A trip to Kyrgyzstan: a real adventure – Schmalkalden

My three daughters and I bravely set off. Soon there will be complaints of hot and cold showers and boiling inside the skull. I’d say things would cool off – if not, yes, that’s right…there is cold water to be found. Spring water runs out from a roadside tube, where we refresh and relax. Save us! In the evening the sweltering heat subsides and we continue up the Chung Kemin Valley.

The roles of women and men

At Channybek we will stay overnight. Stefan, a good friend from Suhl, knows him. It is also recommended as a regulator of horseback crossing. Channebek is approximately 45 years old, wears an Islamic hat and has a long beard. We live in his condo in a nice room. His garden is a quiet oasis and green too. At an altitude of 1800 meters above sea level, it is not hot either. Smilla closely monitors the activities of family members. There are clear tasks for males and females. You wonder, why are gender roles so precisely defined here? Why are men more present than women? We discuss a lot.

“Andrei’s assistant”

After the first wave of diarrhea with two days of fasting and a period of forced rest, we begin with Christina, an Italian woman traveling alone, on foot over the mountains of Lake Issyk Kul. She is really nice, telling us about her tour of Iran as a solo traveler, and about the warmth and curiosity of the people there. Selma and Christina get along very well and speak their common language, English. One of the party is Asylbek, our local guide – also with a cool beard, calm and unenthusiastic. I help Asylbek gather the horses, set up the tent and make a fire. He leads me with “Duai! Andre”. (Axl and Andre are almost one anyway…) He grins grinning at himself and calls me “Helvesandre”. Loving is not it?

Asylbek advances, tightly chained behind a horse with equipment from our convoy of six. Somewhere behind us we are running with the third horse that Smila and Salma are riding alternately. He is very tolerant and has his own idea of ​​speed. So we plunge into the world of the mountains, slowly, deliberately, cross rivers, on the narrowest paths, we watch, fascinated. When a thunderstorm breaks out, any ghost ends. Except for Asylbek, who is sitting quietly on his horse, buried deep in the thick rain. Maybe he can keep riding like this for another two weeks. It’s not quite homey among our weight saving outdoor jackets. Our salvation is a wooden hut with an oven, where we get food and wait for the rain. We now feel in the middle. Yes, far from civilization.

The long day ends at an altitude of 2500 meters above sea level at the mountain lake Kiel Cojur, which looks like a dark pearl, dug deep between the slopes of the mountains. It’s raining, but we’re making a fire to cook, drink hot tea, and look at the dark night.

This day alone feels like a complete journey. Maybe feeling like Alex Supertramp (Chris McCandless in Into the Wild). sequel follows