Blogs from Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan, Asia

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 ... read more

During the time of heightened tensions between the two great superpowers, Russia and Britain, agents were sent by both sides to the lands sandwiched between their ‘spheres of influence’ to gather intelligence of the regions and to thwart the efforts of their counterparts. Such agents on the British side were military men on what was referred to as shooting leave so as to be able to disown them in the event of their capture. But other men, civilians, who were not constrained by foreign policy made important steps in intelligence and reconnaissance. This was a time when courage, determination and resourcefulness were attributes to a man’s character and especially useful in these often precarious and politically charged situations. After making the long overland journey from Arabia a British independent traveller arrives in Asia. He left Beirut ... read more

Mel The queues at the airport in Moscow were incredible. First a half hour in the passport queue even though I wasnt leaving the airport. Then I joined the 100M queue to get to the gates. It did not take so long to get to the top of it because some men decided that the ladies are to be first and cleared a path for me and a girl with long blonde hair. Then a bunch of guys came alone and tried to go through the gates before the ladies. The men in the queues asked them why they are not letting these ladies through first. Because their flight was going in 10 minutes they were allowed to go before the ladies. Well, it turned out that I was at the wrong gate even though it ... read more

We left Bishkek on September 1st, catching a bus to Kochkor, about 4 hours drive south. The bus was full, and with our luggage, 2 bags each, there was no room at all. A young woman immediately engaged us. She had just finished a month's intensive English conversation course, and was very keen to talk English! She turned out to be a great translator between us and the others on the bus, who were keen to know about us, and vice versa. It was our first real view of the countryside. After a spell driving along a valley- flat, cultivated in a pre-industrial revolution fashion- we did see a horse drawn machine for raking hay, but all other operations are done by hand. A single handled scythe seems to be the main the local tool for ... read more

Today was the day to leave 'I heart China' ... 'Go China' ... all behind. Today was the day to make the move on into Kyrgyzstan. We arrived at the Chinese border at around 10.00am. It was a stinking hot day at the border so made our way quickly off the truck and into the relative cool of the Customs Office. The Border isn't one of the most used in China so it didn't seem that busy. Everyone was getting processed. They struggled a bit with my passport as I went to Tibet a couple of years ago and they could find the entry visa but not the exit stamp. (I later remembered that we were on a group visa - so manged to clear that one up). Moving the people through customs didn't present as ... read more