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And the Kyrgyz are one of those people. They really love their horses and a lot of their lives revolve around them. So I decided to find out what all the fuss was about, and in order to do so left with Ricky and Danielle for Kochkor from where we were going to book a horse trek to lake Song Kol.

Before getting that far we made a pit stop in Kadji Sai, where we stayed with an eagle hunter. Eagles of course are not at all related to horses, though this one was big enough to eat a small one. Still trying to keep with the spirit of horses I had some mare's milk, a typical Kyrgyz drink and supposedly good for your constitution. About half an hour after drinking I discovered just how good it is for the constitution, as it came directly out of me from two directions. A night of stabbing stomach pains, frequent throwing up and cumbersome walks to the worst pit toilet this side of the equator was followed by a day of slow recovery, where I didn't have the strength to do anything anymore. When they said it would cleans my bowels I didn't expect this! However forty eight hours later I was good to continue our journey to Kochkor and twelve hours after that I was sitting on a horse on my way to Song Kol.

It has been six years since I last sat on a horse, so naturally I was a little nervous, particularly for my testicles. However I got a horse just to my liking and very much in character with me. A little lazy and with shaggy hair. In honour of this I decided to call him Shaggy, The Shagster or alternatively His Shagness. Ricky got a horse that suited him as well, just like Ricky it liked to eat and had developed the uncanny skill of being able to eat and gallop at the same time! And then there was Antonio, Danielle's horse, who a little like Danielle was slightly vain. With all of us satisfied with our horses we set of in high spirits and according to our guide we were natural horse riders. I am sure he says that to all tourists, but I never was averse to flattery. Shaggy lagged behind the others the first day, but made up for it the second day, when much to my surprise he even took the lead for quite a while. By the end of it all my testicles made it out unbruised, I got to stay in several yurts and had a beautiful afternoon at Song Kol.

Tired but satisfied we returned to Kochkor where it was time to say our final goodbyes to Danielle who was leaving for Thailand and it's beaches. Ricky and I on the other hand went back to Karakol to see what other things Kyrgyz do on their horses. As we found out, they like to pick up coins from the ground in full gallop, they like to wrestle on horseback, they like to chase girls on horse back and try and kiss them; if however the girl is not amused by this they better make themselves scarse as they might get the whip put to them by the girl. Lastly they like to pick up, drag and throw other animals into a hole of the opposing teams goal, all this on their horses. Since the animal in question, a goat, isn't too fond of being handled like this, they kill it before usage. Probably the goat would not approve of this either. I was always taught not to play around with my food, but I think the Kyrgyz have a different way of looking at things.

With all the fun and games over and feeling that we had horsed around enough, it was time to leave Kyrgyzstan via the Torurgart pass, which I discovered is a little over-rated by the Lonely Planet. It is nice, but really not as fantastic as they make it out to be. Our last night in Kyrgyzstan was spent in Tash Rabat in a yurt next to an old caravanserai, used by traders of another age on their way down the Silk Road. And so my journey through the ex-Soviet Republics of Central Asia had ended. But as always, the end of one journey is the beginning of another, in this case, the start of Chinese central Asia. Kashgar was the destination, and beyond, further down the Silk Road to it's eastern end, but that is for another blog.

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