During our trip to Kyrgyzstan, our focus was the eight-day Best of Alay Mountains Trek hosted by Visit Alay from July 19 to 26. They offer several trekking, horse, and cultural tours within Kyrgyzstan, as well as tours along the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan and within Uzbekistan. Our group had six trekkers including Zoe and Braden from Australia, Danilo from Italy, and Leila from Canada; as well as two guides Simon and Daniel. Our trip started and ended at the Visit Alay office in Osh, while most of our evenings were spent at yurt camps. Given the amount of content, I will split this post in two.
Day 1
Upon arriving at the Visit Alay office, we were introduced to our guides and shown the trekking routes on a map. The eight-day trekking route is similar to their six-day Heights of Alay Valley Trek shown below, but with the following exceptions:
- An added 6 km hike to Isumrudnoe (a.k.a. Gezhige-Kol) Lake and back between Osh and Sary Mogul.
- The drive from Sary-Mogul to Zhanyryk Yurt Camp is replaced with an acclimatization trek.
- After returning to Sary Mogul on Day 7, there is a drive to Tulpar Lake instead of returning to Osh.
- An added 20 km hike from Tulpar Lake to Travellers Pass (via Lenin Base Camp) and back.
We then had a four-hour drive ahead of us to Sary Mogul. We first stopped at a supermarket for water and other snacks for the first day, as well as stopped at the Etnokompleks Alay lookout and Isumrudnoe Lake hike along the way. Etnokompleks Alay had a yurt showing some of the traditional Kyrgyz attire inside, as well as an Alay sign in Cyrillic for a photo op and a lookout. By this point, it already started to feel considerably cooler than in Osh.
Before hiking up Isumrudnoe Lake, we had a hearty lunch at a yurt camp consisting of a beef, potato, carrot, and cabbage dish with salad and watermelon. For only this stop, we were served tea the traditional Kyrgyz way which started with the eldest; that being me followed by Helen and then the other four trekkers in their late twenties and early thirties. While I didn’t take photos of every meal, they usually were made up of a hot dish along with soup and/or salad, while bread and sweets were always provided.
After lunch, we started making our way up towards the lake.
The climb to the lake was no joke, but it was a good warm up for the days that followed. We saw a few goats on the way up.
We finally arrived at the lake which is also referred to as Emerald Lake. Several locals could be seen swimming in the water.
After some time by the lake, it was mostly downhill back to the yurt camp to continue to Sary Mogul.
Before leaving for Sary Mogul, we were given fermented horse milk which is strong and sour. We saw plenty of sheep, cows, and horses on the way along with yurts, while there were lots of windy roads.
We spent the first night at a guesthouse at Sary Mogul village. While it was simple on the inside, dinner was still equally hearty, and it was the first time I realized you could make plov with a different base than rice. This one used a barley base. We then had one last chance to shower, use WiFi, and charge our phones before beginning the main trek the following morning.
Day 2
After breakfast – which was rice porridge, waffle, egg, sausage, cheese, and salad – we were greeted with a clear view of Lenin Peak towards the south.
Time to start our hike towards the north. Our large items were carried by two horses in saddle bags which resembled giant bicycle panniers.
Here’s Sher (?) – pronounced like that famous pop singer – riding one of the horses with Danilo walking behind.
That day’s hike was a relatively relaxed 14 km along a river. However, there was one part which we had to ride a horse across.
Here’s Braden, Zoe, Leila, Daniel, Danilo, and Helen.
Some cows next to the river.
After we arrived at the yurt camp, we had lunch followed by playing Uno and a bit of dancing in front. We also put our feet in the river which was cold and refreshing.
A bread making session was done after lunch. Here is a woman showing us the finished product.
Kyrgyzstan was the first time we got to see marmots which are large rodents.
Thanks to a nine-year-old girl, we were able to get close to the marmots inside their burrows. Note the giant front teeth similar to a beaver or capybara. However, a four-year-old boy threw rocks inside the burrows which ruined the experience.
This was the first time we got to sleep inside a yurt. While this one had actual bed frames, most of them did not. Even so, our yurts stayed dry even with the overnight thunderstorm.
After a light dinner, it was time to get a good night sleep before ascending to Sary Mogul Pass which is 4,306 metres high; the highest elevation for our trek.
Day 3
Breakfast consisted of a rice porridge and some omelettes with a heart shaped squirt of ketchup.
The trek for that day started gradual but became more difficult with heavy breathing afterwards along with some riverbanks which were treacherous to navigate. We had also seen a couple of solo hikers which must have been extra difficult given the need to carry sleeping bags and tents.
Fortunately, the views of the landscapes got better as we ascended towards Sary Mogul Pass. We were given Kit Kat bars halfway up.
Here’s a group photo Zoe took of us as we were about to ascend into the clouds.
The last 100 to 150 metres of elevation gain were the steepest of the day, but also led to the views of these alpine lakes and snow-capped peaks. Before this point, we had a picnic lunch including a baloney sandwich, apricot juice, watermelon, and other snacks.
Danilo, Leila, and Simon on top of the Sary Mogul Pass.
There was a steep downhill after the pass and a good-sized crowd going up in the opposite direction. You can also see some snow patches.
Getting around those climbing up was interesting to say the least, while Daniel slid down crazy fast!
As usual, lots of animals could be seen after the peak including these horses and even marmots.
Near the end of that day’s trek, there was a slippery bamboo bridge to cross which made even waterproof hiking shoes useless. It also didn’t help there was rain on and off that day., though the strongest rain happened after we got to the yurt at around 2:30 PM. Our trekking group did go fast.
Back at our yurt, we were served tea and snacks which happened on most days after our daily hikes. Since it was early, we ended up taking a nap, while dinner was light consisting of soup and pasta. This yurt camp wasn’t as great as the one where we spent the prior night.
Day 4
Our morning hike was a moderately steep descent towards Kichi Sary Mogul. There’s Helen and Leila with Daniel behind them.
The trees started to become more abundant as we descended. However, I pulled something in my upper left calf which made going downhill brutal.
Here are some animal hides being dried.
The village can be seen in the distance. From there, we were driven to a nearby guesthouse where we got WiFi (which didn’t work great), phone charging, and most importantly, a hot shower for the first time in a few days. We ended up having cucumber salad and manti for lunch.
Near Ming-Teke village, we were dropped off to start our afternoon hike.
This dirt bike was left in the middle of nowhere.
Helen and I saw this injured little lamb on the way up. One thing I noticed during the trek was Helen was slower than the others when climbing up, while I could use the slower pace that afternoon to recover from the injury.
At last, we got to Koshmoinok Valley where two other groups stayed including a horse trek.
The yurt we stayed at was awarded the best yurt which served an excellent dinner of plov and soup. Some people played volleyball that evening which Helen and I didn’t, though we did play cards a lot during the trek. The game we played most was called “Shithead” which was also called “Asshole” when I last played it in the 2000’s. Our guides Daniel and Simon really cracked us up throughout.
To be continued ...
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