A new day and a new country

How did you cope with the early start? It was great that the whole group was ready to leave five minutes before the departure deadline. Yes , it was dark and you couldn’t see anything till sunrise and by then we were at the border.

It was funny how our guide did a Pinocchio . She said to the officials we were late for a plane. So we zoomed past 12 other buses and went through passport control.

A river separates the two countries Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. On the other side of the border was the sign Leninskoy.

How flat the countryside is but ringed with spectacular.mountains. Agriculture is the main industry but there are no fences.  Horses are raised here for meat or for riding along with cattle,sheep,and goats. During summer the animals are taken to summer feeding areas and looked after by a shepherd. As it is mid autumn, all the animals are returning to the villages.

Each area is often marked with a statue.

Rock colours in the canyon are interesting going from red to  black to sand with bands in some formations.

Toilet stop. Don’t forget to pay and yes it probably is a squat toilet.

 I liked the petroglyphs, did you? Goats were definitely the main theme but you would expect that as they were food and were going to be hunted. My favourite were the ancient Turkish grave markers. A wine glass for a life well lived and a sword for bravery. The stone marker, I’m sure was to keep the dead from coming back to get you.All the Turkish markers are BC.

A quick stop at the hippodrome that was the location of the nomadic games. These are nomadic skill testing games on horseback or involved in hunting so you and I would not qualify. One game is like polo but they use a dead goat or sheep instead of the usual bat and ball.When it is a local competition think up to 700 men on horseback all fighting to grab that dead animal or skin and take it to the goal. Rules are now in place ,I am sure you are glad to hear. No thumping the other players and you can not let your horse bite someone or someone’s horse. I still don’t think I would like to play even if I could ride and was a man. How about you?

As we near the city of Karakol , we stopped to look at the lake. The shepherd was sending the cows home for the evening. Yes, he is on horseback .He herds them to the village and they wait at the gate of their house to be let in for the night. Each cow is owned individually by people in the village.Sometimes mum has to come and encourage it to come home.😀

Dinner was funny wasn’t it. How did you go making noodles? Mine were okay to start but then they started to break and tangle. Fail🙁. They were tasty when cooked so I guess our lack of expertise didn’t matter.