Justus In The World

Enjoying the view along the road to Kazarman

We are in Karakol now, which is out east in Kyrgyzstan.  It was a bit of a trek to get here, as we keep on par with long travel days.  It took us 10 hours by shared taxi to get to Arslanbob to explore the wild apple forests.  Then it took us 15 hours of 3 shared taxis, and 2 mini buses to get to Naryn.  We had heard it wasn't possible to travel that far, and ended in Kazarman to find a place and have dinner.  At dinner we met a man driving that night to Naryn, so boom, we bargained our fare and we drove through the night arriving at 11:30pm.  The ride to Kazarman was amazing, with scenery alike of Colorado and Utah, with plenty of dust on the mostly unpaved road.  Crazy views, open pastures, statues in the middle of nowhere, and super hot temperatures in the car as the driver wanted the windows up to keep the dust out.  It was a battle to try and get fresh air in.  But we survived shakily, some of us still battling our stomach issues.

The drive to Karakol went better, but still ended up taking 8 hours with a shared taxi and a minibus.  We bargained and got a good deal on the shared taxi, which ended up meaning that the driver would pile his wife, son and loads of jam making products into the car.  So we had an 18 year old son in the back seat of a small 1980s Audi with the 3 of us for a 4 hour drive, again with not much fresh air. 

Karakol is the tourist hub for the Lake Issyk Kul.  Loads of treks and homestays are organized here, although for some reason, the town is not on the lake, rather 12km along a dusty road.  We have explore the town, found kettle corn for $.20 in a ziploc bag, feasted on vegetable salads in a bazaar and went to the beach.  Not much going on at the beach, but still nice to get in the water, with what looked like a half sunk submarine across the beach.

Today we are heading off to hike to Altyn Arashan which is an alpine hike above the lake to hot springs up in the mountains.  We'll be spending the night up there relaxing and soaking up the free heat.  Afterwards it's on to yurt stays right on the lake, with no town in sight, just pure amazing views to celebrate my birthday. I'm getting old.