Adventures from Bishkek to Karakol

Tian Shan Mountains looming above Karakol

Tian Shan Mountains en route to Karakol

The drive from Bishkek to Karakol, at the eastern end of Lake Issyk-kul, a saltwater lake that is 50 miles wide and 90 miles long, weaves along a valley between two spectacular ranges of the Tian Shan Mountains.  With a couple of stops, it's about a 6 hour drive and well worth every minute on the road.

dust rising from crashing rocks

Today, it took a little longer because the mountainside in one gorge had dumped a load of rocks and debris onto the road.  High up on the rockslide, four men were working, roped to what we hoped were more solid rocks, trying to dislodge a huge boulder precariously positioned to crash onto the highway.  We watched for about an hour as they spewed rocks and boulders onto the road from their perch, something we could never do in Colorado as we were about 15 feet from where the boulders were landing.

flying rocks

workers dislodging rocks on slide

Once they were satisfied that the mountainside was safe enough (though not very safe), the men disconnected themselves from their ropes and climbed to a safe point to watch two large tractors scoop the debris off to the side of the road, letting the backed up vehicles pour through.  Within an hour of the first rock fall, traffic was moving again, a testament, perhaps, to the speed with which one can work without rules and safety concerns.  But, at any time, an errant boulder could have taken out at least 50 gawkers, including us.

Because much of Kyrgyzstan is rural and remote, there are few restaurants.  About 20 years ago, a Swiss non-profit started teaching Kyrgyz families, newly unemployed after the fall of the Soviet Union, to provide services to tourists.  Families turned their homes into small restaurants and hostels, even hotels, immaculately clean and "Swiss-like".  They cook local foods and provide sit-down, flush toilets in their homes as well as feather beds and comforters in their guest rooms.

We enjoyed lunch today in a yurt in the back yard of a family in the village of Bokombaevo, on the south side of Lake Issyk-kul.  From there, we headed on to Karakol, a town of about 50,000 people that used to be a military post guarding the nearby border with China. Today, it does not have much of an economy other than tourism and even that is very limited.  There is a ski area here, a few guest houses, the large Sunday animal market, and not much else to keep the people employed.

lunch in a family's yurt

In the 1920's, the Soviets sent Russians to live in Karakol, again to protect the border and to turn the locals into Russian advocates.  They built tiny houses, painted white with blue trimmed windows.  It is very cold here in the winter and the Russians had a hard time heating their houses.  Hence their small size and small windows.

Tomorrow, we'll visit the market in the early morning before heading to Djoty Oguz Gorge for a picnic, a hike up a beautiful valley, and a demonstration of eagle hunting.