JC's Peak

Monday 24 August 2026

On opening the door to our yurt this morning a chicken scurried in.  Unsurprisingly it seemed to prefer laying eggs on warm duvets rather than the cold pasture, but we were less enamoured in case guano was also deposited.  So, during breakfast, Yusup chicken-proofed our yurt with a chair.

Timur, JC and I headed off for an explore.  We headed up towards the mountains which took longer than we'd expected - distances were hard to judge.  The birds soared over us even though we weren't sure what they were (Timur didn't know either).  I am seriously failing on the flora and fauna ID.

Timur was walking us up a route he'd often walked, but JC wanted to investigate a small valley "just to see where it went".  So we walked up an increasingly narrow ravine (arm swinging in full motion here) which popped out by a waterfall Timur usually walked to.  He, at least, was back on home ground.

Pretty alpine flowers as ever.

We then decided to ascend the nearby hill and had amazing views across the valley at 3460 m above MSL.  Timur had never climbed this before so we named it JC's Peak (movie here).

We found a rock window through which you could see Song Kul.  Being out of the wind it doubled up as a perfect lunch spot.

On descending, we found what looked like a scary 6 cm long slug, but was actually the caterpillar of a hawk moth.  Fierce - and not something I'd like to find in my sleeping bag.

The flowers continued to enthrall me, even though I've now given up trying to name them.

We watched a horseman herd his sheep.  The sheep are white, brown and black and look like a box of chocolates swarming across the hillside.  

As we neared our camp we came across a group of men playing kok boru, defined by UNESCO as a 'intangible cultural heritage' game.  We'd wanted to see this as part of the World Nomad Games which were being held in Kyrgyzstan on one of the weeks we were there.  We'd considered building it into our itinerary, but it would have taken half a week out, and we had too many other things we wanted to see. Anyway, this game was 5 on 5 and the aim is to scoop up the ulak (a headless sheep/goat carcass stuffed to make it ~30 kg - but the legs were left on to make it easier to scoop up) and drop it in the goal, which was a well made of car tyres.  Some action is here.  

It was a very rough game with lots of horse-barging as the men wrestled the ulak off each other.  Added to the apparent chaos of the game were numerous dogs rushing around the horses’ feet barking. Of course it wasn’t a free for all as the ref kept things in check.

Back at the camp I lazied on the bench, wrapped up warmly, and opened my book for the first time this holiday.

I then had the best treat ever.  Knowing that we were on the road for 6 days before seeing a shower again, Yusup had negotiated use of their sauna for me.  The sauna was inside a tin shed and lined with wood panels.  It's the one on the left with the steam coming out ;-)

The oven, fuelled by wood, was fired up and heated a vat of water.  There was also a tub of cold water.  I was provided a bucket and a smaller plastic tub to pour water over myself.  The room was beautifully warm and dousing myself in hot water warmed me beautifully.  I felt in heaven.

Below is a photo of the kitchen, with the host's parents sitting outside.  The family produced some nifty dishes from this little room.  The chimney got blocked at one stage and one of the teenage boys scampered onto the roof to fix it.  All the teenagers had jobs - the girls looked after the younger children and helped with the food.  The boys chopped wood, kept fires going and even pumped up car tyres using a foot pump.  You fix everything yourselves up here.

The wind picked up and was bitingly cold.  We scurried into our beds (avoiding the dodgy mattress) and they actually put coal in our oven to try and heat the yurt.  It made little difference.  

Song Kul lake - cold, windy and majestic

Sunday 23 August 2026

We left Kockhor today heading for lake number 4, Song Kul.  We stopped in a supermarket to replenish lunch supplies.  I spotted a knife nonchalantly placed next to the melon cage, should you want only half a melon.  Can you imagine that in Sainsbury's?  I am also not sure how well horsemeat would go down - maybe well?

The alcohol section had two shelves of expensive wine and over four of vodka.  

Anyway, once stocked up with cheese, bread, fruit, water, coke and snacks, we drove west then south, peeling off the main road to drive down a valley and over a pass.  Once again, the views were amazing and we weren't taking them for granted.

We headed up and over the Kalmak-Ashuu pass which, at 3400 m, is located on the shortest access between Kochkor and Song Kul.  It is opened by a snow-blower at the end of May and closes when the first snowfall falls in late October.  But the nomads leave well before it closes.  

Indeed, we passed a yurt on the back of a truck being transported off the jailoo already.

Our second yurt camp was one of many down by Song Kul.  Song Kul is second largest lake in Kyrgyzstan, 18 km x 29 km, and dead centre of the country.  It’s shallow at only 13 m deep, unlike Issy Kul which reaches down to 668 m.

We arrived and made our lunch, which we had outside in the biting wind - it was very cold here.  We were 3000 m above MSL but the wind really increased the chill factor.   

Song Kul is a working jailoo.  The Nomads leave the town of Kochkor for the summer and erect yurts by the lake where they herd their livestocks of sheep, cattle and horses. They also rent out yurts to bring in income.  Yurt no. 2 view.

 

We wrapped up and went to explore the lagoon which was sadly fenced off - no doubt to protect the wildlife.  The birds were plentiful and apparently 66 waterfowl and wader species have been recorded here.  We had a pleasant, albeit nippy, stroll by the lake for a couple of hours.

For supper we ate vegetable soup followed by fried potatoes, pepper and meat (mine was obviously the meat-free variety).  All washed down with bottomless black tea.  We then watched the sun set.

I had a fleece, hat, scarf and down jacket on here! 

Our yurt was quite big and the heater ineffective. But, as we had spare beds, we borrowed the heavy duvets from other beds.  I was expecting to wake up flat sleeping under two of these.  JC dug out his thermals.  We made ourselves cosy.

It was another beautiful night.  The advantage of being in the middle of a high altitude pasture is that, if the clouds are sparse, you get the most amazing nocturnal views.  Timur took some excellent shots with a torch and his iPhone at some silly-o'clock time. I was far more committed to my duvets.

Kol Ukok - walk in the meadows

Saturday 22 August 2026 

Waking up in a yurt, watching the sun peak through the cracks in the latticed circular roof, is a wonderful way to wake.

We had breakfast with the French again. Breakfasts tend to consist of naan, eggs in some form, home made jam, honey and tea. I have bought packets of rice cakes from the UK so am chomping my way through those in lieu of naan.  Sometimes coffee appears which gets JC and I excited. 

It was a blustery, cold start but the sky was relatively clear.  JC launched his drone and had a little fly around the north end of the lake.  Our yurt is the far left one of the row of four at the top of the picture.  

We had a morning walk, just the two of us, which made a pleasant change.  We didn’t attempt anything adventurous, but traversed the west side of the lake again and explored the lower pastures. 

I am enjoying the alpine flora even though I don't know what I'm looking at most of the time.  This is white clover but unsure what these pretty mauve flowers with four petals are.

There were thistles of various shapes and sizes.  

I think the blue flower is gentian, but not sure about the pink. OK, I know, it would have helped if I'd photographed the leaves too.

We found an ibex horn, which was the closest we got to one all trip.

It was lovely to have a potter for a few hours in the clear air, by a crystal turquoise lake, in an alpine meadow surrounded by mountains.  We watched wild horses run past, with a little baby one running hard to catch up.  

We were very happy here.  And I realised I'd forgotten to do my 'pose' until now.  

We arrived back at camp just as the heavens opened.  The guys had set up their perfect picnic arrangement outside and we rushed it inside to eat under cover.  After lunch we headed down, JC taking numerous photos of the terrain (it's a work related thing).

Once back down to a mere 1800 m at Kochkor, we had time to wander into town and found a small coffee shop. 

The rest of the day was a bit of washing, and I successfully made underwear bunting to decorate our room.

Supper wasn’t great as we had lentil soup for starters (good) and then my main course was a plate of fried chips (certainly gluten free veggie...) which I gave to the guys. But I did have an egg for breakfast and a pile of buckwheat for lunch so I’m doing ok.