STINKY POOS AND MOUNTAIN VIEWS- Southern Issyk-Kol, Kyrgyzstan

.....our previous time in and around Bishkek......

Issyk-Kol, meaning warm lake, has been described variably as the world's second largest alpine lake, the world's fourth deepest lake, the world's tenth largest lake by volume and the world's second largest saline lake. After spending nearly two months travelling around it, we can say it certainly is quite big!

Having had enough experiences of mad marshrutka and bus drivers on this trip, we decided to leave Bishkek on the only internal train trip in Kyrgyzstan - the slow and incredibly cheap (US$1) summer train to Issyk-Kol.

Arriving at Bishkek's normally empty train station at six am, we were surprised to find many Bishkek residents preparing to board the train for their summer holidays at the lake. There was plenty of room for all of us, however, and we were lucky to be sharing a compartment with an agreeable family. They pressed their home grown grapes on us (not literally!), and insisted Rich have a couple of beers with the guys (was so difficult to twist his arm!). It was a very scenic ride, with the train following the plains along the Chu River, with huge snowy mountains in the distance and later on through narrow valleys. It would have been even more picturesque had someone thought to clean the train windows!

On arrival at Balykchy train station at the western end of Issyk-Kol we had no idea what was going on, and our attempts to find transport to our destination were met with blank stares. Suddenly a guy who spoke perfect English appeared by our side, who happened to be going to a town close to ours. Before we knew it, he had arrange us all seats in a shared taxi for a reasonable price, and away we went! Due to a practising rally driver, we unfortunately couldn't enjoy the scenery, and arrived at our destination with white knuckles and happy to be alive. It would be nice for some of those strict Kazakh traffic police to have appeared on the Kyrgyz roads!

It's a bit of a long story how we ended up in Kara-Koo, a village on Issyk-Kol in eastern Kyrgyzstan. We'd seen a home stay on Air B and B, of all places- the description was vague and the price very cheap. On investigation, we learnt it was a newly opened family run business, and the daughter, who lived in America, was handling the correspondence. Unfortunately, we didn't find out this vital piece of information until after our arrival! Apparently we were expected at six pm (it was only three pm when we were dropped off), and the members of the household went into a frenzy trying to quickly prepare our rooms with piles of rugs and blankets, and preparing us food and tea. The son of the family spoke a little bit of English- his wife, mother and sons, not a bit. Once we found out the daughter wasn't going to appear, we realized we would have to put a lot more effort into our Russian words and phrases in combination with Google translate. It worked out fine, with the son's university English coming back at an alarming rate.

Going nowhere fast! Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

The home and family were utterly charming, and we fell in love with them instantly. It seemed they felt the same, and made our six day stay so comfortable and educational. The house was quite basic, with no running water and a rather smelly dunny way out back in the garden, but our room was cosy and colourful piled up with shyrdaks (home made felt rugs). The dining room was full of more traditional hangings and cushion covers made by mum and sister-in-law. Outside was a courtyard where the garage and bathroom were, as well as a nifty sink, featuring a great water saving tap system and a bucket underneath to catch what drained from the sink. We could have done with something like that on our property in Australia!! There was a fair bit of “village noise” from the chooks, cats, dogs and donkeys at night, but we soon became used to it and slept well.

Shrydak in home, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Our colourful room, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Great, simple sink, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

The two little boys were hilarious, not speaking any English, but curious about us. The older one at six, kept a sharp eye on the little one, who was only three, but he was still so inquisitive, he would fling open the door to our room at all hours of the day and night to see what we were up to! The morning he shat all over the floor in the hall was a great laugh for everyone, with the stunning smell only dissipating when he was taken outside and washed down with a watering can. We enjoyed playing games with them- other times they amused themselves, often with an empty beer bottle on a string. There wasn't really a lot of privacy- even Rich shaving his head garnered an audience!

Rich and the boys, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

The family were nominally Muslim (like most Central Asians), as we found out when we hesitantly asked if it would be OK to bring a beer to the house to have with dinner. “Of course!”, was the answer. They rarely visited the mosque, and although they didn't drink themselves, they had no problem with us doing so. The Russians told the people they could be Muslim but not practice, they said, and this still lingers till today. Kara-Koo mosque's call to prayer was a strange noise, with the imam starting out strong with “Allahu Akbah”, but somehow losing strength and enthusiasm with every line, until he seemed to run out of steam and just kind of trailed away to nothing, as though he has forgotten the last part! And it only lasted a minute at the most!

The house amazingly had a WIFI connection- in a village of 3,000 people, it was one of only three that did. Most of the young people had moved away, mostly to Bishkek for work, they explained, and the old people weren't interested in the internet. We also learnt that a whopping one fifth of the Kyrgyz population are working overseas, mostly in Russia due to the close ties between the countries and the higher wages.

We were lucky enough to try a traditional banya during our stay here. We don't know whether it was expensive to run, or maybe too time consuming to set up, as we were only offered it once, but what an experience!! We entered a small room which was heated by a fire which was lit in an adjoining room and piped through. The same fire heated a milk churn full of steaming water in the sauna, which we could mix with cold water from tubs and use to wash off the grime of the past few days. Bliss!

Banya, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Regular readers will know we have not been fans of the food in Central Asia since we arrived, but here we were lucky enough to have a caring cook, who asked us what we liked and didn't e.g.. “Do you like semolina with meat for breakfast?”. There may have been some tips from the daughter in America too, we think! Our favourite dinners were the delicious gyanfan, a lean lamb with vegetable and rice dish, frikadayki a meatball soup and dim da nar, a sort of roast dinner. Breakfasts were interesting and varied and included semolina (without meat!), fried eggs with pasta, gretchka (buckwheat) oat porridge, fried potatoes, boorsok (donuts), and blinis and smetana (pancakes and yogurt). Everything was served with gallons of tea, fruit, salad, biscuits, fresh home made bread and home made jams. We tried kymys, fermented mare's milk, for the first time (and the last for Rich!), and Sal found it to be not too bad at all.

Nargiza preparing bread, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Gretchka for breakfast, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

The entire backyard was given over to growing food- mostly potatoes, onions, blackcurrants and apples. The best thing were the apricot trees in season- the biggest we've ever seen, which we were allowed to pick and eat to our heart's content! We were told that no-one in Kyrgyzstan can afford pesticides or commercial fertilizers for their crops. As a result the food must be eaten quickly when it's fresh and that's why it tastes so amazing!

Fruity backyard, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

The home stay was what we assumed was a typical Kyrgyzstan village home and we were very happy to have had the chance to stay there and experience a small part of their every day lives.

Each day we walked out in a different direction, and the superb landscape of simple village houses, with small farms, giving way to brown mud hills in front of massive snowy peaks was breathtaking, and we had the wild landscape all to ourselves. We avoided the local necropolis, as we had been advised to. There were literally hundreds of these cemeteries dotted around the villages of Kyrgyzstan, and although they were not as spectacular as the ones in Mangistau, the yurt shaped graves were pretty cool! The sun really got to our skin at the high altitude, and for the first time in years we had to wear sunscreen on our legs and arms!

Stunning scenery around Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Storm brewing, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Walking into the weather, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

View of Kara-Koo village

The forbidden necropolis, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Dwarfed by the hills, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Made it to the top! Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Little critter on the way, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

The ramshackle village houses were without exception more functional than pretty, with most residents growing a selection of food crops, mainly apricots, pears, corn, apples and blackcurrants.

Occasionally someone had grown some colourful flowers, but mostly the gardens were practical. There didn't seem to be pride in an attractive garden, just enough work done for it to be productive. There was a canal running through the village carrying mountain water, which was controlled by a complex system of sluices and channels. Everyone seemed to have access to plenty of water. Most houses were built with a wooden frame, filled with dung and rendered with cement. Little wooden balconies which were a common feature, seemed not be used, and purely for decoration. Some buildings, especially outhouses were comprised of huge mud bricks. Again, the concern seemed to be with with practicalities rather than looking ascetically pleasing, but somehow the overall result was quite charming!

Chunky Soviet-era truck, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Shady fence, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Typical village house and garden, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Typical dunny! Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Picturesque gate, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

What we think were piles of peat, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Extra special gate, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Main street, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

A man and his hat (and his bike), Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

The best walk we had was up a valley and along a bubbling stream from the yurt-making village of Kyzl-Tuu. At one point we were bustled into the house of two sisters who couldn't seem to believe we were really there. They tried to feed us every food and drink under the sun, and after a much needed rest and a bit of conversation, waved us on our way enthusiastically.

Rustic chook house, Kyzl-Tuu village, Kyrgyzstan 

Instant friends, Kyzl-Tuu village, Kyrgyzstan 

Little donkey on a dusty road, Kyzl-Tuu village, Kyrgyzstan 

Love these colours together, Kyzl-Tuu village, Kyrgyzstan 

Local kids were obviously not used to seeing faces like ours, and we sometimes managed to get a shy hello or wave out of them. A surprise was to see them playing jacks with real animal knuckle bones!

Collecting feed, Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Cuties,  Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

We were disappointed to leave Kara-Koo, but we wanted to see more places around Issyk-Kol, and it was time to go. The family gave us a touching small parting gift, and we hoped to get back to see them at some stage.

Watermelon man and friend,  Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Common edible berry,  Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan 

Detail on village house,  Kara-Koo, Kyrgyzstan

The next two villages we visited along the south side of the Issyk-Kol were to some degree similar to Kara Koo, but we immediately missed the personalized, family hospitality.

The first was Bokonbaev, where we enjoyed the same lovely mountain scenery and walking in the hills, trying to avoid the many tourists in town for a festival. The guest house was a business-like affair, and requested we change rooms four times in three nights to accommodate their too many guests in a tour group. We felt a bit annoyed, but also wanted to help them out. We lucked out in the end, being transferred to the sister's house- a much nicer, quiet home with eager hosts, gifts and a free night for the inconvenience!!! The weather turned drizzly and cool here for the first time, but generally the sun was out in the day. Bokonbaev had a particularly daggy town center, with large, ugly, Soviet-style shops (of course with a much better variety of goods than in those days!), but the little bazaar was cheap for a variety of local produce, including grapes, which we hadn't eaten in ages and were a bit of a treat.

Kids playing together, Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Workers in a field, Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Photogenic cow! Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Charming green house, Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Heading to the hills, Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

More stunning scenery at Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Our lovely hosts, Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Little boy in street, Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Typical village house and garden, Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan

Deciding we'd better see the lake, as up until now we'd only glimpsed it in the distance, we stopped in Tosor next. Although the village was especially charming, the guesthouse we had booked on-line was bad value for money, with noisy neighbours, erratic water supply, lazy owners, a crappy mattress and having to wait around for our included breakfast in the mornings. But the beach experience was surprisingly pleasant, if a little bizarre. It was surreal to be sitting under an umbrella in the sun on the white sand with clear blue water stretching out in front of us as far as the eye could see, while Kazakh tourists frolicked on the beach and in the freezing water, and behind us the huge, snowy mountains loomed, framed by yurt camps along the beach! Our village walks through the pear and cherry trees were rewarding, especially coming across a bright fluorescent orange variety of apricots and chatting to the ex-English teacher who cultivated them.

Sad-looking old man, Tosor, Kyrgyzstan

Strom brewing in the mountains behind Tosor, Kyrgyzstan

Having fun at the beach, Tosor, Kyrgyzstan

What a spot for a soccer game! Tosor, Kyrgyzstan

Enjoying a walk and the view of Tosor, Kyrgyzstan

Green on green, Tosor, Kyrgyzstan

Lovely ex-teacher with the amazing apricots, Tosor, Kyrgyzstan

A downside of wandering the villages, particularly on a Sunday, were the drunk men who were over friendly, and insisted on putting their arms around Sal and breathing their vodka breath in our faces. They were harmless, as they mostly could hardly stand, but it was still uncomfortable.

Rich with one of the many drunks around Kyrgyzstan's villages

Leaving Tosor, we cruised along the lake side road, with yurts selling kymys (a hugely popular drink of fermented mare's milk) and kurut (stinky cheese balls), and the same style housing we had seen all along the "coast".

.....onto the next stop of Karakol......