Kyrgyzstan Stop #11

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Stop #11



July 27^th 2012



Teplye Kluchy



After finishing the wedding preparations fairly early today we decided to head out to Alamedid Vally to relax at Teplye Kluchy (natural hot springs with mineral water) for the evening and maybe spend the night there. It was a beautiful day to be out driving, not to hot but warm enough to be comfortable. After leaving Bishkek we headed south to Koytash and beyond. After Koytash the road began to wind alongside the Alamedid River and I saw more yurts and shepherd tents set up in this valley then anywhere in Kyrgyzstan before. There were herds of sheep and goats everywhere, with some shepherds on horses and some on foot. Most of the yurts had signs out selling a local drink called Kumyz made from sour horse milk with salt. I have never tried it because of allergies from milk.

The mountains towered higher and higher on each side, although there were very few trees, mostly they had scrub brush and grass until the altitude was too high to grow any vegetation. There were signs all over directing the way to Teplye Kluchy and there were various resorts built in this narrow valley with even more being built. Unfortunately, I guess this will have a negative impact on the unique local culture and lifestyle in this area, which probably makes it a target for tourists.

We finally reached the end of the road, the last few kilometers were dirt littered with massive potholes and rocks, only to find we had passed Teplye Kluchy. After asking directions and turning around we were soon at the correct location, but to our dismay we were informed it was closed due to work being done. I wasn’t too disappointed though as it simply looked like a swimming pool in an old grey soviet style concrete building, with few if any windows. I had hoped to sit in some rocky pool with a nice view of the mountains and relax for a while.

We soon headed on out and stopped at a nice resort to see about renting a cabin or yurt for a night. A cabin was well over 100 USD per night and a yurt was 300 SOM an hour. We soon decided this was beyond what was normal for this part of the world and headed on out for our next stop on the map.

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Photos

Sacred Tree
Because of the water spring this area is considered sacred and people tie ribbons to the tree and make wishes here, believing they will be granted.