A disappointing end to a great trip...

I decided to make this a separate blog post because there's a bit of story to tell.

Regular readers might remember this blog post where I mentioned possible glitch in our travel plans. In fact, I'll explain the whole story again for those who might have missed it.

Last day in Kyrgyzstan... playing tourist in Bishkek

We woke up Saturday morning and had a relaxing couple of hours in the guesthouse with breakfast and hot drinks. Then we went our and wandered around to some areas that we didn't make it to last time we were here.

Heading back to Bishkek

Well, our time here in Kyrgyzstan is quickly coming to an end. Yes, it's been almost a month already! We arrived on May 20th! Time flies when you're having fun, and we've definitely been having fun.

On Thursday, we did the drive along the north shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. As you get closer to the western part of the lake, it's not a very nice drive. And they are building huge resorts on that part of the lake.

Best hike this trip...

And it was bit of a tough one! Or maybe we're just getting older!

13 kms (8 miles) and 687 meters (2,200') of elevation gain. Spectacular views of the Jryrgalan valley.

In two years, all of this will be totally different!

We took off from our spot near the hot springs... but in different directions. Bjorn and Freya wanted to go to Engilchek... a ghost town high up in the mountains. To be honest, we wanted to go too. But it was going to be another 150 kms each way, and I'm getting tired of driving Vladdy. 

We should have named him Bouncy Buhanka!

There's no question, it's a beautiful area.

Unfortunately Bjorn and Freya were still having vehicle problems, so they headed into the larger city of Karakol where there is more choice of mechanics.

While they were doing that, Ruth and I took a detour up to the Seven Bulls Rock scenic area.

There are currently two problems with this part of Kyrgyzstan

We were on the south shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. It's a pretty enough lake, with lots of accessible beaches. Historically, it's been the only major source of summer tourism in Kyrgyzstan. But even then, tourism in Kyrgyzstan has been nothing to speak of. The current government is trying to change that.

And we don't blame them... of course tourism around the world has a lot of economic benefits. But improving the infrastructure comes at its own cost... at least temporarily.

We did two separate viewpoint hikes

We woke up to a beautiful day on the shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. The others decided to go for a morning swim, but the water temperature was far too chilly for me!

Issyk-Kul is a saline lake... so it is salt water, but not as salty as ocean water. And because of the salt and depth, it never freezes in winter, despite the cold that Kyrgyzstan experiences.

Beautiful drive down to Issyk-Kul Lake

We left Naryn and headed down to Issyk-Kul Lake. There was no choice but to take the main highway part of the way, but then we had a choice... stick to the main highway, or take a little traveled path through the mountains.

I bet you can guess what we chose!

Well that didn't go according to plan... stuck in a snowstorm?

High up in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, there is a gorgeous glacial lake surrounded by steep cliffs. It's become a bit of a tourist attraction despite the remote location about 20 kms from the China border.

It's early in the season still, so we had decided to drive up there and do the hike to the pretty lake.

The road to Köl-Suu... 20 kms from the China border!

We left our beautiful campsite beside the river in Naryn, and drove into town to pick up a few more groceries and top up the fuel tanks. 

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.

Will we run out of gas?

Another beautiful day for our drive from Song Kul Lake to the small city of Naryn. 

The only problem might be the lack of a gas station along the way!

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.

May Expenses... we knew it was going to be an expensive month

After all, we started the month in Oaxaca, Mexico and ended the month in Arkit, Kyrgyzstan!

We had a budget of $6,300 CAD ($4,635 USD) for the month. How did we do...?

Things just weren't coming together...

Our goal was to make it to the Saray-Chelek Nature Reserve, however we really didn't think we'd make it by Saturday because it was a 150 km (93 mile) drive, and you don't put on a lot of kms in an hour's worth of driving!

Especially when the traffic situation looks like this...

There's too much to see!

Our first two days here in Kyrgyzstan we had to deal with rainy weather, which is certainly not the best when you're living in a small campervan. For us, the idea of having a small campervan means that you want to be in decent weather so you can spend most of your time outdoors.

Well since those two days, it has steadily improved to the point where we woke up to a beautiful blue sky morning!

Now *THIS* was an adventure!

We woke up to the sound of a few raindrops hitting Vladdy's roof. Not a good sign, since we were headed up to the mountain pass at 3,300 meters (10,900') and if we were getting rain, it was likely snowing up there!

I peaked out through the curtains and I could see some patches of blue sky, despite the fact we could hear raindrops on the roof.

Up in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan

We had a very peaceful night beside the reservoir, although the wind did pick up towards morning. Still, the temperature was perfect, with an overnight low around 14C (58F).

We got up fairly early and did one more stop for fuel to fill the secondary tank and the portable tank. We were headed up a steep mountain road. It's actually listed as a major road, but it's unpaved and most of it is actually closed during winter.

My innards were all shook up

We woke up to the most beautiful day... during the morning, there was almost not a cloud in the sky. So we took advantage of the fantastic weather and the water access beside the river to get cleaned up, washed our hair, I shaved, and we hand washed some clothes and set them out to dry.

Yes, the water is ice cold!

More great scenery... and delicious strawberries!

We woke up cold, so we fired up the engine and got driving right away. And with the sun shining, it didn't take long for us to warm up, but we had one more mountain pass to do before we could relax and have breakfast on the other side.

We woke up to sunshine and a gorgeous day... but we had snow later on!

When we left you last, we had used Vladdy's four wheel drive to access a beautiful meadow high up in the mountains.

When we woke up in the morning, we could see it was blue sky... but the sun hadn't yet risen enough to shine on our meadow.

Yikes... you'd think this wasn't meant to be!

This trip has had a lot of glitches so far! It started when our original flights from Istanbul to Bishkek were cancelled. We couldn't get on the bus in Valle de Bravo. There was no lounge available at the Mexico City airport. Ruth's bag got lost between Mexico City and Madrid. We arrived in Almaty and had no cash and couldn't get online. Nothing seemed to work. Missed the first bus. Forgot about the hour time change. Didn't know about the visa change for Kyrgyzstan. Yikes... you'd think this wasn't meant to be.

And then Saturday, on the way up into the mountains, Vladdy's fuel pump gave out!

Kyrgyzstan is a very safe country

Our first night in the campervan went well, however we had some sleeping arrangement options to work out. Technically, the van can sleep five people. The main living area turns into a large enough bed that three people could sleep, and then there is a rear area that would be very cozy, but it could sleep two. 

For the first night, we made the bed up in the larger area, but it was a real gymnastics exercise especially since it was raining out and we had to do it all without getting anything wet.

Meeting Vladdy, our home for the next month!

Slept almost nine hours Wednesday night! Couldn't tell you the last time we did that!

Our hostess had asked what time we wanted breakfast, and we agreed on 9:00am. So we were surprised when there was a knock on the door at 7:45, and I opened it to find her with a tray full of food for us!

We have arrived in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan!

Last you heard from us, we were in Madrid, Spain and getting ready to head back to the airport for our flight to Istanbul. 

And seeing as we were going back to the airport anyhow, they had said that we should be able to pick up Ruth's carry on bag that had been on an adventure of it's own when it went missing.

"There has been an incident with your baggage"

Well, we have arrived in Madrid, Spain... but it wasn't a totally smooth travel day!

And the problems started right at the beginning. We always take the bus from our nearby town of El Arco into Mexico City. We've done it many times and there have always been lots of empty seats. So we never book in advance. Well, it turns out that we have never done it on a Sunday!

And we're off... but with one little glitch!

We are starting a three day travel marathon this afternoon. First we have the two hour bus ride into Mexico City, then a half hour metro (subway, underground) ride to MEX airport.

Our flight doesn't leave for Madrid until 11:55pm, so we have lots of time and don't have to rush.

8 Flights over the next 2 months!

The excitement is building for our first ever around the world trip!

All flights and accommodations are booked for the whole trip, and while that sounds a little too organized for our liking, there is actually a lot of flexibility once we arrive at our destinations.

What's the plan for Japan?

We were originally going to fly back to Mexico City from China. But there's only one direct flight per week, and it's ridiculously expensive. So we decided we could hop, skip, and jump our way back for much less money.

And so we found flights from Hong Kong to Tokyo to Vancouver to Mexico City for almost half the price of the direct one.

Rainy season has begun

I think we're going to enjoy it when we return on July 23rd. We'll be back here at the house for a month until August 20th.

Yesterday, they were calling for a thunderstorm, and boy did we ever get one!

Caught in the rain!

First of all, thanks for all the anniversary well wishes yesterday! 

We had a good day... we had to go into town anyhow, so we timed it around lunch and went out for a meal to our favorite enchiladas restaurant here in Valle de Bravo.

And they said it wouldn't last...

Actually, only one person said it wouldn't last... my friend Paul, who at the time said we hadn't known each other long enough and he gave it five years. He has now been married three times!

Ruth and I met on March 5, 1983 and within two months we had decided to get married. But we didn't tell anyone yet because they would have thought we were nuts!

Thought this was funny...

I didn't leave the house all weekend! Unbelievable. This trip planning is fun for me, and I enjoy it, but it sure is time consuming.

Ruth did manage to get out and pick up a few groceries from the local shops.

Our China trip plan... the planning is half the fun!

I spent much of the day yesterday doing trip planning for our upcoming three weeks in China.

We arrive in Chengdu on June 21st, and up until yesterday that was all we had planned or booked. We had an idea of some of the places we wanted to go, but didn't have a route or accommodations booked. That is now changed, although I'm not done yet!