Ain't no mountain high enough- part 2
Trip Start
May 15, 2008
1
26
49
Trip End
Aug 24, 2008
Osh,
Kyrgyzstan
Friday, July 4, 2008
Don't know what happened yesterday but thanks to a quick response from Ian I realise that only half the blog got sent so I have edited it today to this!!
Its been a while but there has been no internet access for ages and ages. I have also lost my phone- well left it under the pillow at Bishkek which the hotel eagerly denied so sorry to those who i have sent texts to in the past. Won't be any more!! We have arrived in Osh this afternoon and leave for Uzbekistan tomorrow. I've done nothing and loads here in Kyrgyzstan so best to list it.
1. Transport. At last we have Raz back. We did the first few days in a local mini bus but it just wasn't the same and when i returned from a walk around one of Kyrgyzstan many lakes it was there outside our homestay and I got all tearful. Otherwise the transport here is by horse or donkey. It seems that if you are male you get your first horse around 4 years of age and you are an expert horseman by the time you are 5/6. The donkey appears to be Kyrgyzstan version of the holy cow - they are everywhere and they are ridden barte back and on the very rear so it looks like you are about to fall off.
2.The people - are just so friendly and are also very generous. We camped around a lake where there were no roads so needed help in getting back onto a dirt track out to the south of the lake. (This lake is huge.) We stopped to ask some local people living in yurts with their cattle etc and they wouldn't let us go. We had to drink yet more mare's milk but this one was slightly different to the salty stuff we had had previously. It tasted more of smoked fish - not the best thing to have when you are already bumping around in the truck. However they gave us the best bread ever as well. Lots of gestures and smiles through their gold toothed grins and i took photos of these two guys who were wearing the tall felt hats sported by all the men. I moved in to show them their photo which always goes down well and the first one grabbed me and kissed me on both cheeks then the second one did the same, which is just not dopne in this part of the world. Andy asked if he should leave me there!!
We also camped at a beautiful valley called the valley of flowers and on the way out of this canyon we saw a wedding at the side of the road so we stopped just to take a photo from the truck but we were practically dragged off the truck by the guests who then plied us with the best vodka I have tasted so far - and believe me there has been a lot of testing! The bride was pleased and a little bemused especially when we would around her neck some purple and orange garlands that have been bedecking Raz since the start of the trip. They sped off, with vodka induced speed and we later caught up with them having more photos taken with the garlands still in place.
3 Entertainment. Well apart from drinking.......... I too have been horse riding but i think i told you that already. A couple of days ago we were lucky enough to witness the local sport of open warfare on horseback with a carcass of a goat. Basically they kill a goat remove it's head and lower limbs and its entrails. they then soak it in water overnight to toughen it so it doesn't fall apart and then a team of 6 horsemen have a brawl on an open field. one man picks it up from the ground from his horse back while the other's whip him, shoulder him and make the horses fight ( have you ever seen a horse fight - they do it with their front legs ) to gain possession of the carcass. The bloke who has it then tries to get to one end of the field with all the others chasing after him. As soon as they have scored a goal the teams change and there were probably about 40 horses and men altogether. The game originated with Genghis Khan and the rules haven't changed much since then. It was such an honour to watch it and the locals thought we were very entertaining too.
4.The food. We have eaten fresh fish caught from the lake and sold to us by the fishermen who caught it. They drove past us as we were packing up and opened their boot to show us their booty. It was delicious if not a little bony but the bones were huge so even Lara you could have eaten it! We have had another whole lamb roast but this one was so much better then the previous one. We cooked it less and I made a red wine marinade so as you picked at the skin while it was cooking it not only tasted good it was totally alcoholic. We have tried a local dish called lyanfu and it is described in the Lonely Planet as meatless, cold, gelatine noodles in a vinegary sauce and it tasted as delightful as it sounds!! We all tried to eat as much as we could through gritted teeth. I just wanted to gag.
5. The alcohol. We have had lots of beer and it is sold in different alcoholic contents. No. 0 is non- alcoholic and we haven't tried that but it goes up to no.9 and no-one particularly likes that either but i stock the bar with nos 3, 5 and 7 and they disappear very quickly. Its also quite cheap at 1$ a large can- so no inducment to resist there.The vodka is also very good and we have tried lemon, orange, honey and blackcurrant flavours. A couple of days ago I bought some Calvados. It said on the label in French that it was made to a french recipe and it also said Produce of Kyrgyzstan. It tasted like rocket fuel and even with cherry juice it blew your head off but it helped us all to sleep that night when the wind was howling and the rain was lashing. Maria one of the girls said after a few "I hope we don't get another day like tomorrow"!! We all knew what she meant.
6. The accommodation. Well the traditional houses are yurts and we have stayed in them but thankfully it was only once. They are large round and portable taking about 3 hours to erect. Its made from wooden frame over which they stretch home made felt. This is daubed in sheep fat to make them waterproof but unfortunately the smell lingers and its a bit like sleeping with a sheep next to you. We have also had many bushcamps with absolutely no facilities in places around lakes, next to rivers high up in the mountains and in valleys. Wonderful. The theory of bushcamping is that there is always water nearby to wash in, usually the lake or river. The longest we have had is 4 consecutive nights with no facilities and i was humming by the end but the water is definitely a run in and run out as it is freezing. I tell you the cold shower at the first homestay after those 4 days was extremely welcome And then there have been homestays. As there is no real tourist infrastructure the government is encouraging people to open their homes to visitors. We have had some fantastic stays where we have shared twin rooms and then we had the night where we slept 5 to a room mainly on the floor!! Veru cosy. Homestays usually have just one shower too between the 11 of us so its a case of survival of the fittest, though its become noticeable that the same people always get in first. Bah humbug. Facilities are always a little difficult as again there is no proper sewage so they sometimes have long drop toilets. These are vast holes in the ground which you deposit your stuff into through a slit in a wooden floor. Fine i hear you say but the slit is rather small and a peculiar shape - usually trapezoidal with the top being about 2 inches/5cms long, the base being 6inches or 30 cms wide and the whole slit is about 2feet/60cms long. The correct position is that of squatting and i may be getting fatter from all the beer and bread but my calf muscles are getting the work out of a lifetime, though I am still working on my aim.
Well that's Krygyzstan in a nutshell and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. We leave for the border into Uzbekistan tomorrow and hopefully that will be a piece of cake.
Apologies for the mess up with this blog and I hope that you still get the jist.
Till next time take care all of you and know that I am thinking of you.
Victoria.
