Wednesday 29th May - Altyn Arashan

Today is our last walking day and as forecast the weather is overcast with low cloud cover. As we leave the hotel it is raining so it’s waterproofs on and a question about how this day will pan out.

We drove east out of Karakol for about 15 minutes before being dropped off at the Altyn Arashan valley National park, and we’re on our way by 9.30. It was raining lightly and the track took us into a wooded area. In 1965 the Russians decided to experiment with what trees and bushes were suitable for this climate and terrain and planted 100 different types of trees and 100 different types of bushes. Nearby was a tree nursery where they are growing trees from seed to plant in the forest.

The trek took us through the forest which became predominantly pine trees and then began to open out to more meadow land. However there were differences from yesterday as the ground was much more boggy, making the grass and wild flowers both different and more vigorous. It was quite a slog even though we had started at a lower altitude to yesterday and it was good to stop for a break and to get our breath!

We continued the climb and eventually came out onto more open grassland more like the shorter grass of yesterday. The rain had stopped and although we still had wonderful views without the sun they were not quite the same as yesterday

The climb became less steep and we were soon at the col, at 2461m, overlooking Karakol. We walked a little further on and downhill so that we could find a place to sit and have lunch which was out of the wind. Although not strong you can feel the chill that it gave. As we sat there the sun started to poke through and as the day progressed we saw more and more sunshine😊

We had finished the walk by 2.30 and were greeted by Micha with the minibus! It was only a short ride back to the hotel giving us plenty of time for cups of tea, showers and suitcase packing as tomorrow we move on.

The total length of the walk was 14.2 km with an elevation gain of 609m.

This evening our meal was prepared by a Dungan family. They originate from China where there are still 15 million of them, but 150 years ago some moved to Kyrgyzstan and other central Asian countries. There are 75.000 of them here. Our hostess shared with us that the difference between Dungan Moslems and the Uiger Moslems is that the former do not want their own state in China, but the Uiger do and China won’t let them. She also sees their Moslem faith as being of the heart and not political in any way, thus making them a peaceful people.

She and her husband provided a traditional meal. Rice, noodles and bread with 9 different dishes, some vegetables, others with meat. As has been the bulk of our experience here, they were all delicious!

We move on to Lake Issyk kul tomorrow where we will be staying in yurts for 2 nights. There may be no WiFi!