DAY 10 (5th September 2024)
Kyrgyzstan (Jeti Oguz & Fairy Tale Canyon)
In terms of “activities”, this day was probably one of the busiest as we had two major destinations to visit as we skirted approximately half the length of the southern rim of Issyk Kul. We checked out of the hotel and made a quick dash into town to settle some issues with our SIM card before buying food for our travels, and heading out to Jeti Oguz, or Seven Bulls Rock, a series of seven spectacular rock formations lined up in one row at the village of the same name.
Then, we travelled for over an hour to another touristy place, named Fairy Tale Canyon, or Skazka to view yet another canyon (Bro Ray: we went to a separate one in Kazakhstan earlier in our trip). After the adventures of the day, we would finally check in to a proper yurt camp along the shores of the mighty Issyk Kul, our one and only stop along this great lake.
My quick comment about Karakol is that two nights is not enough. I really feel like we missed out on a lot of stuff. We could have seen and done much more than this! So sad to leave Karakol….
Jeti Oguz
After a scrumptious breakfast made by his wife, we bade farewell to Mars, our fantastic host at Ordo Hotel. Some small business to take care of in the town, and then we headed out of Karakol. With some food packed away, we drove to our first destination of the day.
As usual, we stopped along the way whenever we saw something unique or exciting, to take some photos. The river that accompanied us along the road nearer to the village of Jeti Oguz was such a stop. And as we got nearer to the village, we could see the surrounding cliffs with their exposed slopes in bright orange-red colours.
Jeti Oguz Rocks is a geological protected area established in 1975 to safeguard the unique geological formation, which is a famous landmark in Kyrgyzstan. (Bro Ray: I am not sure how to count the seven bulls, cause I seem to number eight of them. Perhaps the smaller one doesn’t count?). This area has been pretty much untouched for generations, and the people that live near them have since learnt to live around it without disturbing the cliffs, made up of tertiary red conglomerates.
We reached the village, which probably had less than 2000 people. To get closer to the Seven Bulls, we needed to go to the end of the village and make a u-turn into a smaller road. Most of the houses there had sheds for cows and wooden fencing to demarcate the ownership of the land.
Many of the locals were just going about their day feeding the farm animals, raking hay and carrying out general household chores. While they were curious about us, no one said a word to us. Perhaps they are used to seeing visitors coming to their area – as long as these strangers are mindful and respectful. I tried to hike all the way to the foot of the red rock formation, but I didn’t make it. I went alone, while the others hung around further from the cliffs.
While I was up among the stars (ok, not really!), the whole valley together with the entire village was laid out before me. As I gazed on, I noticed a small tourist van kicking up dust as it revved its way up the opposite hill. That got me curious, and sure enough, at the top of that hill, was a small wooden hut, which we later learnt was a coffee shop! We have to find a way up there then!
So, I got down to where the others were and told them about my “discovery”! After having a snack, we clambered into the car, and backtracked our way out of the area. The entrance to the road which would lead up the hill wasn’t difficult to find. But for the tourist van, we would have just driven off without going there and missed out on this hidden adventure!
A short while later, we found out that most tourists actually came to this side of the hill to get the best view of the Seven Bulls Rock, instead of going directly to the rock formation, like we did. No wonder we did not see any other tourists, and perhaps the residents there are not as used to seeing tourists as I thought. Maybe that’s why we got the cold shoulder!
We parked the car and walked to the wooden café, where we were greeted by the baristas – two young gentlemen from the area. We had a great time chatting with them, and I was impressed by their entrepreneurship. The tourists from the earlier van were still there, but they left shortly after we arrived. The only other visitors were ranchers on horses bringing their cattle to greener pastures.
Drive to Fairy Tale Canyon
After having our caffeine fix and our fill of the rock formations and taking photos from every angle possible, we left the place and headed back out to the main road. Whenever there were nice spots to stop for photos, we did, including some of the monuments and other rock formations along the road and in the village.
Lunch was at Kyzyl Suu, a small village with just 15,000 people. The name of village is taken from the name of the river that runs through it, and it literally means “Red Water”, due to the run-off from the surrounding hills turning the waters red during heavy downpours. We found a restaurant by the main road and just stopped in. We ordered the dumplings (you can have it unfried, or fried), containing minced meat inside. Simple food to get us on our way. It would be another hour plus before we reached the entrance to Skazka, the Fairy Tale Canyon.
Fairy Tale Canyon (Skazka)
Overall, including all the stops along the way, it was well over two hours later that we got to the entrance of Skazka. And it wasn’t really what we expected. Just a small tin hut with a boom gate, and someone collecting 50 som per person entrance fee. It was clearly written there in English with crude handwriting. We paid our fees and drove on in until we arrived at a carpark, where there were other guys selling souvenirs in a small wooden hut. There was a map of the place, but by the end of our adventure, it was pretty clear that the map wasn’t accurate enough, and there people were just walking all over the place!
Even from the onset, MIL declared that she had no intention to walk any more, so she just sat at the wooden hut and looked for souvenirs instead. The three of us left her there, but she wasn’t alone, since there were loads of tourists at that place. There was supposed to be places to visit such as “Panorama”, “Chinese Wall” and “Castle” from the map, but the paths were not clearly marked and although we ventured quite a long way in, we didn’t find them, or maybe, we just didn’t know what we were looking for! But it was a good hike, so no complaints. Don’t get me wrong, Skazka is a lovely place and I would like to come back to explore all the hiking paths!
The rock formations here are unique, and even though the canyons in the area are dry all year round, you can clearly see the paths of some of the streams/rivers that once flowed through the area. The arid landscape and the rocky red soil meant that the vegetation was devoid of trees, just mostly grass and shrubs.
Journey to Sonun Yurt Camp (near Bokonbayevo)
After a good hike, we joined up with MIL and made our way out of the canyon grounds and rejoined the highway, heading westward towards Bokonbayevo. By this time, we really didn’t have any more plans to stop for photographs – we just wanted to get to Sonun as soon as possible. The road in was quite bumpy and when we got near, we noticed that there was an almost private beach just off the trail. The sun was barely hanging on in the sky, but the sight of the beach and the chance to touch the waters of Issyk Kul, meant that we made that detour.
But the winds had picked up by then, and it was getting cold, so we didn’t stay too long at the beach. We got back to the trail and drove the final few hundred metres to Sonun Yurt Camp, our home for the night. There were approximately twelve units of yurt camps on the grounds, a kitchen-cum-canteen and a wooden house where our hosts stayed. The toilet/bathroom was an external shared unit divided into four separate stalls. Thankfully, plenty of hot water, as it was cold.
As we drove through the gates, we were pleasantly surprised to meet up once again with the Danish couple, Bo and Renate. We met them earlier in Kazakhstan, and here they were again. Later at dinner, we also got to know Alice (a Scouser) and her two friends Dr. Buffy and Dr. Anna.
Summary of Day 10
While the drive was scenic and the places we went today were beautiful, the weariness of driving started to creep in for me. The distance on the map showed just 160km travelled, but it certainly felt like more. Anyway, the day was still enjoyable since we experienced new adventures and met some incredible people.
The Seven Bulls Rock was certainly unique, literally appearing in-your-face at the village of Jeti Oguz. It was like the entire rock formation was carved into the landscape by some ancient civilisation, and the scars of that were left for us to figure out. Skazka was something else too, very unlike the earlier canyon we visited. We should also take into account the tale of a legendary dragon that once ruled the area and how it was fossilized into the canyon, where some of the formations seem to suggest its head, body and tail – if you can just allow your imagination run wild!
