No rest for the wicked! :) After "The Heights of Alay" trek, I went to Osh to meet my friend Cyril who was coming from Switzerland to join in on my travels for two weeks. As he likes hiking too, we decided to do a hike in the region of Osh the very next day. We wanted to get over the Ak Tor Pass and usually this is done on a 4 to 6 days trek. As we didn't had the time for this, we asked at the local tourist information for a shorter version. Settling for a 3 days hike after some negotiation, we decided to use a guide this time, as we wouldn't be walking on an official trail for the first one and a half days. Looking forward to see some more stunning Kyrgyz scenery, we went to the tourist information the next morning to meet our guide.
Day 1: Getting the party started :) Daniel was his name and after a short introduction we went to the bazaar to get a shared taxi to our starting point. About an hour later, we arrived at the Chirchik pass and getting out of the taxi, got ourselves ready for the hike. Starting our walk at about 11 o'clock, there was no time to warm up our legs. It went upwards straightaway and after 5 minutes we were sweating as hell, due to the steep ascent and the once more scorching hot sun. Hiking on a dirt road only in the beginning, we ventured across country before long, following mostly some random cow paths.
We soon agreed that it was the right decision to take a guide, as we would have found the way only with a constant look on the GPS. Like this it was way more peaceful and we enjoyed the walk along the narrow paths. The slopes were gentler in the meantime and the views ahead of us got better and better. Soon we were able to see the pass we would be crossing today and getting closer, we passed another herd of cows and the mandatory yurt camp.
Right afterwards the time had come for the ascent up to the pass and what else could it have been than steep. :) While Cyril's legs felt tired from the long flight, mine were still kinda weary from "The heights of Alay" hike and therefore the walk upwards was pretty tough. Reaching a ridge after a while, we had the worst behind us and some nice views unfolded towards the way we came from, as well as to the valley to the other side. Taking some time to enjoy the scenery, we filled up our energy with a little snack.
The final part of the ascent was steep again but didn't take us that long anymore. Standing on top of the pass, our eyes met a massive mountain range, standing tall on the other side. We sat down and had our lunch, all the time admiring the panorama in front of us. Resuming our walk about half an hour later, we followed again some random cow paths along a mountainside, keeping our altitude more or less until we reached another viewpoint with a little junction. There our descent started and it was a really fast one.
Keeping a steady pace and talking all the time, our yurt camp came into view in no time. It also seemed as Daniel took quite a few short cuts, as we regularly walked across country. So once or twice we had to stop ourselves, just to make sure not to miss out on the still marvelous view of the mountain range in front of us. :)
All in all, we were arriving at the yurt at about 4 o'clock, a rather short 5 hours after our start at the Chirchik pass. The family welcomed us as usual with some tea, bread and sweets and it soon turned out that it was one of the best yurts I had been staying at so far. There was a proper shower, a western toilet, a lamp inside the yurt and even electricity to charge our phones. Definitely never had such a luxurious yurt before. :) The rest of the afternoon was spent with relaxing, talking and ... on the toilet. Once again diarrhea struck and this time it was worse than never before. Most probably the problem was the breakfast in the morning, but I didn't know for sure. Of course our host family noticed my frequent visits to the toilet as well and when dinner time came and my stomach was still a mess, I got a quarter bowl of Vodka with some sugared tea afterwards, instead of a plate full of potatoes with meat. :) The mother was ready to give me some more but I declined, so instead she gave her youngest child a sip. Well, the early bird catches the worm I guess. :) The Vodka and sugar somewhat helped to get my stomach rumbling and rolling, but when night time came it was still far from good.
Day 2: Relax, chill and hang out :) Even though I had to go to the toilet about four times during the night, I got a couple hours of sleep here and there and when I went for a fifth time just before breakfast, it felt like the rumbling had stopped and I was hungry for the first time since lunch yesterday. It also meant that my stomach was finally empty and it was time to take some real medicine to prevent loads of toilet stops along the way. :) Luckily for me, today was the easiest day of the three and I felt up to the task even though the last 12 hours were pretty rough. Nevertheless, I stayed with some potatoes, pasta and bread for breakfast just to make sure that I wouldn't upset my stomach again. Leaving our luxury yurt at about 9 o'clock, we descended to the bottom of a valley first. From there we soon started to ascend again and while Daniel had told us that the walk mostly would be flat, we were walking upwards more than expected. The slopes were pretty steep sometimes and as my energy level was not at 100%, it was quite an acrimonious walk every now and then. But compared to the evening before, everything was fine so far. Mostly we followed the left side of the valley, sometimes a bit higher up, sometimes down at the bottom. As we were enclosed by mountains, the views were somewhat limited, so whenever we had scaled another slope it was time to check out the views to either side.
Like yesterday we passed a couple yurts and many cows and horses, besides of them, we were the only ones on the trail. Taking our lunch break at the river, I was glad that I had no problems so far and when Daniel said, that only an hour of walking would be left, I was sure to make it to the yurt camp of today without any incident.
Walking along the river bed after lunch, we suddenly passed a red arrow on a rock and knew that we were on the official trail now. Finally no more cow paths. :) There were also no more bridges to cross the river and as it was one with plenty of water, we had to take off our shoes twice to continue our walk towards Ak Tor Pass. Passing a gate on the trail, we rounded a bend and suddenly beheld a yurt. Our place to stay for the night, as Daniel told us. Checking the time, we realized that it was only 1 o'clock. We had been walking for about three hours in total and that was really unusual, as that didn't happen to me since a long long time. :) Of course it was no problem and as we couldn't continue anyway, it just meant more rest for my stomach and my legs. :) After a little nap in the yurt, tea and bread was served and it was followed by an hour outside to chat, hang around and admire the beautiful scenery around the yurt.
Passing some more time with playing cards, dinner was served relatively soon. Luckily the plate that arrived was rice with vegetables only, a blessing for my troubled stomach. :) Overall I was just glad that today had been without any difficulties and that my stomach had recovered pretty well. Once the sun had set, bed time arrived and a deep sleep came over me within minutes.
Day 3: The grand finale :) Somehow I had passed on my issues to Cyril, as his stomach had rumbled on for most of the night. Luckily though, it was not as bad as my problems the other day, so after an early breakfast we set out for the highlight of our hike. An impressive mountain was looming ahead of us already and we looked forward to hike in a more alpine region than the other two days.
First we had to make our way along the bottom of the valley though and I didn't know what Daniel and Cyril had for breakfast, but they were walking like the devil was behind them. Well, that wasn't true, as it was only me that made up the rear. :) But their pace was super fast and I only caught up when they had to pause for breath. They slowed down a bit afterwards and I was glad to have more time to enjoy the beautiful mountain range ahead of us. Passing some more herds of cows, we had made good way and soon came upon the start of the ascent towards Ak Tor Pass. While I had said "No more cow paths!" yesterday, we were down to no more paths at all today. :) It seemed as Daniel just made his own way and we walked up some steep slopes across country. Not that this was a big problem for us, we just followed wherever he led us. :)
Coming to a gate on the path after another steep ascent, he asked us if we could wait 5 minutes as he had to go to the toilet. Oh oh, not he too. :) But everything was fine and we took the chance of the break to take some pictures of the spectacular scenery around us.
We were already up close with the mountains and the pass could not be far away anymore. Rounding a bend we saw another red arrow on a rock, but instead of following it, Daniel just passed it and led us up a different slope. :) We had to laugh, but it was fine anyway, as we joined the other trail again later on. We still were glad of our guide as even the official trail was not really well maintained. The last part up to Ak Tor Pass was strenuous as expected but sure enough we made it and enjoyed a marvelous view to both directions.
As we had plenty of time, we gave ourselves an hour on the pass to enjoy the panorama, a nice chat and a cold beer. :) Starting our descent, we were off the trail again after a few steps. :) But the first part was quite a hassle anyway, no matter where we walked. The grass was rather high and many stones were below it, so we had to be careful not to slip on them. Even though we had our little problems, we made way super fast and Ak Tor Pass was already far behind us. Once the first part was over, the going got a bit better as there were not that many stones anymore. Daniel led us along some narrow hidden trails that we would never ever have found and together with the lovely scenery around us, it made for an entertaining walk. Sometimes we were even walking among plants as high as ourselves and couldn't see anything anymore. :)
Like the descent two days ago, we were faster than expected and soon reached the end of the valley we were in. We had to turn left there and entered another valley to descend all the way to the bottom. Barking dogs were the only excitement along this part and soon we were down at the road. Our taxi was already waiting there and while we were told that we would have a private car, there were six people for a car with five seats. :) "Only to the next village", Daniel said and as Cyril and I had enough experience in traveling in Asia, we were not really surprised that our taxi took some locals along. The ride to Murdash was about half an hour and led through a super nice gorge. Arriving in Murdash, we looked back to where we came from and saw a massive front of clouds in the sky. Thunder could already be heard and we were surprised of the fast change of the weather, but glad at the same time that we had started early this morning. The second taxi arrived about 10 minutes later and making our way back to Osh, we thought about the last three entertaining days and made plans for our onward journey to the eastern part of Kyrgyzstan.
Highlights of the hike: the views from Ak Tor Pass and the random ways Daniel took on the last day
This hike is for you if: - you're looking for a gentle start into a hiking holiday in Kyrgyzstan - you want to stay in yurts overnight - you want to tackle a technically easy pass
This hike is not for you if: - you need a proper path for going along - you mind loads of animals on the hiking trails - you have a sensible stomach :)
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