We had a 150 km (93 mile) drive one way to get to Köl-Suu on some pretty rough roads, so it was going to be an all day event just to get there.
But first, we had to see some things around town!
Looking down on the city park where we had spent the night.
Opposite direction looking downriver.
We stopped at a market where they sold a lot of cheese products.
The Home Depot guy!
We're amazed at the variety of stuff some of these little shops sell, but do you think we can find a bungy cord?? Ended up buying a piece of rope to hold Vladdy's side door open.
We had to buy special border permits in order to drive anywhere close to the China border. We had applied for them in advance, and picked them up and paid for them in Naryn. They cost 2,500 SOM ($40 CAD, $28.50 USD) per person.
Ruth found a little kitty cat.
Or maybe the little kitty cat found Ruth!
Beautiful mural!
The small city of Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
They even have a nice exercise park.
Time to hit the road up into the mountains!
Eagle statue.
At the military station where we had to have our border permits reviewed.
While it had been a nice day with a nice forecast in Naryn, this was not the case when we arrived at the border station 1200 meters (4000') higher and 80 kms (50 miles) away! It was cold and raining.
It took us about a half an hour to clear the border station, and then we had some very remote driving to do! We saw very few people or other vehicles, but we did see some interesting animals!
We came across a small herd of yaks!
They are funny looking animals.
Apparently there are no more "wild" yaks in Kyrgyzstan.
These ones are known to be "semi-domesticated".
However, they are free roaming.
We stopped at a small canyon to have a walk and stretch our legs.
The wooden bridge over the canyon.
Still a patch of snow down there.
A lone horse rider in the distance.
Nice waterfall in the canyon.
Bjorn and Freya enjoying the view.
We passed another larger herd of yaks in the distance. There was one baby.
Scenery along the way.
The road to Köl-Suu.
We arrived at the yurt community of Köl-Suu and it was pouring rain. It would not have been enjoyable to try to cook and sleep in the cold and rain, so we started enquiring about accommodation, but it is still very early in the season and most of the camps are still setting up. The first place wanted 8,000 SOM for the four of us to share a yurt.
We thought that was too much and moved on to another one where we saw a German plated 4 wheel drive motorhome parked on a flat area overlooking the river. We parked in the same area to contemplate our options.
A young local woman came over and she spoke quite good English. She explained that this was private property and it would cost 1,000 SOM per person to camp there. So we asked about staying in a yurt, and it really wasn't much more money. By the time all was said and done, we agreed on a price of 10,400 SOM ($166 CAD, $119 USD) for the four of us including dinner and breakfast.
Our accommodation for the night!
It was toasty warm in there while it was wet and cold and miserable outside!
Bjorn dressed in local attire!
I haven't yet explained why we came all the way up here.... more about that in the next post! By the way, we have now driven to within 20 kms from the China border!
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And in Canada...
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