XWORLD, Stage 5: Edelweiss and pilot's licenses - a journey through Central Asia

The fifth stage of the XWORLD Tour 2008/2009 took the participants from Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, further along the Talas border mountains and into the interior of Kyrgyzstan.

"The start of our tour is in one of the most impressive cities in the country - Almaty, which is also lovingly called the "City of Apple Trees". We can already see the splendour of the city as our plane approaches the city's airport. Magnificent mountain ranges, whose peaks are covered with snow the whole year round, surround the city and we realise why the inhabitants lovingly compare their home with a bowl of green tea. Countless gardens and parks are sprinkled across the townscape, and we forget that we are in a metropolis with millions of inhabitants.

 

The next morning, our first steps take us to the local police station, as foreigners must generally register within 72 hours. Unfortunately, when we arrive there, the doors are closed. After various attempts to find a contact, a passer-by who is hurrying past finally tells us that the station is closed today. He explains that today is 'prophylaxis day'. Unfortunately he cannot explain to us what this means. For us it means that we will have to postpone our planned start before dawn until the next day.

 

We use the rest of the day for sightseeing in Almaty. In addition to a visit to the main attraction, the "Cathedral of the Holy Resurrection", our programme also includes a sightseeing tour of the city. By tram we explore the cosmopolitan city, whose appearance is influenced by over 100 nationalities. Although on paper Almaty is no longer the centre of the country, we can certainly feel the pathos and the importance of this city. In 2011 the Asian Winter Olympics will be held here, and there are already advertisements for these.

 

After registering with the police the next morning, we drive straight into the mountain region of the Talas - Alatau. Via a very well constructed road network we soon overcome the first metres of altitude. We pass through scenery which is as varied as the name Alatau leads one to believe - "Coloured Mountains". As well as simple meadows, fruit orchards and vegetable-growing regions, we often see the contrast to the gigantic mountain chains with snow-covered peaks and the many small rivers which pass through the forest-covered mountains.

 

We are now on the northern branch of the Silk Road, and it is difficult for us to imagine how the trading caravans must have laboriously struggled on their way across the mountains. On our way to Taras, the merchants' city, we have to put up with several forced halts. Due to the increasing temperatures and the associated thawing of the snow, some of the smaller rivers are severely swollen and in places have washed away whole stretches of the roads. In most cases we were able to simply drive round these. We only had fun, and our first adventure, when we had to cross one of the rivers directly with our cars, as the road had simply been washed away. After about 350 kilometres we arrived in Tara in the evening, and brought the day to an end in one of the countless restaurants in this city, which was founded over 2000 years ago.

 

Day four of our tour brings us along the Ala Bel Pass towards Kyrgyzstan. Everywhere to the right and left of the road we see individual yurts, in front of which the women are busy milking the mares and the cows, or making butter from the fresh milk. At midday we decide to have our midday break near to one of the yurts, and we are very soon surrounded and curiously observed by the owners of the yurts. Such a caravan of vehicles cannot be marvelled at every day. We carry on our conversation with gesticulation and mimicry, and gladly try the mares' milk, also called Kumy - the national drink of Kyrgyzstan - which we are offered. The group is somewhat divided about the taste of this milk. For some it is too bitter, and for others it tastes so good that they immediately buy a few more bottles as provisions for the journey. After an uncomplicated border crossing to Kyrgyzstan, we reach Lake Toktugul in the evening, where we put up our tents for the night.

 

The next two days take us from Toktogul via Suusamyr towards Lake Song-Köl. The route there is by way of hairpin bends and steep, at times hardly recognisable roads. In many places these had been severely eroded by the weather.

 

The reward for this very adventurous and strenuous drive is the magnificent scenery. Mountains and continuously new formations make us realise why Kyrgyzstan is also known as the second Switzerland. Over 90% of the country consists of mountain landscape.
In the afternoon we reach Lake Song-Köl and settle in to our yurts. Our guide has thought up something special for this evening's programme. Instead of the usual "being served", today self-sufficiency is on the programme. Equipped with a few fishing rods, the men in our group set off to the lake, supported by a Good Luck from the ladies, in the hope of landing a few large fish. As darkness falls, we lay the fish which we have caught on the grill and enjoy the evening.

 

Our route the next day takes us to Tash Rabat, an old caravanserai, which in earlier times served as a refuge. On our drive there we pass countless mountain pastures on which edelweiss blooms as profusely as dandelions at home. We are often asked to slow down in order to avoid small marmots, because especially the female drivers are concerned about the welfare of these cute little animals.
After a short sightseeing trip in Tash Rabat, the group decides to go on a joint riding excursion to the Tash Rabat Pass. At an altitude of 4000m, far away from all the hectic activity, we experience one of those moments which will be remembered forever. With a view over one of the most beautiful lakes in the country, we can see the mountains on the border with China in the haze, and within a few minutes we immerse ourselves in the stillness of this unique natural experience.

 

The next days will be the most strenuous ones of this stage. We will travel almost a quarter of the total distance. Past Kochkor, we cross several 3,000 metre passes, demand the utmost from our vehicles and are almost brought to our physical limits. After endless kilometres on gravel tracks, daring overtaking manoeuvres, in which we can see nothing because we are enveloped in clouds of dust, we reach Karakol on the 9th day.
We take our evening meal together in the traditional way in one of the countless restaurants in the old town. In this case, traditional means that we sit at tables which are about the size of dolls' furniture. As is explained to us, this way of eating is typical for the country; however this does not prevent us from feeling as though we are in Gulliver's Travels. With somewhat stiff limbs, which are feeling the strain of the past few days, we leave early for our hotel.


Our next day begins at five in the morning. With our vehicles we drive about 5 km outside of the town in order to take part in one of the largest events in the district, the cattle market. Farmers from the entire region, some of whom have come from as far away as 200 km, offer their sheep, cows, bulls, donkeys and horses for sale.
With our vehicles, we are also quite a sensation here. We are even offered 50 horses for one of our cars. We explain to the owner that he would have to offer us 173 horses - and leave the area as quickly as possible whilst he is discussing how to get so many horses with his colleagues.

 

With everyone on board and with all of our vehicles, we drive onwards towards Lake Ysyk Köl, which is also known as the Warm Lake. After our arrival at the Ysyk–Köl Health Resort, some daring characters from our group jump straight into the water. However, after a few minutes of shivering, they leave the lake as fast as they can. We later find out from our guide that the lake is only called warm because due to its size it never freezes, even in winter.

 

The last night in the open is quite something. We experience at first hand the extremes of this climate and in the night, as the temperature falls by almost 20°C to –5°C we have to pull our sleeping bags closer together. That night some of the farmers in the region suffered considerably losses in their herds due to exposure.
After this last night camping, we leave the untouched regions of the mountains and travel towards the final destination of our stage: Bisckek - the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

 

Although we planned to spend the evening with a meal together, we spend it searching for two of our vehicles and their drivers in the dense traffic of Bischek. The last 2,500 km with almost a monopoly of the roads have caused them considerable difficulty in the busy traffic, and they became lost after they had lost contact with the convoy.

 

We use the last day of our journey to once again take in our own individual impressions of this country. After visiting cultural sites and sightseeing, or one of the many fairy tale sessions offered - Kyrgyzstan is the cradle of many oriental fairy tales - or simply with a perfectly "normal" shopping expedition, in which some of us were offered diplomas, pilot's licenses and even entire tanks, at the end of our journey, with tears in our eyes, we see countries which are as colourful as their mountains.