Lake Issyk-Kul

Our time at Lake Issyk-Kul was absolutely amazing, to say the least. When we arrived early on a Tuesday morning, we didn’t really know what Cholpon Ata would be like.

After a 5am wake-up and a few hour long drive from Bishkek we arrived at a homestay a bit off the main road that we had booked. Upon talking to the worker at the house we found out that our booking had not gone through, and we could not stay at the hotel. However, she had some beds in her house we could stay at for a bit cheaper so we decided to go with that.

I think that decision was one of the best of our trip so far. We stayed at the house for a little while settling in and then headed into town for some lunch and a bit of shopping.

Given the World Nomad Games events started the next day we decided to have a chill night, and we sat around playing cards and drinking beer with two Dutch lads in the same situation. The host at the homestay, Aliya, recommended we go to a nearby restaurant, Jeti Kazan, and try her favourite food: босо лагман. Of course we tried it and of course it was absolutely delicious.

Our first Shashlik in Issyk KulSome tomatoes and berries we saw. Harry bought some but unfortunately they were quite squishyMuch more shashlikAnd of course, boso lagman!

The next day we had an early wake up to go and watch the Kokpar, a game similar to Kokboru (I’ll explain later) but with a circle instead of the goal (I’ll explain). The match was very entertaining, and we stayed for a bit of the horseback wrestling before heading back to the hotel.

We had a few beers and sat around playing cards before heading out to watch the Kokboru. Now, if you don’t know what Kokboru is, I should preface by saying it’s a very exciting sport that inspired modern-day polo. It is a game where two teams of 12 jockeys (with only 4 of each on the field at a time) compete to pick up a goat carcass and get it into a big concrete dome. The game we watched on the first day was USA vs Kyrgyzstan, where of course we supported Kyrgyzstan. Each of the three halves was more exciting than the last, and Kyrgyzstan managed to absolutely demolish USA 16-5.

The game was very exciting, and being chuffed after the big win we headed to dinner and then back to the hotel where we sat around and hung out with Aliya and some Kyrgyz Russians staying at the hotel. They were on a work trip to sell plov and shashlik at the games, and there was a big group of them drinking vodka. We had quite a late night chatting and despite needing a good night’s sleep for our big day the next day.

On Thursday morning Ben, Alistair and I left early to head to Kyrchyn Gorge, while the rest slept in. It took quite a long time to get there, but it was well worth the journey.

Kyrchyn was where the ethnic village was located. There were a whole bunch of Ordos (groups of yurts), some cool clay buildings for a bazaar and a food market, and of course some sports. We watched archery, sumo wrestling, rock lifting, and arm wrestling, but unfortunately missed out on the horseback archery.

After watching the sports and meeting up with the others who had arrived a fair bit later we purchased some souvenirs, did some archery and headed back to the homestay.

While some people were keen for an early night I persuaded the group to hang out with the others at the homestay and I am so glad I did. Our host Aliya ended up having a few beers, we and the Russians had some vodka, and we ended up going for a 1am swim in the pouring rain in the lake before heading back home for a good nights rest.

Big crowds near the hippodrome!What a cool guy! Such a lovely areaLittle bit of plovI took a photo with an eagle, it was a little bit of a scam but def worth itHow cool is this ice cream! Assorted flavourBraided noodles??? Yes pleaseThe police wanted a photo with us! Not the other way around!!Another night at Jeti Kazan

On the third day at the games we were all quite tired after staying out so late the night before, so we had a fairly late start, and ended up heading out to watch the Kokboru at around 2pm. Just before the game we met up with the Russians at their store and had some of the best shashlik of the trip! Aliya came along to watch it with us and after another massive win for Kyrgyzstan we decided to head back. On the way back we briefly stopped to chat with the Russians, had some chocolate strawberries. We had decided to make some Manti, so Aliya, Alex, and I headed to the shops while the rest of the group went back to the hotel. We bought beef, potatoes and onions, and some “sobering noodles” (as a snack before a late dinner) before heading back.

Back at the hotel we had the noodles which were super refreshing before beginning to cook the Manti. Aliya cut up the meat, Alex the potato, and I the onion. Aliya’s cousin, who was staying at the hotel, helped by making the dough. Gustam, the chef of the Russians who made the shashlik, helped us roll the dough, but Aliya did most of it, and we all folded the dumplings together. We steamed them before having a massive dinner at around 10pm.

Soon after that the Russians headed back to the hotel and met up with us. We had a few drinks, but a relatively early night. Since this was our last night we all made toasts to our time together, and it was really quite amazing! We all agreed how lovely it was to make such good friends in just a few days.

We woke up around 10am, packed up our room, had a few leftover Manti before saying goodbye to Aliya and heading on our way back to Bishkek, where we stayed the night before our journey to Almaty.

Got some beef at the butcher for Manti Chopping the ingredients!Our Manti! They don’t look perfect upside down but wow they were yumWhat a kind toast. We all felt very welcome :)