Aileen and Barney 2010: Kyrgyzstan Alpine

Tash Rabat and Lake Song Kul
(June 28 to July 1)

The repeat of our journey was just as slow and tedious as it had been 3 days before with multiple passport checks and appalling road conditions. At the Chinese/ Kyrgyz border we were once again handed over to a new guide, Regina, and driver, Valery. It was a long day of bouncing around the bus but eventually we turned off onto a 15 km road to Tash Rabat. We followed a narrowing valley flanked by steep velvet green corduroy slopes, yurts, and livestock pens until we reached our camp for the next two nights. It was suddenly cold and windy and everyone had to pull out the warm clothes that had been looked upon incredulously during the hot days of Bukhara.

The camp was composed of several yurts and an old Russian trailer that served as the kitchen centre. It was run by Zoya and Yuri who were fabulous hosts.

The origins of the building called Tash Rabat are obscure and debateable. There is evidence that the building was constructed as a Nestorian monastery. It’s not likely that it ever functioned as a major caravanserai being too small and too far off the main route.

Barney and I spent l hours hiking further up and down the valley, watching fat marmots bounce across the pastures as they scrambled to reach the safety of their burrows. We saw horses of every colour – pintos, greys, palominos, appaloosas, roans, duns, and bays – all wandering freely, graciously. The horses from this region were called Heavenly Horses by the ancient Chinese Emperors because of their size and beauty. They were highly desired and became much sought after in the east where the smaller Mongol ponies were all that we available.

Yuri had built a sauna at the camp. Barney and I had a good wash up but Yuri insisted on taking Barney back inside to give him a proper ‘Russian’ sauna. The treatment consisted of super hot steam, flaying birch branches (including the leaves) on Barney’s back to stimulated bodily circulation and a dunk in the cold mountain river. Barney lived to tell the tale and slept very soundly.

Our next stop was for two nights in another yurt camp at Song Kul Lake, 3015 m high. En route we crossed the Syr Darya River which once flowed to the Aral Sea but is now all diverted to irrigate cotton fields in Uzbekistan. To get over the pass to Song Kul we had to manoeuvre around 11 narrow switch backs. All around us were meadows of wild flowers and mountains covered in fresh snow. The valley of Song Kul is much broader than at Tash Rabat with wide vistas of mountain peaks and smooth green pastures dotted with livestock and yurt camps.

We celebrated Canada Day with a hike and a late afternoon ride. At dinner we taped my Canadian flag luggage tag to a stick and stuck it in a wine bottle to grace the table. As we ate our mushroom soup and fresh fish from the lake we had many toasts of wine and vodka, followed by a round of everyone’s national anthem. The Kyrgyz guests sang some additional national songs and we concluded with a round of happy birthday to one of their number named Bucket. The finally entertainment for the evening was a soccer game.

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The wheel that supports the roof of the yurt is called a tyndyk. This wheel can be seen on the Kyrgyz flag with its 40 spokes that represent the country’s forty tribes. It is these founding tribes that give the country its name- Kyr (forty) gyz (women) stan (place, land).

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Regina told us the story about what had actually happened at Osh two weeks previously. The family and supporters of the former President (who was kicked out in May) initiated the violence by paying several young men $5000 each to start the shooting. They were given free licence to do whatever they wanted. So they started in the hospital where they shot all the Uzbek women and children. The Uzbeks retaliated. Three days of burning, looting and violence followed. Regina emphasised that it was not a case of ethnic conflict. Kyrgyz and Uzbek have lives as neighbours for centuries. It was all political motivated.
The Kyrgyz referendum on the new constitution was conducted peaceful. The interim government has been official installed and elections are set for the fall.

Photos from Tash Rabat...