At-Bashy

Sorry... it's been a while. Couldn't get on-line for the last couple of days at Issyk-kul, and then when I got back I left on a little solo trip-within-a-trip to a Kyrgyz folk festival in a very remote town called At-Bashy.


Lena wanted to spend some QT with her mom, and a friend of hers had invited us to this festival, so I went solo. At-Bashy is a gorgeous place. There are wide open rolling hills, framed by tall, snow capped mountains with China on the other side. It was a looong 6-hour drive over bad roads to get there, but I'm glad I went.


As promised, I slept in a yurt with 3 other guys, but one of them spoke English so I was able to make at leat some conversation. I was the only American there, so the local Kyrgyz people were all very friendly and welcoming. Random people would come up to me and say "hello" in English and shake my hand. A few kids who were studying English in school sought me out and wanted to practice with me.


The festival was to dedicate a new museum of Kyrgyz culture, and it's the site of the ruin of a 100 year-old fort that was really cool.


I took a side trip one day to a really beautiful, and even more remote spot called Tash Rabat. It's one of those places where pictures just don't even come close to showing how beautiful it is.

I ate a lot, including fantastic fresh lamb... and drank vodka with the locals. They're very into making toasts, and for some reason I had to down a full shot every time, while they were just sipping. Hmmmm...


Anyway, I'm back in Bishkek now, and I'll try to post some pics later on. We leave for home early tomorrow morning, and I'll post a whole mess o' pics when I get back.


I hope everyone's doing well. See you soon!