The Mountain Goats

We are in the eastern corner of Kyrgyzstan where the country narrows and the mountain ranges  create a natural border with Kazakhstan and China. From entering the border (which took no more than 15 minutes,) we drove straight to Karakol: a large town that sits on the eastern edge of Lake Issik Kol. The town acts as a good base for people wanting to explore the mountains; indeed, the hotels, hostels and restaurants were filled with European hikers.

We spent the next four days driving along a few of the mountain valleys and camping out. We had had plans to join the hikers and get some exercise but wussed out: not least because the nights are getting rather chilly and Totty is just too comfortable (and valuable) to leave behind! The first valley, Jeti Oguz, started off as a gravel dirt road that weaved several times across the river on crude log bridges. It then opened up into a large beautiful green valley scattered with holiday yurts. We continued on as the road got muddier and rockier until we could go no further: which fortuitously coincided with an amazing view of the mountains.

View from our bed
View from our bed

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Observations on Kazakhstan

#1 Almaty is the city of apples

#2 Same as in Eastern Russia and Mongolia; most of the older generation have full-on gold teeth

#3 The traditional countryside houses look very similar to their Russian and Mongolian counterparts but are painted white with blue window surrounds

#4 Nobody has beards or moustaches

#5 Many of the young in Almaty speak pretty good English

#6 There is steppe in the countryside of the north while the south-east is much greener and mountainous

#7 In Almaty cars beep their horns at the slightest thing – very annoying

#8 The petrol is very cheap – 31 pence a litre, cheaper still for the lower grade fuels (92 and 80)!

#9 Kazak people are very friendly indeed. Everyone wants to chat with us. Even while driving in central Almaty people will stick their heads out of the car window and ask us where we are from

#10 You will never have seen so many watermelons and butternut squashes

#11 Some of the police take bribes and they wear very wide-brimmed caps

#12 There is a real ethnic mix in Kazakhstan

#13 There are many roads in very bad condition though many new roads are being built, especially by the Chinese who want to create a network of roads heading to the West

#14 As in Russia; it’s compulsory to drive with your lights on at all times

#15 Horses abound in Kazakhstan, and in the far south-east corner, many people use donkeys and wooden carts to travel around.

#16 The wealthy in the cities drive massive sparkling new black 4WD LandCruisers

Goodnight and Sweet Dreams

“The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors” – Melissandra – Game of Thrones

A heinous man, not four feet tall, approaches the car. His long pointed noise, crooked and bent, sniffs the cool night air like a hungry wolf. Greasy long blond hair lies in knotted strands down his hunched back. Black beady eyes peer through the open window and settle menacingly on my sleeping pale flesh. Suddenly he thrusts his hand through the open car window and grabs me: I wake with a start. I scream but no sound emerges from my mouth. I shout for Captain but no sound emerges from my mouth. Even my fast heaving breath makes not a ripple in the still night air. There is nothing but silence…..

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“And your top three highlights are…..”

Now that we have been travelling for nearly three months we thought we’d both have a think about each of our three highlights so far. We didn’t confer on these and left the brief open. Interesting, I think, that most of these aren’t ‘tourist attractions’ or actual places we have visited but more a general sense of living so close to nature.

By the way being with me was Captain’s #4 😉

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