9/13: A Snowy Horse Trek in Kyrgyzstan!

It had rained off and on all night long but luckily the felt yurt was indeed waterproof because we were totally dry inside if not chilled because there had been no heat at all in the yurt. Joomart, our guide, had said the stove in each yurt is not normally lit until the weather is colder. I hated to think how cold it would have to get to warrant the stove being lit because we awoke to snow on the hills around us!

You can see how cold Steven was eating our breakfast of potatoes, onions and noodles washed down with lots of hot tea! Even though the breakfast was one of the most unusual ones I've eaten, it was very tasty and filling with all the starches. 

Because it was raining throughout breakfast, we wore our ponchos and rain pants but Joomart said the poncho's crinkly sounds might unnerve Steven's horse. Luckily, the horse wasn't bothered and I had a short rain jacket, courtesy of Costco and you, Maureen, to wear in case mine was also skittish!

I couldn't get over the fact that neither Steven nor I were very stiff that morning from the five hour horseback ride the previous day. I would have bet my bottom dollar our legs and derrieres would have felt every inch of that long ride but again we were lucky.

It was pretty daunting seeing all that snow, especially knowing we'd be riding through a 3,300 meter high pass that day, equivalent to Vail Pass in our home state of Colorado. It was, however, a drop dead gorgeous view.

The two Brits and Dutchman, whom we had met last night, left at the same time but they were taking a separate route than Joomart had planned for us. We had hoped to see them again that night and play more cards but that turned out not to be the case unfortunately. This was the dentist from Wales who had been traveling for four months and was on his way next to Iran, China and other exotic spots for another eight months!

Once the rain finally let up, we were on our way at 10. Yesterday, we had experienced some pretty biting winds riding through the open valleys but it wasn't as cold as it looks in the pictures when we set out.

For the first hour or so of the morning's ride, we saw more people than we did all of yesterday.

Steven had kindly let me use his scarf as a hat as I had stupidly left mine back in the Kyrgyz Riders office in Kochkor the previous afternoon. He wore a travel hand towel instead, prince that he is!

I wasn't smiling so much a wile later when Joomart told us we needed to get off the horses and slog through the mud while pulling our own horse! It made perfect sense as the horses had begun to have difficulty slipping and sliding in the mud but so did I when I tried to walk uphill and pull my horse. It would have been funny if it weren't so hard, let me tell you! 

I thanked my lucky stars that we didn't have to walk for long as it would have been sheer misery. When the terrain was rockier, Joomart said it would be safe to ride the horses again. I should have pointed out in the previous post that at no point did the horses proceed at much more than a very slow gallop during the trek. The best word to describe their gait was more that they plodded along. I didn't mind the slow speed much because I could still more of less hold onto the reins, use the whip when necessary, admire the fantastic views around us and obviously take photos!

The ride was far more challenging than the day before because of the weather and having to make sure to keep the horse on the narrow path. Going up this stretch was a little nerve wracking because it was steep and so rocky.

But, once past that steep climb, we had views of the most beautiful  winter wonderland and it was only mid-September! We rode along some other riders for a bit before relishing the staggering Jalgyz-Karagay Valley all to ourselves for a couple of hours.

I could almost make myself believe we were shepherds out tending our flock when we rode among the cattle! It was hard to imagine a much more peaceful and picturesque scene of marvelous Mother Nature right then.

As we continued riding, we came across about a dozen horses trying to graze amid the snow-covered ground.

We were quite happy to see the group of yurts ahead close to 2 as it meant we could stop for a well deserved lunch break after having ridden for four hours. Unlike the day before, we had seen very few yurts on the morning ride. 

A group of French tourists wit a Kyrgyz guide waited with us while lunch was being prepared at the Jaman Echki Yurt Camp. I think everyone was tired because there was very little chatting taking place. I was surprised to learn several days later just how popular Kyrgyzstan is with French people as we have been asked easily a dozen times or more if we're French. I wonder if the country has done a lot of advertising in France or how the word had gotten out about this alluring Central Asian nation? 

I thought this shot would show you how intriguing the interior of this yurt was as each yurt, just like each person's home, reflected its owners. The Frenchwoman in the white sweater loved playing with the kitten but Steven asked that she not allow it to eat off the table as he's quite allergic to cats. Joomart, our guide, said there are cats in all the yurts to eat the mice!

As we had already come to expect, there was a huge selection of hard candies to choose from just in case we needed a sugar fix. Even though we were in a yurt in the middle of nowhere, our meals were still attractively served on pretty dishes as you can see. Homemade raspberry jam was available at every meal, I noticed. One of the guides used it to flavor his tea!

I thought this was going to be our entree but it was 'just' a very colorful salad!

The salad was served with a hot rice and carrot dish which we appreciated after being out in somewhat chilly temperatures for several hours.

I think this is one of my favorite photos I took that day and possibly of all three days on the horse trek.

How happy Steven looked before the colder weather came on! We left the yurt camp around three for the final ninety minute push to another yurt camp close to Song-Kol Lake where we'd stay the night. I had thought we might be riding for more than five to six hours each day but Joomart said the horses couldn't deal with much more than that. 

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There were lots of people riding along the lake which looked like loads of fun but we continued along the valley floor. 

I only was able to take a couple of photos that afternoon because the weather soon turned darned nasty and there were snow flurries. But the ride was very flat so that made it easier than the morning one.

We had seen these large dark mounds for a while.When I asked Joomart about them, he said they were mice mounds, something neither Steven nor I had heard of before.

What a welcome sight the Tuz-Ashun Yurt Camp was after riding in the damp weather.

Steven helped Joomart carry the saddlebags to the yurt we'd be staying in for the night.

Obviously, the remains of a snowman guests must have built this morning when they, too, awoke to discover snow!

 Once we were snugly inside our yurt we didn't want to move for a bit as we were pretty tired from the ride. The lake was close by the yurt camp but we were just too chilled and wiped to want to wander down to the lake as we would normally have done. Even the dogs howled that night, because of the cold, no doubt!

There was no fire in our yurt's stove so Steven and I moved over to the dining yurt where the stove was lit as it was darn cold! Cow patties were again the fuel of choice at the yurt!

We were so thankful we had arrived at the camp before it began to  hail as it would have been miserable to be out in the open then.

Dinner that night was a noodle and vegetable dish, a similar take on what had been served at the other yurts - filling but not a taste treat.

What a great shot of the friendly and informative Joomart! He mentioned that when he's not leading tours in the summer and fall months, he was studying tourism at the university in Bishkek. We stayed in the warm yurt for a good while after dinner teaching Joomart how to play the card game rummy as he seemed to really enjoy playing cards the night before too. 

We were so pleasantly surprised and thankful to discover the stove in our yurt had been filled with cow patties as the yurt was almost warm when we went to sleep that night. How I hated to get up in the middle of the night to go so far to use the latrine! At least it was a beautiful starry night!

Next post: Our final day on the horse trek and on to the big city of Kochkor!

Posted on September 25th, 2018, from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, for our third and last time!