Day One: Song Kul Lake Walk & Yurt Camp
From Kochkor, we planned our independent-ish journey to Song Kul, a 29-kilometer long, freshwater lake ringed by nothing but rolling mountains and surrounded by miles and miles of high, open pastureland…grazing nirvana for the many cows and horses we would meet along the way. Fortunately, the livestock, like the nomadic people, live alongside the lake in yurt camps only from May through September because it’s common for temperatures to regularly drop well below zero down to –20 °C (–4 °F) in the off-season.
This opportunity allowed us to stay with two of these families in a setting that felt far more authentic than what we experienced on the Ala Kul trek, despite the obvious tourist appeal. Most tourists, however, choose to do the entire ~60k+ loop on horseback with a guide, which can involve 5-8 hours/day…a lot of cash, and likely…some significantly sore haunches, not to mention the horse’s suffering of going up and down mountain passes. We instead chose a leisurely 28k walking route along the steadily consistent lakeshore.
To get the two hours out to the remote lake, we, alongside our Colombian friend Jonathan, arranged private transport through the CBT (Community Based Tourism) office in Kochkor, which continued to be the most excessively expensive piece of travel in Kyrgyzstan…costing a whopping $183 for round trip transport. Fortunately, we were able to at least split this with our Colombian friend…and we also got some quite spectacular views along the way.
Turns out, the next adventure would begin upon getting dropped off at the first yurt camp where we realized no one had remembered to bring eating utensils. Mandy improvised by using her sandwich box lid to scoop up the bean salad we’d brought for lunch. It’s a glam life but someone has got to do it!
As we began, we were immediately thrust out onto this open expanse which was like being tossed back a couple hundred years…no electricity…no phone service…nothing but the frigid sea green lake, which provided a colossal drinking trough to more cows than we could possibly count.
Greg and Jonathan begin our 14k walk in the vast landscape…
….which was encompassed by open sky, which soon literally opened on us with a passing shower and some impressively gusty winds.
This lasted a miserable and solid (undocumented) thirty minutes until we arrived to the next yurt camp, where we tried to seek refuge, but they unfortunately couldn’t offer any tea or relief. Fortunately, as another yurt camp appeared, the sun slowly popped back out and made life a bit cheerier again.
After about 9k, we arrived to an anomaly on the flattened terrain…
According to the sign, remarkably translated in English, this tomb, or kumber, was erected for the People’s Hero Ohobolot Wulu Andash who proudly fought in the battle against the offensive the Kazakhs in 1847. Here we paused for a much needed windbreak…our faces and noses stinging with burn.
Moving on, we met our first intimidating bull….
…and a whole slew of gentler-looking bovines and their babies.
We then arrived to an extensive patch of very lumpy and lucious-looking grass, before heading up our first incline of the day for a slightly elevated view of the lake. Legend says Song Kul was formed by the tears of grieving women.
Arriving to our the Turusbek family yurt camp for night one…
…where we we shown to our abode for the night, which was remarkably constructed using wood shaped into circular patterns for the roof and intricate lattice work, brightly colored spun felt rugs using sheep’s wool for insulation, straw, and animal skins. Unlike the yurts we stayed in during our Ala Kul trek, these yurts are the real deal made from bulky animal hides, and accentuated with cozy stoves.
By peering even closer, it’s clear that it probably took generations to perfect the ornate architecture.
And something we immediately noticed…an antique and slightly questionable heat source, which was definitely not available on our hike. It took the boys exactly three minutes before plunging onto the surprisingly plushy beds for a siesta.
In the meantime, Mandy checked out the other, slightly younger, boys….who lived in this bizarre yurted world….
…as well as the community yurt where we’d have our dinner and breakfast. Also, the shipping container where the deconstructed yurts get stored every winter. Wow…what a project that must be!
Greg, still knackered, tests out the plushy Kyrgyz Lazy-Boy.
We then go check out the amenities…
…and are astounded at what we find!! Western FLUSH toilets WITH toilet paper?! Woweee!!!! AND…a WORKING sink!! That is so stinking cute, we’d put it in our house! (If we had one!)
Dinner was plov…again! And a delicious salad made with eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and soy sauce. While at dinner, the family made our yurt nice and toasty for our return. What a treat! We stayed plenty warm long after it had sizzled its final breath. By the way, if you’re curious how they find wood to burn, they don’t. They actually use the very plentiful cow 💩. Now THAT is resourceful.
Breakfast was a little less lavish but it did the job….especially because we’d brought our own coffee packets to really enjoy the best part of waking up. Thankfully not Maxwell however. 🤣
Oh…and another thing…Happy 12th wedding anniversary to us!!
Day Two: Song Kul Walk & Yurt Camp
After a 14k walk, doused with unsolicited wind and rain add-ons, and a surprisingly warm and restful night’s sleep at the yurt camp, we finally have a taste of what it means to be REAL nomads…the Kyrgyz…not backpacker, variety. We woke on our 12th anniversary lying on independent cots far beneath piles of blankets that felt heavier than a lead bib during a visit to the radiology department. Nearby, lie still-snoozing Jonathan. While this may not be the most romantic of anniversaries for some, this kind of romance…aka cultural experience…is what we live for.
That morning, after a breakfast of oily eggs and veggies, we asked the family we were staying with if we could take their personal horses for a 1-2 hour ride by the lake, which they happily complied with for 1000 som each ($11). The best part is, we were able to wander on horseback without a guide…capturing a piece of true Kyrgyz life.
Peeking over the bluff to reveal the sapphire Son-Kul Lake, which sits at over 10k feet, or 3400 meters. These horses are living the grazing dream.
Now this feels like Kyrgyzstan!
We are happy we got to ride the horses, but also glad we didn’t do an extended ride, for the sake of own comfort, as well as the horse’s.
These were personal ones, obviously well taken care of, and trained not to go past certain landmarks. Jonathan’s first time on a horse was in the Stan’s!
It was absolutely surreal!
The 7-year-old son, Aziz, patiently holding one of the horses to be saddled and pushing around his baby sister in a stroller. He was quite the little helper! I (Mandy) naturally got stuck with the stubborn horse, which I knew would happen from the moment I met her. She stalled out a few times for some delicious grass snacking, but fortunately I got the engine to start again. She also comically used her own rocket gas with every step she took to climb the smallest of hills. 🤣
Aziz’s little brother was equally as charming. 🤣
Back at the yurtstay, we said “do svidaniya” to our adorable and welcoming host, and the mother of the kids, Bakooly. It’s hard to believe they live here for five months every year in this remote and off-the-grid landscape. What a remarkable lifestyle!
We then continued onward on our mostly flat 14k walk back to our starting point, where we’d be picked up the following day, was easy and blessed with sunny skies.
Fuzzy wuzzy was a cow!!
Around 4:30, we arrived to our second night’s yurt camp, which was owned by various families, who worked directly with CBT, or Community-Based Tourism out of Kochkor. The cost was the same as the first night…about $25/person including dinner and breakfast.
Here, Greg and I were also able to buy a token to cheers our anniversary for $2 a beer. The ‘ol married couple sitting on the swing.
Our dinner table was lavish and loaded with goodies. We shared it with a giggly Chinese couple who fit some stereotypes by slurping their soup with fervor.
And guess what?! Plov…again. We’re gonna be eating this a LOT in upcoming days….🤣
Yurt life by twilight. And of course, the stars were simply magical way out there.
The terrain near the water’s edge was absolutely otherworldly…bumpy like cottage cheese and apparently loaded with similar nutrients for the livestock that grazed there.
Our $183 chariot in a beat-up Lada back to Kochkor. 🤣
To organize all this, we went through CBT-Kochkor to book our yurts and private transportation to Song Kul from Kochkor and return. We hiked independently from our drop off at the CBT yurts to the Turusbek family yurt camp and return.
The Community Based Tourism offices are the way to go in Kyrgyzstan because 82% of the money goes back to the families/communities and they always speak English. The total cost for the 2 day/2 night adventure was $220 for the yurt stays and our portion of the transport.
