That's all folks!

Coming back home to Solothurn.

That's it! after 10 weeks away from home, it is the end of my Kyrgyz interlude. I enjoyed every minute of it: I significantly improved my Russian in Bishkek, I discovered scenic landscapes every day on tour with my family, and I met so many amazing people in Karakol.

Let's be honest, in the western world we have almost no clue about Kyrgyzstan, or Central Asia in general. This is unfortunate because there are loads of wonderful destinations in this region of the world. After the independence in 1991, the Kyrgyz Republic - having no oil nor gas - opened the country in order to encourage tourism and generate new incomes. Now after two revolutions, the democracy is slowly starting to take place. As a result, except that few people speak English, I can only see upsides about visiting this great country:

• The nature is absolutely stunning.
• Locals are very welcoming and eager to share their nomadic culture.
• It is extremely cheap.
• It is easy to travel thanks to the marshrutka network and the taxis.
• The food is delicious.
• The country is safe.

I hope I was able to somehow unveil this country for you with this blog, and even spark interest about it. If you have once the occasion to visit it, you won't be disappointed for sure.

Thank you all for having followed my adventures!
Pierre-Yves

At last, I'd like to thanks a few people who contributed to make this trip an unforgettable experience.

My host family: Asel, Nazira, Sanjar and Ildar

Asel's family and her friends Arstan and Nuriza.

My teachers at the London School: Diana, Aizhamel, Begimai and Aigul.

My friends at the school: Kačka, Alex, Christian, Chris, Paula.

My family Lilia, Milena and Eliane.

Our guide Talant and our driver Dimi.

The team at the Duet Hostel: Anara, Kolbay, Sezim, Gala, and my co-volunteer Andrea.

Ayana, Aynura and Anarbek who hosted me at their home.

The guests of the Duet Hostel: Yann-Gaël, Lidia et Marie; Adrien et Amélie; Amanda; Siegrid; Cyril; Lucile; Laetitia; Bastien; Matthias; Stéphanie, Maylis, Maylis et Quentin; Marion et Jim; Martina; Romain; Natascha; Marvin; James, Stijin and all the other ones.

Ala-Kul

The most popular hike around  Karakol is a 3 days trek to Ala-Kul, a beautiful lake embedded in the mountains at 3620 meters. After Issyk-Kul and Song-Kul, you may actually start to recognize a pattern and figure out that kul means lake in Kyrgyz.

This map was created using GPS Visualizer's do-it-yourself geographic utilities.

Please wait while the map data loads...

Being in Karakol for one month, I could afford to be picky about the meteorological conditions. After about two weeks I decided it was time to go and ordered a taxi for the following day. I thought I would be alone and meet people on the way, but overhearing that I was leaving the next morning, Lucile, a french girl at the hostel told me 'Oh you're going tomorrow at 7:00? I'm coming with, I'm ready!'. I wasn't so sure if she was serious, but the next day at 7:00 she was indeed ready.

The start of the hike is at the entrance of a national park reachable by marshrukta. Taxis can drive a bit further, saving between 1 and 2 hours of walk. We followed first the Karakol river during a few kilometers and then started the steep ascension to the lake. The plan was to sleep at a camp at 3000 meters, in the middle of the climbing. But starting so early and walking steady, we already arrived there at 2:15 PM. So we decided to continue up to the lake.

After 3 more hours of hiking in rocks and gravels, we finally arrived at the top and were rewarded by a stunning view over Ala-Kul. During the evening, it quickly became rather cold, and it snowed during the night. My sleeping bag being designed for +6 C°, I manage to sleep a few hours without freezing with a few layers of clothes, a liner and a survival blanket.

Ala-Kul lake. We arrived on Thursday in Summer; we left on Friday in Winter.

The next morning we still had to climb a few hundreds meters of elevation to reach a pass at 3928 meters. I hoped I could climb a little more and take a picture of my GPS with an altitude of 4000 meters, but it was too steep to go higher. I guess I will have to photoshop the picture... From there it was then a long descent down to Altyn-Arashan - a place famous for its hot springs and yurt camps - where we spent a second night.

On the third day, we followed a dirt road for 16 kilometers, took a marshrutka, and we were back at the Duet Hostel in Karakol. Thanks to my cousin Eliane who had brought me a pack of Fondue, we celebrated the end of this amazing trek as deserved!

Lucile, ready to go at 7:00 AM.

Following the Karakol river.

The ascension to the lake.

At the bar of the camp where we originally planned to spend the first night.

We continued until the lake.

Ala-Kul is just behind those last rocks.

We made it to the lake!

The next morning, the landscape had some polar vibes.

The way up to the pass.

Ala-Kul lake and its glacier viewed from the pass.

Hikers climbing to the pass.

3928... hum... 4000 meters high!

The view on the other side, towards Altyn-Arashan.

Altyn-Arashan, famous for its hot springs.

On the 3rd day, 16 km walking on that road.

After such a beautiful trek, what else than a fondue to recover?

And of course to share it with my Swiss and French friends Laetitia, Cyril and Lucile.