Josie's Journey to Kyrgyzstan

Monday, August 20, 2018

Festival Fun

This morning we left the mountains and headed to our next stop in Bokonbaevo. On the way there we went to a Birds of Prey festival where there was a lot of traditional Kyrgyz sports. There was a lot of sports with men riding horses. My favorite one was the one where two teams of men (one red team and one blue team just like Uk and UL) rode horses and tried to pick up a dead goat and then throw it in a big ring like a goal in soccer. There was also a game called Kiss the Girl. A girl riding a horse gets chased by a man on a horse. If he catches her he kisses her and they have to get married. And then she chases him with a whip. The other game was two men wrestling while on horses. Even their horses tried to start wrestling. It looked very hard and was very aggressive. After that here was an eagle hunting show that was awesome. A horse dragged a dead animal with a rope and the eagle trainer gave his eagle a command and let him go and the eagle would swoop down and grab the dead animal. There were also girls doing traditional Kyrgyz dances. I bought a little felt snow leopard. The festival was so so hot I felt like I was boiling but it was fun. Then we went to our new yurt camp at the beach. We went directly to the beach to swim and the water was freezing as always. My mom didn't come because she had to go to the hospital to check on her ankle. At this camp there was no electricity or water. There were no beds so we slept on the ground on a small blanket. The floor was sand (since we were on the beach) and there were lots of holes in our yurt. We also found a wasp nests in our yurt they had to come and remove. It was hard to sleep because bugs kept crawling in and there was a major thunderstorm in the middle of the night. Our doors kept flying open and rain was coming in the holes in the roof. After the rain the entire camp smelled like wet sheep from the yurts. It was not a very fun night so I think we are going to move to a different place tonight. This is definitely an adventure.

Lazy Day

Today at the yurt camp it was a lazy day. We didn't have much planned. I tried to hike to a waterfall but I got hot and dizzy so I came back to the yurts with my friends. We played in the forest above the river and just hung out. Later in the afternoon we went horseback riding. It was fun! This time I had a big horse and they let me ride off by myself. My horse was very stubborn and walked over to some strange men and wouldn't leave. I told him to go but he wouldn't listen so I named him Stubby (short for stubborn). Before supper we played volleyball and a game called helicopter (a fun game) in the field next to the yurts. A lot of the kids and parents played and even our drivers joined in. It was so fun and I was pretty good at it. Before bed we went to my friend Audrey's yurt and her mom read us some stories about Kyrgyz myths. The drivers and guides came to try to help mom with her ankle. They had bandages they soaked in vodka (I think it's like bourbon) and wrapped them around her ankle and she had to keep them on all night. After we went to bed it started to storm which is a little bit scary when you are staying a yurt and just have felt for a roof and walls. But I fell asleep pretty quickly. I didn't think I would like camping here very much because there is no electricity and no running water but we had so much fun that we didn't even notice (except for the squatty potties).

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Mountain Camping

We woke up bright and early and headed towards Kok Jaiyk in the mountains. We stopped in a little town so everybody could go hiking. Since my mom's ankle is hurt my friend Emily, my mom and me went to an indoor mineral swimming pool. The building was in an old Soviet building. The pool was upstairs in an old room that was a little rundown but it was so warm and it was awesome. Then we finally made it to the yurt camp high up in the mountains. The road to get there was crazy. It was just a one lane dirt road with rocks and big holes and there were cars going both ways so one car would have to pull over and stop on the side to let another car go by. We went over rushing rivers on bridges made of tree trunks. It was really scary but our van driver Samat is the best driver ever. But once we got up to the top of the mountain, it was amazing. It was set right in the middle of the mountains and is 7500 feet up and we were surrounded by trees and rivers and beautifulness. The yurts were great. They even had cots for us even though Kyrygz people usually sleep on the floor of the yurts. There were so many animals there - dogs (that were part coyote), horses, sheep, goats, cows, donkeys and roosters. They all just roamed free and would go wherever they want. At this yurt camp there was no electricity and no running water but we didn't care because we just played outside all day and had adventures. There was a giant swing that a lot of kids could ride at the same time. We got to go horseback riding through the valley. My friends and I also explored the forest. We also played on the side of the mountain, running everywhere and looking at all of the animals. At dinner we saw all the shepherds come and gather their flocks to take them to a different field. Most of the shepherds were little boys and all they had to do was whistle and the herds knew exactly where to go. When it got dark we got to see all of the stars in the sky. It was pretty amazing.

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Karakol

We left Cholpon-Ata and headed to Karakol. We stopped in a small town with a hot springs. It is a place that has different pools - there is freezing cold, lukewarm and hot hot hot. It is mineral water that is supposed to make you healthy. I tried all 3 of them (I only stuck my finger in the hot, it was super hot) and I liked lukewarm the best. My mom loved the hot hot one. There is also a giant tub that had little fishes swimming in it. You sat in it and the fishes bite off all thr dead skin. Then we drove to Karakol. We stopped at a dungun mosque where all the females had to cover their heads. It was built by Chinese Muslims. A lot of people in Kyrgyzstan are Muslim so we see a lot of mosques. We had to be quiet because it was prayer time. We found apricot trees and could pull the fruit off and eat it. Next we went to a Russian Orthodox Church. That one was kind of like our Catholic Churches at home. We headed to our guesthouse which was awesome. They had a cooking class for us and we learned how to cook borsok which is fried bread. It was complicated and we had to roll the dough out several times to get it right. Then we put it in really hot oil and it puffed right up. It was delicious! We got to eat some for supper and it's so good with raspberry jam. After that we walked out to the riverside park. It was a few blocks away. They had workout equipment and climbing toys. There was a lot of Kyrgyz kids and families.

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

A Day at the Beach

Today was a low-keyday. Some people aren't feeling good and my mom's ankle is still hurt so we are not doing too many activities. We started the day by waking up early and walked around the city and went a Cultural Park. We learned about important Kyrgyz people in history. We went into a yurt and learned about the history of it. This yurt was covered in wolf skin. I started to feel sick because it's so hot here so I went back to our guesthouse and played in the courtyard with the kittens while we waited for everybody else to come back. After lunch we headed back to the beach. This beach was more private and the water was freezing cold as always. It was just the kids that went with our guide Eles who is so much fun. All of the mom's went to a spa and had massages and soaked in mineral baths. My mom had an old Russian grandmother give her a massage and she said that she punched her and slapped her during the massage but she felt good afterwards. She also said the mineral bath helped her ankle feel a lot better. At the beach we played this game that was like dodge ball and another game like monkey in the middle. Even some Kyrgyz kids came over and joined us which was fun. For supper we went to a restaurant up the street. The traffic in Kyrgyzstan is horrible. People drive crazy and there aren't really any traffic rules. There aren't even any seat belts here! Crossing the street is like being frogger Because nobody ever stops and you just have to hop out of the way. The restaurant was nice. There was a guy singing karaoke in the corner. I had French fries and a vanilla milkshake. They were delicious. It was nice not to have Kyrgyz food for a change. Then we headed back to the guesthouse because we had to get up early the next morning.

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

Shyrdak and Lake Issyk-Kul

Today we left the guesthouse on Chon-Kemin and headed to our next stop which was Lake Issyk-Kul. On thr way we stopped at a woman's house to learn about shyrdak. That is the traditional Kyrgyz skill of making crafts with felt. This woman is a master at this art. She's been doing it for many decades. She showed us how she makes designs for the rugs and other items she creates. The she let us try to sew a seat cushion she was working on. We had to use a big needle and push it through many layers of felt. I did one stitch and it was complicated but fun. Then we had a traditional Kyrgyz lunch at her house before she took us to her factory and showed us how she makes wool slippers. She showed us the whole process from how she gets raw wool straight off the sheep and then thins it and cleans it and puts lots of layers of wool over thr plastic mold for the different size slippers. It takes a long time to make one pair but it is worth it because They are so soft and warm. I have several pairs at home. She showed us all the machines and she actually designed them herself and they made them with her own hands! She started this business on her own after learning this art from her mom. Now people from around the world want her slippers and she ships them to many different countries. We bought two pairs and they are so comfy. We also bought a rug for my room. She worked on it all day, everyday for 17 days. She is. Pretty incredible woman. We continued on to our next guesthouse and made a quick stop to see petroglyphs in Cholpon-Ata. They are big rocks with drawings on them that are really old. Some of them are from 800 B.C.! We finally arrived at Lake Issyk-Kul which is huge! It is thr 10th largest lake in thr world by volume and is 6,117 square miles. t looks like the ocean except without her waves. The water was very very cold but we still went swimming in it and it was very refreshing. It was pretty crowded and we were surrounded by Russians. I can only speak about 3 words of Russian so I couldn't understand them. But I still had a great time at the beach. we came back to the guesthouse and found two cute gray kittens in the courtyard. Everybody wanted to hold them because they are so soft and feel like a little furball. At first I was really nervous to come to Kyrgyzstan because I didn't know what to expect or what it would be like. But now I can say that I love it! The people have all be so nice, the food is really good and the scenery is beautiful. I like walking down the street and seeing all the people that look like me. I think people have been curious about our group since four of us kids look Kyrgyz but speak English and have American parents. But our guides explain to them that we were adopted and the people think it's really cool. I'm so glad I came on this trip. I really love Kyrgyzstan!

Monday, August 6, 2018

Towers and Horses

Today we left Bishkek and headed to Chon-Kemin. On the way we stopped and saw Burana Tower. It's a very tall tower (82 feet tall) that was built in the 11th century! The story is that is was built by a rich king to keep his daughter safe after a fortune teller told him she would die when she was 16 years old (sort of like Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel put together). But she ended up dying anyway after she got bit by a poisonous spider. The tower used to be 148 feet tall but an earthquake knocked some of it down. There is still a big part that is still standing. I climbed all the way to the very top of that tower. It was so high! My mom tried but couldn't go up because the staircase is really small and winding and completely dark because there are no Windows. You have to climb up like a bear. Thank goodness Aigul had a light on her phone so we could see a little bit. She has everything we need! It was so cool and you could see so far away. My mom said I looked like a little ant from her view on the ground. When we were leaving my mom stepped in a hole in the parking lot and twisted her ankle really really bad. It got really swollen and she can barely walk on it. Poor mom. After that, we went to a Kyrgyz family's house for lunch. They served us so much Kyrgyz...more fried bread and lots of different salads. I love the bread here! We also had some vegetable soup. While we were there we had to use the bathroom. It was in a little building behind the house. They didn't have toilets! Only a little hole in the ground. They are called squatty potties and they are totally gross. A lot of people here use them and I never want to use them again but I think we will have to a lot while we are here. This afternoon we did my favorite thing since I got here. We went horseback riding up in the mountains and the view was amazing. My horse was so pretty and I named him Ty. He was pretty cooperative and really gentle. The ride was a little bumpy and we went up steep hills and by streams. It took more than 2 hours. We finally made it to our guesthouse for the night. It was neat and it was in the middle of the mountains with nobody else around. The dining room was all glass and the view was awesome when the sun was setting. It looked like it was a scene in thr movies. Thank goodness our room had a regular toilet! I'm having so much fun on this trip!