Today we drove up the valley we had ridden on the horses yesterday, and a little further on stopped at some rapids.
Ever inventive, Yusup decided to strap his and Timur's trainers onto the car roof to try and dry them. And then by 1230 we were at Kol Ukok (Lake Ukok) 'jailoo', 3050 m above MSL. This classic alpine crystal clear lake was one of the many highlights of this trip.
Jailoos are traditional alpine summer pastures used by herders. By the lake was a small yurt camp belonging to a family of herders where we stayed. As we sorted ourselves out for a walk, noticed a 4x4 try to extract a truck that was stuck in the grass. The tow rope snapped leaving the truck further down the slope.
Anyway, the weather looked clear so we took a chance and decided to hike up to Kol Tor.
It was a 6 km trail, the first few km were by Kol Ukok then it was a climb/scramble up to Kol Tor. I hadn't realised how much I swing my arms as I walk which I have obviously done most of my life (clip here). I look like an octopus!
It started raining but we ploughed on hearing the odd rumbles of thunder.
It was quite a steep slippery scramble towards the end which I was not appreciating. See us slip here.
Then the hail started and my enjoyment ratings dropped (despite the amazing views). Decent sized 5 mm chunks of ice were coming down in a torrent (here) and I was soon very wet and cold.
I found it quite scary climbing up a slippery path in a hail storm with thunder around. The pummelling of the hail on my back felt like a cold Swedish massage. Timur looked wet. JC simply looked elated.
Kol Tor was at 3450 m. We took a couple of snaps in the hail and hurried back down.
Ah this point, the hail ceased, the sun came out and JC wanted to head back up to Kol Tor for more photos. (This is one of JC's from his repeat visit using his drone).
I was cold, wet and wanted to head back. So we split. JC and Timur went back up and I walked the 5.5 km back to the yurt. Being alone in the Kyrgyz wilderness was glorious. I had water, snacks and knew the route back so was safe.
I had to do a bit of bullock dodging on the way back - never my favourite activity. There was one particular bullock who was determined to break from the pack and I was adamant he shouldn’t come my way. And then I saw Dave! OK, he'd abandoned me for another tourist, but it was nice to say hi to him - not that he cared.
I arrived back at the yurt camp cold and tired at 1715. Yusup kindly whipped me up some tea and sugar and I recharged in the yurt with the best view ever. This is how tea should be drunk. Yusup was pleased to report that he'd managed to pull the truck out using his 4x4. Proud chap.
JC arrived back 30 minutes later and we tried to dry stuff in our yurt. It is surprisingly handy for hanging spots although it was too cold and damp to dry much overnight.
We ate with French guests which was fun.
Someone was checking their messages and I said I didn’t have signal. “Use the Wi-Fi,” was the response. No I didn’t expect a yurt camp at 3000 m in a remote valley to have internet, but StarLink gets everywhere.
Our yurt had 5 beds and a stove. After supper they lit the oven and we buried ourselves under our duvet plus the unused duvets from the other beds. The stove was running on horse dung for fuel which didn't appear to give of much heat. It was very cold and when I popped out to the loo at night, there was frost on the ground and the view of the Milky Way and stars was amazing. Apart from that short interlude we slept soundly.
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