After the restless trip along the Pamir Highway, it was time for some recreation. Once I had recovered and all the impressions were processed, I was ready to get into the mountains once more. Sary Moghul was the gateway to the Alay Mountains, which is a hikers paradise with many different trails to discover. Having enough time, I decided to do the trek called "The heights of Alay", a 5 days loop starting and ending in Sary Moghul. This time though, for a few reasons, I did it without a guide. First: the trek was doable without a tent, as there were yurt camps and homestays to spend the night. Second: other hikers told me that the trail was easy to find and there was no real need for a guide. And third and most important: "The heights of Alay" was the most popular trek in the region and I knew that if something would happen, other people would be on the trail as well. Visiting the tourist information the afternoon before, I learned that two other people were about to start the hike. As the first part was covered by car, I was happy to have found some fellow hikers to share the costs. We agreed on meeting at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning and I really looked forward to this next little adventure. :)
Day 1: Sary Mogol Pass Arriving at 8 am sharp at the guesthouse of the other couple, everyone else was there and ready to go. Hopping into the car, we left Sary Moghul towards the Alay Mountains. This first part was done by car for different reasons. First and most important: there was a road. :) Second: without the car it would be a day more trekking. And third: the way led along a flat and boring valley. At least that was what I was told. But boring it was only at the very beginning. Once we went deeper into the valley, the mountains came closer and many yurts lined the way. We passed several herds of horses and cows and when at the end of the first valley we turned into the next valley, the mountains already fully enclosed us. It was a lovely ride overall, but took longer than expected. Once again the road was a bumpy one and we only arrived at the trailhead one hour after our departure from Sary Moghul. The driver was so nice to give us some directions to the pass we were heading to and then said goodbye. In the meantime I had learned, that the couple I shared the ride with, was coming from Poland. They set forth right away, while I first filled up on water from the nearby stream. When I was ready to go as well, I followed the drivers instructions and always kept to the left side of the river, even when there was no path visible. Sometimes I also could see the Polish couple up ahead and that gave me a good idea where exactly I had to walk along.
Walking almost to the end of the valley, the path eventually ventured left and started to ascend. Once again it was pretty steep and when the slope finally straightened out, I took a first break to recover my breath. The view was already pretty nice and looking around, I could see the valley I just came from, as well as the one I had to walk along next. Picking up the trail again, I descended to the bottom of the new valley and followed another river until I couldn't go any further. While on the map there were two ways to go from there, a huge red arrow painted on a rock pointed along a rather narrow canyon. Well, then let's go that way. :) While a landslide had covered the river for the first part of the little canyon, it emerged again some time later and the path kept on following the edge of the river. Surprisingly enough, there were many cairns and a couple more arrows pointing out the right way, so I didn't have to use my GPS at all. The canyon had opened up in the meantime and I was ascending again gently. Coming to a little plateau, it was time for a short stop as ahead of me loomed another steep ascent.
With the energy gained from the break, this one was soon behind me and a new valley opened up with some impressive and beautiful mountains to my left. As I had not seen the Polish couple for a while, I expected to see them now, but there was no sign of them at all. Heading down into the valley, I passed a stone for once not with an arrow, but with the word "Lunchspot" on it. They had marked the trail that good, they even told you where to stop for lunch. :) Coming closer to the end of the valley, the slope that awaited me there was truly steep and while I headed upwards, I turned around quite a few times. First of all, because the views were simply splendid and second because I had to catch my breath. :)
During one of these little stops, I saw the Polish couple emerging from where I had come from earlier and reckoned that they had taken a little detour. Coming to the end of the ascending slope, a huge plateau unfolded before me. Taking it all in, I could see some stunning mountains and glaciers to my left, the path up to Sary Mogol pass to my right and grey clouds all over the sky. As it was past noon already, I decided to eat something before the expected rain was coming down. During this half an hour break the Polish couple overtook me again and so I was able to follow them up to the Sary Mogol pass. It was another steep ascent on a rough path, but the views of the plateau got better with every step I took. There were also two mountain lakes that added more diversity to the scenery and when I eventually reached the pass, a second lunch was well deserved. :) Luckily there still was no rain and the longer I stayed, the more the sun was pushing through the clouds, but unfortunately the scenery never got fully enlightened. Well, nevermind, as the panorama was super stunning anyway and sitting there on a stone, looking at the mountains around me, it was a moment of pure happiness and freedom. :)
When I was ready for the descent, snow and ice greeted me on the other side of the pass. It was hard to find some grip and almost impossible not to slip. Fortunately nothing bad happened, only my backside was pretty wet afterwards. :) After I had this rather dangerous part behind me, the rest of the descent was luckily in loose scree and taking huge steps, I was out of the steep slope pretty soon. Descending further, I mostly walked along a river enjoying the now shining sun, as all the clouds had disappeared within the last half an hour. Coming to another big landslide along the side of a mountain, the path narrowed and I had to walk in loose scree again. Looking to my right, a steep slope led down to the river. Placing my feet carefully, I was seeking good foothold, but that was rather difficult. And so it happened, that when I wanted to take a step, the scree set loose under my foot. Luckily I had a fast reaction and with a jump upwards escaped the possible slide down to the river. Another rush of adrenaline after the ice on the pass.. Once out of the landslide, the trail was back to normal though and I kept on descending among a lovely scenery. A herd of yaks told me that the yurt camp was not far away anymore and a bit later a man on a horse was coming up the path. My Russian had improved considerably over the last month and I could answer all his questions. :) "Russki?" he asked me. "Schwizaria", I told him. "Ahhh", he said and then pointed at him saying "Kyrgyz!" Haha, what a surprise. :) Wishing him a nice day, I carried on and reached the yurt camp about 15 minutes later.
The Polish couple was there as well and tea and bread was served within a minute. We were chatting for quite a while and also had our dinner together. After dinner they said goodbye as they wanted to camp somewhere further down, while I was staying in the yurt overnight. Not much was going on until I came back from brushing my teeth at the river closeby and suddenly saw some more hikers coming in. They were quite late as the sun had already set. It was a group of seven people, 4 tourists, 2 guides and one porter. There was quite some commotion now until it was set that the 4 tourists would eat and sleep in the second yurt and that I had to share "my" yurt with the guides and porter. No problem for me of course and while the others had their dinner, I already snugged up in my sleeping bag and soon drifted off to the land of dreams.
Day 2: Kosh-Moinok Pass After a pretty long sleep I had breakfast for myself in the tent of the hosting family, as the others were still asleep. Getting myself ready afterwards, everyone else was awake now and one guide asked me if I would be leaving. Confirming this, he said: "Wow, an early start!" Looking at my phone, the clock told me it was already 8.50 in the morning. Well, early has a different definition for me. :) Saying goodbye to all of them, I picked up the trail again and faced the first challenge of the day about 10 minutes later. The path continued on the other side of the river and I had to get over the gushing water. Luckily there were many stones, but of course I slipped during my attempt to get over and stood with my right foot completely into the water. Well, at least my left foot stayed dry, but I took a first break anyway to wring out my socks. :) Carrying on, it was a lovely morning walk down towards the mountain village of Sary Mogol. The sun was shining, the morning air was fresh, many trees lined the trail, a herd of cows passed by on their way to the meadows and the mountains ahead of me made for a beautiful panorama.
About one and a half hour after my first break, I passed a tiny settlement and a couple kids came running towards me, inviting me for tea. As I had the feeling that I had barely started my walk and as tea also meant food, I declined for once. When they left, I rounded a bend and could see far away that there was no trail anymore on my side of the river. Hmm, better quickly check my position. And yep, it looked like as I had to cross the river again and carry on with my walk on the other side. Another child was coming along right then and I asked: "Sary Mogol?", pointing towards the other side. He affirmed and asked: "Chocolate?" :) Probably the only word in English that every child in Asia knows. As the only chocolate I had with me was my lunch, I gave him a cookie and he seemed to be satisfied with that as well. Fortunately there was a bridge this time and crossing over the river, I walked along another narrow dirt path, seeing Sary Mogol in the distance coming closer. Most of the time during my walk in the valley, the ground had been dry or stony. This suddenly changed before I arrived in Sary Mogol. Due to a man made canal system, they were able to water all the ground around the village and flowers were blooming everywhere. It looked and smelled really nice and once more I was amazed how diverse mother nature can be.
Entering the village, I knew that I had to look out for the main road. As this turned out to be more difficult than expected, it needed the help of a local girl to point me into the right direction. As it happened, she showed me a short cut and from far above I could see where I had to continue my walk. It was a dirt road leading from Sary Mogol to the neighboring village and due to my late start, it was almost noon with the sun shining in full force. Of course there was no shade along the road and therefore the next half an hour was not the most pleasant one. Coming to the other village, the turnoff towards the Kosh-Moinok pass was found pretty easily and I followed another dirt road out of the settlement. The sun was scorching hot in the meantime and I also was kinda hungry. Finding a lonely tree that offered some shade, it was my designated lunch spot. Munching away on my Snickers, I was happy to get a time out from the heat. As it wasn't the best spot to relax, I carried on after I ate my food and started my ascent towards the pass. Being good in the time and still owing myself another half an hour of lunch break, I soon found a lovely spot to lay down and have some more rest. A tiny stream closeby, flowers all around and with a view of the mountains at the horizon, it was the perfect place for a little siesta. :) Once back on the trail I came across a man carrying a rifle. He said hello and asked me where I came from and where I was going to. Explaining him my route, I told him that I wanted to sleep in the yurt after the Kosh-Moinok pass. Smiling away, he told me that he was the yurt owner. What a coincidence. :) While he was resuming his walk towards the village below, I kept on ascending towards the pass. The slopes soon got steeper and it was still way too hot, so my pace was not very fast. Coming upon some fields with cows, I suddenly felt like home, as with the mountains at the horizon, the scenery could have been straight out of Switzerland. :)
Many other cows were lining the long final ascent, but it was nothing against the cow parade that awaited me on the top. :)
As there was no space left for me, I sat down on the other side of the pass and enjoyed the excellent views towards Sary Bel pass, which I had planned to scale tomorrow. The descent from Kosh-Moinok was a gentle one and finally clouds had appeared to give me some rest from the burning sun.
Reaching the bottom of the next valley, I had seen the yurt camp from far away already and while I was making my way across a huge field full with cows, sheep and horses, another child approached me. "Sleep?", he asked me and I said yes. Telling me to come with him and stay in his yurt, he was pointing in the opposite direction than I was going to. So I asked him if it wasn't possible to sleep in the other yurt that I had seen during my descent. "No", he said, but I thought that rather suspicious. "How much for the night?", I asked him. As answer I only got a shrug of his shoulders. Well, it was nice of him to invite me to his family's yurt, but I didn't want to stay somewhere randomly and therefore told him that first I wanted to ask in the other yurt if I can stay overnight. Arriving there, the woman confirmed right away and her daughter soon joined in with a self made Kyrgyz / English phrasebook. :)
The family in general was very welcoming and after serving the mandatory tea, chatted with me as much as possible while tending to the yurt and animals. When time for dinner came closer, they told me that 7 more tourists would be coming in soon and I suspected the group from yesterday, as I hadn't seen anyone else on the trail today. They arrived towards 8 o'clock and as dinner was already cooked, we all sat down together for a lovely plate of plov. Bed time came soon afterwards and as we all had to sleep in the same yurt, it was way more packed than yesterday. Sleep didn't came fast tonight and when it came, it was quite a restless one.
Day 3: Sary Bel Pass Today would be the longest day in terms of kilometer and therefore a good night's sleep would have been nice. Well, would is the correct word, as it was quite a rough night. The yurt was so cramped, my neighbor was literally breathing down my neck and once or twice even hit me accidentally. Some of the other tourists had an even rougher sleep as I heard some particular noises outside during the night and looked in some rather sick faces in the morning. Leaving a bit earlier today, I started to walk at 8 o'clock and as most of the others were still sleeping, I only said goodbye to the lovely host family. As I had seen the way up to the next pass the day before, I knew where I had to go and soon was ascending once again. Reaching a plateau at the end of the ascending slope, there was a family tending some sheep and cows and were in full work right then to gather the sheep. Looking on for a while, I noticed that there was no path anymore when I wanted to carry on. A short check on the map told me that I had to walk through the sheep to reach the pass. Well, not really the way to go, as I didn't want to disturb neither the family nor the sheep. So after a little detour I stood on the Sary Bel pass and with the plateau to one side and plenty of mountains on the other, I took the first break of the day to enjoy the scenery.
From the pass the trail led along a mountainside and the walk along there was pretty entertaining. Once more I had to cross some massive landslides, flowers were blooming everywhere, loads of marmots could be seen running away from me, far below were some gorgeous rock formations called the "Three Dragons Gorge" and of course there were plenty of mountains to look at. :)
Reaching a little pass, I said goodbye to the mountains and rock formations that were my companions for the last hour and entered a new valley with quite a different scenery. A canyon with a steep red wall could be seen and while before the mountains were pretty close, they now only lined the horizon. The only thing that remained were the flowers blooming away in all shapes and colors. :) It took a while to go around the canyon and only once I had reached the other side, it was time to start the descent towards Kojo-Kelen. Some more red arrows pointed the way in the beginning and the trail was clear and obvious. A beautiful and impressive mountain loomed ahead of me and right after I took the mandatory picture, the path suddenly vanished.
Right, left, straight ahead? I had no clue. :) Not even in the distance I could make out the trail. Continuing a bit further, I realized that it was of no use and for the first time in three days, I actually used the GPS to find the way, rather than just checking my position. I wonder what the locals thought when I was walking with my smartphone in my hand right through their farming fields. :) Eventually the path appeared again and further down another red arrow confirmed that I was back on the track. The rest of the hike down to the bottom of the valley was a beautiful one with loads of different landscapes. Once I was walking in a canyon, then under trees along a river and looking back to where I came from, I thought I was in Utah as the mountains were that corroded and red. :) Reaching Kojo-Kelen, a family approached and started to talk with me in Russian. As the woman who led the talk didn't use her hands, I didn't understand at all what she was saying. Only one thing I could understand among the flood of words: picture. :) She wanted me to take a picture of her family and so I did. Then I showed her the photo and again she gabbled on in Russian. A thought appeared in my head and out of my gut feeling I said: "Internet?" They were nodding enthusiastically and I understood that she wanted me to upload the picture to the internet. Well, here we go. :)
Carrying on, I walked along the main road for a while passing through the village of Kojo-Kelen. As the whole hike until there had taken longer than expected, it was already after 1 o'clock in the afternoon when I found a tree with some shade to escape the sun for lunch. Strengthened by the food and the rest, I resumed my walk along the dirt road. This one seemed endless and was the toughest part so far of all three days. The sun was burning down as hell and again there was no shade at all. Hills were enclosing me most of the time with no views in either direction and of course it was a road that I was walking on and not a nice hiking path. All of this taken together, it was definitely the longest hour of "The Heights of Alay".
After that hour I eventually rounded a bend and a valley opened up to admit views of some lovely mountains at the horizon. Also the flowers reappeared and I knew that the "worst" was behind me. Walking upwards steadily, the first yurts soon came into view and once again the mandatory cows and horses started to line the way. Passing the yurts, I kept on walking another kilometer and entered a beautiful valley with today's destination at the end of it.
Enjoying the scenery around me, I made my way to the yurt camp and the lady there welcomed me right away. For once there was no tea and bread though, as it was already a bit late and I first wanted to clean myself at the river closeby. When dinner was ready, I was taken to the family yurt and ate dinner together with the whole family. What was surprising to me was, that even though quite a few tourists pass through, they were still interested in who I was and what I do and asked to take a picture with me. This was very nice and I felt super welcome once more. Tonight I had the yurt to myself, which was a relief after yesterday. :) Tired as I was from the whole day, I drifted off into sleep before it was 10 pm.
Day 4: Jiptik Pass Another pass over 4000 meters was awaiting me today and therefore breakfast was early again. An unusual breakfast it was, as I got a salad and a big plate of pasta, but that was fine with me, as I would be burning quite a few calories today. :) Off I went at a quarter past 8 and first followed the same dirt road as I did yesterday. It went upwards gently again and I enjoyed the last shade before the sun made it over the mountains around me.
After about an hour the track got a bit rougher and more narrow. Ahead of me, I could see the mountain range that I had to go over today and I was trying to guess which one of them Jiptik pass might be.
The trail was quite obvious so far but after the first steep ascent, it kinda petered out and as I could have been going to the left or right, I thought it better to check where exactly I had to go. As expected, I was a bit off the main trail, but it was only a short way across country and I was on it again. It was also clear now which one of the ridges in front of me Jiptik pass was and taking a break, I tried to figure out where the best way would be to get up there. There were two possibilities according to the map. One was the longer way, but less steep, while the other one was more direct but also more steep. Carrying on, a red arrow at an unexpected place took the decision for me. :) It soon turned out that it was towards the steeper route, but that was no problem of course. Some Yaks had just come down that way and as the boss was grunting at me, I took a little detour to avoid a confrontation with their massive horns. The slope was as steep as expected, but luckily there was a path between all the rubble, which made for pretty good walking. After that first ascent, a second one followed. It took me a while to bring that one behind me, but the views from the gained ridge were once more worth the struggle.
Looking up towards Jiptik pass, I realized that I had taken the wrong path and making my way across country once more, was soon back on the main trail again. Passing a huge herd of yaks, it was the first time that I saw grey ones and baby yaks. I wanted to take a close up picture, but they were shy and ran away. Well, then let's continue with the ascent. :)
Reaching the foot of the final slope, I could see that there were still some patches of snow. The biggest one I was able to evade, but there were some smaller patches, where this was not possible. Taking my time and placing my feet carefully, I made it across without any problem. The way was free to go after the last patch and reaching the top of the pass at noon, a spectacular view greeted my eyes. The Pamir mountains, with Lenin Peak standing tall in the middle, were clearly visible. What an imposing sight to behold!
As I had enough time, I stayed on the Jiptik pass for over an hour, enjoying the views to both sides of the pass. From the top I also could see a part of the descent and decided from there which route I would be following. So after the first part of the descent, I ignored another arrow and descended a gentler but much rougher slope down towards a little stream. As anticipated I hit the main trail again after a while and from there it was quite an easy descent, the clouds in the sky giving some well deserved rest from the sun. Losing the main trail here and there, I just made my own way sometimes, as there was only one way to go anyway. :) Reaching the end of the valley, I headed down to the river and right there it happened: other tourists on the trail! :) While I hadn't seen any, except the Polish couple and the 4 hikers that stayed in the two yurts with me, this was a very unusual sight. :) Out of the valley, the trail was winding itself through a nice gorge and once I made it out of there, it took another 10 minutes until I had reached the yurt camp for today.
As I was pretty early, I took a rest for a couple hours and then tea and bread was served as appetizer before dinner. Right after I had finished eating, it hit me out of the nowhere and my stomach went wild. Pain and cramps reigned for about an hour, until I emptied my stomach into the toilet and the stream closeby. Most probably the trigger was my lunch, which had consisted of four days old cookies only. :) Well, there was nothing I could do, except to wait and hope that it would get better soon. Explaining the host family my problem, they set up my bed for the night instead of serving me dinner. Laying down, I already felt a bit better and fell asleep soon afterwards.
Day 5: Back to Sary Moghul Surprisingly the night wasn't too bad. My stomach had recovered fast and I only had to go to the restroom once. As it was an outside toilet and I was (in terms of light) in an unpolluted area, I turned off my flashlight on my way back to the yurt and beheld a sky full of stars with the milky way standing out clearly. Wow, that was balm for my soul! Even though my stomach was way better now, I didn't dare to eat a full breakfast and stayed with tea and bread only. Apologizing for my little problems of last night, I said goodbye to the host family and ventured out to the final part of the hike. It was to be a 10 kilometer hike back to Sary Moghul on a flat dirt road. As I knew what I was in for, I was mentally prepared and the more so enjoyed all the things that I passed along the way. There was another beautiful gorge to cross, many yurt camps lined the way with children waving hello, the sun was shining bright once more, the view of the Pamir range up ahead was as impressive as from the pass yesterday and turning around every now and then the Alay mountains behind me made for a stunning sight too.
Enclosed by hills until I reached the two coal mines, I was out in the open fields from there on and the houses of Sary Moghul came closer much slower than before.
Nevertheless I reached the outskirts of the city in about three hours after my start and the walking obviously also did good to my digestion, as from the stomach problems of yesterday were no signs left anymore. Looking forward to have a shower and some Wifi, I had to learn at the tourist information office that there was no electricity in the whole town. :) This meant that there neither was water nor Wifi in my guesthouse. Well, that was what could happen in a remote corner of Kyrgyzstan. :) Nevermind though, as I just put up my weary feet and waited until the electricity was back on. :)
It had turned out that going without a guide was the perfect decision, as I felt a freedom that I last felt when I was hiking in Scotland. I enjoyed being flexible and it also was a lot of fun to interact with the locals. Staying in the yurt camps was a good decision too, as in this way I got an idea of how the nomads were living years before. There were also a couple surprises: the markings which I mentioned above already, the paths that were mostly well maintained (with that one exception on day three) and there were less tourists than I had expected. Because many locals told me that there would be loads of tourists, I had to realize that they just compared it to the years before. While in the beginning may be only 50 people came along, it's now may be 500 dispersed over the whole holiday season. So the trails are far beyond from being overrun and you still can have them to yourself. All in all, I felt safe on my own the whole hike through and was able to enjoy the stunning scenery and the amazing hospitality all along the way.
Highlights of the hike: the views from Sary Mogol and Jiptik Pass, staying in the yurts overnight, the food in the yurt of Kosh-Moinok
This hike is for you if: - you want to do a multiday hike without a tent - you always wanted to stay in a yurt and get an insight into nomadic life - you want to get up close with the Alay Mountains - you don't mind a lot of steep slopes up and down
This hike is not for you if: - you don't know how to read a map and use GPS - you can't bear a scorching hot sun - you prefer summits over passes
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