Kyrgyzstan, May 2014

Our May trip to Kyrgyzstan was very busy. For 14 days we visited the most different corners of this small but vibrant and diverse country. In the mountains we have covered with snow, and in the southern desert plateau scorched by the heat unbearable. We crossed the rocky fords, climbed alpine switchbacks, shaking on rough roads and drove broadband highways. Listened even breathing pearl of Lake Issyk-Kul, and watched as the first rays of the sun reflowed white peaks of the Tien Shan mountain ranges. We met sunsets in picturesque valleys and admire the starry sky, which can be found only in the mountains.





Our May trip to Kyrgyzstan was very busy. For 14 days we visited the most different corners of this small but vibrant and diverse country. In the mountains we have covered with snow, and in the southern desert plateau scorched by the heat unbearable. We crossed the rocky fords, climbed alpine switchbacks, shaking on rough roads and drove broadband highways. Listened even breathing pearl of Lake Issyk-Kul, and watched as the first rays of the sun reflowed white peaks of the Tien Shan mountain ranges. Met sunsets in picturesque valleys and admire the starry sky, which can be found only in the mountains.
No one lived day was not like the other. Only one throughout our journey has been a constant - always good, open and responsive people of this country. In my opinion, it is measured by the people in the first place the wealth of any region. One result of our busy trip was the photo report, which I suggest you read it. So, in a way!
The first few days it was decided to allocate to acclimatize for what we settled on the wild southern coast of Lake Issyk-Kul. Within three days we met here sunrises and accompanied the setting sun. Finally I fulfilled my dream - to see how the snow-white mountains on the horizon rise the wall surface of the water, as the first rays of the sun touch the top, and as a giant sun disappears behind the monumental wall of the Tien Shan.



Sunset on Lake Issyk-Kul:



Lone fisherman. View Kungei Ala-Too - one of the ridges of the Northern Tien Shan:



The next morning:



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Night on the lake and the eye of the moon:



At night, Issyk-Kul especially quiet and mysterious. South Coast it still remains sparsely populated, wildly, making electric illumination is practically absent. A high-altitude (1600m) position allows a clear night to watch the sky a rich carpet star:



Flowering apricot. Not pausing among flowering gardens on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, we went to the mountains. And when there came down a week later, the gardens have faded.



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Kumtor Pass, 3600m. Through this pass the road goes to the mine being developed by the Canadian gold mining company:



During the pass is severe mountain plateau Ara-Bel, where lie the pristine snow and a strong wind blows continuously:



Among the barren red rock canyon Kizil Korgon sometimes you can find a small patch of green. Typically, in these places aquifer comes out and water seeping through the rock, creating at least some conditions for life. And in the crevices where sunlight penetrates rare plants have to struggle to drag up:



Rest on top:



A herd of goats strayed among the rocks during the descent into the valley in the canyon Kizil Korgon, Kyrgyz Republic. Conventional goats have not such climbers as mountain sheep, but sometimes they have to. It is seen as a & nbsp; two dozen goats "stuck" on the rocks, and other couloirs descend down to the river and pick up as much dust. The herd spends the whole day at the height, there is more greenery. And when the evening the shepherd pulls them down, they run their legs to drink. And on the bottom line up in a long line along the river for a long time and drink water:



Exploring Tale - Gorge, located on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. The gorge formed pliable rocks of different colors, so that kind of Tales is constantly changing under the influence of wind and rain. Bizarre rock formations, which can be a long time looking at the various fairy-tale characters, me here so often that there can be no doubt - is an attractive place in their lives, fabulous laws:



View Tales Kungei on Ala-Too mountain range of the Northern Tien Shan:



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In a good campaign always born common jokes and tricks. The longer the journey, the more of them :) It would seem that this can nashutit about marmots, which sit on the hills and hide in burrows when approached hikers? So, it may be born more than one hundred versions :)



./, /, /, /, /, /,



Time flew by in a fairy tale completely unnoticed. It is highly recommended to visit the place!



Horse and dog on the load almost vertical "sypuhe" Valley Suusamyr. A narrow trail nearly crumbling scheduled in supple rock, and far below its waters swift mountain river:



Issyk-Kul have long been shrouded in mystery and legend - an attractive place for a variety of people interested in esoteric, spiritual practices, meditation.



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Many meaningless in the usual business of life acquire meaning here :)



Young hunter:



His transport:



Meeting in the mountains. In the highlands hosted wolves. To warn them that begins on the territory of the people, the shepherds put bogey:



Subject in the trash). Hunted mice



The rise of "1B": snow, ice and "sypuha»:



conductor. Man encyclopedia, moves into the mountains quickly and quietly as the snow leopard :) I recommend, in general: www.eastwindtravel.com



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Rome, reliable, kind, responsible member of our expedition. He holds a young horseman:



Absorbing the energy of the mountains:



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In mid-May in the mountains begin to appear the first yurt:



At night we had a jumping over the fire. No one was hurt, all warmed up :)



Photographer Pavel Zhigalov at work:



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Apricot blossoms:



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The son of a shepherd to the Chon Kyzyl Suu, Kyrgyzstan. By local standards this dvennadtsatiletny boy was an adult. Horse and dog - his loyal aides and friends. The whole season they spend high in the mountains in spartan conditions, looking after the herd. At the end of the month, when all the heads on the ground, a shepherd family receives from the host as payment for one sheep.
Not an easy life in the lap of nature makes these boys this dzhigits: brave, noble, but it is not to lose the children's enthusiasm and directness. The father can be proud of these children:



Sunset on the river in the canyon Kara Batkak. Thousands of mountain rivers descend from the melting glaciers to Lake Issyk-Kul. In the morning, they can narrow transparent flow streams, but in the evening becoming full-flowing and strong:



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The young horseman :) arrived with her grandmother in the mountains, to provide the rear :)



Initially shy and capricious, but after 15 minutes we got used to and started to pose with pleasure:



Alpine life in a canvas tent:



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Remote operation:



Joint Kyrgyz-Chinese meteorological station. Buildings Soviet, even the last century. Equipment brand new - the Chinese. Evening:



Family glaciologists: they watch the weather station equipment and the condition of the ice for 30 years.



Granddaughter:



The cable ferry across the river - you need to get into the truck, and using the lever, push off from the steel cable:



Nominate to the glacier. This wild onions:



Climb the avalanches. This avalanche came down a few days ago, freeing couloir ahead. Hence, it seems that a very small couloir, but it is not. Below us a couple of meters of loose snow, mixed with the ground. In some places, hear the stream running under the snow - in these places is dangerous to walk:



After several hours of traveling through the canyon Kara Batkak we came to the foot of the glacier, located at an altitude of 3700m. There is a lake Kashkator:



After the winter the water level in the lake dropped, the water receded, leaving the banks of the thick floes of ice loose. This shatters the ice in hand on thin ice needles:



Three hours of recovery - and the landscape is changing beyond recognition. Below you walked into a T-shirt in the green meadows, and is out of the bag dostaёsh warm clothes. Glacier "breathes" piercing cold and there is snow on the sidelines. Periodically, one has only to look out of the sun as this mountain bowl filled with a roar from coming down with great speed avalanches. So the surrounding peaks shed the shackles of winter. Sometimes you do not have time to turn his head toward the sound to see the rapid flow of snow. By the summer, these slopes are entirely free from snow and will only glacier tongue in front.



Meet primrose Turkestan. And behind him a fallen fir - on it we moved to the other side of the river, so as not to make a detour to bypass:



Halt



Susamyr, located at an altitude of 2000m, starts just behind the pass Too-Ashu. 'Pastoral El Dorado "- so named these places Russian botanist Lipsky. The main wealth of this valley - green and flowering meadows, framed by snow-white peaks of the Tien Shan ridge:



On Suusamyr valley can be reached by overcoming a difficult pass Too-Ashu, which is crowned by Alpine tunnel name Kuseina Kolbaev. In May, after this pass begins seasonal transhumance and countless flocks virtually paralyze road links.



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The picturesque valley in the gorge Jeti-Oguz:



oooooo



Ship of the desert. He stared at me. At first I did not understand why, but then I was told that he could bite. Felt sorry for me :) In the background can be seen the water reservoir Orto Tokoy. Although the types of lifeless desert around, the water temperature in the reservoir does not rise above 15 degrees even in summer. Ortho-Tokoy - one of several reservoirs built on the Chu River water used for irrigation. Due to the extensive use by the end of summer, the water in them is decreasing by 90%:



And so the moon looks Kirghiz:



A young resident of the village Ornok:



Two other residents who, for whatever reason, do not talk to each other:



We camped not far from this village, in the bend of the river in the heart of Kokomeren Kyrgyz Grand Canyon. Nearby is the lake, where local children come to picnic on the occasion of May 9th. They brought with them a goat, and left without the goat ...



The boys slaughtered a goat, and the girls smartly disassembled into components, and prepare a few different dishes. This is the twelfth year that girl I asked just in case you do not mind it a goat? No - he says. - And why? - The fate of this ... - And what human destiny? - I do not know ... However, she said very seriously, and in general, the life they have here in the desert, not comic. So that's the smiling portrait done in a different time:



Night at the Grand Canyon:



In the valley of the river Kokomeren:



View of the village Ornok:



Kokomeren River Gorge in Kyzyl Korgon:



Homeward ...



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