Visiting Chon Ak-Suu Gorge and Riding on to Balykchy

Packing up camp in the morning I had to make a not so glorious dump. Luckily it was early enough that no beach goers was around and the plague of my camping glory is always the toilet scarcity especially No.2. 

Its something that campers don’t talk much about and usually just get the skim by answer of yea just go shit in the bush but the reality is its never fun to shit in the bush.

I made the detour to see Chon Ak-Suu Gorge and found it similar to the many gorge detour route that I took all around Issyk-Kul lake. Lovely landscape, beautiful rapids rivers and plenty of campground in the cold winds but large rock infested off-road. 

Detour to Chon Ak-Suu Gorge

Some Locals with their Yurt in Chon Ak-Suu Gorge

Freezing Cold Rapid Rivers in Chon Ak-Suu Gorge

It was good when you knew a good campsite but riding these off-roads looking for campsite was not the best at times when not knowing how much further the journey would take.

I stopped after a point and just lazed by the river eating bread and water for lunch. It was a favorite pastime now these days, detour to a Gorge to find a picnic spot for lunch. 

I decided to push on and skirting through Cholpon Ata. I decided to give this holiday beachside town a miss pushing on to boring little gateway town Balykchy.

Balykchy was boring indeed and I checked into the only hostel in town that I could find. No camping tonight as the weather turned to rain. Most times during travels it is actually like this and not the crazy adventure day after day. 

A lazy day with a lazy ride

Riding Through Cholpon Alta 

Little Boring Town Balykchy 

Traveled on: Jun 2024

A detour to Jyrgalan and Onwards to Camping by the Beach North of Issyk-Kul

While Karakol was nice to lay back and just chill doing chores like updating journal and laundry, the mountain was calling in Kyrgyzstan and little detours and potential camping site was all there was in my mind. 

Holy Trinity Cathedral in Karakol 

Karakol Weekend Flea Market 

Most free times was basically checking maps and more maps looking for roads that goes somewhere and nowhere. I rode towards Jyrgalan in the morning, not fazed by the lousy road it took me to get there for it was an exploration journey in a way. 

The view at every stop was breathtaking, never a dull moment. I reached Jyrgalan at noon squinting at the sleepy defunct once mining town and decided to snack my lunch near the monument.

Beautiful Nature en route to Jyrgalan

Jyrgalan Mining Monument

Jyrgalan little Town

Beautiful, but the weather was changing fast as I spy the little black clouds rolling in. It was very tempting to set camp but the little droplets in mid-afternoon made me decide to push on and hopefully out run the rain.

I manage to skirt it somehow leaving Jyrgalan with minimal spatter not requiring me to suit up but a message from Chye & May told me that Jyrgalan was snowing now as I left. I had no idea they were still there and thought they had left the day before.

Riding onwards towards sunshine 

Back to the dusty main road, I rode on for a while ending up somewhere near the northeastern side of Issyk-Kul lake near the little town of Chong Oruktu. 

A little path towards the lake which had a few swimmers around but going round the bush gave me some lovely shelter from the eyes as I set up camp, cook my dinner and watch the sunset.

Camping by Issyk Kul Lake (Northern Side)

Sunset by Issky-Kul Lake

Travelled on: June 2024

Seven Bulls & Karakol

Packing up camp is always a chore that I dislike and when it comes to camping, it’s this part that makes me want to stop camping altogether. Still there are places that you just can’t enjoy without camping and that’s what makes that few camping moment worth it, worth carrying all those camping gear weight.

Today was a relatively short ride with the aim of Karakol at the end of the day in a hostel where a good shower after a night camping makes all the different.

My plan for camping goes generally in this fashion. One night of camping and one night in hostel the day after. Very rarely do I plan to camp two nights in a row. The lack of toilet and shower is the massive deterrent on continuous camping if I can avoid it.

Along the way to Karakol, I did a detour to see the Seven Bulls rock formation. Going into the valley I saw a familiar Van. Roll up to the Van and nobody was home. Looking around, I found Chye & May by the river in a cozy shed eating fish for their brunch. Hello again. I joined them for tea, and we exchanged stories for the last few days where we all had different adventure and experience.

Seven Bulls Rock 

Less than half an hour later, Bern & Ita rolled up without plan and joined us for fish. More stories and adventure exchange and after brunch, we all parted ways again. 

No longer bound by a tour guide we did our own things now and if the plans cross path, we would meet up again traveling together for a short while and then move on. The three of us would do this all through Central Asia forming the little group after the big China Tour.

Seven Bulls was massive rock formation that jut out looking majestic among the grassy landscape. I decided to try going the longer detour way towards Karakol looking at the map, zooming in endlessly to find the small little path that winds around endlessly to finally exit back to the main road near Karakol.

Little Trail Path into the mountains 

Soft soil road Trail in Kyrgyzstan 

Time was of abundance and if I don’t reach Karakol today, there was always a possibility of camping again. The little road became quite small and while still possible, after an hour fighting the path and not being able to enjoy the beautiful scenery around me, I decided the thrill is not worth it. A turnaround and back to the main road it was.

Along the way to Karakol, Chye & May send me a message asking for the hostel I was looking at. We all met up at the same hostel and explored Karakol for a few days. I explored for a few days while Chye & May pushed on earlier to Jyrgalan to camp after extracting the info from me.

Find a Travel Buddy Notice Board in a Hostel at Karakol - Kyrgyzstan 

Jyrgalan was a possible campsite or daytrip to me from Karakol depending on how nice it was. I ended up with two nights in Karakol doing almost nothing other than updating my journal. 

It was a good city with cheap hostel to slow down a little and since I was hopping from place to place every-night since Naryn, this was a good break.

Travelled on: June 2024

 

Setting up Camp at Issyk-Kul Lake After Barskoon Valley

It was time to pitch camp and make use of the camping gear I was lugging through China. The main purpose of carrying camping gear was more or less for Kyrgyzstan where the nature area is perfect for camping and the guesthouse almost non-existence or very expensive.

The road to Issyk-Kul started out pristine but quickly changed to be under construction at the south part and I ended up focusing more on the road instead of the beautiful scenery. It cant be help so the only way was to have more frequent stops to appreciate the nature. Weather was perfect, warm but not hot, cool but not freezing.

Southern Road to Issyk-Kul

Southern Road to Issyk Kul 

Amazing Views on the way to Issyk Kul 

Issyk Kul Lake 

I wanted to see the Yuri Gagarin monument which makes no sense for why it was even there at the first place in Barskoon Valley. 

It was just there and many theories of why the monument was there just makes it more mysterious. With bad roads all the way to Barskoon Valley off-shoot road, I decided maybe camping at the valley instead would be better instead of along Issyk-Kul Lake.

The distance was only 20km but the road condition worsen remarkably fast from construction gravel road to soil-gravel with a tinge of tarmac. 

Barksoon Valley 

The Yuri Gagarin monument was like so, carved from a rock or maybe molded and cast, who knows but still beautiful. Barskoon Valley however was gorgeous but freezing cold even at 3pm in the afternoon. The wind-chill bite through all my riding gear layers and I was chilled to the bone. 

So many places I was tempted to set camp in Barskoon Valley, parking the bike and pausing for a cigarette contemplating where to pitch tent and set up the chair to just laze back and see the mountains yet it was just too cold so I decided to head back out of the Valley to Issyk-Kul again.

Yuri Gagarin Monument at Barksoon Valley 

Barksoon Valley

I ended up just outside of Barskoon Valley a little further up at the viewing point of Amarillo Azul. Lovely little curve peninsular that lets me look out onto the waters and a little dip from the road side that I had a windshield a maybe a little hiding spot from the vehicles. 

That’s what I thought initially but while setting up camp, a familiar voice called out from the road.

HEY! THIS IS A NO CAMPING SPOT.

I turn around to see Team Luch rolling up with big smiles. It was good to see some familiar faces from the China Tour group. I thought I was the last slow poke in the group with everyone somewhere ahead of me in the Kyrgyzstan route but here they were rolling up from behind. 

We exchange some info for the road and route and while they tried to convince me to shift the camp-spot to the beach side with them, I was too lazy to move having already set up camp partially.

Camping at Issyk Kul Lake with a View 

Camping at Issyk Kul Lake - Kyrgyzstan

They pushed off and a group of locals rolled up to the viewpoint spot for a break. So maybe camping at the viewpoint was not such a good idea but I had hope that once the sun goes down, less people would be traveling the road. 

The locals were drinking Vodka and having some roasted chicken snacks. Eventually one of the locals engaged me into conversation. 

I could not understand a word of Russian or Kyrgyz but knew the universal signs for snaps (Vodka Shots). Why not, I was rooted to camp here tonight anyway and no more riding. 

After a few snaps, somehow we could communicate much more beyond the simple gestures. I am still amazed after so many months recalling back this moment.

We started with the basics, names, where from, riding route from Malaysia to Kyrgyzstan, their jobs and what they were doing to fully understanding that they thought I was crazy to be camping here alone. 

Locals offering me Snaps on the road 

More Vodka in Kyrgyzstan 

After that point the Snaps was not working. I gave up and opened up google translator only to understand their profound warning for wild camping alone. There were bears and wolfs around the area. 

I was crazy to camp alone in Kyrgyzstan. It was getting late and I was fairly deep into the snaps now so first night in Kyrgyzstan camping wondering if I would get to see a bear. 

The boys bid me farewell continuing on their journey and I feeling the full effect of Vodka prepared dinner and enjoyed the sunset before going to bed nice and warm from the alchohol.

Sunset at Issyk Kul Lake 

Traveled on: June 2024

Short Ride from Song-Kul to Kochkor

Waking up very early in Song-Kul due to the biting cold, I sought out any Yurt that had a fire going to get warm. Everyone was still asleep so a quick visit to the toilet and tried to snuggle back into the blanket curling up hoping to fall back asleep.

I really wanted to slow down and not ride everyday going from one place to another. This was proving challenging as well since Song-Kul had nothing going on other then pure nature. 

Goodbye Song Kul 

No signal, no internet, no entertainment and just a lake with beautiful mountain view. While nice, the price of the Yurt Camp was slightly out of my laze and do nothing budget hence the hesitation to stay another night doing nothing.

Thinking back, I should have stayed and do nothing but such is the nature of travel. The ride was back-tracking the same off-road to the main-road going to Bishkek. 

Green Fields in Kochkor

Little Sleepy Town Kochkor 

I decided that if I would need to ride everyday, I would at lease limit the distance at least hence the decision to stay in Kochkor a little town with nothing much of interest. It was a stopover town where most backpackers just stay one night and move on.

Reaching early in the afternoon, I met my hostel mate Rose. Explore and walk around Kochkor for the day and then it was bedtime. Next morning I packed up and left a goodbye note for Rose while I pushed on for Issyk-Kul Lake.

Walking around Kochkor 

Walking around Kochkor 

Local Market at Kochkor 

First time appreciating the Vodka selection in Central Asia 

Traveled on : Jun 2024