Travels with Kathryn

So goodbye to Bishkek and we headed off in the direction of Issy Kul. On route, we stopped the world heritage site of Balasagan (near modern day Tokmok) which features the Burana tower which is all that remainst of a city including its mosque. For me, this is my first real stop on the Silk Road so although there is not much there I feel like I am really on the road now.

Whilst we were there, a large number of people in traditional dress carrying various musical instruments (a mixture of traditional and local instruments) were milling about. I thought this was some kind of tourist thing, but no, a VERY FAMOUS Kyrgyzstan singer was recording a music video, and this was her orchestra. Link below to one of her “big” hits:

We then drove to meet and have lunch with a local family. Now this is very obviously a tourist thing, but they were an affluent and intelligent family with husband and his mother both being teachers and this felt more like something they do to share their culture of hospitality and to make a bit of money on the side rather than a full blown enterprise. I will be publishing a page on Kyrgyzstan soon (hopefully) where I will include details of some of the foods we are being served.

The roads are an interesting mixture. The highways that go to Kazakstan or Chinaa are a smooth experience, however, the raods into the mountains can be gravel, rutted, unpaved etc. The road that goes to Issy Kul is currently undergoing maintenance, and every now and then we veer off and have a more bouncy experience. Sufice to say, I am rather glad to not be sitting in the back of the bus!

As we drive further into the mountains, the scenery really does remind me of Switzerland only with a lower line of hills before snow capped peaks. However, what is different is the scale of the steepe which stretches on, and on before the mountains reach into a “big sky”.

Early evening, we arrived at our yurt camp a short walk from the shores of Issy Kul and settled ourselves in for the evening. The yurts are warm and spacious with (almost) proper beds i.e. a pallet, then mattress, then mattress topper, then bedding. Our camp is also equipped with showers, toilets, even a row of sinks complete with mirrors. As you can imagine, this is all far nicer than I was expecting!

Issy kul (note that kul means “lake” in Kyrgyz) is around 6,000sqm and tells everyone its the second largest alipine lake in the world (behind Lake Titicaca). This is very much disputed with it ranking anywhere from 2nd to around 14th, but its certainly a very big lake. Part of the reason it is so big is because no rivers flow out of it.

We are now at about 1,800m above sea level so it is noticeably cooler and unfortunatly by the next morning it was grey and raining i.e. British weather. Anyway, undeterred, we set off for a day of touristing, first was a stop for a demonstration of eagle hunting and another tourist thing, but it is a genuine hobby for people in this valley and certainly not something designed to make a living out of. Baby eagles are taken from nests (prefereaby the females as they are bigger and stronger obviously) and stay with the eagle hunter for around 15 years before being released back in the wild where they go back to life of a wild eagle e.g. hunting, mating, etc.

We then went on to a local yurt maker. This was fascinating, so to make your yurt you:

• take long willow branches, strip them, and then steam them for around 1 hour until bendy;
• Bend into the desired shape (straight wth a curve for the ceiling supports, and arc shaped for the trelis sides of the yurt) and leave like this for 2 days;
• in each ceiling support (or uuk), shape into a square as it is this square peg which fits into the round tunduk which is at the top of you yurt (and is the symbol on the flag of Kyrgyzstan);
• in each trellis (or kerege), bore holes and connect together with thin ropes made of leather strips to formthe trellis;
• dye everything (most popular) red or alternatively white or leave willow coloured;
• make your tunduk out of 2 semicircles of willow sith supports across and make square holes for you ceiling supports to go into; and finally
• load onto your camels – camel 1: trellis each side, supports over the top and then the tunduk. Camel 2: ropes, felt and rugs. The total weight for everything that goes into a yurt including the felt is 80kg, hence our 2 camels. Then you are DONE.

or you could just pay this nice man $1,500 and have him make it for you?

We then assisted (by not much) to put up a yurt. It is surprisingly easy, maybe its because they have been doing it for thousands of years? Here goes:

• You pull your 2 trellises into a standing semi-circle and attach together (using attractive ropes made of wool) at the back, fit your door frame (bosogo) into the front and rope in.
• Stand in the middle of your yurt holding the tunduk aloft on a pole and fit your ceiling support into the square holes, and attach to the top of each trellis angle, again with rope.
• Tie a rope all the way around you trellis for support. Then cover with (what looks like) rush matting and secure.
• Add tassles to your trellis on the inside of your yurt (why not we ask ourselves?).
• loop rope around your ceiling supports (again, for stability).
• surround the outside of the turt with a double layer of wool felt, then add another sheet of felt over the top.
• Add your door enry and carpet inside. Finished.

The record at the World Nomand Games is to put up your yurt in 8 minutes – I would need somewhat longer. Yurts are amazingly stable and its nothing like camping, because as we know, Kathryn’s do not camp.

Within a yurt, different parts of the yurt are assigned to different family members. The father is the Tunduk as he is the head of the household, but actually, he can not stand alone and needs the support of the rest of the family. The mother is the doorway/bosogo, she supports herself and controls who may enter the home. The sons are the ceiling supports/uuk as they hold up the father, and the daughters in law are the trellis/kereges as they hold up the sons/their husbands. Note that as an unmarried woman, I have no role in the yurt family (sad times), but apparently, I can consider myself to be a trellis tassel and thus purely decorative…

Our final stop of the day was a cooperative where they make the felt coverings for the yurts and the rugs. I am pleased to say they do not make felt by hand (which is a horrendus experience). The sheets of wool are processed at a local factory and then cut into the yurt cover shape and blanket stitched to seal, however, they do make rugs and other yurt decorations by hand – we even made our own alagreez rugs. Yes, my attempt was a better idea than in reality…

These are the simplist forms of Kyrgyzstan rug, whereby you lay out your processed wool and then make attractive designs before felting over the top. The fancier rugs are made from pieced together felt, which is sewn/braided together – these are the types we have in our yurts. What was interesting here is that this was the first time we have been presented with tourist shopping opportunities. Kyrgyzstan has obviously not developed this yet, but I suspect they will in the years to come The shopping opportunity offered where was simply items that they make themselves: cushion covers, small dolls made of felt, felt flower broaches and I may have been forced to buy a beautiful silk and felt scarf for the grand price of 1,000som which is about £9.

As it continued to hammer down with rain (sad times), I dressed accordingly (hurrah for pack-a-macs) and walked down to the shores of Issy Kul. When I read the trip notes, I had this fanciful notion of going for a swim in the warm sunshine, reality below so I decided against it.

Tomorrow, we are off to Song Kol, so higher into the mountains and more opportunity to enjoy Kyrgyzstan’s roads.