Kyrgyzstan 19 - 24 March 2023
Day 1 Bishkek
The SilkRoad Guesthouse was totally clean with a pleasant ambience but was perhaps not in the best neighbourhood. It was however an interesting walk largely through leafy boulevards to Ala Too Square and back. It was great to be walking on dry pavements rather than the icy pavements of Astana.
Extending the walk (after lunch) to Victory Square and then to Imam Sarah Bishkek Central Mosque was well the effort.
Extending the walk (after lunch) to Victory Square and then to Imam Sarah Bishkek Central Mosque was well the effort.
Day 2 Tokmok, Burana Tower, Konorcheck Canyon and the Petroglyphs Museum at Cholpon Ata
Using a guide called Meder, this included climbing 25m high 9th Century tower, up a very dark stairway, delicious Kattama with fresh homemade cream, a 4km walk up a canyon with a little bit of easy scrambling and a dusk walk through petroglyphs museum. We continued to a hotel in Karakol.
Day 3 Karakol Dungan Mosque, Holy Trinity Cathedral [both Karakol], Jeti Oguz, Bassoon waterfall and the Fairytale Canyon
Although I had been given some sort of itinerary, the named places meant little to me. I had expressed a wish to do some hiking. I had the opportunity to stretch my legs but nothing very challenging. The first little walk was up a track to gain some height for a better view of the Seven Bulls Rocks, then a steepish walk up to a waterfall. Meder suggested I left my pack behind but I wanted to carry all five lenses and tripod. I even carried a 3 stop ND filter but as the waterfall was frozen so long exposures were pretty pointless. Next came a steep hike at the Fairytale Canyon. We went up a steep groove between two walls of rock before I pottered about on my own trying to find the best photographic composition. After editing the skies in Photoshop to create slightly more dramatic shots and increasing the vibrance and saturation just a tad, I am very pleased with a couple of them. Afterwards, I took a bit of a paddle in Lake Issyk-Kul (I have spared you the shots of me in my underpants!) and then visited a swimming pool that used hot spring water. It would have been very pleasant had it not been for brown bits suspended in the water.
Day 4 - Bishkek
First a trip to Ash Bazaar, where I bought some pistachios. The taxi had passed some mosaics that included Lenin and Gagarin, so I walked from the bazaar to look for them. After some refreshments, I continued to the Dordoy market that is made up of small units based in lorry containers. Then headed back towards Ala Too Square and walking back to the hotel. I wanted to obtain a better shot of the soldiers guarding the flag as they seemed to have their eyes closed in my photo taken the previous Monday. Also, on Monday, there was not quite enough wind to spread out the flag and I had slightly better luck this time.
Day 5 Bishkek
A quick visit to Cathedral of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Grand Duke Vladimir followed by a walk through the botanical gardens. There was a lot of work going on at the cathedral, both the building and the grounds and it is a very beautiful building both inside and out. The botanical gardens seemed totally unkept and there was quite a lot of litter, so best to give it a miss.
