June 25 Karakol
As went to bed about 10 last night, I was up at 5.30 but did not get out of bed until 6. Way too Early!

Guest house Karakul

But at least I was able to make some coffee. The water out of the hot water tap is so hot that is what I used. The heater is right in the bathroom.
Spent about 1 hour talking to the son in law. Amazes me how much you can get with just a few words of English and lots of gestures.

Another 5 hours in the van. At least these roads were not under construction, but were still not that smooth.

Picnic on Issyk Kul (salt water lake)

Stopped in a small town near Issyk Kul (Kul is lake). Stopped at the market and bought some fruit and vegetables. 2 cucumbers 6 som or 12 cents. Bananas from Ecuador $1.20. Then to the local bake shop for samosas. $1.20 for 2, one with potato and one with chicken. Also the bake shop for some fresh naan bread.

Stopped at the beach to have lunch, picnic style. windy and cool but still nice. This lake is 170 km long and 70 km wide, the second largest mountain lake in the world (next to Lake Titicaca) it is also salty. Made a quick stop at a Chinese design mosque.

Market

Mostly made of wood. Then to an Othadox church. Again made of wood, but this one was rebuilt in the 60s.

Happy hour at about 6. Drinking some Russian vodka. $4 for a 500 ml bottle. Really smooth, maybe too smooth.
Off to a local restauant. A very nice place. Several of us a local fresh fish. It was excellent. Dinner including an expensive bottle of wine came to $10.


June 24 Kochkor

One of sights on road

Another sight on road

Breakfast of cream of wheat and a 5 hour drive to here. I think is only about 200 km but the roads are all under construction and apparently they have been like this for about 5 years. The Chinese are building the roads with their own labour. All part of the plan to open up a land route to Europe for trade. It will be really nice when finished. Stayed at a very nice Community based Tourism guest house. Not much in the small town but did walk up to the local shop. 1 litre of beer 60 som, about $1.20, which is a little more expensive than the beer we bought on sale in China. Gas here is 38 som, about 80 cents, cigs 38 som as well. Money is going a long way here. The country side is beautiful and the people are very friendly.

Went to a felt making shop, that is such a labour intensive process. And the carpets are very nice. 4 x 6 ft carpet for less than $100. I would have bought but too early to buy, I don't want to carry it!

Interesting as everyone did survive 2 days without wifi, but hilarious that now that we have it no one is talking!
Dinner in the guest house, salad, soup and home made dumplings with chives and mutton chives with mutton. They were excellent This was on top of the tea with home made jam, cookies and sweet at 3 when we arrived.


June 23 Kygystan, Tash Rabat (which means stone building

Tash Rabat football game

So long to China today. One day later than itinerary specified due to the Dragon Boat festival holiday. Left hotel at 9, quick stop to change money from guy on street. Got 80 som for yuan, costly as real rate should be 96, but just easy. Got through The Chinese immigration fairly easily but we did have to wait until the guards showed up for work. Traveled for a couple of hours along a river with amazing scenery. Lots of little villages in'no owns land' for 100 km. It was a long couple of hours on some very rough roads. Getting into 3rd gear was a rarity!

Inside yurt - roommates

Just before the border we got stopped again at a checkpoint. At least an hour but at least here there was some entertainment as a local bus coming into China was stopped and lots of illegal cherries were found. Finally got through and they just waved us past!

Another couple of hours to cover 100 km of 'no mans land' before entered Kyrgyzstan. WE passed over the Torugant Pass which is about 3700 m high. Almost to the snow line.

Stream by yurt camp

Road started out really nice but that did not last long. Turned off after about an hour onto a dirt road. beginning to wonder where we were going. This is the sleep in yurt night! We ended up about 10 km into a very green valley with a small stream running beside it. about 6 yurts set up with a a local family nearby. Amazing, I am not sure I can really describe it! So green, rolling hills, sheep all over as well as cows and Kygy cowboys! This is amazing. Even though it rained most the the way it had stopped by the time we arrived, about 3 or 4, I lost track, I just know it was a long day.

panaramic view of yurt camp

Got set up in yurt and then off to see the Tash Rabat. This was a stopping off point on the Silk Road for the merchants. Some restoration work had been done. It could fit about 60 people and was a maze of smaller rooms, including an escape tunnel. No one knows whether it is 500 or 1000 years old. Great dinner in little salad, soup bread.

Couple of German guys also there. Great time, talking laughing and also drinking wine and vodka. There was a duty free at the border where you could get Australian wines, Jim Beam and many kinds of vodka. very cold here compared to the 35 degree weather we have been used to. Got down to 7 degrees along with the damp. Yurt had dung fire heat but still cool in morning.


June 22 Kashar (Kashi)

10.30 start today! Very nice, as got to enjoy a relaxing coffee.

Old city

Short walk to the Old city. Made out of mud bricks and straw. This area is slowly getting smaller as the government is relocating the people to newer apartments. These people do not want to leave. The area is clean and some are even doing renovations. Some houses are 3 stories high and even have sheep pens, some on the 2nd floor.
Quick taxi and at the Idgah Mosque. A large mosque in the city. Interesting as thet Time zone is same throughout China but they operate using their own time zone 2 hours later.

Happy hour and farewell to Richard the Gadventure CEO. Tomorrow we head to

old city

Kyrgystan, although a day later than planned we have enjoyed the extra time. The 7 of us are on our own tonight! We had planned to have dinner at one of the restaurants by the lake but it was all taped off with guards everywhere. Apparently there was an 'incident" and they closed the area off. We did find a muslim place with pictures of food in the menu. We had a great meal of noodles, kabobs and naan.
Early night.