I woke up in the night inside a concrete box. I went to the loo, and instead of seeing the stars and Milky Way on my way, I just saw walls and a clean floor. For sure, it was far more convenient being in a building than a yurt, but I did feel I’d lost the essence of something. Anyway it wasn’t to last long, as our trip to see the ‘Stonehenge of Asia’, Saymaluu-Tash, started today.
First things first, time to breakfast like a King.
Once full, we drove about 30 km SW of Kazarman, parked up, then hit a problem. There were no horses. Our guides had confidently assured us there would be a horse to lug all our camping gear up but, alas, none were around. So there was nothing for it, our guide and driver turned into Sherpas and carried everything up. We had day sacks which contained our food and numerous coats. JC had a full camera bag. Fortunately, JC had his large rucksack which we loaded up with 4 sleeping mats, a tent and 3 sleeping bags which Yusup carried. Timur had the other tent, sleeping bag and all the food. We kind of felt bad they were carrying so much, but it was their responsibility to sort a horse, they were half our age and didn't have sciatica.
We started at 2030 m then dropped to 1930 m which was grim as we knew we had to climb up to over 3000 m.
The path followed a beautiful valley and as we ascended, the small glacier in the valley appeared, showing its arches as water rushed underneath it.
We met some people descending and the lady helpfully advised us that the water by the petroglyphs was safe to eat, and to stick to the middle of the glacier. No one told us we were traversing a glacier!
We got to 2600 m and stopped for lunch. Buoyed up by the fact we were over half way up our ascent we turned the corner only to find we then lost ~150 m in height as we descended down to the river. Video of crossing a stream here.
We walked along the edge of one glacier, using the horse droppings as good grip for the boots. Short video here.
We then realised that we had to cross one of these glaciated arches. Timur went first and we all got across safely. Ok, I know they take horses across it but it’s still not my most relaxing stroll ever.
The climb picked up in earnest. We were only 2 km away but had to ascend 600 m. I found it really hard, stopping every 20 steps to catch my breath. I knew I was acclimatised, having spent most of the last week at or over 3000 m, but this was tough. I wanted to sit and have a pity party, but that wouldn’t have got me anywhere. JC encouraged me with the words "this'll be one to tell the grandchildren". Timur and Jusup, with their heavy loads, simply trotted up the mountain, and had little stops waiting for us to catch up.
We ploughed on and the vista changed. We left the streams behind and were in the high alpine.
After a total of 5:15 hrs we reached our campsite at 3030 m. I crashed and struggled to control my breathing, managing to prevent myself going more into shock by the head-between-the-knees routine. I also got distracted by our tent being erected.
It turned out that Yusup and I were tent maestros. It’s always nice putting up a tent with someone that cares it’s square, that the guy ropes are taut etc. We had this place to ourselves.
I had recovered enough during this pleasant distraction and we all headed up to play spot the petroglyph. They were everywhere. Saymaluu-Tash (meaning 'embroidered' or 'patterned stones' in Kyrgyz) petroglyph site contains over 10,000 stones with pictures, with an estimated 98,000 carvings in all. Most pictures are from the Bronze Age (2500 - 900 BC). The site covers over 3 km and initially just looks like a jumble of black rocks across a plateau. As you get near, you start to see them - a scattering of carvings in rocks.
Since the first carvings, different eras of peoples have added their own. It is an archaeological dream and virtually untouched. Its preservation is probably due to its inaccessibility. It's a hard slog to get to and you can only climb up in the height of the summer, July/August, as it's snowed in for the rest of the year.
I guess about 5% of the rocks were carved. They were dotted everywhere, and it was hard to jump from rock to rock without landing on a carving or two at times. There were hunting and ploughing petroglyphs.
Navigation/map related ones - looks like a river to me.
Sex and celebration carvings.
And numerous animals - mainly ibex, deer and horse.
We supped in our tents, Timur delivering our food as if we were in a fancy restaurant.
And then we slept soundly amongst petroglyphs. How cool was that?
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