{"id":16001,"date":"2025-08-29T23:37:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T22:37:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16001"},"modified":"2025-08-30T23:42:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T22:42:52","slug":"16001","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=16001","title":{"rendered":"Walking In Kyrgyzstan (Part 2 Of 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\nWALKING IN KYRGYZSTAN (Part 2 of 2)<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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In last month\u2019s edition of What\u2019s On, Nicola introduced us to an amazing walking adventure in this mysterious and far away country. It is now Day 3 and Nicola, who was feeling the effects of lack of oxygen, had been offered one of the pack horses to carry her over the pass. The story continues \u2026\u2026\u2026<\/p>\n

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Once through the pass we were on a vast upland plateau that was surrounded on virtually all 4 sides by snow-capped mountains. From my vantage point on horseback, I was able to look up, around and glimpse them through the swirling clouds. The rest of the group had to concentrate on where they placed each foot as the ground was boggy, peaty, wet clay in places as well as full of tripping hazards and small lochens. If only it hadn\u2019t been raining\u2026. And so, to our last, fairly miserable, boggy campsite alongside a high mountain lake at 3,800m.<\/p>\n

On our last day\u2019s trekking we decamped in the drizzle and walked only a couple of hours until we hit a road where our trusty, so uncomfortable,\u00a0minibus was waiting for us. Kyrgyzstan has significant deposits of metals including gold and rare earth metals and this was a private road, open to the public 2 days a week, leading to a very productive gold mine initially funded by the Canadians 30 – 40 years ago. Whether the Silk Road continued along this road towards the mine or crossed it towards China we were not able to establish.<\/p>\n

And so to our final guest house run by a Russian woman former climber in Kyrgyzstan who shared with us some incredible photographs of her past adventures.<\/p>\n

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Kyrgyz Eagle Hunters<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

On our way back to Bishkek, we were treated to a fantastic display by the last Kyrgyz family of eagle hunters and afterwards they provided a feast for us in their own home. And then we finally had a longed-for swim in Issyk Kul Lake which we had travelled virtually the length of on our first day and had had glimpses of in the distance as we hiked. Issyk Kul covers approximately 3% of Kyrgyzstan and is the second largest lake at altitude – the largest being Lake Titicaca. It is said that over 100 waters drain into the lake. Despite the outside temperature being around 35 degrees, the lake was surprisingly cold!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Issyk Kul Lake<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0We feel so privileged to have visited a country that few people have heard of, to have walked along part of the Silk Road in the footsteps of so many others over the centuries, to experience such breathtaking scenery. And of course, there is a small element of smugness to have shown some younger people that life does not stop when a certain age is reached but that adventures are still out there to be had.<\/p>\n

Nicola Strelley Issyk Kul Lake<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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WALKING IN KYRGYZSTAN (Part 2 of 2) In last month\u2019s edition of What\u2019s On, Nicola introduced us to an amazing walking adventure in this mysterious and far away country. It is now Day 3 and Nicola, who was feeling the effects of lack of oxygen, had been offered one of the pack horses to carry her over the pass. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[425,125],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s6cWjO-16001","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15831,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15831","url_meta":{"origin":16001,"position":0},"title":"Walking In Kyrgyzstan (Part 1 Of 2)","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th July 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"WALKING IN KYRGYZSTAN (Part 1 of 2) Three of us, all no longer of working age, recently joined a group of 12 in total to trek in the Tian Shan mountains in Kyrgyzstan. Of the 12 in the group, we were the oldest (and slowest), most of the others being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for August 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for August 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=424"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Kyrgyzstan.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9788,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=9788","url_meta":{"origin":16001,"position":1},"title":"Walking\u00a0 Books","author":"Alan Williams","date":"1st June 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"THE PAGE TURNERS Walking\u00a0 Books As Welsh Government Covid restrictions meant the Page Turners could not meet inside, it was decided to have a meeting in the fresh air and walk \u2018n\u2019 talk. The Page Turners met over Cold Knap, starting off beneath the railway tunnel as the rain pelted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Picture1-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10111,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=10111","url_meta":{"origin":16001,"position":2},"title":"A Wenvoe Forum","author":"Alan Williams","date":"23rd August 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A WENVOE FORUM - CONSIDERING TODAY AND TOMORROW We had a very interesting and encouraging meeting with Vale of Glamorgan attended by our Senedd Member, Jane Hutt, Councillor Jonathan Bird, Tom Bowring, VoG Head of Policy and Business Transformation and Nicola Sumner Smith from the Creative Rural Communities Team. Tom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General Interest Articles"","block_context":{"text":"General Interest Articles","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=334"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15561,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=15561","url_meta":{"origin":16001,"position":3},"title":"An Incredibly Successful Plant Sale","author":"Alan Williams","date":"25th May 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Wenvoe Wildlife Group An Incredibly Successful Plant Sale After an incredibly successful Plant Sale run by Glenys and Mike Tucker, the Group benefited from a donation of \u00a32,132. Our thanks to all who supported the event, bought raffle tickets or plants and other produce, donated takings from their tables or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "New Items for June 2025"","block_context":{"text":"New Items for June 2025","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=422"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Wildlife-Group-281x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8715,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=8715","url_meta":{"origin":16001,"position":4},"title":"Where the Crawdads Sing\u2019 by Delia Owens","author":"Alan Williams","date":"29th November 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Where the Crawdads Sing\u2019 by Delia Owens After the success of last month\u2019s inaugural Page Turners Walking Books meeting, the group met outside once more, following appropriate social distancing guidelines, to discuss their latest book. The venue this time was Cold Knap in Barry. There were spectacular views across the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Wenvoe Page Turners"","block_context":{"text":"Wenvoe Page Turners","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=41"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wenvoe.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/crawdads.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13984,"url":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?p=13984","url_meta":{"origin":16001,"position":5},"title":"Something Different – About Pigs","author":"Alan Williams","date":"14th February 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"SOMETHING DIFFERENT - ABOUT PIGS Personally, I like pigs as an animal. Being a vegetarian, I don't like pork or the ubiquitous bacon sandwich that so many love - particularly the smell of cooking bacon. While out walking recently, for no apparent reason, quotes in relation to pigs started being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Readers Articles of Interest"","block_context":{"text":"Readers Articles of Interest","link":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/?cat=228"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16001"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16001"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16014,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16001\/revisions\/16014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wenvoe.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}