6/27/07
I am presently in the small village of Kochkor, just west of Issyk-Kul and some 200k from Bishkek. This is my base now because tomorrow I'm going on a horse trek from a village nearby to the alpine lake of Song Köl. Song Köl is home to many a jailoo (summer pasture). Along the way I'll be sleeping in Yurts. My plan is to ride for two days and then on Saturday just enjoy the nature of the lake.
Yesterday was one of the more frustrating travel days I've had. I had a car, driver, and guide, but there were pretty much useless. My guide had no idea where anything was and they took numerous wrong turns. Plus my guide refuses to translate: so I'll want to have a conversation with someone I meet and instead of translating back and forth he'll just answer questions for me or not translate the full statement. I was thinking of continuing with them, but then I had enough.
Two days ago (on Monday) I met another group of tourists. Their guide spoke near perfect English and I was enjoying talking to them. I asked where they were from and most were from Kyrgyzstan, but one was from German. So I struck up a conversation in German. He is not just a regular German, but a RussDeutsche, or Russian German. He belongs to a group of ethnic Germans who moved here by order of Catherine the Great (herself German) and they settled throughout Central Asia, but predominantly in Kazakhstan. This guy was born in Kazakhstan, but grew up in Kyrgyzstan. These Russian Germans always dreamed of returning to Germany and they practiced what amounts to 18 th and 19th century German traditions. They wore traditional clothing, were very active in the (Protestant) Church, and basically lived as if they were living in Germany… that is until one day after the Soviet Union collapsed and they were allowed to return to their homeland. They were in for a huge shock. People were not farmers, did not dress in traditional peasant clothing, and did not speak their dialect of German. Speaking with him I asked him about this culture shock. He said that while he was living in Germany for 15 years, it has never been his home and he didn't feel like he was living there until five years ago. He said (and I'm translating here) that while Germany is his homeland, his home is in Central Asia. His soul is in Central Asia. Now he returns twice a year to Kyrgyzstan to come home. Once in the winter for skiing and once in the summer to visit the lakes. It was a real treat to meet a Russian German, there are not many left here (not that he's really here either) and from someone who has studied German language and culture it was great to connect that with my trip here.
Yesterday I had a chance to swim in Issyk-Kul. The water was very refreshing. I looked back at the shore (southern shore of the lake) when I was in the water and it was spectacular. The southern shore is desert climate and beyond the beach there were sandy foothills, which turned into green covered mountains and behind those were snow capped alpine peaks. It's amazing to have all these different biospheres so close to one another. It's like playing Settlers of Catan: mountains, red hills, pastures for sheep, wheat fields, desert, and forest all rolled up into one. For those of you who have never played Settlers, well you're just missing out on the world's greatest board game.
I spent a large part of yesterday searching for a non-existent yurt camp called Ak-Sai that supposedly keeps camels and kayaks. Sadly it was not in operation. I did, however, visit Bokonbayevo on the southern shore. It's a pretty depressing town, but I wanted to pop into this small workshop that makes belts, toy animals, carpets, slippers, etc out of felt made from sheep's wool. I got a nice pair of slippers. After visiting the work shop I called up a local eagle man. I met with his son who is also an eagle man and he agreed to take me out on a demonstration. We drove about 5k and there he released a rabbit (I'm sorry rabbit, if only I'd have known) and let his eagle hunt him down. I have most of it on video, but it's not for the faint of heart. The eagle basically eats the rabbit before killing it. Yuck. As I said, I didn't really realize what it would look like. After the hunt we returned to his house to watch a video and drink some tea. I chatted with his family and one of his sisters gave me a small shyrdak, a felt carpet, which she had made herself. It's a natural dye one as opposed to the Russian style ones that are made with artificial dyes. I in turn gave out some postcards of DC and pointed out all of the landmarks. They liked it.
When I finally arrived in Kochkor last night I went straight to the Community Based Tourism (CBT) office. CBT operates throughout Kyrgyzstan and promotes local environmentally sustainable tourism. They arranged for me to stay with a host family in the town. Kuku is the mother of the house I'm in. I also met two of her daughters and three of her grandchildren. CBT also gives them about a 40 page English/Russian/Kyrgyz cheat sheet with questions and answers for standard questions like where are you from, what do you do, how many brothers/sisters, etc. Their home was very comfortable and I really like the community aspect of it. I should have been using CBT all along instead of this other tour company with the bad guide. Anyhow, I'm using CBT again to arrange for my trip to Song Kul and looking forward to it.
Today I went to check out the livestock bazaar, but it didn't quite compare to the one in Karakol where I bought Shepl. I paid a visit to this family workshop that makes shyrdaks and they demonstrated how they make them from start to finish. First they beat the wool, then they fluff it, then they put it on the ground on other wool, which is laying on a bamboo mat. That's when the roll it up while dousing it in water, making what I call sheep sushi. They also showed the dyes they use and how they cut and make the designs and how they sew and embroider. It was interesting to see. While I was at the house there was a group of people from France. I struck up conversation with some of them and asked them about Sarkozy and the elections. One said, "how can I like him, he's friends with Bush. Then another, leaned over and whispered into my ear, "I am for Sarkozy." Perhaps not so coincidentally it was that last one who spoke flawless English. They were very shocked to see an American in Central Asia. They drove off in this giant Soviet Army vehicle that can has monster truck tires and can go through any terrain. One of the more pacifist Frenchmen turned toward me and bragged, "these tires need 6 bullets before they will deflate." Ah, the irony.
And on the topic of Europe: I'm in this internet café in the Kochkor and there are about 10 computers, all paid for by the EU (as the stickers on the computers say). And all the village kids are in here playing computer games. Money well spent.
Signing off until Sunday,
Дина
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הּנּיּדּ
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