had to raise the first toasts! Luckily it was a small bottle so it remained a limited drinking session !
Rain had come again and we abandonned our plans for a hike. We said our good-byes and came back to Karakol.
Monday 8th July, 2019- Aksu Valley
This time we tried another valley a few kilometres east of Karakol. There is a hot spring and a sanatorium plus potential for hikes. The road turns into a dirt track straight after the village of Aksu and it is pretty rough. We kept going for a while but in the end decided to continue up the valley on foot. This is a popular access road for multi-day treks and we saw numerous 4×4 going up the valley as well as people on foot or on horses. There is a basic camp there. We only came for a day trek so turned back after a while.
The valley is quite narrow and there was no camp spot possible so we decided to make our way round the eastern point of the lake and ended up right next to fields of wild flowers and with a view. Another ideal spot!
Tuesday 9th July, 2019 – Tyup and the northern shore
We carried on to Tyup. The road is inland but after a while it follows the lake shore again. We stopped at a beach for lunch. It was deserted but after an hour or so, groups of children and locals with their families started to arrive . The beach was sandy but it turned into stones a metre or so into the water. On the good side it was fairly shallow for some metres so the water was not so cold. ( maximum temperature 20 degrees). We spent a couple of hours there before moving on. This time we found a camping spot in a tree plantation.
Wednesday 10th July, 2019 – KARAKOL
It rained most of the night and only started to clear by late morning. We made our way back to Karakol and chilled.
Thursday 11th July, 2019 – JERGALAN
Drove to the Jergalan valley which is last valley before the border with Kazakhstan and on the edge of the Karkara Valley. The road is unpaved but not too bad. A couple of kms away from the village, we parked the car and did a short hike. We then settled into a camping spot, sheltered from the road.
On the way to the Jergalan valley 
Fields of wild flowers 
Jergalan village 
Friday 12th July, 2019 – Jergalan- Hike to Lake
Decided to do a 13km hike to a small lake. The path was clear initially but then disappeared and we had to rely on our Maps.me app on the phone. We eventually got there. It was more of a pond than a lake and quite marshy but we enjoyed the views and walked through jailoos full of wild flowers.
Wild flowers everywhere… 
Fileds of Edelweiss! 
After the hike we went to the village to buy a few groceries and we bumped into Thibault and Clara ( French hitchkikers ).
It is the second time we meet unexpectantly after we first met them and picked them up on the way to Song Kol Lake. Small world! We were pleased to meet them and exchanged the latest news about our respective movements.They had done the Karakol loop and were about to go back to Karakol on the waiting marshrutka. We said our goodbyes for the last time as next, we were going to Kazakhstan and they to Armenia. We camped in the same spot as yesterday.
