1st June – Bishkek to Toktogul

Today we have a 330 km drive to Toktogul and driving out of Bishkek we notice industry is a stark contrast to this predominantly agricultural country with beautiful mountains.

Our drive is interrupted by sheep & horses being herded along the road and we pay our first toll in Kyrgystan.

We soon start the climb up to 3,200 metres and to Tor Ashuu Pass which rewards us with magnificent views. This road has been designed in a way that makes you feel as though you’re driving down hill when in fact we are actually climbing up hill.  This makes for a very easy drive for our cars and means less changing down through the gears to build up the revs in order to climb  up the mountain.

At the top of the pass it’s sleeting & quite windy.  We drive through a tunnel and emerge on the other side of the mountain and there is no sleet, just sunshine.  We stop for lunch but the sleet catches up with us and we start our descent down into the Suusamyr Basin.

Once in the basin we see lots of horses and yurts, the final destination of the animals that are being herded along the roads over the mountains.

The mares are milked 5 times a day and each milking gives about 300 ml’s of milk per horse.  The milk is used to make cream, fermented mares milk and dried milk curd balls which are then sold from the yurts to the passing motorists.  The male horses are used for meat & breeding with mares.

After leaving the basin we climb up to 3,184 metres to Ala Bel Pass where we stop for a rest and a snow fight.

We continue our drive into Chychcan gorge to our guest house Ozon in the forest and right beside a very fast flowing river that is being fed by the melting snow.

We have dinner in the dining room of the guest house and we’re able to buy beer, vodka & wine at a very affordable price.

After a lovely meal the music starts and a table of local tourists who are also staying in the guest house start dancing.  We all get up & join them and we dance together for about 1 hour.  It’s so much fun and afterwards we have photos taken with our new friends.