Me and some of my new friends at the At-Bashy festival.
The crowd and the stage for the festival. The building in the BG is a new museum of Kyrgyz history that was opening that weekend.
The 1000 year-old ruin of an old fort that was the backdrop for the stage at the festival.
Some of the locals enjoying the show.
One of the old Kyrgyz guys in his costume.
The "sacred mountain" that the ancient Kyrgyz tribes looked to for spiritual guidance, as seen from the old fort.
Home, sweet yurt. Where I slept for two nights.
Another 1000-year-old fort, this one at a beautiful gorge called Tash Rabat. This was was restored in the 80's to the way it used to look.
More yurts at Tash Rabat. These are available for rental. You can there and get all your meals for $17/day. All you have to do is get there.
Another view of the old fort.
This is taken from the hill behind the fort. It's difficult to convey just how impressive the view was from here, but we just sat there for long time staring at it.
I guess it was hay-making time when I was there, as this carts full of hay were everywhere.
Inside one of the yurts. As you can see, I didn't go hungry. The hospitality was unbelievable. A few minutes after this was taken, they brought in huge chunks of lamb for everyone. And you'll notice the shot glass filled with vodka? We put down more that a few of those while I was there, hehe.
Yurt at dusk.At-Bashy was definitely a fun adventure. There were some downsides...the ride there and back, the bathroom facilities (don't ask), the smells you might imagine with all the horses and sheep around... but overall I'm glad I went. I met a ton of really friendly people and saw some sights I never would have gotten to see otherwise. Definitely a highlight of the trip, for me.
More pics from the rest of the trip later...
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