Thien's Travelography: Top Highlights of Kyrgyzstan

Having spent 24 nights in total in Bishkek sorting out visa bureaucracy I was happy to finally get out and get a glimpse of what Kyrgyzstan had to offer beyond the city. My 3 highlights below:

1. Kyzyl-Oi

A small village/town located about 200km south of Bishkek, I was first attracted to here due to a national horse game event organised by the CBT giving me an opportunity to see the Ulak Tartysh games. A polo game where they gallop around on horseback with a headless goat.

Having met the previous night 2 fellow Australian Sam and Zach who had ended up in Bishkek after escaping visa trouble in Uzbekistan whilst on the Mongol Rally, Icak from Indonesia and Jessica from the US, we left for Kyzyl Oi the next day.

After some hiccups with a scrumbag taxi driver, we're finally glad to be in Kyzyl Oi and finding a cosy little homestay ran by a lovely family and getting a homemade Kyrgyz dinner. From Left to Right: Zach, Jess, Sam, Icak.

After dinner, going outside to stargaze the night sky with the milk way present above.

Opening the festival with some local folklore music.

Kids playing on the swings.

The cook.

Girl from Kyzyl Oi

Icak getting chummy with the local ladies.

A game of tug-of-war: Locals vs tourists.

Kyz Kyymai: Boy chase girl. Boy kiss girl.

Main event time. Ulak Tartysh, a polo like game using a headless goat as the ball.

Get the goat!

And off we go!

Goal!

Wrestle!

Stop that man scoring!

Making a break.

How to end a great day? Party with the locals of course.

Two brothers and functional drunks. The vodka seems to keep on coming...

Not long before Jess got picked up by a local... haha

2. Songkol

Taking the lazy option, I did a horse trek up to lake Songkol, opting for a 2 day/1 night option starting from a town named Kyzart(east of Kyzyl Oi). In hindsight, I found this way to fast and extremely short, while giving us a nice chance to see the nomadic life up around Songkol, it would have been nice to explore other parts of the lake also and a 3 or 4 day trek would have probably been more ideal.

Kyzart main street.

Kyzart kids.

Friendly and curious locals. Stopped what they were doing and came up to me an insisted I take a photo after the few usual questions.

Setting off to Songkol on horses.

Heading into the mountains.

Getting further and further from town.

Climbing up the pass.

Getting close to the top of the pass.

Taking a break at the top of the pass.

First view of Songkol Lake from the top of the pass.

Reaching yurtcamp!

Horses finally getting a long deserved break and ready to take us down tomorrow!

Let's go fishing...

Songkol

Heading back to town. Some parts are best left walking...

Back on the horse.

3. Inylchek Base Camp

By far, my absolute highlight of my time spent in Kyrgyzstan and my far the most expensive and WAY above my planned daily budget. I was sold on the idea of flying on a helicopter over some glacier and camping inbetween 2 glacier at 4200m with views of 7000m+ peaks in the heart of Central Tian Shan whilst speaking to a fellow traveller from Denmark, Hendrik who I initially met in Khorog and again in Bishkek. The trip indeed didn't disappoint! In total the trip lasted 3 days with 1 night at Karkara base camp and 3 nights up at Inylchek base camp.

Entering special permit area, Karkara located near 3 borders: Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and China

Camping at Karkara Base Camp for a night before flying up to Inylchek Base Camp.

The ride. A modified Russian war helicopter with the the gun mount still intact!

Around Karkara. A village near Karkara base camp.

Kids from the village next to Karkara Base Camp.

The Heli ride up to Inylchek Base Camp!

Glacier forming...

Flying over the glacier!

Inylchek Base Camp with view of Khan Tengri in the distance.

Sight of an old helicopter crash right next to base camp. A vote of total confidence!

Pobeda Mountain (7439m ASL)

Khan Tengri Mountain (7005m ASL)

Sunset day 3. With a storm brewing in the horizon, I didn't expect much. But the cloud manage to open up a gap and let in some light for an amazing sunset!