Karakol : 3 months summary

On the 15th of December, after having pedaled 11 000 km, through 16 countries and 7.5 months on the road, we finally arrived at our destination for a winter break: Karakol, in Kyrgyzstan.

OUR KYRGYZ HOUSE But how did we manage to find accommodation in Karakol? It turned out that Tommy’ previous company had connections in Kyrgyzstan and knew someone living in Bishkek. Samuel, a Swiss, happened to have a “secondary house” in Karakol. It was like it came to us from heaven. Or at least, that’s what we thought…« Someone needs to warm this house in winter » - the Swiss owner said. Little did we know, that it was literally what he meant…

« The Swiss Chalet » that’s how we called it, was stone miles far from our imagination. The house was from the period of the Second World War, an old guesthouse, with plenty of rooms. All in very Kirghiz style. Literally falling apart. With a wall-coal chimney, it’s possible to retain the « warm » temperature only in two rooms in the house. The water needs to be kept running from each tap all the time otherwise it freezes. As well, there is no sink in the “kitchen” so we need to do the washing in the bathroom, taking back and forth all the dishes… We learned as well that the electrical heater needs to be switched on permanently in the bathroom otherwise the washing machine will freeze…

Our daily routine consists of getting out of the ashes every morning and fetching coal five times per day. Turning the heaters on and off and moving them around the house. We discovered that we have a wild big cat, living somewhere in the attic which we saw only once, but hear him every day and we just found out that there is a mouse in the house as well (we understand why there is a cat now!)

Overall the perfect Kyghyz place to spend the winter and welcome our friends.

SKITOURING

We had our ski gear shipped here by a friend, so from day one, we jumped into ski boots and put skins on to explore the area for winter. Karakol city is located near the bottom of the Tien Shan mountain range, so it was more than perfect to see how the land lies.

On the same mountain, less than 10km from Karakol, there is the biggest ski resort in Kyrgyzstan, built in Soviet times and used for Olympic training. Now, it’s the biggest tourist attraction and a place where all locals from Bishkek come for the weekend. We had to experience it as well, especially since all the ski lifts are more than old fashioned and come from the French Ski Resort “Les Menuires” with all the signs written in French!

DAILY TRANSPORT

To move around, we use a means of public transport, either a local bus called « Marshrutka » to travel between villages or a local taxi called « Yandex » to go grocery shopping in Karakol. Both work perfectly and prices are unbeatable (always between 20 Cents and 1€). Besides, there is a mini-bus line running 6 times a day from Karakol to the capital Bishkek. The 400km are done in 5h30 and the ticket cost only 500soms. We used it a couple of times to get our friends landing there.

ACTIVITIES IN KARAKOL

Apart from discovering and creating new ski-touring routes, we managed to keep ourselves pretty busy with a variety of local activities in town and its surroundings.

We went to see the biggest animal market, which takes place early on Sunday morning (actually starting in the middle of the night, because apparently: the business is better) where locals selling horses, sheeps, cattle, and goats. The atmosphere there is very unique. We were hesitating to exchange our bikes for two horses, but we decided to stay faithful to our two-wheelers!

As the horse is the national symbol of Kyrgyzstan and has a strong place in the heart. We couldn’t resist trying to connect some horse riding with our favorite winter sport: ski touring. Finding a local with horses and convincing him to take us to the mountains wasn’t hard and it was one of the best outdoor experiences we had.

In Kyrgyzstan, horses are literally everywhere. There is even a traditional game called: Kok-Boru played on horseback, but with a dead goat as the ball. Often somewhere next to the road or on flat terrains. We stumbled upon it once and couldn’t believe what was happening. Dozens of men on horses chasing each other to grab a dead goat. Absolutely unbelievable.

During winter time in Karakol, most of the pavement is covered with an icy surface and so are parkings. Some of them are transformed into ice-skating rink, always with the possibility to rent skates. One evening we decided to give it a try and we finished playing « chasing wolf » with local children. We lost, of course. Kyrgyz kids are unquestionably very skillful skaters as they have loads of opportunities to practice.

SOCIAL LIFE:

Surprisingly, we didn’t have much time to be alone. As soon as we arrived in Karakol, we met up with people who we have been following on the social medias for a long time. Three Canadians: Jessy, Cody and Bonnie who had the same project in mind. Coming by bike to Kyrgyzstan for skiing. A coincidence out of this world.

They happen to have 5 Australian friends with them who we finished living with for a month in the Swiss Chalet. We had so much fun; cooking, laughing, and wandering around together, the time passed by so fast with them.

We were very spoiled to have a bunch of friends coming to visit us from France, so we were constantly moving around and organizing trips to show them new places. And enjoying every second of the time spent with our friends haven't seen since such a long time!

THE ISSYK KUL TRAVERSEE

From the beginning of our stay here in Karakol, we thought of doing a multi-day ski-touring trip. The problem is: there are no huts in the Kyrgyz mountains as the nomads are using yurts during summer and they disassemble them for winter. After a little bit of research, we found 2 guest houses up on the valleys, but one valley was still a mystery to us. We had to go there on a day trip to try to find something. BINGO! The only house, lost in the middle of the mountains. An old farmers couple living there in total autonomy. We were relived, our traverse was possible !

Henri and Virgine, our friends, came from France for ski touring and especially for this traverse. We started in a long valley, surrounded by red rocks. The snow conditions were a bit dry on the south faces but the weather was perfect. We slept in Jety Oguz and the next day skied 22km all the way to the farmers' house. We didn’t remove the skins for the entire day… We were hosted like kings at his place where his wife cooked us dinner and we slept in the living room. There was no running water, signal nor a car, the complete remoteness. On the third day, we crossed to the Karakol ski base. It was the wildest day, passing through forest and alpine terrain.

Finally, the last day was the shortest day, with less than 15km to reach AkSuu.

The 60km/4 days traverse was a success! You can find the itinerary on our FATMAP profile if interested and the video on our Youtube channel ;)

JYRGALAN:

Not far from Karakol, only one hour's drive with the local Marshrutka, there is a small village in the heart of the mountains, called Jyrgalan. It is the freeride paradise, with unlimited lines for backcountry skiing. Let’s say that it was our second home. Our Canadian friends moved there for the rest of the season which gave us another reason to frequent this place.

JETI OGUZ

Our second favorite place in Kyrgyzstan is undoubtedly « Jeti Oguz ». As it’s only 25 km from Karakol, we often go there for a day trip to admire this incredible place over and over again. Picturesque gorge with towering red rocks named in Kirghiz « Seven bulls », overlooking a small village at the bottom. Breathtaking both in winter and summertime.

To sum up a bit; the pristine nature, everyday challenges, and the hospitable nation made our stay in Kyrgyzstan unforgettable. Our experience of living in Kyrgyzstan coming to an end. While writing this, we still have two last weeks in Karakol, days are getting warmer and longer, birds are singing and so-called « Rasputitsa » (mud) kicked in. Spring is almost here. It’s time to get back on the road!

Unfortunately, on this date, China’s borders remain closed to tourists so we will need to fly out from Kyrgyzstan. We don’t want to take several planes to get to India and then again because of Myanmar, so we decided to take a plane directly to Vietnam and pedal from there as far as we can get ! To be continued…