I grew up in the pages of Soviet literature of my father, so my mind always thought of a faraway land called Kyrgyzstan, the homeland of the writer Chinghiz Aitmatov with the famous short story collection "Tales of the Mountains and Steppes". That distant, mysterious country appeared in Aitmatov's works with its captivating natural scenery, urging me to visit Kyrgyzstan once, to admire the vast green steppe.
I had the chance to spend 3 weeks exploring Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan was one of the longest stops on the journey. As a country with 90% of its area covered by mountains, Kyrgyzstan's terrain is rugged with lower temperatures than its two neighboring countries Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In the middle of summer, we still had to wear extra thin clothes when sleeping in Kyrgyz Yurt tents.
My excitement and anticipation for Kyrgyzstan were most complete when I arrived at Song-Kol Lake, a freshwater lake located at an altitude of more than 3,000m above sea level, in the middle of a basin of the Tian Shan Mountains. In the summer, the grasslands around Song-Kol Lake are crowded with herds of horses and cows of nomads. Kyrgyzstan is one of the few countries in the world where people still maintain the nomadic tradition. In the winter, the nomads will leave when the temperature around the lake drops, even snow and ice appear.
Song-Kol Lake is more than 200km from the capital Bishkek. To get to Song-Kol Lake, the local guide drove us through dozens of kilometers of winding mountain passes, rarely seeing a car passing by. There weren't many tourists at Song-Kol Lake on the day we arrived, which was probably a lucky thing.
There is no phone signal in the area around Song-Kol Lake. It took the driver a while to find the exact yurt we booked. The locals raise cattle here and also provide accommodation for tourists. Electricity is run by solar panels, water comes from Song-Kol Lake, no phone signal or internet, everything here is basic but for backpackers like us, a warm tent by the lake is enough.
When we arrived at Song-Kol Lake, the sky was already dark. The golden sky stretched out before my eyes, and as far as I could see, there were only grasslands and mountains. The horse riders were leading the cattle back to their tents. I wandered around the grassland, admiring the brilliant sunset, listening to the distant neighing of horses, sipping hot tea prepared for us by the Yurt owner. Visitors here can experience horse riding, but I just liked to walk on the grassland to enjoy a beauty that I had only seen in movies.
The temperature dropped at night, the yurt owner put charcoal in the fireplace after we finished eating. If you look up at the ceiling of the yurt you will see the sun symbol like the Kyrgyz flag.
Despite the chilly summer night, we sat outside to gaze at the starry night sky. It was probably the most magical summer night I had ever seen in my life - the vast Milky Way above, and the vast grasslands below. The silence of the night made me feel like I was lost in an unreal world.
If the sunset brought us into a magical night with a sky full of stars, the new day opened up a fresh, peaceful natural scene. No one called anyone - perhaps for fear of disturbing the peace of the early morning, we left the tent one by one while it was still dark, going far away to feel the vastness of the steppe. Song-Kol Lake is a nature reserve, in the morning there are birds foraging by the water. Herds of horses leisurely grazed, not paying attention to a few tourists who were also looking for a peaceful place. The beauty of Song-Kol Lake in the morning made me feel lost in a space-time. That is when you feel like time seems to stop before such a magnificent scene.
The sun was rising, we returned to the tent to enjoy breakfast. The tent owner had prepared breakfast just waiting for us to return. Kyrgyz people eat a hearty breakfast, on the table there are always fresh fruits, fruit jams, bread, pastries, sometimes there is traditional porridge or fried eggs which I guess are made for tourists. Since the schedule was long, we finished our meal, stayed a bit longer and then set off.
Leaving Song-Kol, I continued my journey to explore Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. But perhaps the most memorable memory of the whole trip was the night in a Yurt tent by Song-Kol Lake.
