Köl-Ükök Lake, at 3000m above sea level

I finally managed to get away from Sakura Guest House! This is an exploit in itself, and the 4days trekking following are just another one.So here is a summary:

Last Saturday morning I went to Kochkor, a small town 3 hours from Bishkek. As soon as I arrived I started walking toward the lake Köl-Ükök, which is supposed to be easy to find. “Just go to the valley South of town” I had heard. But of course I walked North; so by the time I realised I was on the wrong way I had walked 1h already, and this counts at the end of the day when carrying a 20kg backpack.

Anyways, I still managed to reach the lake after one night next to a yurta. (on the left is a picture of the famous Yurta at sunset time. My tent was just behind.)

This was the opportunity to test my Chinese tent, as well as my stove and all sorts of camping gears.

So, as I was saying I reached the Köl-Ükök lake on the second day, and this was one of the most peaceful experience I’ve ever had. Around the lake there are a couple of Yurta with a few Kyrgyz families living there taking care of their sheep, cows and horses. I was positively surprised to see that the Yurts are not just there for the tourists as it is always the case in China (Inner Mongolia for example).

And the people! Really fantasticly nice people. ( those who know me should also know that I rarely use such positive adjectives). They were so nice that I decided to have a meal with them for 100 сом instead of using my stove. So it was just me and the shepherds.

The 3rd day I hiked to another lake surrounded by glaciers, at 3400m above sea level. I forgot to bring water so I got a slight altitude headache, but nothing serious. That night I went down to the Jailoo where I had spend my first night, mostly because at the lake it was freezing beyond (my Chinese tent and cheap sleeping bag weren’t enough as the temperature must have fallen down to 0 degrees). The 4th and last day I walked back to the village from which I took a taxi back to Bishkek.

Above all this was a great “into the wild” experience. Me, myself and the shepherds, for 4 days, in a remote corner of one of the remotest country in the world. Now I’m back again in Sakura Guest House in Bishkek…

Bishkek main square.

Ah Bishkek! I could have love it, but actually I have started to hate it by now, and this needs an explanation.

Actually Bishkek has quite a unique ambiance, if I could say. I had no idea what to expect when I took my flight from Urumqi, China. My plan was to make a new Chinese visa, and then slowly go back to Kashgar, thus continuing my original itinerary. This would not have been so bad, more like a little alteration to the master plan, although more expansive.

Ha! This was before getting to Bishkek. Indeed, it was only when I came back from the lake Issyk Kul on Sunday night that I understood that [almost] everyone at this Sakura hostel knew each others, and more important why?

The reason is simply that Central Asia is a hell concerning not only the visa situations, but also transportation between the countries. It’s mountains everywhere, with only a few passes open, and even less open to foreigners. For example, to go to China there are 3 passes in 2 countries, and in these 2 countries (Kazakhtan & Kyrgyzstan) it’s at the time of writing impossible to get a Chinese visa. This is because a letter of invitation (LOI) is recquired, and in Urumqi they refuse to send them after the riots. Ah.

But in Tajikistan they don’t require a LOI, so I gonna go there! Easy! Ha. This is without counting on the fact that the pass going to China is forbidden to foreigners, so I would need to go back to Kyrgyzstan, but for that I need a new Kyrgyz visa, which costs 70$. Is your head spinning? This is nothing yet.

To go to Hong Kong in september the only way by land is through China, or maybe through Afghanistan, but maybe I should avoid this area…
So then I though I’m just going to travel around Central Asia, but in Bishkek all visas are complicated to get! An Australian friend waited 2 weeks for a LOI to get the Uzbek visa!!! This is rediculous!

So actually everyone in Sakura is on the process of getting a visa, for all different strange countries: Turkmenistan, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, China, India, etc… Why so complicated?

So this week has been absolutelu boring, yet funny in a way. As I was seating in the common area of the hostel I was watching the different people coming and going, with the redondant sight newcommers getting more and more depressed, almost to the point of crying, as travel plans get more and more alterated. Ah.

So now I am still thinking about what to do. I went today to the Tajik embassy to do the visa, and I’ll go there through the Pamir Highway next Saturday I think. In the meantime tomorrow I’ll go camping around the Kukuluk lake (something like that) untill tuesday, when I’ll collect my fresh Tajik visa…