DAY 11 (6th September 2024)
Kyrgyzstan (Bokonbayevo & Song Kul)
The original plan for the day included watching the eagle show, something that this region is renowned for. But after the discussions during dinnertime with our fellow travellers, and the fact the FIL had already seen such a show in Mongolia some years ago, we decided to skip that. The show was to have been at 11:00am, and since we cancelled that, it meant we had a free morning to do other things. We decided to head into Bokonbayevo village for a walkabout.
The day’s afternoon drive was seriously hectic – the journey into Kochkor village followed by a full round trip to Song Kul, a lake at the southwest of Issyk Kul. This was one of the most dangerous journeys, what with sharp curves and slick corners on very uneven roads (just paved with big stones), and in rainy weather, requiring full alertness and concentration. And in the end, after the hype about the place, the lake wasn’t anything to shout about. The saving grace, maybe, was that there was an old stone building in the middle of the fields, seemingly out of nowhere, but has huge historical significance.
We ended the day in Kochkor village, at an AirBnB (double-storeyed bungalow), but we discovered that the car had with a flat tire. I cannot say I was surprised, since the journey to and from Song Kul was seriously punishing for the car. Something had to give, I guess.
Bokonbayevo Village
As usual, FIL was the earliest to get up and he was already snapping away at sunrise. Here are some of the early morning views at Sonun.
With permission, I took some photos with Renate and Bo, the well-travelled couple, and with Alice the Scouser. I am pretty sure that I will bump into the couple again in one of my future adventure travels, and of course to meet Alice again in Liverpool (Bro Ray: So far, I’ve travelled to the City of Liverpool three times, and always is because my beloved football team Liverpool FC had been successful – hence, going to Liverpool again in future would mean more success. See you there, Alice!)
The village of Bokonbayevo, first inhabited in 1912, has seen a rapid decline in its industries since the Soviet times. Only 15,000 people live here now, but it is still the largest village on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul. Today, it is a gateway for the tourism industry, and perhaps with a little more introduction and advertisement, this area can boom as a tourist destination – this area does have its charm. The village almost looks like the other villages we visited, with the Soviet imprint still largely there for all to see.
Drive to Kochkor
We did not stay long at Bokonbayevo, but along the way to Kochkor, we did stop for pictures (as usual). We found a little road that connected to another small beach along the Issyk-Kul, and there, several people had set up camps and had stayed there for the night. Later, as we drove along, we arrived at a border marking between the Issyk-Kul District and Kochkor District, with the Ordo Tokoy Reservoir just behind. We stopped to rest a bit by the roadside.
Founded in 1909 and originally named Stolypino, it changed its name to Kochkor in 1917 and has stuck to this name for the last one hundred plus years. With a population of less than 12,000 people, it has become a base for tourism activities in the region. We stopped here for lunch before embarking on a long south-westerly route towards Song-Kul, a lake no more than 5% the size of Issyk Kul! The distance was approximately 90km, but the going was very slow due to the road condition, the worst so far on the trip. Almost the entire way, the road was not paved – just huge stones arranged with loose stones and pebbles. It was bumpy and uneven, and the road had many potholes, plus the weather was quite bad, certainly a recipe for a disaster.
Song-Kul
After two plus hours of hard driving, we finally caught glimpses of Song-Kul, an alpine lake which is frozen for most periods of the year due to its location at an altitude of over 3000m above sea level. To get to it, we had to drive off the ‘main road’ into an open grassy plain, while the main road continued to snake away into the horizon. Years of vehicular travel over the grassy plains had created dirt tracks. We chose the easiest track directly to the lakeside. There were clusters of yurts along the shores – some were vacation homes, while horses and cattle roamed the surrounding plains.
I think I could safely say, that the lake was a little underwhelming. The dark overcast skies didn’t brighten the mood either. Perhaps if we had been here on another occasion when Song-Kul is frozen over, it would’ve been better, since that is what it is known for. (Bro Ray: I realise that I have never seen a frozen lake before!)
Anyway, after walking a bit to stretch our tired limbs, we turned our attention to the Mavzoley Andash Baatyra, an olden stone structure standing literally in the middle of nowhere. Located several hundred meters from the shoreline, this structure apparently has some historical value. According to the plaque attached to the structure, a hero of the people was buried there, probably in the early 1900s, hence this was built in his honour. I really don’t know how to describe it – I can only show you what it looks like!
On the way in, I actually didn’t realise that we had crossed several dried out riverbeds – and there were more than a few. It was only on our journey out of the area did I realise that these rocky portions of the journey were actually dry riverbeds – it did look like these rivers flowed down from the mountains in the distance, straight into Song-Kul. The journey back to Kochkor was on the same road that we came from, meaning the car had to endure the same punishing route on rocks and gravel. And something did give – one of the tires.
Summary of Day 11
Nothing much to summarise about the day. The car took a beating, and we would discover the next day that another tire was also flat. I am just thankful that both tires did not give way while we were on the road, and only found out when we were at a relatively safe place at Kochkor village. At the village, we could actually get them sealed and ready to go. So, thank God…..
