Backdate: Kyrgyzstan Karakol - Grigorievka Gorge - Semyonovka Gorge - Cholpon-Ata - Chon-Kemin Valley - Burana Tower - Bishkek Aug 2019 Day 12 & 13

13/8/19 Tues: The above is the relaxing spot at the homestay Sergey was resting at the night before with other guides. After we finished our breakfast at 8am, we set off for Grigorievka Gorge at 9am. Passed a few small towns on the way, saw their bus stops and was wondering about some of their road signs etc. There were what looked like spruce trees lined up along both sides on some of the roads and I thought they looked lovely.

Semyonovka and Grigorevka are the largest and best known ones amongst the beautiful gorges on the north shore of Issyk-Kul, in the Kungey Ala-Too (Sunny Ala-Too) Mountains. According to Sergey, we'd see Semyonovka Gorge first above. We drove up a large hill and for a moment, I thought we were going to drive into the woods up front! 

We stopped the car at半山腰, and glanced down the vast plain. There were one or two other vans with tourists not afar watching an eagle demonstration.

Next, we turned into Grigorievka Gorge upwards. More and more river streams came into sight and they were all beautiful. Likewise, more tourists, food stalls and yurts start to reveal themselves along the way.

After touring the two gorges, we stopped by at a kebab restaurant for lunch.

I think the Kyrgyz have their lemonade drinks just nice! The cranberry lemonade we had was yummy. Sergey and YJ ordered chicken and mutton kebab for us to share, but I prefer the latter. The chicken meat was way too tough. Costed us 1541 soms for three person. 
From Karakol, we drove northwards and Eastwards towards Chon-Kemin Valley, and Issyk-Kul lake was in sight for most of the way. Under the dreaded heat, we soon found ourselves at Cholpon-Ata's open-air petroglyph (rock painting) gallery. Sergey paid for the entry fees. We saw a guy patrolling this huge gallery on his house. He even asked if we wanted to take a photo with him and the house for free before we left, but we rejected him lol. *Now I feel bad whenever I think of that. It must have been lonely and hard for him to be working under the sun for hours every day, and yet we did not accede to his request aiyoh.*

It is said that there are about 2000 petroglyphs dating from 800BC to 1200AD here. There were arrows directing us where to walk, and some signs explaining the drawings that we were seeing on a specific rock. The most obvious one was the big rock depicting snow leopards hunting. It is thought that the site was once an open-air temple, where people worshipped the sun and other celestial bodies. 
However, due to the the number of visitors, weather and wear and tear, plus  attempts to preserve the drawings have sparked controversy as some worry that the chemicals used to repair the artifacts might just damage them further, we don't know for how long these petroglyphs will last either.
We did not stay long due to the overbearing heat, and left for our homestay at Chon-Kemin Valley. Saw dried fish being sold by the road side, which was a rare sight because we'd seldom come across any seafood in Kyrgyzstan other than these caught at Issyk-Kul lake. We drove past cemeteries too, and they were quite commonly seen... usually one or two beside every town.

As we drove into Chon-Kemin Valley, we began to lose internet connection too. This part of the country was another unique view on its own... it reminded me of a big field. Take away the surrounding mountains, it could have easily passed off as those you see in Indonesia or Vietnam countrysides.
It took Sergey a while to get to the correct guesthouse, which looked much better constructed than other huts nearby. *It's a wonder he could still call at some point... our phone signals were totally "dead".* We reached the place at 5+pm, and were shown our room at another building diagonally opposite to the dining place. There was another angmoh lady staying in the room next to ours.
Felt "homey" there as there is a playground right outside, fireplace and dogs, goats, cats and chickens roaming around too.

Haha I ate my one and only Tom Yum cup noodle just before dinner! Three of us "cheered" to comfort food lol~ We were also given internet connection (wi-fi), but it was rather weak, and so I had to run to the owner's daughter's room next door and get the password to re-connect again at night.

I did not eat the "salad and cheese-combined" look-alike dish for dinner, but ate their potatoes and beef porridge. After that, we chatted till late into the night as it was our last night of stay in Kyrgyzstan.

14/8/19 Weds: We had fried egg in the form of a "pizza" for breakfast at 9am haha. Chatted with a angmoh lady who worked as a guide, and she could speak both Russian and English. *So thanks to her, Sergey got to express some thoughts to us too.* We left at 10am for Bishkek. On the way, Sergey pointed out the big hoe in the field to us, and said that it is somewhat a representation of Chon-Kemin Valley.

We got to Burana Tower in Bishkek at about noon I think. The entry costs 60 som a person. The tower was originally 45m high, but after some earthquakes, it's now only 25m.

The tower, which was a minaret, along with grave markers, some earthworks and the remnants of a castle and three mausoleums, is all that remains of the ancient city of Balasagun, which was established by the Karakhanids at the end of the 9th century. We went into the mini museum too, and I saw some ancient bridle and stirrups on display.
We climbed up an external staircase, and then up a deep winding stairway inside the tower all the way up to the top. It was kind of narrow and dark in there, steps were rather steep, but with small windows at two or three points. We turned on our phone torchlights. *Probably not suitable for people who are claustrophobic.* 

From the bird's eye view, one can see the three mausoleums below. We did not stay up there for too long either as YJ's "sensitive" to such places. She said she always felt uncomfortable whenever she visits places of the dead when she was young, and of course shared some "ghostly encounters" of hers back in school when she was younger.

Sergey then drove us to this holiday resort for lunch. We first walked around a "mini-zoo" before proceeding to the "kelong" Hawaii restaurant at the other corner. 

We sat at a corner table just along the sides, and to my right was the pond. *We fed the bread crumbs to the fishes lol.* For the first time here, I saw seafood on the menu lol! I still wanted to try some local dishes, and decided on the fried laghman, which looked like fried mee. It turned out good! We also shared another dishes with shrooms in it... but that was only what I liked in it keke. 
I remember asking Sergey if bride-kidnapping was common in Kyrgyzstan as I'd saw videos on that before the trip. He mentioned that the tradition still exists, but only in more remote areas like Tash-Rabat. Nope, he did not kidnap his wife haha. 
As it was our last meal with Sergey, we treated him to it. It costed us 2000 soms in all. He then drove us to Manas airport for our Air Astana KC110 flight at 7.35pm. There was a jam on the way too, but luckily we had ample time. *We tipped him 1000 som each when we alighted from his car.*

Yes for the second time in my life, I saw a manual weighing machine at the airport! The last time I'd seen this was at Pemba airport. Three of us bought more souvenirs at a small gift shop before departure... I spent 8248.09 soms. I used up some USDs too. We sat down and had some drinks while we waited for our flight. *Snow leopard print on the "plane's head" of our KC110 flight... how cool was that haha.*

The 50 minutes' flight back to Almaty was not as scary as the last time. When we got there, it was another 4 hours and 40 minutes of waiting time. As like before, the internet connection did not work on my phone, and so I took my time to shop their duty free store and bought some chocolates. *LOL I only realised that the brand of chocolate was exported from Singapore when I came back.* We had bowls of Korean ramen for dinner and one bowl of ramen costed USD8 omg.

Saw Joel and Kenneth when we were about to board Air Astana KC931 at 1.05am. Joel was fine, but Kenneth looked a bit sick, and we found out that he apparently had food poisoning during the last few days of the trip too. 
Another six hours and 50 minutes had passed and we arrived at Suvarnabhumi airport. I had pork tom yam bowl (S$12) at an eatery and it was only so-so. When we walked to the boarding area for Thai Airways TG413 (11.15am), we saw Desmond Koh and some of his artistes, apparently also on this flight back to Singapore. 

Glad that our leg back was from Thailand and not Hong Kong, if not, we might have been stuck at their airport due to the strike. Home sweet home for us at 2.30pm on a Thursday! 
The trip itself might have ended, but not my bad body condition it seemed. I experienced loose stool for about a week after coming back to Singapore, as well as foot rot due to my tight watershoes which were not fully dried throughout the journey. Furthermore, I felt weird chest pains on and off a few weeks after coming back, which lasted for a few months I think? *Could it be due to high altitude?* 
Nevertheless, the hiccups and bad experiences on the trips don't deter me. It was an arduous trip, mostly took a toll on our physical health, but it's the first time I'd been to a vastly remote, high-altitude country in Central Asia, and seeing beautiful Mother Nature this way, living their life, eating their food etc was an eye-opener and a brand new experience in life. I think city kids like us need to see for ourselves how life is in such places, and only then can you understand better how and why their people come to think and live like that. Through the experience, I also learnt from my travelling buddies YJ and Jess when I saw how strong they were even though we all fell sick at some point of time during the trip. *I know I'm not as resilient, so I need to try to be more so... errr though I won't consider a solo trip on my own la. I only want to see the world when I have my love ones with me. No joy if I can't share my joys physically with anyone I know.* 
Travelling is a self-discovery process too. We meet, we collide and we know more of ourselves from there. Looking forward to more fruitful trips ahead with like-minded souls and penning my thoughts to share with the world from there!