Golden Dragon Hotel Bishkek

I'm off to the Russian consulate at the crack of dawn and get there at 08.15 for the 09.00 opening. There is already a very large queue waiting. Fortunately a young Russian woman tells me to put my name on the list otherwise I'd be still there wondering why everybody was being admitted before me and ranting about the need for proper queueing! At least there is a list and not chaos. I wait all morning until ...

... of air ventilation. My bike and all the kit fitted into the hold below nicely, but I wondered what state it would be in once I arrived at the end of the bumpy ride back to Bishkek. It appeared that the driver had not wanted the bike to bounce about much, and so had put some sacks of potatoes on top of it. Oh ****, I thought. Getting the bike out of the hold (after the potatoes had been removed) I looked and tested it to see whether it would still work, or end ...

... turned upside down and hefted to a Lada to be driven to their new home or maybe the roasting spit. The end of Ramadan is approaching.

There's not as much activity at the cattle market. Less feeling of cows and bargaining but never the less single and groups of cows are being driven off.

A blacksmith is working full pelt shoeing horses. They are held in an ingenious frame while he goes about his work.

Across the road is the machinery. Some old horsedrawn hayrakes ...

... and it had been locked into the shed with the Soviet-era oil tanker, time to attempt food. As I was sorting out my stove, the owner of the station said/indicated I could use the hob inside. Hurrah. Mixing up my brew, he bounded back in, proffering a container of white liquid. Hmmm, I'd heard about this stuff before. Unpasteurised fermented mare's milk. Yummy. Well, not quite so yummy, really. I did have a good swig in order to not have the dogs set on me, and he was quite ...

... and burped and spluttered the night away. On the floor, in the cold and with this symphony of gastric horror going on, it was not the best night's sleep.




The next day, we headed by horseback to Kol Ukok, an alpine lake situated just below a glacier.

Again we stayed with a local Kyrgyz family for what was the most authentic yurt stay, out on our own nestled between the mountain peaks. No one spoke Russian, only Kyrgyz ...

... metres again and crashed early ready for the next day's mountain walking.

19th July.

After an early breakfast almost the entire party donned their hiking shoes (you can guess who didn’t) and set off up the valley. The photos are breathtaking. You would swear you were in Switzerland, apart from the absence of roads or anything else of substance.

There is a great picture of Fiona ...

... finally at right time and right place! Probably, fortune will favour you with a smile, and you make a flight from Lenin peak ( 7134 m ), or exactly you become the first pilot who manage to make unique «cross-country» flight above Alay valley! Let’s try to perform this remarkable event as real celebration of most beautiful and indeed free kinds of sports ! Dear friends! We wish you to make marvelous discovers, to get good friends! Good luck to you ...

... be continued across picturesque Alay ridge (Kichick Alay mountain massif) at opposite side of Alay valley. In the trekking part of this program you are going to discover many unbelievable landscapes of Turkestan ridge (Pamiro-Alay). We are sure that you are going to be fully surprised with every single day of your unforgettable journey!

Total duration: 14 days / 13 nights

Program of the tour:
Day 01 Arrival to ...

... keeping at the ice-fall. Upper reaches of the glacier are objectively dangerous due to possible icefalls rushing down from the Peak Chapaev and Peak Khan-Tengry.
Day 8 Camp 2 (5300 m) to Camp 3 (5900 m). From Camp 2 uphill on rather gentle slope to the upper reaches of the Semenovskiy Glacier keeping towards the saddle lying between Peak Khan-Tengri and the arm of the Peak Chapaev.
Day 9 Downhill to BC (4000 m ...

... based tourism industry. And for a country largely lacking in natural resources, tourism may well be the conduit to an enhanced economic prosperity for this tenacious little nation. For its secret is its natural beauty. With stunning mountains, lush green alpine meadows, magnificent mountain lakes and super hospitable people, Kyrgyzstan makes for another fascinating and highly scenic destination.

Even though we were very late arriving at Manas ...