Kok Boru... the national sport of Kyrgyzstan

In order to get to our campsite, we had already driven 9 kms along a road that leads to Song-Kol Lake, a high alpine lake that lies at an altitude of 3,016 meters (9,900').

We hadn't planned on going to the lake at this time, so if we did, I wasn't sure we had enough fuel to get to the next fuel station afterwards!

We've got a lot we want to see over the next two weeks!

We woke up Sunday morning at our beautiful spot by the river. Had some breakfast and got going on the hike fairly early because we knew this is a busy canyon and it was a Sunday and we wanted to beat the crowds.

Lots of places to explore!

Next stop for us was Konorchek Canyon. Unfortunately there was nowhere to overnight so it was just a stop along the way, but that's okay because we ended up with another great overnight spot anyhow!

But the canyon itself was a really worthwhile stop.

A fun evening celebrating a Kyrgyz birthday!

Our friends Bjorn and Freya from Belgium arrived here in Kyrgyzstan at 8:45am Friday morning. They picked up a SIM card at the airport so we could communicate, and then took possession of their 4x4 SUV with rooftop tent. Once they were all set, they sent a note so that we knew they were on their way to meet us.

Back to the big city of Bishkek

Our friends Bjorn and Freya arrive at Bishkek Airport on Friday morning, so we decided to return to the same guest house that we had stayed at when we first arrived. That way, we could do some more laundry, have showers, and start off fresh with them. 

They are renting a 4x4 SUV type vehicle with a rooftop tent, and we are going to travel together for the next two weeks.

There are some crazy drivers in Kyrgyzstan!

There are a lot of mountain passes in such a small country. For clarity, Kyrgyzstan is slightly smaller than the state of Idaho. And it has over a100 mountain passes. Some are tracks accessible only by 4x4 and seasonal, others are used by all vehicles and are year round.

On Tuesday, we came back through the first mountain pass we had done when we arrived here.

What was included, and what did we have to buy?

I promised you a look at what supplies were included with our Kyrgyzstan campervan rental, and what we had to buy in order to make the experience better for our style of travel.

Of course we need to keep in mind that most people who rent a van like this only have it for a week or possibly two.  

Amazing hoodoo rock formations!

Monday morning, we left the guest house and headed back down to the main highway where we had a stop to make. On the way up, we had seen some very cool looking rock formations across the river, but there were no signs and we could only see a track on the opposite side to get there.

Kyrgyzstan's beautiful Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve

We had breakfast at the guest house, and then set off on a 25 km (15 mile) drive further north into the mountains. Our destination was the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage destination.

If this were anywhere in Canada or the U.S., it would be packed with tourists just like famous Lake Louise is in Canada.