The Silk Road was the major route of trade linking China, the Middle East, and Europe from around 130 BC to 1453 CE when the Ottoman Empire cut off links with Europe. This economic super highway not only helped spread the trade of goods; but also religions, arts, ideas, inventions, and culture. 

I spent six days traveling the main Silk Road cities of Uzbekistan – Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. These ancient cities stood at the heart of the Silk Road and are historical landmarks that highlight spectacular Islamic architecture filled with beautiful blue tiled and geometrically designed mosques, mausoleums, and madrassas. I didn’t go on any guide tours and just wandered through the beautiful sites soaking in their unique beauty and imagining what these old cities were like many centuries ago. Uzbekistan was much more touristy than the rest of the Stans. Not as bad as European destinations in the summer, but give it a few years and it might be. Especially after coming from the nonexistent tourism in Tajikistan; I was a bit of a jaded vet. There were lots of big tour groups hitting all the major attractions. In contrast to the adventurous and rugged travel of the other countries in Central Asia, Uzbekistan only requires walking around the famous Silk Road Cities so it draws in a different type of tourist demographic, although it still has its fair share of backpackers. Nonetheless it was still a great experience.

Samarkand 

Samarkand is the second largest city in Uzbekistan with a population of approximately 573,000 people. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in Central Asia founded in the 8th or 7th century BC. The oldest written records of the city date back to 329 when Alexander the Great conquered it. Samarkand served as the capital of the Timurid Empire under the rule of Tamerlane. He wanted to make it the most beautiful city in Asia transforming it into a paradise of turquoise domes and intricate blue tile work buildings. It was the center of art, science, and education; the Florence of Central Asia. Now the city is a blend of modern architecture and ancient landmarks. 

Getting In

I took the five hour slow train from Tashkent where the seats were sleeper compartments. I was in the top bunk and it was like a coffin; there was no room to sit up because the luggage compartment was just a few inches above my head. It was hot and sticky. I can’t even imagine how miserable it would have been in the summer. October is actually the perfect month to visit Uzbekistan for a cooler climate. I shared a compartment with a mother and her four young children. I guess there’s no seating capacity when kids are involved. 1.5 hours into the train ride the mom used Google Translate to say welcome to Uzbekistan and gave me a can of coffee. How nice! They got off a few stops before me, and upon their exit, she wrote on her phone apologizing for her children, who had been a bit noisy. I told her no problem they were actually very well behaved. 

The Samarkand train station is about 20 minutes from the center and for some reason my service wasn’t working (in general it worked poorly in the city) so I couldn’t call a Yandex. I immediately got harassed by the taxi drivers and this guy quoted me an absurd price. I got him down to a fraction of what he asked, which was still way too much; but without Yandex I didn’t have a choice. I made the mistake of telling him I was American during the ride (Ken and I learned that it’s always best not to say you’re from the U.S. when a sales transaction is involved. They immediately think you’re rich. All other interactions it’s totally fine and great. The driver started tried to sell me on his different tours. I told him thanks but no thanks. Then he kept being pushy about how Americans have so much money, and overall rubbed me the wrong way. I think he was mad I had worked him down on his crazy price. Relax dude you’re still ripping me off. I made it to my guesthouse by 9pm and was glad to be done with that ride. It made me realize how much of a savior Yandex is. 

Lodging 

I got a private room in a guesthouse for three nights. I decided I would do only private rooms for the remainder of Uzbekistan because I wanted my own space after traveling with Ken for a few months. Plus it was still really cheap. For $18/night I had my own room and breakfast was included. I knew that I would have to switch back to hostel life in Japan where everything is more expensive. The location was perfect too; just a five minute walk from the famous Registan Square. I was a tourist during the day but had a good bit of downtime in the late afternoons and evenings. It was nice to move at a slow pace in Uzbekistan after months of going nonstop. I used my free time to read, write the blog, and plan for Japan. It must be a good hotel because there many Mongol Rally stickers from teams that had driven through Samarkand. I asked Alex if he stayed here but he couldn’t remember. 

Registan Square

Registan Square is the crown jewel of Samarkand and most iconic symbol of the Silk Road. It served as the bustling public plaza during the Timurid Empire and continues to be in modern times. The plaza is framed by three massive, intricately tiled madrassas (Islamic college) that all have the emblematic turquoise dome. 

The Ulugh Beg Madrasah is the oldest built between 1417-1420. It was a premier university of the Islamic world where math, logic, and astronomy were taught. Tamerlane’s grandson, Ulugh Beg, a famous astronomer and educator gave lectures here. 

Directly across from Ulugh Beg’s Madrasah is the Sher-Dor Madrasah built between 1619-1636. it is famous for breaking Islamic art rules by depicting roaring felines chasing deer beneath a human-faced sun.

The center building is the Tilya-Kori Madrasah built between 1646-1660 concluding the squares symmetrical layout. 

Each madrasah has exquisite tile work and beautiful courtyards. While a tour would have added some historical perspective and given me additional knowledge, just looking at these impressive architectural feats was enough for me. Of course they have gone under massive restoration projects to restore the tiles, fix the roofs, and straighten the minarets. But that doesn’t take away from the beauty and power of these buildings. 

At night time the madrassas are lit up and thousands of people sit in the plaza soaking in the magical ambience that radiates from the buildings.  

Imam Bukhari Shrine

On my first full day, I caught up with Emiel who was one day ahead of me on his Uzbekistan schedule. We were doing the same big three cities but I will always show up a day later than him. Since he already did the major highlights on his first day, we decided to get more off the beaten path and go to the Imam Bukhari Shrine; which was a 30 minute Yandex outside of Samarkand. This beautiful white mosque felt brand new right out the box. The original complex was built in 1998, but it was recently redeveloped and had just opened its doors to the public again in early 2026. I found it interesting to see this modern mosque’s take on Islamic architecture with the same symmetrical and geometrical design and intricate patterns as the ancient mosques. The complex houses the tomb of Ismail al-Bukhari, a legendary Islamic scholar, and is one of the most revered pilgrimage sites in the Islamic world. Unlike the crowds of ancient Samarkand attractions, it felt like Emiel and I were some of the few non-Muslim tourists. In spite of not having any religious ties to the building, we could still appreciate its magnificent architecture. We ate some nice samsas at a nearby cafe afterwards. 

Ulugh Beg Observatory

Built between 1424-1429, this observatory made some of the most significant scientific achievements of the medieval world. We aren’t taught anything about Ulugh Beg in school, but his observations and contributions to astronomy are equal to the western names we know like Galileo and Copernicus. It was very fascinating to read more about his work. Before the invention of telescopes, he used this observatory to calculate the length of a calendar year with incredible precision  He calculated the length of the tropical year to be 365 days, 5 hours, 49 minutes, and 15 seconds —an error of only 25 seconds compared to modern satellite data. He was more accurate than Copernicus. Like what?!! How did he do that in the 15th century! No Google; no ChatGPT; hell he didn’t even have a telescope!   

To make his calculations, Ulugh Beg built a massive median arc sextant with a radius of 40 meters that would watch the sun, moon, and stars pass over a slit in the roof. Their light would fall onto the calibrated curve allowing scientists to read the exact altitude and angle of celestial bodies. 

This was just one of many contributions Ulugh Beg made to science, math, and geometry. But sadly his brilliance angered religious fanatics and he was assassinated by order of his own son. Brutal!

Khoja Daniyor Mausoleum

This mausoleum for the Old Testament Prophet Daniel is an 18 meter long sarcophagus covered in a dark cloth with gold calligraphy. While it was an impressive tomb, this attraction needs all of two minutes to visit. It is a rare interfaith shrine equally revered as a sacred place by Muslims, Christians, and Jews. But since neither Emiel nor I are very religious, the best he could come up with is “He must have been really tall.” It gave me a good chuckle. Upon further reading there are two explanations for the length: (1) local folklore claims that the relics inside are blessed and the prophet’s body grows by about five centimeters each year. According to myth the tomb needs to be reconstructed repeatedly and elongated over centuries. (2) Tamerlane deliberately built an oversized tomb to confuse grave robbers so they would not be able to pinpoint where the actual bones are. Emiel’s off handed joke actually aligns with the first explanation.

Siyob Bozori

Of course we had to go to the bazaar, this is Central Asia after all. It was fun watching Emiel use his Dutch haggling skills to buy a piece of ceramic art he wanted. He worked the lady down lower than she would have liked, but she didn’t want to lose out on a sale. I bought a Samarkand hat also haggling down the price. But the saleswoman accepted my offer way too quickly. Damn! I could have gone lower. The bazaar sits right next to the Bibi-Khanym Mosque. Emiel had already gone the day before, and I was mosqued out and didn’t feel like paying to enter, so I just took some photos from outside the complex. That was good enough for me.

Amir Temur Mausoleum Gur-i Amir Complex

This crypt houses the body of the famous conqueror Amir Temur. Originally built in 1403 by Temur himself for his grandson who unexpectedly died at age 27, he was buried here after dying of illness a few years later in 1407. This complex is yet another example of intricate tile work and a turquoise blue dome with minarets. 

It also houses Temur’s two sons, his grandsons (including Ulugh Beg), and his mentor so there’s a lot of prestige in the underground vault. The central burial chamber where they all lie to rest is filled with a golden interior that shines so bright you almost need to wear sunglasses inside it. The geometric patterns on the wall and honeycomb-like vaulting have a psychedelic visual effect. 

Night on the Town

On my second night, Emiel and I went out for a few rounds of beers. We ended up chatting with this couple where the guy, James, was from Australia and the girl, Clara, was from Germany. They were a fun bunch and we had some really good conversations and laughs. I had mentioned I was going to Japan next on my travels and when I started talking about how I needed a haircut the German girl said she knew a girl who was a hair dresser in Tokyo that she had met while living on a farm in Australia. She gave me her Instagram to reach out (spoiler alert – I didn’t get a haircut from her but we did hang out. Always great to have the local connect!) One drink led to another which led to another and another. We drank a lot more beers than originally intended which made for a rough next morning, but it was a really fun night. 

Bukhara

Bukhara was founded over 2,500 years and has a modern day population of around 305,000 people. It was another vital hub of the Silk Road for trade, culture, and Islamic academia. In 1220 Genghis Khan captured and largely destroyed the city, though it steadily rebuilt itself and reached a golden age in the 16th century. The medieval urban core was is remarkably intact and feels like a giant outdoor museum with over 140 monuments that were built from the 9th to 17th century – mosques, mausoleums, madrasas, fortresses, and mud brick houses. 

In Samarkand the major attractions were pretty spread out but in Bukhara you can walk around the old city with no itinerary getting lost in the streets and running into landmarks and beautiful old buildings. In addition to the historic monuments, the streets are lined with art galleries, blacksmith shops, and artesanal carpet weavers; the ancient world craftsmanship meets modern day tourism. The whole city is one giant bazaar, even inside the attractions vendors have stands setup to sell craft goods. The ancient city was small enough that I ended up running into Clara and James (my friends from Samarkand) in the streets. We chatted for about ten minutes and talked about potentially meeting up later that evening but never did. 

Getting In

I had an 8am train out of Samarkand and luckily I woke up with extra time because the Yandex app wasn’t working. I had to do it the old fashioned way and go out into the streets and hail a taxi. The first few drove by me already full of passengers. Finally a guy stopped that had a woman in his taxi but was willing to take me to the train station after he dropped her off. I was on a time crunch and a ride is a ride. Plus he ended up giving me a fair price. It was an easy 2.5 hour train ride to Bukhara with regular seats. The train station in Bukhara was 30 minutes outside the city. Emiel told me he had taken a local bus for cheap when he arrived the day before. I wasn’t in a rush so figured why not? The bus wasn’t crowded when I got on at the train station but then it filled in and became jam packed. I gave up my seat to a grandma and her granddaughter. Have you even lived if you haven’t been on a crowded bus full of Uzbekis? The hardest part was going to be squeezing my way off at my stop; or better yet getting the driver’s attention to let me off since there was no button system to indicate your stop, people would just yell at the driver. We reached a corner somewhat nearby my guesthouse and someone else was getting off so I pushed my way behind them. Close enough!

Lodging

Once again I stayed for two nights in a private room in a guesthouse where breakfast was included. It was one of the best places I’ve stayed. The owner was very friendly and gave me recommendations for restaurants and attractions to see. And the breakfast spread was incredible: dumplings, spinach fritter, toast, grapes, cookies, and coffee. They even made me a to go breakfast of hard boiled eggs, bread, and some sweets when I left at 5:20am for the train on my last morning. Great hospitality!

Food

I did not my best to avoid eating in the historic center because it was more touristy restaurants that had a higher price tag and less authentic taste. Emiel and I went to Ismaili Somoni Plov where I had maybe the best plov I’ve had yet. It was incredibly flavorful and not overly greasy.

I ate lunch one afternoon at Chorbaxosa, a restaurant outside the tourist area recommended by guesthouse owner. I was the only foreigner so that was a good sign; it was cheap and delicious. I had one of the best mantis I’ve had yet that was buttery and soft. I also ordered Jiz Qovurdoq which was a half kilo mountain of chicken for less than $4. The place was a steal! 

Chor Minor Madrasah

This beautiful little monument had four minarets (Chor Minor translates in Persian to four minarets) with turquoise domes and served as a good place for Emiel and I to meet up for another day of tourism together.

Sitorai Mohi Khosa Palace

The Sitorai Mohi Khosa is the summer palace of the last Emirs of Bukhara, and not a bad place to call second (Third? Fourth?) home. They love chandeliers, fancy carpets, Japanese vases, and beautifully adorned royal outfits. These were signs of wealth and lavish living. A twenty minute ride outside town, this was Emiel and my first stop of the day since he had already seen the major attractions in Bukhara’s old city. The palace is adorned with beautiful white walls and has a garden where peacocks roam around freely. 

We tried to get a Yandex back into the city and once again it wasn’t working so we had to take a taxi. The driver also couldn’t get his Yandex working so he charged us a reasonable rate since he got cash in hand without the app taking a cut. I later found out from another Yandex driver that one of their data centers got bombed by Ukrainian drones so that’s why the app wasn’t working. Just a little side effect of Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine. 

Ark of Bukhara

The Ark of Bukhara is a massive 5th century fortress and fortified citadel in the heart of Bukhara. It is an open air museum and provides great views of the historic city below. It has high curving walls and a mud brick exterior that serve as a formidable defense structure. At its peak the fortress housed roughly 3,000 people and included royal palaces and administrative buildings. While the walls have held up over the years, the center is mostly small remains of archaeological ruins. 

Poyi Kalon Complex

The Poyi Kalon is the defining architectural landmark and spiritual heart of Bukhara. I said like a broken record but it is yet another beautiful display of Islamic architecture with ornate tiles and blue domes atop minarets. The three main pillars of the complex are the Kalyan Minaret built in 1127, the Kalyan Mosque completed in 1514, and the Mir-i-Arab Madrasah built in the 16th century. All that said, it’s quite old. There is perfect symmetry when viewing the dome through the arch from inside the courtyard. 

On my second day in Bukhara when I had already seen all the sites, I spent 30 minutes sitting on a bench watching all the tourists; everywhere you look is just people with their phones out taking pictures, no one is even looking with their own eyes. Don’t get me wrong, these are very photogenic landmarks and of course I’m victim to this type of behavior too. Such is the sad reality of modern tourism. The Uzbeki guides have learned more than just English and Russian; I also heard many tours in French and Spanish. They are catering to the needs of their tourist industry. The Uzbek people still have that central Asian friendliness, but after years of tourism, I got the sense that some locals are starting to just see dollar signs in people eyes. Can you blame them?

Ulugh Beg Madrasah

I have gotten quite familiar with Ulugh Beg at this point and for good reason; he is such an influential figure in Uzbek culture. It’s funny how we are never taught his name in our western textbooks. This particular Madrasah is the oldest surviving Islamic school in Central Asia having been built in 1417 commissioned by Mr. Beg himself. Another great example of early Timurid architecture, it once served as a center of science and technology, pre-dating the later structures of Bukhara’s golden era. 

Samonids Recreational Park

This park was a nice way to escape the crowds and walk around with the locals. It still has one small attraction, the Ismaili Somoni Mausoleum, but it mostly served as a quiet place for local Bukharans to walk their dogs and let their kids run around to play.

Jewish Synagogue

My friend from Tulane has roots as a Bukharan Jew and told me to visit the synagogue (plus I knew my mother would like it). The Bukhara Jewish community is one of the oldest ethno-religious groups in Central Asia tracing its origins back to the Babylonian exile and ancient Silk Road trade. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union most of them emigrated and only a few hundred remain in their homeland. Sadly the synagogue was closed but I snapped a few photos from outside.

Haircut 

I messaged Misa, Clara’s friend in Tokyo, about a haircut and the price was substantially higher than what I would pay to get one in Uzbekistan. As much as I would have loved to support her, I decided to pay less than 1/5 the price to get a haircut in Bukhara. I always love getting an international haircut; it’s an experience in and of itself. In Spanish speaking countries I used it as an opportunity to practice my conversation skills. Since my Uzbek was limited to just a few words, that would not be the case in Bukhara. My barber spoke minimal English but he was stoked to have me as a customer. He took before and after photos of the cut and ultimately posted them to his Instagram. So this is how I get famous! He was very diligent with his work and even shaved my beard to match the fade. I was unsure if an Uzbek barber would give a white boy like me a good cut but he did a great job. Worth the $8.

Night on the Town

Once again Emiel and I went out for a few beers, and this time we stuck to just a few. We went to an underground bar that didn’t have much seating so we ended up being seated with this British guy. We had some good banter, and definitely could have got sucked into more beers with him, but we held strong and stopped at three. We also met an American girl from Georgia who had been traveling for two years including some exotic places in Africa. She was definitely not your average southern girl.

Khiva 

Khiva is a well preserved ancient walled city with mud brick buildings and turquoise minarets. The city has a population of around 102,000 to 115,000. Khiva’s crown is Itchan Kala, an inner walled medieval old town that feels like a snapshot of ancient times. It often described as an open air museum with more than 50 monuments including multiple turquoise tiles minarets, madrassas, palaces, and hundreds of traditional old homes built with mud dried bricks. 

Getting In

It was a six and a half hour train ride to Khiva on the slow train. I left at 6am and got in at 12:30. Like I said before, my guesthouse was kind enough to make me a prepared breakfast in the morning. I had a bottom bunk in the sleeper compartment, but right when I got on this grandma from the top bunk was asked (more like told me) to switch. How could I say no to her? Luckily this top bunk only had a higher shelf than the last one and there was plenty of open space unlike my coffin top bunk heading to Samarkand.

Lodging I only had one night in Khiva and when I got to my hotel they told me they overbooked and will have to send me somewhere else. I had this nice place in the heart of the old city a quick walk to all the attractions and they sent me to somewhere out the city. I showed up at the new hotel and it was a dump. I was pissed and told them I would be staying somewhere else. Instead I booked a hostel just outside the center in a a former Madrasah that looked nice. Upon further research the original place had horrible reviews on Google (I added my own one star review describing my poor experience) so I’m glad it didn’t work out. Meanwhile my new place was a spacious four room hostel and a great experience. The breakfast that was included was a delicious full spread. One of my roommates was a woman in her mid 40s from Osaka in Japan and we had a good conversation over breakfast. I told her I was heading to Japan after Uzbekistan and she gave me some recommendations of things to do in Japan and said to let her know when I go to Osaka. 

Itchan Kala

Itchen Kala means “inner town” in Uzbek and this walled inner fortress is enclosed by mud brick walls eight to ten meters high. It contains over 50 landmarks and 250 traditional houses. For 250,000 Uzbek Som (which amounts to a whopping $20.85) gets you 48 hour entrance to a bunch of the museums. The inner town is one giant bazar with a bunch of madrassas turned into museums; some had interesting artifacts and some not so much. It is also home to the Kalta Minor Minaret – a famous stubby, turquoise-tiles minaret; the Juma Mosque – a 10th century mosque held by over 200 intricately carved wooden pillars; the Islam Khoja Minaret – the tallest minaret in Khiva at 57 meters; the Kuhna Ark & Tashholvi Palace – historical royal residences and courtyards; and the Pahlavan Mahmoud Mausoleum – the resting place of Khiva’s patron saint. 

Climbing the narrow steep staircase to top of Islam Khoja Minaret costs an extra 100,000 som and provides amazing views of the inner walled city. 

It took all of one afternoon to enjoy the sites so on my second day I circled the historic city a few times but it’s like going to churches and castles in Europe or temples in SE Asia, where at some point you become bleary eyed and it all starts looking the same. Then I just sat on a bench watching the tourists crowds and soaking in the intricately detailed blue ceramic tiles one last time. I started studying up on Japanese customs because I know they have some specific rules of behavior and I want to respect their culture. 

One of the highlights for me was when I walked by the local elementary school get out right outside the walled city and all the kids were running around acting crazy. They live next to this old historic fortified city turned tourist destination but they’re all just a bunch of kids going through the early stages of their youth just like anywhere else in the world. Multiple kids ran up to me to say hello and were so excited to interact with a foreigner.

I ate both my meals outside the historic center to not pay the tourist price and to eat where the locals do. I went to a restaurant with no sign out front that only served plov and was packed with locals. It was meant to be my final plov (the lounge in the airport served plov so I ended up eating it again) of Central Asia and it delivered.

Getting Out 

I got back to my hostel and made friends with a couple living in Belgium but she was from France and he was from Portugal. I always find it fascinating talking to people in relationships from different countries, especially since that could be my future one day. I seem to click more with international women. 

We took a Yandex together to the train station.
I got on the train and it was another coffin one with barely any headspace. Khiva was the first stop though so I had the whole compartment to myself the first 30 minutes and sat on the bottom bunk, but my freedom didn’t last long.

At the first stop a group of older Uzbek women arrived in my section and I kindly helped them put all their various bags of food and giant rugs in the top and bottom bunk storage. They had enough apples, hard boiled eggs, rice, and who knows what else to feed the entire train. Then I got Uzbeki grandma heisted again. Even though I was already in the top bunk, they asked me (or more like told me…see my previous train story for a similar told not asked experience) to switch to the other top bunk in the aisle rather than the one in the four person compartment. It turns out the aisle top bunk had a giant bar that runs through the middle. No wonder they wanted to switch. Sigh oh well. At least it seemed to have more headroom. Five minutes later they proceeded to offer me grapes, an apple, and bread; so that made up for it. Lovely women.

It was a 13 hour overnight train ride to Tashkent and I was hoping to sleep better on the train, I woke up early that day so I thought that would help. But then I lied on the top of my uncomfortable sleeper bunk and my thoughts were racing. They weren’t negatives ones either. They were positive ones reflecting on tidbits of knowledge from my experience throughout this trip that hadn’t been fleshed out. Ideas and thoughts that got lost in the moment because so much has gone on in my life during these six months of travels that it can be hard to look back and assess with a realistic lens. Every day is sensory overload. I’m glad I wrote down so much in my notes, but it’s hard to even fathom all that’s happen these past six months: places I’ve traveled, people I’ve met, mountains I’ve climbed, cultures I’ve learned about, food I’ve tried, languages I’ve improved upon, and this is just the tip of the iceberg. And those are just experiences to digest, not to mention all the thoughts, feelings, and emotions along the way. I’ve had some time to decompress this wild experience while hiking or on long bus rides, but so much has happened that I hadn’t yet given a second thought to. 
I told myself I was going to slow travel this second time backpacking long term and it has been far from that; I have barely slowed down. It’s too hard to slow down when there’s so much to experience right in front of my eyes. Then it’s only rare moments like these where I really spend more time reflecting on all that has happened. 

When so much happens every day, it can be hard to notice the daily impact it’s having on me, but now that it’s six months in I think there’s been an accumulation of growth and change where my brain is thinking very clearly in new ways (even though it should be trying to sleep). Maybe this is a form of Japanxiety before the next leg of the trip, but I think it’s just a sign of mental growth that I have achieved. I came into the Stans hungover and anxious and look how far that came after two months. I’m coming into Japan excited and fulfilled so I hope to harness this positive to continue on upward on this life changing journey I have embarked on. Sorry that all got a little philosophical but I couldn’t sleep and felt I had to write this one down for my future self. I mean how often do you get to be on a 13.5 hour sleeper train in Uzbekistan annoyed at the Uzbeki Grandmas for making you switch to the less comfortable bunk bed while also appreciative that they fed you snacks? These are once in a lifetime experiences that happen every day on a trip like this. These same grandmas also lived through years of Soviet rule during Stalin followed by authoritarian leadership in an independent Uzbekistan so they’ve seen some shit. Who am I to complain? I finally put these racing thoughts to bed and fell asleep. We arrived in Uzbekistan and I had one last day to kill in Tashkent before flying to Japan.

Wow what a journey it has been in Central Asia exploring these four Stans! The hospitality and kindness of the people has been next level; the hiking and camping deep in the backcountry of some of the world’s most remote places was outer worldly; the Pamir Highway was the road trip of a lifetime; the Nomad Games was a unique look into Central Asian sports and nomadic culture; the interactions I had throughout were memorable and insightful; and I got to share lifelong memories with my buddy Ken.

Just because a country has “Stan” in it, doesn’t mean its dangerous. Quite the opposite really. I never felt unsafe and the people were beyond friendly. We have this irrational fear in the U.S. of Muslims, and yes extreme terrorist groups exist, but my experience was nothing but warm and welcoming energy. 

Thanks to diligent note taking (sometimes), many hours on trail hiking, and long bus rides; I have been able to bring some of these memories back to life. Japan, your up next!

Sadly I think I’m giving up on posting videos. WordPress isn’t built to handle video uploads very well and I end up spending more time trying to add videos than it’s worth. I think they add a lot of value, and sometimes do a better job than photos of showing what I am describing, but it’s been a huge headache every post and half the time they don’t even work.

Uzbekistan had a tough draw in the match. I was tired after nearly two months of traveling with Ken and hiking like absolute madmen. Plus I had spent the previous week on the adventurous road trip along the Pamir Highway stuck in the car with three other people. I really needed a beach vacation from my backpacking trip (I know my life is so tough) where I could sit on my conga baking in the sun and staring at the crashing waves, but Uzbekistan was in the neighborhood and I didn’t know when I would have another opportunity to visit. Don’t get me wrong, I still had a very enjoyable experience traveling around the world renowned Silk Road cities. I was just at the point of my backpacking trip where I was feeling a bit travel fatigued.

Uzbekistan stood at the center of the Silk Road with cities like Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva serving as strategic trading hubs linking China, the Middle East, and Europe. The country is a crossroads of civilization and melting pot of cultures – art, architecture, literature, music, science, religion, academia, and craftsmanship. Early civilizations like Bactria and Sogdia flourished in the river valleys before Arab conquests in the 8th century brought Islam to the area. The territory later came under control of the Persian Samanid Dynasty, the Turks, the Mongols, and conqueror Amir Timur (Tamerlane). Under Tamerlane, Samarkand became his imperial capital and flourished with a cultural and architectural boom. 

Following centuries of independent Uzbek khanate rule, the expanding Russian empire took over the territory in the 19th centuries. The Bolsheviks formed the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic in 1924 reshaping borders, driving rapid secularization, and enforcing massive cotton production. Like the other Stans I visited, the country gained independence in 1991 with the collapse of the USSR. Uzbekistan has had only two primary leaders since its independence with Islam Karimov ruling with authoritative power from 1991-2016 (the country held elections but true opposition political parties were suppressed and he would always win by a landslide) and Shavkat Mirziyoyev in charge ever since (slightly more fair but still an absence of real competition). 

Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly-landlocked countries in the entire world (the other being Liechtenstein) —meaning you have to cross at least two national borders from any direction to reach an ocean. Roughly 80% of the country is covered by flat desert plains. The eastern part of the country is mountainous on the borders with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Tucked between the mountains is the fertile Fergana Valley, a densely populated agricultural heartland. In the far northwest lies the remnants of the Aral Sea. Once one of the four largest lakes in the world, it was famously drained by Soviet irrigation projects that diverted its feeder rivers to grow cotton. The Aral Sea has lost roughly 90% of its surface area and water volume since its decline began in the 1960s Today, much of the former seabed is a toxic salt desert known as the Aralkum, presenting a major ecological challenge for the region. Once booming fishing villages have now been abandoned. The area’s only appeal now is a strange form of tourism to see the “Ship Cemetary” of abandoned rusting ships. 

The Uzbek som is 12,000 to the dollar so there’s lots of zeroes to deal with and always caused me minor headaches differentiating between the 10,000 and 100,000 notes. But hey at least I was a millionaire every time I pulled money out of the ATM! 

Almost every car you see on the road in Uzbekistan is a white Chevy. I did my research and historically 80-90% of the country’s vehicles are Chevy. Following its independence, Uzbekistan sought to establish a self reliant domestic economy creating a joint venture with South Korean automaker Daewoo and building Central Asia’s largest manufacturing plant. When Daewoo collapsed in the early 2000s, GM took over the plant and rebranded the vehicles as Chevrolets. For nearly three centuries, the Uzbek government aggressively protected its local factory by imposing exorbitant import tariffs often exceeding 100% of a vehicle’s value. Additionally, because millions of Chevrolets have been built domestically, the entire automotive ecosystem and supply chain is optimized for the brand. The Chevys are all white because of the extreme heat in the desert plains. 

Andijan

Andijan is the fourth largest city in Uzbekistan with a population of just over 500,000 people. Inhabited for over 2,500 years, it is one of the oldest cities in the Fergana Valley and historically served as a major trade crossroads on the Silk Road. Lying on the southeastern edge of the Fergana Valley close to the border with Kyrgyzstan, the city is surrounded by irrigated farmland in a region famous for cotton, silk, and fruit production. In modern times it has become a major manufacturing center producing chemicals, textiles, and machinery. Crowds of people in the streets, restaurants and shops, and heavy traffic had all become foreign to us. After staying in tiny villages along the Pamir Highway, Andijan felt like we had entered the largest city in the world. 

Getting In 

After our dispute with Musa’s brother over our deposit was resolved, he showed his Kyrgyz hospitality and offered to drive us the five minutes to the border. The same border we had crossed just a few weeks before on our way to Tajikistan. Once again, the stamps on Ken’s passport gave him issues and the border patrol sent him to a small room for questioning. Uh oh. Emiel and I waited on the other side hoping that Ken would be able to get through. The alternative would have meant him going to the embassy in Bishkek and flying out from there. That didn’t sound like a fun option. After 10-15 minutes, Ken’s smiling face came walking through. Woohoo! He ended up in a room with the same border patrol guard that had questioned him a few weeks before and was able to say he was just passing through the country for a day after completing the Pamir Highway. With that stress behind us, we easily crossed on the Uzbekistan side then had the joys of haggling with the taxi vultures. Ken was over the hustle but I was enjoying playing the negotiation game. We got one driver a little bit down on the price and figured good enough. But since we only had three of us, we sat in the car waiting while he found a fourth. After 10 minutes, we agreed that it would be worth the few extra dollars to pay for the whole taxi. I went and found the driver in the crowd and offered a price less than we would be willing to pay so that we could ultimately meet in the middle. I saved us a whopping $1.50! It felt good to play the game. The drive to Andijan was less than an hour and we got to our hotel by late afternoon.

Lodging 

We got a hotel room for one night in Andijan since the city only served as a stop off on our way to Tashkent. There were crazy tourist taxes that nearly doubled the cost, but we were too tired to really care. I learned this is common in Uzbekistan and was attentive in my future bookings to see what taxes were charged. Another interesting thing about lodging in Uzbekistan is that the government has a system to track tourists’ accommodations and it is recommended to ask your hotel for a print out of your stay (there is now a digital system but it is prone to system glitches) in case you get asked at customs when leaving the country. I always got a copy, or at least whenever possible as some guesthouses didn’t have printers, but never got asked when I left the country.  

Wandering Around Town

Ken, Emiel, and I once again celebrated the success of our Pamir Highway adventure and drank a bunch of beers at the hotel bar. The energy was high and the conversations flowing. We ended up getting authentic Uzbek dinner that night at a little known place called KFC. Sometimes you just need fried chicken in your life.

Our train the next day wasn’t until mid afternoon so we decided to be tourists and took a Yandex to the Andijan Regional Museum of History and Culture. The museum chronicles the archaeological history of the Fergana Valley and also houses some 20th century paintings by Uzbek artists.

Then we got lunch and headed back to the hotel to say our goodbyes to Emiel. He was heading directly to Samarkand, whereas Ken and I were going to Tashkent. There was a chance that I would catch up to him later on in Uzbekistan, but Ken was flying out the next day so they wouldn’t see each other again. The train station was a five minute walk from our hotel (part of the reason we chose it). 

Tashkent 

Tashkent is the capital of Uzbekistan and largest city in Central Asia with a population of approximately 3.28 million people. The city became the capital of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic on August 17, 1930 (my birthday! Just a few years before I was born) replacing Samarkand. The ancient city was mostly leveled by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake in 1966 and was subsequently rebuilt by Soviet architects with wide tree-lined boulevards. The city is an urban sprawl and not super walkable. Everything further away than it looks on a map. But it does have the first metro system in Central Asia. More on that later.

Getting In

Ken and I took the fast train to Tashkent lasting 4hr45min. Uzbekistan has the most advanced and efficient railway network in Central Asia, famously anchored by the high-speed bullet train, the “Afrosiyob.” It is the best way to get around the country but also requires booking tickets in advance particularly for the Afrosiyob. Since I didn’t book weeks in advance, I usually ended up on the slow trains. I still had to come up with a schedule for my 10 day stint in Uzbekistan in order to lock in a seat.  

We had regular seats and the train was air conditioned. There was constantly a guy walking down the aisle selling a variety of different snacks and drinks. Ken let me have the window seat. We were laughing about a small plot of land that belonged to Tajikistan inside of Uzbekistan. Upon further investigation into the map, there were also small blocks of land belonging to Uzbekistan inside of Kyrgzstan. These small enclaves were an end result of Soviet border drawings for these countries and the sudden collapse of the USSR. It was a crazy concept to live landlocked in a part of your country that was entirely surrounded by a different country.

Lodging

For his last night, Ken and I stayed in a hotel with smelly hallways nearby the train station in a predominantly Chinese neighborhood. We went out for amazing Georgian food and beers on our last night together. We had a great run and it was bitter sweet to see him leave the next morning. I was glad to have him as my partner in crime for all the crazy hikes and backcountry treks we had done. We traveled well together and I only occasionally got annoyed with him; as is bound to happen when spending so much time together traveling. But I was stoked to have my freedom back and to travel at my own pace exploring whatever fit my fancy in that moment; not having to ask someone else’s opinion on what to do next.  

On my first night of independence I decided to spend the big bucks and got a $35 hotel room that was the nicest place I had stayed in a while. It was clean, big space, double bed, nice shower, good breakfast buffet, and friendly staff. Very much worth the splurge. In our two months together, Ken and I never booked separate rooms, so it was nice to finally have an entire room to myself. 

Change of Plans

My original plan after the Stans was to go to Nepal to do more trekking. But the country has been going through a rougher than usual monsoon season, and for once in my life I was getting kind of tired of trekking. While on the Pamir Highway I was having second thoughts as to whether now was the right time to go to Nepal. I knew my sense of mountain adventure would be renewed once I saw the Himalayas, but I was feeling a little burnt out on trekking after having done so many hikes in Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, and Central Asia. The universe was pointing toward a change of plans. After careful consideration, I decided that Japan would be my next stop. I knew that I would make a future trip to Nepal a priority, but I didn’t know if I would ever have the opportunity to do long travel in Japan. My first night by myself in Uzbekistan I decided to lock in my future plans and booked a flight to Japan; a decision I would not regret. 

Tashkent Metro

For 2,500 Uzbek Som ($0.21), metro stops are both a tourist attraction and a functional means of transportation. The Tashkent Metro was the first metro system in Central Asia, opening its doors to the public in 1977. It now has four fully operational lines running. The metro was an important symbol of modernization and technological advancement during the Soviet era and served as a prestigious project for the city. For years you could not take pictures of the 29 Taskent metro stations, because of its military and strategic function, but this all changed in 2018. In the older metro lines each station has a story behind it and is tied to a theme reflected in its ornate design and decorations built by prominent Uzbek architects and artists. In Soviet ideology, the metro stations were to be palaces of the people representing the beauty of Soviet life. You can get off at the stop to view the architecture then hop on the next metro five minutes later. On my first full day in Tashkent, I made a point to hit a lot of the highlight metro stations; while also using it as a means to get me around the city to different tourist attractions. 

I started by taking the green line metro (the third line to open in 2001) to get lunch at Besh Qozon, a central Asian plov center. Every country in Central Asia serves plov, and I had eaten my fair share of it already, but for Uzbekistan it is their national dish; each region has its own variation and specific style differing on rice type, ingredients, and overall composition. I had read about Besh Qozon in a blog and with over 11,000 reviews on Google and 4.7 stars, I figured it was the place to be. The restaurant is huge and has both indoor and outdoor seating with a giant patio that seats hundreds of people; and almost every table was full. This was a good sign. The plov was delicious and certainly a step above some of the other versions I had eaten. 

After lunch I hopped back on the green line before switching over to the red line (the oldest line) and heading to Amir Temur Square. The main square of the city is home to the Uzbekistan Hotel, a landmark Soviet-era grand hotel. I didn’t look up what it cost for a room, but I imagine it was outside of my backpacker budget. In the center of the square was a nicely maintained circular park with flowers surrounding a statue of Amir Temur and the Uzbekistan Hotel in the backdrop. 

From there I walked down Sailgokh Street; a wide pedestrian only street with overhanging lights, food vendors on both sides, ping pong tables, playgrounds, and lots of activity. It felt nice walking around and exploring solo. I didn’t have to wait up for anyone or ask their opinions on what to do; just the way I like it. I enjoyed my time with Ken but am used to solo travel and it felt good to be back. I sat on a bench observing the hustle and bustle of people living their everyday city life.

I got back on the red line for one stop before switching to the blue line (the second line to open in 1984 and the one with my favorite stations). The switch from the red line Paxtakor stop and the blue line Alisher Navoiy stop is a center point of the metro system and had the most hectic crowds of any of the stations (but was nothing compared to the chaotic stations I would experience in Japan). I was on my way to the Chorsu Bazaar, but first I got off at multiple stops along the blue line to enjoy the architecture and murals. I took it all the way to the end before heading back toward the bazaar. 

I had seen a lot of bazaars in Central Asia, but Chorsu was one of the more interesting designs. It was a giant circle market centered around a dome. You could find all the usual stuff – souvenirs, artesanal goods, food, etc. I purchased a refreshing beet juice.

Then I walked through the Zarkanyar Street Shops which had an old city feel to it on my way to Hazarti Imam Complex. This complex is the religious heart of Tashkent with mosque, madrasas, museums, and other pilgrimage sites. This was the first of many examples of beautiful ornate Islamic architecture and tiled patterns that I would see in Uzbekistan. Afterwards I was tired and decided to Yandex back to my hotel rather than using the metro.

The following day, my train to Samarkand wasn’t until late in the afternoon so I went to the remaining popular metro stops on the red and blue line that I missed the day before. The red line was more crowded this time, maybe because it was around lunchtime, or maybe it’s always that crazy and I got lucky the prior day, but we were packed in there like sardines. I can’t even imagine how miserable this would be in peak summer heat. The space themed Kosmonavltar on the blue line was my favorite out of all of them.

On my last day in Uzbekistan (and Central Asia) after doing the major Silk Road cities, I had taken the overnight train from Khiva back to Tashkent arriving in the city at 8:15am. My plane wasn’t until 10:20pm so I had all day to kill. I dropped my luggage off at the storage locker in the train station so I didn’t have to deal with it. I had already seen the sites that interested me in Tashkent which gave me the whole day to do nothing. I passed the time by going from park to park, bench to bench, and cafe to cafe. I researched Japan and the Philippines, wrote the blog, and tried to learn some basic Japanese phrases. I also ate one final lagman for lunch, which turned out to be one of the best of the whole trip. 

I had all the time in the world to get to the airport after my nothing day in Tashkent so I decided to take the bus back to the train station since it only cost $0.22 (compared to the wildly overpriced $5 Yandex. That’s a 25x multiplier!). What an experience that was! At first it wasn’t too crowded but every stop way more people got on than got off and soon enough we were packed in there like sardines. It was so packed the door could barely close yet people were still piling in. Freaking Asia! I was so glad to get off that thing. It was a good final memory of Central Asia.

The Pamir Highway is one of the most famous alpine road trips in the world stretching across high altitude terrain in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan going from Dushanbe to Osh (or visa versa). It is the main reason backpackers and adventurers travel comes to Tajikistan. It is often paired with a detour to the Wakhan Valley, a southern road off the main highway that follows along the Panj River on the border of Afghanistan with views of the snow capped Hindu Kush mountains. People usually do a five (if excluding Wakhan Valley), seven, or nine day guided tour with a driver. Or if you’re real adventurous you hitchhike, bike, or rent your own car. The four of us decided that we wanted to go the adventurous route and rent a car for seven days. It required much more preparation and much more unknown than hiring a driver, but also gave us more independence; higher risk, higher reward. Plus how many people can say they’ve gotten behind the wheel and driven the Pamir Highway? A tour would have been a great experience, but I knew it would be more memorable to drive ourselves and deal with the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some of the best travel memories come with hardships and struggles, even if it sucks in the moment. These are the stories people really want to hear about.

Planning

The days leading up to driving the Pamir Highway were a mix of excitement and anxiety about the adventures ahead. I was diligently researching the route to create our itinerary, learn about the road conditions for each day, and figure out when/where we needed to fill up gas. As usual the Internet made it sound scarier than it actually was. The two biggest concerns, and valid ones, are (1) that the highway has sections on bumpy dirt roads that go through very remote areas with minimal to no civilization for miles. So if your car breaks down then you could end up in a sticky situation, especially since no one in our group was very mechanical. Breakdowns on the Pamir Highway are a common occurrence even with a guided tour – the road is rough, the cars are old and weathered, and the gasoline quality is poor; and (2) the weather can get dicey on the mountain passes with potential for rain, snow, and landslides. This one was completely out of our control. In the end, we got super lucky and had perfect weather. The other concern is that you drive over a few high mountain passes with narrow roads and steep cliff edges. This part didn’t worry me too much because Ken and I are both Colorado boys who have experience driving on some pretty serious mountain road terrain leading to the trails or campsites. We may live in a first world country, but some of the roads in Colorado our gutted out and damaged worse than in the third world. 

The good thing was that I felt confident in our group. We were all experienced adventure travelers who could work together to navigate the murky waters of the unknown. Tobi had driven motorcycles in India and Pakistan; Emiel visited Iran; and Ken and I both had experience traveling in South America, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia. 

A few days before leaving, we had received our mandatory special entry permits GBAO permits that we applied for online. Our hostel in Dushanbe printed us out nine copies of the permit on one side and a copy of our passport on the other side. We also got our OVIR visa that allowed us stay in the country for more than 10 business days. Even though Tajikistan allows for tourists to stay in the country for 30 days Visa free, you have to pay $18 for an OVIR visa if you stay more than 10 business days. I guess it’s not Visa free then?

Car Rental

During the previous week in Tajikistan we had put out feelers on car rental prices and options through posts on Facebook groups (which was the sketchiest. Tobi was messaging this person that wanted us to blindly send them a 30-50% deposit; who gives a range for a deposit? We researched it more and not surprisingly the person was a scammer) and emailing websites we found on Google. The website that gave us most confidence was IndyGuide, an online travel marketplace that connects independent travelers directly with verified local guides, drivers, tour operators, and hosts specializing in off the beaten path locations like Central Asia and Mongolia. What we really liked is that there were reviews for the person renting you the car so we could read about other people’s experiences. It also had a transparent pricing system and gave detailed information about the vehicles. I had two message chains going that were promising and roughly the same price (not to toot my own horn too much but this trip would not have happened without my initiative. I took charge of figuring out the rental car, asking all the detailed questions about the rental, and researching the itinerary). The first guy was very communicative, quick to answer all my questions with detailed responses, and was letting us take our time to decide. The other guy gave shorter responses (although maybe his English wasn’t great) and kept asking us when we would be able to pay the deposit. But the real red flag was that he said they had some breakdowns this year so we could still drive ourselves but they would send someone along with us in case something happened. Is this guy just going to be watching over our shoulders while we drive? Are they already anticipating a car breakdown? While this did provide a level of comfort to have our own personal mechanic, it would take away from the adventure a bit. After some discussion and sleeping on it for a night, we decided to push the chips all in and go with option one.

Since this wasn’t your normal rental car agreement from Hertz or Avis, here was my list of questions that all got thoroughly answered by Musa (the rental agent): 

-will we receive a contract or some type of verification stating the terms and conditions of the rental and confirming that we have paid in full 

-we might get extra oil for the car just in case – what type of oil?

-spare tire, jack, tire gauge to check pressure and other tools included?

-What type of gas do we refill

-do we get a copy of the insurance or how does this work 

-how to handle any problems with the car -I have a Garmin PLB, can we send you a test message to ensure you receive it 

-will we have all the necessary paperwork to cross the border. What all does this entail? Do we need to pay any additional fees at the border?

  -written confirmation we can cross the border

  -temporary import document 

  -pre arranged border zone permit  

-has this car had any breakdowns this season we should be aware of 

-what time and where do we need to drop off the car in Osh 

-will we receive the deposit back in USD

I thought it was a pretty comprehensive list of questions and was satisfied with his responses. 

Our Car

We rented a 2002 Toyota 4Runner with over 300,000 miles; and that’s driving on rugged roads in Tajikistan and Kyrgzstan. It goes to show how durable a 4Runner is! There was an aux plug we could use to connect our phones to play music. The car had lots of small scratches and a crack in the windshield but was overall in good shape. The trunk had a spare tire, a tool kit, and two 10L gas canisters. The check engine light was on when we received the car but Musa’s brother told us not to worry about it; that’s just because the catalytic converter had been removed. I love not worrying about a check engine light when driving hundreds of miles on dirt roads in remote areas. The engine struggled throughout the trip, especially going uphill, but overall the car was in decent enough shape. Minus our one hiccup we had on day two. More on that ahead. He told us to fill up using 95 gas, but there were times in rural Tajikistan where 92 was the highest available. This might have been part of the reason for the engine struggles, but we really had no other choice. We always used 95 when available. Gas cost around $1.15-1.25 per liter. 

Driving Responsibility

We all agreed to split driving responsibilities, but Ken and I would take charge on the more challenging sections since we have experience on Colorado roads. The other two guys are from flat countries – Tobi in Germany and Emiel in Netherlands. Plus Emiel was born with a gimp arm and can only drive with one arm. He said he liked driving but Ken and I had our suspicions, especially when the roads got bumpy. When we drunkenly made the plan I said I like driving and would drive at least 40% of the time. Also the car power of attorney was in my name, so I held the most liability. No offense to the other guys but I trusted myself the most. In the end, I was the best and safest driver. They all even said so. Although I did make one stupid mistake. 

Lodging 

We booked a homestay for night one since we knew our guaranteed end destination that night, and it made things easier while we got into the groove of the road trip. We knew our general itinerary for the other nights, but you never know what could happen with car breakdowns or if we decided to go slower or faster with our stops. A major selling point of having our own car was going at our own pace. And with that meant not tying ourselves to pre-booked accommodations.

We were driving the highway in late September/early October so it was the end of the season and we never had any issues showing up and booking our homestays upon arrival. Perhaps it would have been more difficult during peak season? The homestays all included breakfast, and most of them also gave the option to include dinner for a small extra fee. The cost for everything was $10-20. Not too shabby. Shockingly every one of the homestays except one had WiFi; although some worked better than others. I even had cell service at various times throughout the trip, including remote areas of the Wakhan Valley. Welcome to 2026.

Expenses 

We had read that ATMs along the Pamir Highway and in the Wakhan Valley would be sparse to non existent so we had to forecast our spending for the trip – accommodation, gas, activities, additional snacks/water, lunch, and any other miscellaneous events. On top of that, we didn’t want to withdraw too much Tajik Som because we would be crossing the border into Kyrgyzstan; and this may come as a shock but Tajik Som doesn’t hold much value on the exchange market. I used my Tulane Finance skills to forecast our costs and created a spreadsheet inputting our projected daily costs and calculating a total amount to withdraw. 

On top of all this, we had to pay for the car rental in cash. Musa quoted us in Euro, but he would accept Tajik Som (at a slightly disadvantaged rate because he had to convert that back Kyrgyz Som; he was from Kyrgyzstan). I had to pay a 90 euro deposit through the IndyGuide website to secure the cost. The fixed upfront costs were: 910 euros for the car (130/day), 250 euros to deliver the car to Dushanbe since we were doing a one way route, and 50 euro power of attorney (this is required to give us permission to drive the car). 

It was an exhaustive list of things to do beforehand, but these were the necessary steps required to drive the Pamir Highway self guided. 

Day 1: Dushanbe > Kalaikhum

Musa’s brother arrived at our hostel at 9:30am with the car. We went over the car inspection of the 2002 Toyota 4Runner I described above and I signed a few agreements. The most troublesome thing was the check engine light but he said not to worry, so we followed his advice. We gave him a wad of cash, packed our bags and snacks in the car, and I got behind the wheel for the first time since being in Sarasota in August to hit the road. But first we stopped at a grocery store in Dushanbe to get the heavy items we hadn’t shopped for yet – 5 five gallon waters, 12 large beers, and 3 bottles of vodka. We also had to stop for gas because he gave us a half full tank (which was how we had to return it). Then we were off! Our drunken Osh decision to drive the Pamir Highway into a week of planning and preparation has led to this. 

The road conditions for day one were well paved asphalt which was a nice way to ease us into how the car drove. I immediately channeled my inner Stan driving abilities and drove on the other side of the road to pass cars and trucks. People are used to creating an unspoken third lane and will drive on the shoulder to give space for passing cars. I actually really like the way they drive. Once outside Dushanbe the roads became more windy through the mountains, but it was still easy to pass slow moving Chinese semi trucks carrying who knows what. 

Our first stop was 1.5 hours outside Dushanbe at the Nurek Reservoir viewpoint. The Nurek Dam is the biggest and tallest operational dam in Tajikistan standing at 300 meters tall and is the backbone of the country’s hydroelectric power grid accounting for nearly 70% of the country’s electrical needs. Tajikistan relies heavily on hydroelectric energy; it accounts for 90% of all electricity generated. Sorry for the terrible joke but Nurek is pretty dam important.

There were a number of vendors setup at the viewpoint and we bought a samsa snack. This might have been the best samsa I had in all of Central Asia. It was so fresh and the woman added a creamy filling that we hadn’t tasted anywhere else. Our only regret was not buying more to eat later. 

I continued driving another hour before passing off responsibility to Emiel. I could have kept driving but I knew that I would be driving a lot in some of the more challenging sections and wanted to give the other guys an opportunity while the roads were easier. Emiel drove surprisingly well for a guy who could steer the wheel with only one arm. He was a bit jerky at times and had a tendency to gun with a few moments passing cars that could have gone smoother, but overall did a good job. 

We drove through numerous small villages with houses that were a decent size; it was hard to imagine this country is more poor than Bolivia, but who knows what the inside looked like? We stopped in a random village that probably never sees tourist and ordered a rotisserie chicken for lunch. 

The drive continued smoothly with minimal cars on the road and the occasional animal traffic – cow crossings or shepherds with hundreds of sheep; normal Central Asian things. Then we reached our first military checkpoint where we had to show our GBAO permits. The officer told us to pull over and we sat there for 10 minutes with nothing happening so Ken went to talk to a soldier and he told us we need to show our documents at the booth. Ah okay! First timers here. We got out of the car and had a seamless interaction with the soldier at the booth. Hopefully they’re all this easy! Emiel continued driving for another 20 minutes before we reached a viewpoint that gave us our first look at Afghanistan across the Panj River. The landscape was layered brown desert mountains that look like the melted sand castles we used to make as kids at Siesta Key beach. It was a surreal feeling that we would be spending the next couple days staring directly at the most worn torn country of my life. 

Tobi took over behind the wheel for the last 1.5 hours of our day one drive. His driving skills were average. The biggest mistake he made was hitting a dip in the road at a pretty high speed. Innocent enough mistake but you really need to be fully focused on these roads. Note to self, I’m going to be driving a lot. 

There were lots of mining operations by the river on the Afghan side and we were speculating as to what they could be digging for. I continued staring at the Afghanistan side in awe with only a barbed wire fence and the Panj river separating us. Every few miles we would pass by Tajik soldiers walking along the road protecting the border; some that don’t look a day over 16. When we would drive by, some would signal at us putting their fingers to their lips for a smoke. Sorry guys, can’t help you there. The cliffs became more sheer as we drove further along the river gorge. The Tajikistan side was desolate, but on the Afghan did there were a few small stone wall villages with mud houses built into the hills; some of them hanging over cliff edges. What a view they must have! I wonder what those go for on Afghan Zillow?

We reached the second military checkpoint and this one was a breeze too. This time they just had us roll down the car windows and took our paperwork directly from us. After already passing two checkpoints on day one, we were hopeful that nine copies was enough. I had read that the last 20 kilometers to Kalaikhum was bumpy, but the road continued to be in good shape. They are doing construction to improve the highway so certain sections weren’t as bad as what we had read. Soon enough the Pamir Highway will be the next Route 66.

It got dark the last 30 minutes before we arrived at the homestay in Kalaikhum and we were treated to a fiery sunset over Afghanistan. An easy day one in the books! We got checked in by Zafar, the little kid who the guesthouse was named. His English was surprisingly good. He must get a lot of practice talking to tourists driving the Pamir Highway. He asked if we wanted to add dinner for an extra $6. Of course we do! 

We had an hour to kill before dinner so naturally we cracked into our first bottle of vodka to celebrate a successful day one. A couple from Wales showed up about 20 minutes after us who we had seen back at our hostel in Dushanbe earlier that day also going over a rental car checklist. More brave souls willing to drive the highway themselves! Not surprisingly, they were very well traveled and the six of us started exchanging stories. We were served chicken wings (or actually a singular chicken wing), French fries, and a cucumber tomato salad for dinner.

Then we continued chatting with our new friends until the host came up and told us to be quiet because the other group was sleeping. He was very nice about it and told us to we could continue talking in our room instead of the common area. Fair enough! We kept the party going a bit longer before calling it a night. We had many long days ahead. 

Day 2: Kalaikhum > Rushan

We woke up at 7am (funny thing is that Afghanistan is 30 minutes ahead of Tajikistan and some of our phones registered Afghan time) and spirits were high to start day two as we had no clue the troubles ahead. But first, we had three fried eggs for breakfast at our homestay, as it was included with our accommodation. We looked across the Afghan border and little kids were playing volleyball just living their lives like any other children in the world.

Then we hit the road and I was first up to drive. On Maps.me we saw a few Zoroastrian temples (one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions founded in ancient Persia) that didn’t show up on any blogs, but this was the beauty of having our own car; we could make stops wherever we wanted. After 15 minutes of driving we took a short detour on a steep 4×4 dirt road with sharp turns over cliff edges. I was a bit white knuckled, but my years of Colorado driving experience came in handy. I put the 4Runner in 4×4 mode and maneuvered the car up winding uphill turns. One of the turns required three attempts, but we made it. This turned out to be the sketchiest section of the entire road trip. I parked the car at the top and we got out and walked around the remaining ruins of the fire, wind, and water temple. 

Going back down the road was a bit easier, but still required my full focus and concentration. We got back on the main road and I was glad to be done with that part. The next 45 minutes was a bumpy dirt road where big trucks had to squeeze by each other when approaching from opposite sides. 

We reached a paved road in a village when a group of turkeys walked across the middle of the road when all of the sudden the car wheel locked up and I had to stop the car. My first thought was that I ran over a turkey and it got caught in the wheel. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense but the timing was curious. We got out and there was a nail in our tire. Shit! Our first hiccup. I got back in the car so I could pull further over to the side of the road but a bunch of new warning lights came on and the engine cut off. When it rains it pours. The lights were  probably unrelated to the tire, but one problem at a time. Ken knew how to change a tire (and I had some knowledge) and we got to work lifting up the jack and unscrewing the lug nuts. 

We started changing the tire when some locals driving by got out of their car and helped expedite the process. The spare tire was now on but the car still wouldn’t start because of the other issues. The locals thought one of the lights might be indicating that we ran out of petrol, but we had filled up in Dushanbe and the gauge still showed near half tank. Maybe the gauge was broken?

Luckily I had perfect service so I messaged Musa to let him know about the flat tire and that the car won’t start. While we were waiting, our Wales friends from the night before drove by and pulled over to ask if we needed help. We told them the situation and they said they would be glad to drive us back to Kalaikhum to fill up our petrol canisters. They had also forgotten to fill up on gas and said it was no sweat making the detour as they could refill their car too. Ken and Tobi rode with them while Emiel and I waited by the car. One of the locals, MJ, spoke good English and gave me his number in case we still had issues after getting gas; and they went on their way.

I heard back from Musa and told him the locals thought we might have run out of gas and that my friends were heading back to Kalaikhum to fill the canisters. He asked me to send him photos of the warning lights and a video of me starting the car and to keep him in the loop. At least we broke down on a wide asphalt road rather than a narrow section of the dirt road we just came from. Also we were in a village where I had service and not some remote location miles away from civilization. As far as breakdowns go, the location could not have been more perfect. 

While we were sitting there waiting, this little kid came over to say hello to us. Then his grandma came out to corral him and she invited us in for chai. Sure why not?! Their house was right in front of where we broke down so I could still keep an eye out for Ken and Tobi’s arrival. She gave us bread and candy then came out with chai and a hearty soup with onions, potatoes, peppers, and beans in a delicious broth. An older gentleman in the house came out and joined us for soup as we communicated through smiles and thumbs ups. Emiel and I were getting fed a free lunch while we waited. Man I love Tajikistan! 

Ken and Tobi finally came back with gas and we held our breaths when it tried to start the car again. Same problem. None of us were too surprised though. It was wishful thinking. Meanwhile the grandma invited the Wales couple in for soup. I got on the phone with Miss and he spoke surprisingly good English. He tried to help us troubleshoot the problem over FaceTime asking us to disconnect one of the pipes in the engine to run a test to see that gas wasn’t leaking. This type of mechanical work was outside our wheelhouse, but Miss walked us through the steps over a video call. We proved there wasn’t a leak and he began to suspect an issue with the fuel pump. I told him that we had met a local guy who knew a mechanic that could help us out. I gave him MJ’s number so they could broker the deal without me being the middleman. 

In less than 30 minutes MJ was back, and this time he had a mechanic (who they called a master) by his side. The auto shop came to us. The mechanic checked the engine and ran some tests before coming to the same conclusion that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. While we were watching, the grandma came out again asking Tobi and Ken if they wanted soup. Might as well feed everyone! 

With Musa’s blessing, the mechanic got approval to rip apart the metal under the back seat using a knife and hammer to create a hole and pull out the fuel pump (I’m assuming this type of work normally requires jacking up the car and removing the pump from below). It was highly entertaining to watch. He pulled out the fuel pump and showed us how dirty it was. There was a replacement pump in the trunk of the car (Musa had surely already anticipated this problem. Apparently it’s a common issue in Tajikistan because of the low quality of fuel) and the mechanic got to work doing cleaning out the old filter and replacing it with a new one. Meanwhile we were talking to MJ and thanking him for all his assistance. He said you are guests in my country and in Muslim culture the guest is number one. I had felt this hospitality as a guest since my arrival in Central Asia and this day in particular proved how willing people are to go the next level to make you feel welcomed. The grandma fed us soup and gave us chai, MJ helped us changed the tire and brought us a mechanic, and then to top it all off a nice old lady walking by threw us a bag of walnuts. 

In less than an hour since his arrival, the mechanic put in the new fuel pump and got behind the wheel to start the car. Voila! It started with a roar and we all cheered. Woohoo the car got fixed! Of course we had our doubts as to how it would perform the following days since we were only on day two of seven, but for now the problem had been solved. We paid the mechanic a measly $60 for coming to us and doing the job, thanked MJ for going out of his way to help us, and got a group photo to cherish the memory. 

What a crazy morning/early afternoon that was! In the end, we lost four hours to the breakdown, but it could have been way worse. At one point I was going through scenarios in my head that we would have to end our trip here or at least spend another couple of nights in Kalaikhum while the car got fixed. The whole group was calm and collected throughout, which made things better. No one panicked or freaked out. It also helped we got fed a free lunch. It takes a village! I let Musa know the car was up and running again; and that we would continue to stay in touch over the next few days. 

It was already 2pm and with the time lost there was no way we were going to make it to Khorog as we initially planned. Another good reason for not booking a guesthouse in advance. But we still wanted to make it further down the road so we didn’t get too far off schedule. I was still a bit shell shocked from before so I let Ken take over as driver. The next few hours were slow moving as we got back onto a bumpy dirt road. The car was quiet after our hectic experience so we listened to music and stared out the windows soaking in the scenery. You could tell they were making improvements to the road as there was lots of construction. We would go from a dirt road with rock fall in the middle of the road to nice new asphalt then back to a dirt road filled with potholes. The distance wasn’t far but we could only drive 10-15 MPH because of all the potholes, and we had to be extra careful since we were driving on our spare tire. You could never get into a rhythm and always had to be paying attention. Ken did a good job. 

The dirt road followed along the Panj River with Afghanistan always in viewing distance on our right. There were some up and down parts and some narrow sections where only one car could go from each direction, but overall the drive wasn’t that tough. You just had to keep it slow with the potholes and extra slow when the Chinese semi trucks would drive by and create a temporary dust storm. We reached another military checkpoint and passed through with ease. The guy joked with Emiel to take his hat off and that was it; he immediately let us through. 

We drove through the occasional small village with people living the rural Tajik life. It really made me wonder what it’s like living here. Some villages kids were selling apples to passing by cars and in one village there were kids who were just lying on the road in the middle of the Pamir Highway watching something on their cell phones. After a few hours, I took over again as driver because Ken doesn’t like to drive in the dark and sunset was approaching. The drive continued at a slow pace until we finally reached a section where the road became smoother and the bumps less frequent. I still took it slow because it was now nighttime but could go faster than we’d gone all day. Finally we reached the town of Rushan just before 7pm and stopped at a guesthouse to see if they had room. The woman welcomed us in and for $10 we had a room and breakfast. We would just need to walk five minutes into town for dinner. 

We ended up at a restaurant that also served alcohol so we ordered a couple small bottles of vodka to go with our dinner. It had been a long day and it felt good to take a load off.

We started getting a bit looser when a group of locals entered the restaurant and sat down to chat with us. One guy was a professor and spoke good English. There was a live band playing at the restaurant and next thing you know we get on the dance floor with the locals and all start vibing out to the music. We were all yelling “Tajikistan ba pesh!” They were loving our energy. We had come a long way since being stuck on the side of the road with a broken car, but somehow it was still the same day; the perfect nightcap to a crazy day.

We left the restaurant buzzing and went back to the hostel to share a few of our big beers before finally calling it a night.

Day 3: Rushan > Ishkashim

We all woke up with a slight hangover, but still managed to get out of bed by 7:30am and have a hard boiled eggs and bread for breakfast. The other clientele at the guesthouse was truckers making a pit stop for the night. Our first stop of the day was the to tire repair shop in Rushan  where we got our tire filled up and patched. We also had the mechanic put the original tire back on because it had better traction than the spare. 

Emiel was the first driver of the day. The dirt roads were a little bumpy, but much better condition than the day before. There were a few times where Emiel hit the bumps with too much speed and I told him he had to slow down. This isn’t like driving in the Netherlands. We just got the tire fixed and the fuel pump changed, no reason to cause any new issues. Luckily he took the constructive criticism well and started driving more cautiously. About an hour into the day, we saw our first hitchhiker and immediately had to turn around to do a double take. Back when we were in Osh, there was a French Italian guy at the hostel who was planning to hitchhike the Pamir Highway. Lo and behold, he was the hitchhiker we drove by. We caught up with him for a few minutes asking how his hitchhiking experience had been when a semi truck drove pulled over willing to pick him up. Wow that didn’t take long! We said our goodbyes and he was on his merry way. 

Emiel continued driving for another hour until we reached Khorog, the town we were originally going to stay in night two before our snafu. Khorog is the turning point where you either continue east on the Pamir Highway or head south to the Wakhan Valley; the direction we were going. We filled up on gas (and also filled the two 10L canisters because the Wakhan Valley is known to lack gas stations) and I got behind the wheel again. The road continued to be bumpy, but not horrible. You could at least drive with some speed before the occasional slow down for bigger potholes. The scenery on this day wasn’t anything too special compared to the other days. After about an hour of driving and one easy military checkpoint, we made a short detour to Garam Chasma Hot Springs. These outdoor springs were full nudity and we all scampered into the water trying not to look at each others’ junk. It was just us and one Tajik guy enjoying the relaxing hot water. 

While we were in the water, this guy sat down on the bench trying to sell us on suction cup therapy. I guess it’s good for pain relief and improving blood circulation. He said it only takes 10 minutes a person. Ken wanted to do it so we all said sure, why not. Except Emiel who decided to opt out. It was honestly a pretty weird experience and I’m not sure I felt any benefits. Plus we had these giant circular rings on our backs that looked like bruises for the next three days. Afterwards we had chicken shashlik lunch in town then got back on the road.

I continued driving for another 1.5 hours before my eyes started getting heavy and Emiel took over again. The dirt road was in average condition and not too difficult to drive at a medium speed. We didn’t see many other cars all afternoon. The last couple hours dragged a bit and we reached Ishkashim around 5:30.

We were the only guests at the home stay (can tell the season is coming to an close) and the rooms were two person each rather than all four of us together. The host was a friendly old man who spoke great English and made us feel very welcomed. For what it’s worth, this place also had the best WiFi. Dinner and breakfast were included in the $20 accommodation price. We got fed a salad and two entrees: Lagman and a sauerkraut-like thing; plus freshly picked apples from their yard for dessert. We were all tired and went to bed early that night. 

Day 4: Ishkashim > Langar

Day four was our chillest day driving as the main focus was stopping at the attractions in the Wakhan Valley. Our breakfast was fried eggs, mashed potatoes, and a hot dog sausage. We were on the road by 7:30 and Ke  drove first. It had rained the night before in Ishkashim which added a fresh dusting of snow on the Afghan mountains off in the distance. Everyone in town was out on a morning stroll walking their livestock. We only had to go 20 minutes before reaching the Khaka Fortress. This massive ancient military fortification dates back to the 2nd or 3rd century BC built by the Kushan Empire during the height of the Silk Road to secure trade routes. Once again going at the end of the season paid off and we had the entire fortress to ourselves. We walked inside the walls marveling at how well maintained the mud brick and stone rampart ruins were more than 2,000 years after construction. It was an impressive site to see. 

When we left the fort, a vendor must have seen our car while we were inside exploring because he had setup a stand selling scarves, hats, and other souvenirs. I tried on a scarf that he said was from Afghanistan and he gave me a hat and a plastic gun to pose for a photo. I later posted it to Instagram saying “Mom I joined the Taliban” which wasn’t received well by their moderators and got taken down for potentially offensive content. Oops. I thought it was funny. I ended up bartering with him for the scarf and came away with a souvenir.

The road was in surprisingly good shape and we went through some golden tree tunnels displaying nice fall colors. After about an hour, we turned off the main road and got onto a narrow winding dirt road up to the Yamchun Fort. It wasn’t as difficult as the road up to the Zoroastrian temples, but it was still a bit of a nail biter, and Ken did a good job getting us up it. He drove a 4Runner back in Colorado and had plenty of experience on uphill dirt roads with cliff edges. We had to pause at one part to watch a cow fight that broke out in the middle of the road.

The Yamchun Fort is built on a triangular spur 3,000 meters high overlooking the Hindu Kush mountains of Afghanistan and surrounding canyon cliffs. It was also built by the Kushan Empire and dates back to the 3rd or 1st century. The fortress mimics the natural contours of the cliff side to blend in with its surroundings. And you guessed it, we had the place to ourselves. 

Then we continued up the winding dirt road for a few more miles to reach the Bibi Fatima Hot Springs. These natural springs are built directly into a narrow rock cave. We had to wait our turns for about 20 minutes until a group of local women were done using the springs (only one sex allowed at a time). I have no photos of this one since it was tucked away and we were all naked by the time you could see it. A few local guys joined us too. This spring was even hotter than the Garam Chasm the day before and didn’t take long for us to get our fill. 

Afterwards we had a picnic in front of the car cutting slices of sausage and cheese onto bread with a spread of mustard and eating snacks. I got back behind the wheel to get us down the winding dirt road then it was another hour to Langar with nice valley views and massive snow capped mountains in the background. 

It was only 2pm but the next section required a long drive up a mountain pass and then there was a hike to a viewpoint we wanted to do, so it was already too late in the day to keep going. We had been driving into the evening the first three days so it was nice to call it quits earlier in the afternoon. We drove by a guesthouse where these little kids waved us to come in. The building looked rundown, but it had good outdoor seating and the rooms inside weren’t bad. Plus they had a cute dog.

Everyone lied down to rest and I ended up falling asleep while reading my book. I was more tired than I thought. After our rest, we sat outside in the dining area and cracked open another bottle of vodka while we waited on dinner. There was a soft spoken French guy named Thibaut staying at the guesthouse who was hitchhiking the Pamir Highway so we asked him about his experience thus far. It seemed to be fairly easy. Sometimes he had to wait longer and some people expected money, but overall he was making good progress and stopping at the places he wanted to see. His trip had him en route from Istanbul to Indonesia. It’s always fascinating to hear the itinerary of other backpackers. We had an absolute feast for dinner that night. The host brought out a tray of fruits, nuts, candies, and chocolates to start then followed it up with salad, soup, and plov with chicken. Full and sleepy, we went to bed early again that night. 

Day 5: Langar > Murghab

We got up at 7 for another fried egg breakfast and hit the road by 7:30 for a long day ahead. The driveway to back out of the guest house had a wall directly behind it and I was still half asleep trying to be cautious, when all of the sudden smack. Fuck!! I had gotten so used to back up cams beeping at me that I misread how close I was to the wall. I didn’t hit it that hard but it made a noticeable dent on the back left side of the car and slightly popped out one of the panels. Ugh! I felt like such a dumbass. The other guys reassured me it’s all good and that we would all split any deduction from the deposit just like we had agreed before the trip. I was pissed at myself but didn’t let it deter me for too long. It was a stupid early morning mistake and I had to focus my driving skills on the mountain pass road ahead. 

Google said it would take 1.25 hours to the top of the pass but it took closer to 3. I’m not sure how one could possibly drive on that road at 50 MPH to match Google’s ETA. It was a gravel road with the occasional pot hole winding along the edge of the mountain with some sharp turns and narrow sections that only fit one car. Luckily we only saw one car the entire way up to the pass. It was heading in the same direction as us and I drove around with ease. There were a few white knuckle sections over cliff edges but overall not too bad. I could see how it would be very tough on a snowy or rainy day but we had perfect weather. It also would have been more difficult in the narrow sections if we came face to face with a car coming from the opposite side and had to flip it in reverse, but this was not an issue this time of the season. We were in the middle of absolute nowhere; there were no villages or signs of human life along the way. This would have been a horrible place to breakdown. The car’s engine was definitely struggling on the steeper uphill sections so I held my breath a few times praying to Allah that we would be okay. I remained focused on driving safely while also soaking in the incredible surrounding views. The scenery was breathtaking. There was a military checkpoint at the beginning and toward the end of the pass; both were quick and easy. We really never had any issues at the GBAO checkpoints. 

We arrived at Khargush Pass sitting at 14,251 feet high and immediately felt the crisp cool mountain air when we got out of the car. When I was researching our itinerary, there is a popular hike to a viewpoint that you can do from the pass. There were two other cars parked at the mountain pass doing the hike (they were tour groups with a driver) but we saw no other cars until we hit the Pamir Highway. It was nice to finally stretch our legs rather than sitting in the car. The hike was short, but fairly steep, and no joke at this altitude. We gained 1,400 feet in 1.5 miles to reach the 15,630 foot Hausibek’s Viewpoint. It was well worth the effort for the insane views of the snow capped Afghan mountains. The Pamir Mountains are known as the rooftop of the world and it certainly felt that way from this vantage point. This was our last good look at Afghanistan; and the best one yet! 

After soaking in the views for about 20 minutes, it was getting cold and we headed back down. We sat by the car and made ramen for lunch using Ken’s gas burner that had come in so handy during our backpacking trips. The road on the other side of the pass was more wide open with less concerns about cliff edges, but it still required constant focus. There were some washboard sections that had the car rattling even at 10 MPH. Somehow the other guys all fell asleep while I drove even with the constant bumpiness.

We finally returned to the Pamir Highway and had to decide if we wanted to detour to Bulunkul and Yashikul Lake or head east to Murghab, our next stop for the night. I was indifferent on the lakes because we still had a few more hours to go and I knew the hour detour would mean we arrived late, but the other guys wanted to see the lakes so we plowed ahead. It was another washboard road  but there were also dirt roads on both sides that split off and reconnected to the main road that we were in slightly better shape so I treated the drive like a Mario Kart course weaving in and out of the side roads.

After the lake detour we got back onto the Pamir Highway and I relieved myself of driving duty after five hours behind the wheel. Emiel was up next. We thought that since we were back on the Pamir Highway road conditions would improve. We could not have been more wrong. This might have been the worst section of the entire road trip as far as road conditions are concerned. It was an asphalt road that had gigantic potholes that were deep and often unavoidable. I have to hand it to Emiel, he learned quickly from his previously rushed driving on bumpy roads and did a great job on this section. The distance wasn’t very far but we slowly made our way through the next 3.5 hours of rough road. I offered to drive but Emiel said he was in the zone and drove the whole way. The mountains surrounded us in all directions as we drove in the valley between them. Now it really felt like Tajikistan was more than 90% mountainous. We drove past the occasional small village with half built mud houses and this is when Tajikistan felt like it was more poor than Bolivia. These rural towns looked like they would not be fully finished and the people have probably never seen anything outside their little village. 

Nighttime fell and we still had another hour to go before finally reaching Murghab. After our final military checkpoint we reached our destination. The town was run down looking and we couldn’t even find the first guest house so we settled for the next one. They had space but only breakfast was included and there was no WiFi. It was our longest day on the road and we were glad to finally get out of the car. But we had to hop back in shortly after to drive to a restaurant in town. We weren’t even sure anything would be open. The place looked closed but I went inside to ask and they said they were still serving food. We each ordered lagman and manti for the table. There was no menu and the price was a bit high (I’m sure we paid a tourist tax) but the food was delicious. We drove back to the hostel and called it a night. 

Day 6: Murghab > Sary Mogul 

We were back on schedule and didn’t feel rushed to leave in the morning. Breakfast was fried eggs and sausage with yogurt and apricots then we packed up the car and hit the road. We filled the car up with the two 10L canisters before leaving the guesthouse because we didn’t need them anymore then hit a gas station to top off. It was a nice asphalt road with the occasional potholes to Ak-Baital Pass. Ken was driving and did a horrible job. The car engine was struggling so when he finally got speed he didn’t slow down and would smash over some of the potholes at way too high of a speed. Come on dude! I understood his frustration with the car, and we weren’t far from our end goal now so breaking down wouldn’t be as bad as when we did on day two, but still; he knew better than this. The mountain views were probably the best we’d seen the whole trip and it was a joy to look out the window. Everyone was in good spirits and the group energy was high as we chatted the whole morning without even playing music. 

The road to Ak-Baital Pass was a very steady incline for the first hour but the it started getting steeper as we got close to the pass and our shitty engine was struggling. We were near the top of the pass when we reached a very steep section that the car couldn’t make up. Ken put it in 4×4 mode then backed up the car to get some speed. We all got out of in case we had to push, but he was able to power it through. It was a funny scene watching us all try to run after the car at over 15,000 feet high and we got back in completely out of breath.

We got out of the car at Ak-Baital Pass to take photos and soak in the views. At 15,272 feet high, it is the highest point on the Pamir Highway and ranks as the highest drivable road in the former Soviet Union. We were at the roof of the world. 

The views remained stunning as the drive continued downhill to Karakul Lake. Not far to the east lies the Chinese border. The massive turquoise lake came into view and the Trans-Alay mountain range towered in the backdrop on this perfectly clear day. Man we sure did get lucky with the weather! The massive snow-covered north facing wall of Lenin Peak stood as the highest of them all. This 7,134 meter (23,406 foot) peak is known to be one of the “easier” 7,000 meter mountains to climb. It’s a life goal of mine to make it to the top one day. I’ve hit 6,000 meters so we’ll see if I ever make it to 7,000. A lot more training and high altitude mountain climbing is required. A boy can dream. 

Karakul is a common stop along the Pamir Highway but it looked like a ghost town this late in the season. We found the one restaurant that was open and stopped for lunch. It was a below average of plov but any food would do. Tobi took over for the first time since driving on day one. The road was in good shape at this point with just the occasionally pothole that was easy to avoid. He drove for about 45 minutes but as we got close to the border, we figured it would be best if I drove since the power of attorney for the car was under my name. After another 15 minutes we reach the Tajikistan border. We were the only ones there and it was an easy crossing. The guy asked how our experience was in the country and we told him it was amazing. Then we said “Tajikistan ba pesh!” and he absolutely loved us. Works every time! He asked for our car registration and there were no further questions related to the car. 

There is a 15 mile gap of no man’s land on a mud and red dirt road until Krygzstan that is completely desolate with no services, shops, or shelters. If crossing the border by shared taxi, then you are forced to walk this stretch because vehicles from Tajikistan can’t cross in Kyrgyzstan and visa versa due to historical and political tensions. It was only recently that the border reopened for foreign tourists. Luckily we had our own car registered under Krygzstan. We passed by a few bike packers making their way along the last stretch of the Pamir Highway. We were almost at the Krygzstan border when I had to slow down and wait for a yak crossing. Another day in no man’s land. The yaks have no concerns about border tensions.

The last section was a steep downhill switchback before finally arriving at the Kyrgzstan checkpoint. We were the only people in line and it was an easy crossing for all of us except Ken. Once again they got confused with how many stamps he had in his passport and struggled to count the days. I was waiting behind him for nearly 10 minutes nervous that he would get shut down and stuck in no man’s land. Finally the guy said “good luck” and let him through. It was an ominous statement, but he was safe for now. The border patrol probably saw he was with all of us and figured screw it, this can be the next guy’s problem. I went last and once again they asked for the car registration and that was it. Then they lightly searched the car before letting me drive thru. I had some slight anxieties about driving across the two borders but we had no issues at all. 

Now that we were on the Kyrgyzstan side the Pamir Highway was a nice asphalt road where I could get up to 50 MPH no problem. It felt good to finally drive at a real speed again for the first time since day one. We survived the bumpy dirt roads of Tajikistan. In 20 minutes we reach Sary Tash then we went got off the Pamir Highway and took a 30 more minute detour west to the town of Sary Mogul arriving just after 3:30. This village is a popular destination for backpackers who are coming from Osh and I could see why. It had insane views of the Trans Alay mountain range. We found a nearby guesthouse run by a friendly Kyrgyz woman with a bunch of children running around and checked in as the only guests. Off season rules!

We took it easy for a bit then cracked open the last bottle of vodka and remaining beers. The woman served us a three course dinner with salad, soup, and an entree. It was delicious but way too much food! We must have had at least three potatoes each. The conversation and drinks were flowing as we reflected back upon the experience we all just shared together. We finished our stash of alcohol and went into town to buy a few more beers stocking up on the only three left at the store. We still had one more day of driving ahead, but the hardest part of the Pamir Highway was behind us. It was a great celebration and a fun night! 

Day 7: Sary Mogul > Osh 

We woke up in no rush and had fried eggs and bread with jam for breakfast. Then it was time to say our good byes to Tobi. He was staying in Sary Mogul for a few days to chill out before hitchhiking to China and continuing on to the next part of his journey. I’m going to miss his dry, sarcastic German humor. 

Ken started out the morning as our driver and we immediately picked up a woman who was hitchhiking in Sary Mogul. Now that Tobi was gone we had room to pick up hitchhikers. We figured we would pay it forward for the hitchhiking we’d all done on our trip. The woman didn’t know much English but she was appreciate that we picked her up. She was a geography teacher in Sary Tash and we dropped her off after 25 minutes of driving. It was a nice asphalt road the rest of the way to Osh but our first day of shitty weather. It was rainy and foggy with very poor visibility as Ken drove us up our final mountain pass. He did a great job given the conditions and removed himself from my shit list as a driver. 

The visibility cleared up as we got to lower elevation and we picked up another hitchhiker. This guy kept speaking to us in Kyrgyz as if we were all the sudden going to understand his language. He was very chatty in the beginning but I think he finally understood we had no clue what he was saying and shut up. He rode with us for 45 minutes before we got to the town he said he was going and pulled over to filled up on gas one last time. I think he wanted to go a little further but he got out of the car once he realized we were getting gas. 

I got back behind the wheel for the final stretch to Osh. We stopped for lunch in a random village that had probably never seen a tourist and ordered some delicious chicken wings. We drove another 15 minutes and stopped at an auto repair shop to try to fix the panel. They made it look a little better and we figured that’s the best we can do. We’ll put it up to fate as to what impact it will have on our deposit. 

I told Musa we were getting close and to meet us at the bus station. There was a lot of construction and the traffic nearby the station was horrible. The maps took us to a weird entrance that didn’t exist and I had to figure out a way to U turn in standstill traffic. It was horrible. One of the most stressful parts of the entire road trip. I drove like a local and cut someone off and made it work. We parked at a gas station next to the bus station because it was too difficult to figure out how to get in. 

After 10 minutes of waiting Musa’s brother (the one who had dropped off the car with us in Dushanbe) showed up to inspect the car. He immediately noticed the damage in the back left and also questioned the patched tire. Let the shitty part begin. He pulled out his phone to use Google Translate and we got into a dispute over the car damages. “The car lost some of its value” is what he said. Oh the car with 320,000 miles and a bunch of scratches? He was actually more concerned about the tire not being fixed properly than the dent in the back and kept saying that he was now going to have to replace the tire entirely. We argued back that we took it to be fixed and the patchwork was what the mechanic did. This was no fault of our own. They owe us $60 for the fuel pump repair that we had paid for on day two and on top of that wanted to give us only $300 out of the 500 plus. We held strong saying $400 back and they keep the repair money was reasonably fair. In the end it’s only $25 per person difference but they gave us an old car with a failing engine and all we came back with was a small dent; the tire getting a nail puncture was normal wear and tear on the Pamir Highway. In the end he got on the phone with Musa who told him to give us $400 back for the deposit and he would pay him back the rest. Musa really was a good guy! The agreement was set and the argument was over. Phew! Glad that’s done with. Now the Pamir Highway adventure has officially ended.

It was one of my most wild adventures and memorable experiences renting a car and driving seven days on the Pamir Highway and in the Wakhan Valley: incredible mountain views, bumpy dirt roads, three days driving along the border with Afghanistan separated by the Panj River and a barbed wire fence, ancient fortresses, nude hot springs, friendly home stays, and so much more. In the end our car getting a flat tire and breaking down the second day only caused a 4+ hour delay and makes for a great story. It was a true testament to the friendly nature of the Tajik people – the local guy MJ who helped us get a mechanic to replace the fuel pump in the middle of the street and the grandma across the street gave us chai tea and fed us soup while we waited. We got so lucky with the weather and thanks to going this late in the season had minimal cars on the road, barely anyone at the tourist destinations, and no problems finding accommodation. 

Tajikistan lives in the shadows of the neighboring Stans, but it still played a key role in the history of Central Asia as a crossroads for culture, commerce, and religion. Even though the Tajik people were dominated by foreign empires for centuries – Persians, Mongols, and Russians; they still have a strong sense of cultural pride and resilience. The foundation of the Tajikistan identity is formed from the enduring presence of Persian culture, the impact of the Silk Road, the spread of Islam, and the traditions of the Sogdians (ancient Iranian civilization that was the economic and cultural heart of the Silk Road between the 4th and 8th centuries CE). 

Tajikistan became an independent nation when the USSR dissolved in 1991 just like the other Stans. The country had a tough start to independence and broke into civil war from 199-1997 between regional, political, and Islamic factions that caused tens of thousands of deaths and crippled the economy. President Emomali Rahmon came into control starting in 1994 and hasn’t given up power since running the country under authoritarian rule. Endemic corruption, repression of political groups, kleptocracy and nepotism are deeply intertwined with the ruling family’s grips on power. The original constitution had a five year presidential term limit which was then modified to seven followed by two consecutive seven year term limits and he has since removed these limits and been in power for over 30 years. He also lowered the age for presidential candidates clearing a direct path for his son’s political rise. The extended Rahmon family and their close associates control the nation’s major commercial banks, airlines, retail monopolies, and resource extraction companies. When elections get held every five years, he wins by a landslide receiving 80-90% of the votes. Hmmm sounds sketchy. All around Tajikistan were photos of Emomali Rahmon and the museums portrayed him as a hero. I loved the Tajik people I met and didn’t have it in me to ask their actual opinions on the country’s politics.

Tajikistan is as mountainous as it comes with 93% of the country’s total territory covered by mountains, making it one of the most rugged countries on Earth. Approximately half of the country lies at an altitude over 3,000 meters above sea level. It reminds me a lot of Bolivia. Speaking of Bolivia comparisons, Tajikistan is one of the poorest counties in Asia, consistently ranking near the bottom for average GDP with roughly one third the average of Central Asia. It is even significantly poorer than Bolivia, which is interesting because it definitely didn’t feel that way, but the numbers don’t lie. Lots of people in rural Tajikistan live below the poverty line and have poor access to education, health, and other basic amenities. 

Okay done with history and facts, here’s my take on Tajikistan…I think it was my favorite of the Stans. As if I wasn’t already off the beaten path, now I really wandered away from the norm entering Tajikistan. It’s the least touristy of the main four Stans, which is saying something. Most backpackers and adventure seekers come to Tajikistan to drive, hitchhike, or bike the Pamir Highway. While Tajikistan has many similarities to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; there was also a different feeling culturally and linguistically. Tajik people look more Persian and the language itself is a variety of Persian rather than Turkish. Luckily the only two words I really knew how to use in the Stans were pretty much universal across all four of the countries: assalamu alaykum (used as a greeting – technically means “peace be upon you.” When saying this phrase it’s common to put your hand your heart.) and rahmat (meaning thank you).

A few observations about Tajikistan:

The Tajik people might have been the friendliest of all four Stans. More on that with my stories ahead but the locals were very grateful to have us in their country and fully welcomed us with their hospitality and kindness. 

They love RC Cola. Who knows at what point this Columbus, Georgia based soda company struck a deal with Tajikistan, but it could be found everywhere in the country; which wasn’t the case in the other Stans. I decided to look it up while writing this blog post. When the Soviet Union collapsed, global giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi focused their initial investments on larger, more affluent post-Soviet markets. RC Cola International took a different path, entering a strategic partnership with the local Tajik beverage company Obi Zulol in 1995. By the time their massive local bottling plant opened in Istaravshan in 2000, RC Cola had virtually zero international competition. Coca-Cola did not even open an official bottling plant in Tajikistan until 2014, giving RC Cola a crucial 14-year head start to capture the market, secure distribution networks, and build multi-generational brand habit. A little fun fact of the day. 

Lots of people have gold teeth. Another thing I felt inclined to look up for this blog post. During the Soviet era, dental medicine in the USSR lacked the advanced, tooth-colored composite resins or porcelain materials available in Western dentistry. When a tooth needed a crown or a bridge, dentists relied on the materials they had in abundance. Gold was the ideal choice because it is highly durable, does not corrode in the mouth, is malleable enough to shape easily, and is biocompatible. If someone needed a tooth replaced or protected, gold was often the standard medical prescription, rather than a purely cosmetic choice. Historically, the economic volatility following the collapse of the Soviet Union left many Central Asians deeply distrustful of local banks and paper currency. Gold crowns served as a practical, inflation-proof way to wear your life savings. If a family hit a severe financial crisis or needed emergency cash, a gold tooth could be easily extracted, melted down, or sold to a jeweler to pay for unexpected expenses.

Khujand

Khujand is the second-largest city in Tajikistan and the capital of the northern Sughd province, with a population of approximately 191,000 to 198,700 people. The city is over 2,500 years old dating back to Cyprus the Great, making it one of Central Asia’s oldest cities. It was once a flourishing Silk Road hub and ancient powerhouse. I had never even heard of it a few days before we decided to head there, and assumed we were only going there as a stop off on the way to the Fann Mountains. But then I researched the city and realized it had a deep history with a number of sites to see making it worth spending two days exploring.

Getting In

Now that the Pamir Highway crew was set (me, Ken, Tobi, and Emiel), the four of us would be traveling together in Tajikistan for a week before even setting off on that adventure. It was a long day of travel getting from Osh to Khujand with multiple forms of transportation and two border crossings. We started the commute at 8am. Even though Kyrgzstan and Tajikistan share a border (and with that a history of conflict since the collapse of the USSR but current relations are fine), the quickest route to get to Khujand was to go through Uzbekistan. It was only a 15 minute Yandex from our hostel in Osh to the border with Uzbekistan. The Kyrgzstan side of the border is lined with money exchange stands on the walk up to the border checkpoint. There was a short line of people and once again Ken had issues; a running theme of the trip. He had three entry/exit stamps in Kyrgyzstan and the guard was having difficulty counting the dates so they brought him to a back room. We waited on the other side for him and luckily he got thru after about 10 minutes. 

Then we walked to border patrol on the other side and crossed into Uzbekistan. This side of the border is an open market with vendors selling food and souvenirs and people offering to exchange money. We bought some samsas to eat. Just past the market is where the taxi vultures are waiting to prey on everyone who crossed the border. This is my least favorite part of the Stans, especially after our snaffoo going from Bishkek to Jalal Abad. However it’s a necessary evil. We immediately got harassed by multiple drivers. Luckily we had a group of four so we had some leverage on negotiating the price because we were already a full car. Plus Emiel is a bargaining hound from the Netherlands and Tobi is a German musician with a limited budget so they weren’t going to let us get ripped off too much. After some back and forth with a few drivers, we got a price that we thought was fair enough – 20,000 Uzbek som each, or a little under $17, to go about four hours to the Tajikistan border. The difficult part was fitting all four of us and our bags in one car. Even though the driver had a smaller car, this wasn’t his first rodeo and he had rope that extended his trunk capacity. The driver played vibey Arabic techno and deep house and overall the ride went very smoothly. We didn’t pay until the end but he was true to his price and all was well. 

This was one of the easiest border crossings I’ve done. We were the only people exiting Uzbekistan and entering Tajikistan at this checkpoint. The currency exchange inside the Tajik border patrol office was out of money. Welcome to Tajikistan! But there were some guys hanging out on the other side who were able to exchange some of Ken’s USD at a reasonable rate. Taxi drivers were trying to sell us a ride, but I had read we could take a marshutka to the small border town of Konibodom and then another marshutka from there to Khujand. It was still early in the day and time was on our side so we went the public transportation route.  The ride to Konibodom was less than 30 minutes and cost a few dollars for all four of us. 

We were going to grab lunch before continuing the last 1.5 hours to Khujand but there was a marshutka waiting that was nearly full so we decided to capitalize on the quick turnaround. They were telling us we had to pay for one extra person for our bags because they took up a seat (which to be fair they did take a seat. This would be common in Tajikistan because they don’t have trunk space on the marshutkas and buses). Then this Tajik kid who was probably in his early 20s helped us out and started talking to the marshutka salesman for us. Without us even asking, he paid for all of our seats, and he wouldn’t take our money. He told us that he got treated well by locals when he traveled to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and wanted to pay it forward. When we arrived in Khujand, the kid continued showing us next level kindness by ordering us a taxi (Yandex doesn’t exist in Tajikistan) to make sure we didn’t get ripped off. He proceeded to pay for the taxi too, even though we said it wasn’t necessary and offered to pay for the ride. I felt a little guilty because Tajikistan is a poor country and there’s no way this kid has much money, but he wanted to show us Tajik hospitality and was adamant on paying for these rides for us. We could really learn something in the western world from this type of friendliness toward strangers. 

Lodging 

We didn’t book accommodation in advance because Tobi’s philosophy is “let’s just show up and see.” The taxi drove us to one of the only hostels in Khujand so we were putting our faith in Tobi’s system. We were dropped off right in front of the Khujand fortress. Uhhh where’s the hostel, in the fort? We asked someone on the streets and turns out that yes it really was in the fort. To our good fortune, there was space available in the dorms the next two nights, and for $11 a night, we slept inside a fort built sometime between the 5th to 7th century BC.

Wandering around Town

The Tajik hospitality continued our first night. Tobi had a Mastercard, and it was hard to find ATMs in Tajikistan that accepted Mastercard, most were Visa only. We were walking around looking lost when a local who spoke great English came up and asked if we needed any help. We told him our situation and he dropped everything he was doing to help. He was a Tajik guy from Khujand who had spent 20 years working in finance in Washington DC (hence why spoke perfect English) that was now a French professor at the university in Khujand. Quite the career path. He called one of his French students who had a Mastercard to figure out how he withdrew money. He got the name of a bank that took Mastercard and walked with us to the ATM offering restaurant recommendations along the way. We walked 10 minutes and sure enough the ATM worked for Tobi. This guy went way out of his way to help us, but we were learning that such is the norm in Tajikistan. He also recommended a restaurant that served beers so naturally that’s where we went for dinner. We ordered a number of rounds of draft beer and shashlik. At one point this Russian guy sat down at our table (he said he was Ukrainian but our impression based on how it all shook down was that he was Russian and didn’t want to tell us). He was entertaining at first but eventually his antics turned annoying. He kept trying to arm wrestle everyone and he didn’t catch the hint that we weren’t enjoying his vibe. He also started ordering beers on our tab. It would have been fine for 10-15 minutes but when he didn’t leave after 30+ minutes we were forced to close our tab in order to get rid of him. Maybe for the best. The check came and each beer cost about $0.80. Gotta love Tajikistan! 

Khujand Fortress 

The Khujand Fortress is one of Central Asia’s oldest fortifications originally established in the 6th to 5th century BC and famously fortified in 329 by Alexander the Great. It got completely destroyed in the 13th century by Genghis Khan and has since been reconstructed. Now it served as the backyard to our hostel keeping us safe from any invaders. 

Inside the fortress is a row of artisan workshops where local masters demonstrate and sell Tajik crafts. At first glance this is easy to miss, but we decided to walk around the courtyard and stumbled upon this hidden gem. There was a corner for each different craft – woodworking, drawing yard, stone art, pottery, merchant’s yard, weavers yard; and each one had beautiful gardens and courtyards. The artists are all happy to invite you in and talk about their craft. 

My favorite was the musical instrument shop where the guy and his son were crafting dombras and other folkloric instruments. Tobi is a guitarist and took a huge interest in this shop. The guy showed off his skills on the different instruments he had crafted. Tobi took a crack at the dombra too. 

In the center of the fortress is a beautifully tiled museum with ornate and intricate designs, bright colors, and beautiful walls and ceilings. The geometric mosaic patterns were very emblematic of traditional Islamic architecture. 

Panjshabe Bazaar

The Panjshabe bazaar is similar to other markets in Central Asia with endless vendors selling food and clothing. It didn’t look that big from the outside but once inside it’s an absolute maze of shops. It was a good place to buy nuts and other snacks for our Fann Mountains trek. I would rather support the local vendors than the grocery stories. On our way out, Ken and I wanted to try a red pear and they just gave it to us for free. Can people get any nicer?! Nearby the bazaar were a few mosques and a mausoleum.

Kamoli Khujandi Park

The river front park by the fortress was incredibly lively at night. Locals walked around with kids way past their bedtime as the city lights shined on the bridge. There was an old Russian gondola that took you across the river that Emiel had his heart set on taking. We took it during our day walking around the city to humor him. It was absolutely terrifying. This rickety gondola needs to be retired. It took close to 30 minutes to go across the river and felt like it could break down at any moment. I could have walked faster. An experience nonetheless. On the other side of the river was the statue of Lenin and this other World Cup trophy shaped building we thought was cool.

Panjakent 

Panjakent is another historically rich Tajikistan city unknown to most with a population of around 52,000 people. Just a stone’s throw away from Uzbekistan and the famous city of Samarkand, it was once a thriving Silk Road merchant hub and now serves as a popular gateway to the Fann Mountains. 

Getting In

We were a bit worried about being able to leave Khujand because our hostel told us that the President, the infamous Emomali Rahmon, was coming to Khujand the day we planned to leave so a lot of roads in the city would be blocked. In order to avoid this chaos, we got off to a 6:30am start. We had the hostel order us a shared taxi, which might have been a few more dollars than if we went to the bus station ourselves, but saved the headache of haggling and having to fit all four of us plus our bags on two separate rides. The driver had a BYD SUV so we all comfortably fit. It was a smooth ride that got more mountainous and beautiful as we got closer to Panjakent and our first taste of the Fann Mountains. A little over halfway through the ride, we asked the driver if we could stop somewhere to get samsa for breakfast. He stopped in a little village where we sat around a counter with a group of locals eating the best samsa that I’d eaten so far. The ride took about 4.5 hours and we arrived in Panjakent before noon.

Lodging 

We stayed in a family run hostel with one big 14 person dorm room. The 8 year old son (give or take) was working on his English and showed us our beds. The family even had a pet goat that hung out in the courtyard! We spent two nights here, one before our trek in the Fann Mountains, and one after. Emiel wanted to stay up in a mountain town by the Seven Lakes; whereas Ken, Tobi, and I were going to hike in the Fann Mountains. We said our goodbyes to him and would meet back up later. He ended up getting food poisoning in the mountains so we didn’t see him again until Dushanbe. 

There was a chatty mid 50s Iranian guy who lives in Toronto that had spent the last two months in Panjakent. Talk about slow travel. I get staying in one place and soaking it all in, but there really wasn’t anything to do in town. He was working on his Tajik so I guess that’s a big reason why. He also loved talking to every new guest in the hostel. Hey to each their own!

Wandering Around Town

There were only two things to do in town. One was to go to the bazaar, which was very hectic compared to most the others I went to. For a few dollars, we got a delicious Lagman soup at a restaurant inside the bazaar. We also picked up a few fruits and veggies for the trek. 

The other attraction was the Panjakent ancient ruins. Ken had no interest in going and Tobi was out somewhere so I went by myself. It was just a short walk from the hostel. The ruins date back to pre-Islamic times during the Sogdian civilization around the 5th century CE. The buildings are composed of mud and clay bricks and have mostly eroded so there wasn’t a whole lot to see, but I closed my eyes and tried to imagine life here in the old world. It also provided a good viewpoint of the modern city.

Fann Mountains Trek – 3 days, 2 nights; 18.44 miles; 7,040 feet elevation gain;  5,843 feet elevation loss

Tobi, Ken, and I woke up early to take the marshutka to Artuch, the village at the base of the Fann Mountains. Multiple taxi drivers tried to hustle us for a ride but we kept refusing. Some helpful locals told us which marshutka to keep an eye out for and let us know when it had arrived because otherwise it wasn’t super obvious. It was about a 1.5 hour ride to Artuch.

Fann Mountains Trek Day 1 – 8.67 miles; 3,894 feet elevation gain; 299 feet elevation loss

We met a British couple on our marshutka and started the hike out with them. The first section was along a 4×4 road up to Artuch Base Camp. After 10 minutes of hiking, a group of Tajik women yelled at us from their yurts and we took that as an invitation to join them. They offered us chai tea and bread with a goat yogurt dipping sauce. The bread was very hard and stale but the main woman kept giving us more and more bread. Every time I would finish my portion she would give me more. Dammit! I felt bad not eating it so I dipped the bread in my chai to make it softer. We communicated through Google Translate and hand motions. There was an 18 year old girl and two older woman, one who had ten kids and the other had eight kids. Big families! Tajikistan must be a growing population. One of the woman kept enthusiastically yelling Tajikistan ba pesh! I would later find out this means Tajikistan forward; kind of like a let’s go Tajikistan chant. It was a useful phrase to know and came in handy to say to locals. 

The nice Tajik women would have let us stay forever but after about 30 minutes we thanked them for the chai tea and bread and continued on our way. The 4×4 road had a few steep moments but the time passed quickly while we chatted with our new British friends before saying good bye to them at Artuch base camp (where they were staying for the evening). The dirt road turned into a trail along the river where we passed by the occasional yurt or small house with farmers tending to their land.  

The path started with a moderate incline but became steeper and more rocky as we started getting further into the back country. We were finally surrounded by the Fann mountains and I was back in my happy place. Another Stan, another mountain range. There really is no end to outdoor exploration in this part of the world. There’s a giant network of trails in this area of the Fann Mountains, and if we had more time and the weather was warmer, we could have easily planned a 6-7 day trek. 

Even though this was a “popular” hiking area in Tajikistan, we saw almost no one else. Maybe because it was the end of September and the cold weather was starting to come in. But also Tajikistan is still far enough off the beaten path that I don’t think it ever gets very crowded. Perhaps in 5-10 years these treks in the Fann Mountains will look different; just look at the growth in tourism Kyrgzstan has had. Who knows? For now it was very peaceful and quiet. 

After a few steep uphill sections, we had gained nearly 3,500 feet over the first seven miles of the hike (including the 4×4 road in) and finally reached flat terrain leading to Kuli Kalon lake where we stopped for lunch. The mountains behind the lake were stuck in the clouds, but the views were still nice. We could have stopped here to camp, but Tobi didn’t have a tent and had gotten intel from our hostel that there was a yurt at another lake slightly further up.

We continued for another 40 minutes on a flattish section before reaching our planned camping area at Bibijonat Lake. The campsite had a great view of a vertical rock face glacial mountain. We couldn’t even see the peak because of the clouds. Unfortunately for Tobi there was no yurt as he thought there would be. However at the small lake we had passed by 10 minutes prior there was an already setup tent that he could rent. He hung out with us for a bit then headed back to his campsite for dinner. Ken and I had our typical ramen dinner then hit our tents early because it was a chilly night and we needed the warmth of our sleeping bags the second it got dark.

Fann Mountains Trek Day 2 – 5.0 miles; 3,018 feet elevation gain and loss 

We woke up to blue skies and beautiful views of the glacial mountain now that it was no longer covered in the clouds. It was very cold and took awhile for sun to hit our spot. Tobi came by our campsite to say hello and to bitch about his experience the night before. He said the guy seemed very grouchy and lonely in the mountains and Tobi thought the dinner was included as part of the price of the tent rental; it was not. Tobi was heading back into town that day so he wanted to hike the mountain pass early in the day, but we were in no rush and preferred to stay in our sleeping bags until it got warmer outside. Ken and I were originally planning to get deeper into the backcountry and camp at Allaudin Lake, but we decided to skip the lake and stay a second night in the same spot. We would just day hike to Allaudin Pass instead and not go down the other side to the lake. We had some busy days ahead in preparation for the Pamir Highway and it would have been a super long day three if we went all the way to Allaudin Lake. Plus it allowed us to take it slow in the morning. 

We started hiking to the pass around 11am which began by rock hopping across the stream. As we got higher, we could see a pair of glacial blue lakes below the sheer vertical mountain face. It was a steady uphill climb with a good amount of gain, but there were lots of small switchbacks that made the incline more gradual. Our legs had gotten so strong from all of the backcountry hiking we’d be doing the previous six weeks that the 3,000 feet of elevation gain in under three miles was a piece of cake carrying only our day packs.

The clouds rolled in as we got closer to the top of the 12,000 foot Allaudin Pass and we started getting lightly rain/snowed on. It wasn’t real snowflakes but it wasn’t rain either; that in between precipitation where Mother Nature isn’t quite sure what she wants. Sure enough there were no views from the top. Oh well, at least it gave us something to do.

On our way down, the sun came back out for 15 minutes before it started lightly raining on us again. We got back to camp and I brought my sleeping pad and mat into Ken’s tent to listen to podcasts and eat snacks while it continued raining. The light rain turned into heavy rain and then it got cold enough that big wet snowflakes were coming down. We were so glad that we didn’t make the trek all the way to Allaudin Lake and were warm in our sleeping bags inside the tent. The snow kept falling for an hour and was dense enough to stick to the ground. This was the first time I’d seen it actively snowing since March in Steamboat.

There was a very slight reprieve in the precipitation that allowed for us to quickly make our ramen dinner before the storm started back up again as rain. I was podcasted out and went back to my tent to read. The rain continued into the night. When I woke up to pee in the middle of the night it was finally clear skies. The moon was full and our glacial mountain shined in the moonlight.

Fann Mountains Trek Day 3 – 4.77 miles; 128 feet elevation gain; 2,526 feet elevation loss 

We had gone to bed by 7pm so naturally we both woke up early. It was bitter cold but the snow on the ground by our camp had already melted. All the surrounding mountains were covered with a fresh coating of snow creating a beautiful winter wonderland.

We were super cold packing up camp and our gear was soaked, but this was a problem for later. The British couple from a few days before thought the marshutka from Artuch back to Panjakent left at 1pm so we had to get down the mountain and back into the village before then. When the sun came out, it didn’t take long for us to shed all our morning layers and hike down in our tee shirts. We went down back from whence we came in day one. Some of the sections were even steeper than I remembered. 

We got back to Artuch base camp where a taxi was waiting and offered us a ride to Panjakent. We caved and decided to take it back rather than hike another five miles to the village of Artuch in hopes of catching a marshutka that we weren’t even fully sure existed. The price was a little high and we tried to haggle him down but he didn’t budge. In the end, it was reasonable enough to say yes to; especially after a few days of hiking and sleeping in the cold. We had the car to ourselves for the first 30 minutes before picking up a father and son from a nearby village. The kid sat in the middle of us and the father in the front. The winding roads became too much for the kid and he started turning green. The father handed him a bag and the kid started puking right in between us; at least he did a good job keeping it in the bag. As someone who got carsick as a kid, I can relate. Do we get some sort of discount for this? I think we all know the answer to that. The ride in the taxi was much quicker than the marshutka a few days before and we got back to Panjakent by noon. It was nice to be back in town and have the whole afternoon to chill. Plus it gave us plenty of time to dry out our soaking wet camping gear. 

Dushanbe 

Dushanbe is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan with a population of approximately 1.56 million people serving as the nation’s political, cultural, and industrial epicenter. There really isn’t a whole lot to see and do in the city, but it served as our starting point for the Pamir Highway.

Getting In

There was only one bus from Panjakent to Dushanbe that left between the ambiguous hours of 6:30-7am every day so Ken, Tobi, and I decided it was worth waking up early to walk 30 minutes to the station and take the bus rather than dealing with the taxi hustle. The bus didn’t have a trunk so they made us pay for two extra seats for our three big bags. Sigh. Oh well still cheaper than a taxi. We got 45 minutes down the road when the bus stopped and this woman who looked pale as a ghost got off. We’re sure what happened but they lied her on the ground outside and wrapped her in a blanket. We sat on the bus while other people huddled around her trying to help. We also with Tobi on the bus going from Almaty to Karakol that broke down multiple times. He’s our bad luck charm. Finally a car came and picked her up (I guess they don’t have ambulances in this part of Tajikistan) and presumably took her to the hospital. Hopefully she’s okay. The bus ride got more interesting was we winded along switchback roads cutting through the Pamir mountains. We entered a long, dark tunnel and came out to massive snow capped mountains. The bus stopped for a 20 minute bathroom and snack break at a beautiful rest stop. After 6.5 hours we finally made it to Dushanbe. There is no Yandex, but Jura taxis run the streets (every other car in Dushanbe has the Jura branded logo) and we quickly hailed one down. 

Lodging 

Once again we took the Tobi approach and showed up at a hostel to see if they have any rooms for the next two nights and once again it worked out. They had a four person dorm with queen sized beds, a gigantic bathroom, and a TV. What a luxury! It was a real treat watching cable TV in Tajikistan. It had programming and news from this side of the world you would never see at home – Tajikistan, Russia, Iran, Afghanistan. We were just casually watching the Afghanistan International channel trying to figure out what’s going on in the different news stories then would switch over to IranTV for an Iranian sitcom. I love watching TV internationally. In Rio de Janeiro Matt and I got really into a few different Brazilian sitcoms; in Verona I watched Legally Blonde dubbed in Italian; in Latin countries I frequently watched telenovelas. It’s entertaining to watch, even if you don’t understand the language. 

Wandering around Town

After our long bus ride, we went to a traditional Tajik restaurant by the hostel and ordered family style shakarob – beef, tomatoes, raw onion, parsley, and dill served on a flatbread. It was nice to eat something new and the best meal we had in Tajikistan! The restaurant was so good that we went back the following night to try their plov; which was an excellent version of the dish we’d all eaten so many times.

Not surprisingly more people in Dushanbe spoke basic English than the rest of Tajikistan. The city has a more modern feel with wide avenues and sleek looking buildings. Walking the streets on a weekday, people were dressed in suits and formalwear for work. It’s not like the casual business environment in the U.S. these days. 

We used our time in Dushanbe to shop for snacks, water, beer, vodka, toilet paper, and any other essential supplies we needed for the Pamir Highway. 

Rudaki Park and National Museum of Tajikistan

Sitting in the center of the city is the well landscaped Rudaki Park which has lots of flowers, trees, water fountains, monuments, a gigantic flagpole, governmental buildings, and the National Museum of Tajikistan.

The museum was a 24,000 square meter facility and had a bit of everything – archaeology from the Silk Road and Sogdiana Empire, Buddhist statues, ancient manuscripts of classic Persian calligraphy (this was my favorite; it was so impressive to see these manuscripts still intact after hundreds of years), natural history and geography, folk art and culture, ceramics, paintings, and of course an entire room dedicated to President Emomali Rahmon. There was even a photo of him with Obama! The museum far exceeded the zero expectations we had and we ended up spending 1.5 hours exploring all the different rooms. They didn’t allow for photography but I had to sneak a quick photo of the coolest instrument I’ve ever seen.

Arslanbob 

Arslanbob is home to the world’s largest natural walnut forest, covering thousands of hectares, where locals still harvest nuts seasonally. We were there in September which happens to be the start of harvest season for walnuts, apples, and plums. The village population is approximately 15,000 people with a vast majority of residents that are ethnically Uzbek. There was a stronger Muslim culture here (and in southern Kyrgyzstan in general) than the north with mostly men out in the streets and more woman fully covered. 

Arslanbob wasn’t even on our radar until I found the Holy Lakes hike, and I’m so glad we came here as it remains a hidden gem. This little mountain village sees some backpacker traffic but still remains off the list of top things to do in Kyrgyzstan. The cars and old white mini vans looked like they belonged in a 1970s Soviet film. There were so many little kids in the streets and they all came up to say hello. Some asked what’s your name and how old you are. And that was the extent of their English. But they were so happy to interact with us. They would be standing outside their houses playing then we walked by and they would wave inside to their siblings to come out and say hello to the foreigners. According to Google in the region of Jalal Abad (where Arslanbob is) children 0-17 make up 38-43% of the population. It felt more like 70%. 

Getting In

Oof this is a lame story, but travel is about learning from your mistakes. Ken and I decided to take a shared taxi to Jalal Abad (recently renamed Manas) rather than flying because I read it was a really beautiful ride; plus it was the cheaper option. We had no real urge to go to this city but it was the best option for getting to Arslanbob the following day. Our first big mistake of the day was starting so late. We had a 12 hour taxi ride ahead and should have started earlier, but instead we had a slow start to our morning. First I walked with Ken 25 minutes to an athletics store so he could buy a new pair of hiking boots after the great marmot scandal. This was a necessary move, but he should have done so the day before when we lied in bed hungover doing nothing. Then we got a sit down breakfast at a really slow cafe. So we didn’t even start our taxi adventure until a little after noon. There was confusion over whether to go the new bus station or the bazaar to catch a shared taxi to Jalal Abad. The information online was limited and mixed on where to go. Even our guesthouse owner and her husband told us different places. 

We decided to go the new bus station. It was a 30+ minute Yandex getting stuck in shitty Bishkek traffic. When we arrived there wasn’t many options for Jalal Abad, and being this late in the day, we were at a disadvantage for our bargaining power. I had read that it should cost around 2500 som per person (a little over $25), but who knows how recent this information was. The only guy that even gave us time of day tried to charge us 14000 som for both. No chance! We kept ignoring him and asking other people but he seemed to be following us and ruining our chance to barter with other drivers. Finally he said okay 7000 for both of you. Still a bit high but it’ll do. What choice did we have at this hour? He called over another taxi driver, who he called his brother, but I don’t think it was his brother in the family sense. We got in this taxi and he picked up an Australian guy too. Except he was just driving the Australian guy into the center of Bishkek. The taxi driver dropped him off then drove us to the bazaar where he was looking for more passengers. I guess we should have just gone there after all. A few minutes later he told us to get out and go with another taxi that already had two passengers. But first we had to pay him 2500 som (even though it would have been a 500 som Yandex) and we would give this new driver 4500 som. I guess it was a finder’s fee but the percentage he was taking of the fare seemed awfully high seeing as he drove 30 minutes and the other guy was taking us nearly 12 hours. We showed the other guy 4500 on our phone to confirm. He nodded and we were on our way. I should have just paid him right there to make sure it was okay because I had a bad feeling about the agreement.

The car was us two, a Kyrgyz woman in the front, and an Uzbeki guy in the back with us. The driver drove like an absolute madman. He was passing other cars on blind corners on winding mountain roads creating a third lane when one didn’t exist. I would later find out when I drove the Pamir Highway that this was the norm and would do the same. But where he was really crazy was the speed at which he was driving – tailgating other cars, passing in dicey situations, and bullying cars on the other side of the road. I was in the middle seat and spent the first few hours fearing his crazy driving style, but ultimately got used to it. I’ll leave it at that. We made it safe in the end.

As advertised, it was a beautiful drive as we winded our way up and over the mountains through long, dark tunnels and weaving between shepherds on horses herding sheep on the busy highway. Just another day in Kyrgyzstan! The driver even stopped at Too-Ashuu Pass so we could take photos of the views. 

Three hours into the trip, we stopped for gas, and this is when the great argument began. The driver asked for our payment and we handed him 4500 som; the difference between the 7000 som we agreed upon and the 2500 we paid the other guy. He looks at us confused and angry. He didn’t speak any English so we were forced to use Google Translate. He said no it’s 4500 som per person. I was mad but Ken was furious. We told him no we had an agreement, we even showed you the number before the ride. He told us the other guy deceived us and the price is 4500 per person. Then we got into this back and forth argument via Google Translate about the price. He was telling us that’s what the other people paid, but of course who are we to know if this is true. We had our doubts. What was particularly infuriating was that we already paid the other guy 2500 som. And for what? 

The driver was pissed but ordered us back in the car. We drove another 10 minutes then he pulled over to argue again. It was an intense back and forth using Google Translate and some of what he said didn’t make a lot of sense; lost in translation. Things were getting really awkward at this point since we still had another eight hours in the car. Plus we were going to have to stop for dinner down the road. I was worried he would just drive off with our bags during dinner. It was also an embarrassing look for us to the other people. But we kept arguing and holding our ground because we had made what we thought was an agreement with the other guy. In the end, it was only another 4500 som (around $50) which means more to the driver than to us; and to be fair that’s a reasonable price for how long the drive was. We were more arguing out of principal. It’s not about the money; it’s about the feeling of getting ripped off. Especially since we had already paid considerably more than what it said online. I was beginning to really hate the original guy who charged us 2500 som for nothing more than a short drive to the bazaar. 

Even though we had already paid the driver 4500 som, Ken and I were debating getting out to hitchhike. More out of frustration than anything else. But then then the driver starting driving again. There was a lot of tension in the car. The driver gave up and said we could keep the money if we thought he was ripping us of. Ken and I discussed the situation and decided we would pay the 4500 som to ease the tension. It wasn’t that much money, but we just hated the feeling of being played. We could have taken a 45 minute flight for only a little more money than the 11,500 som this now would cost us. An hour later we stopped for dinner and we paid the driver the 4500 som. He said thank you and everyone in the car could breathe easy again for the remaining seven hours of the drive. If this is the worst experience I’ve had in my travels after being in Bolivia, Peru, and Brazil than I’m doing pretty good.

The driver kept driving like a madman after dinner even when it was dark, but to his credit he shaved nearly an hour of time off our travel time. At the next stop, he apologized for the situation earlier and kept making sure everything was okay between us. I don’t necessarily blame him for the scam, more the other guy that sold us the ride. It is what it is. After 10.5 hours of crazy driving, we made it to our hotel in Jalal Abad by 11:30. We were both so relieved to have that experience over with. It could have ended much worse, but it still sucked.

The next morning we got breakfast in Jalal Abad, shopped for our trek (because Arslanbob only has mini marts), and took a 1.5 hour Yandex to Arslanbob. We didn’t even feel like messing with a shared taxi or taking multiple marshutkas. After the day we had before, it was worth paying a bit more to go the hassle free route.

Lodging 

We stayed at the Alpinist Guesthouse Lodge, which was a wise choice since we planned to do the Holy Lakes Loop trek which had very limited information online and figured the place was named as such for a reason. The old guy who ran the guesthouse had done the loop many times. He even climbed the peak towering over the village Mount Babash-Ata multiple times. Sadly he was now very shaky handed, but he was a great alpinist in his early times. He had even summited the famous 7,000 meter Lenin Peak in southern Krygzstan which is known to be one of the “easier” 7,000 meter peaks and a potential life goal of mine, but easy and 7000 meter peak don’t belong in the same paragraph. He spoke great English and you could tell he really loved chatting with his guests. 

It was a generational business – his son also helped out with guests and his many grandkids ran around the backyard during the day and provided waiter service in the evening for the dinners. The whole place had family vibes even amongst the guests. Breakfast was included in our stay, and for a small fee, they had nightly dinners where everyone sat together outside to eat and socialize. The first afternoon we checked in, they gave us tea and snacks; as well as when we returned from our trek. They really provided next level hospitality. The backyard had a beautiful garden full of flowers as well as apple and plum trees where we could pick as many as we wanted. They were super fresh and delicious. I didn’t realize how much I liked plums!

This place was a little slice of paradise. I could have easily stayed here a few extra days reading a book and hanging out in the garden of Eden. The only downfall was that the electricity and plumbing didn’t always work (although I think this was a town wide issue and not specific to the guesthouse) so sometimes we had to use the outhouse rather than the indoor toilet. Small price to pay. Also instead of beds they had padded mats that you picture when you think of Central Asia, but that was surprisingly comfortable. If anything it added to the experience. 

Walnut Forest Hike – 3.07 miles; 945 feet elevation gain

On our first day in Arslanbob, we arrived in the afternoon and after receiving tea and snacks as our welcoming gift in the guesthouse, we walked into the center of town to get lunch. However no restaurants were open at 4pm and we just got some snacks to eat by the river. I wanted to walk through the walnut forest after, but Ken was tired and headed back to the guesthouse. On my way out of town I walked through a neighborhood heading toward the forest and passed by countless little kids who came up to say hello to me. I tried to hike to the little waterfall, but Maps.Me sent me through someone’s private property and they told me to turn around because they have a protective dog. So I continued into the walnut forest which provided some nice shade from the afternoon heat. I didn’t make it far enough into the forest to see any walnuts, but it was already late afternoon and dinner at the guesthouse was at 7 so it was time to turn around. 

I was treated with some nice views of the Babash-Ata mountain range and the towering Friendship Pass. I tried to take another path that Maps.Me showed toward the small waterfall, but it was closed off with a gate. Another fail. Instead of turning around I continued along the path to connect with a small road in town. Once I reached an area where I had service, I discovered that I was 35 minutes from the guesthouse on the other side of town. Man this little village is more spread out than it looks on a map. I walked along winding roads through the neighborhoods to make it back shortly before dinner time. It wasn’t the most exciting hike since I didn’t make it to the true heart of the walnut forest, but it was nice to stretch my legs after a few lazy days and long car rides. 

Four Day Holy Lakes Loop Trek – 35.22 miles; 12,530 feet elevation gain and loss 

There was a missing piece to the Holy Lakes Loop called Friendship Pass (Dotsuk Pass) that wasn’t on any of the maps apps Maps.Me, AllTrails, or Gaia; and you couldn’t find any real info on it online other than a brief trip report from a guided tour back in 2018. We asked the owner of our guesthouse and he pointed it out to us from his backyard. It looked like a vertical wall. But don’t worry he also gave us this very detailed tourist map. 

The drawing was actually more helpful than it appears because that ridge leading to Babash-Ata peak was drawn accurately to how it looked with the naked eye. Now we knew exactly where the mountain pass was relative to the peak. Next step was finding it on the maps apps as there was no pre-defined trail for the pass. I did some research into contour lines and topography to understand the basics. Then I was able to use the contour lines on AllTrails and Gaia to identify exactly where Friendship Pass was. I felt like a true Magellan. There was still some uncertainty as to what was on the other side of the pass, but I used my newfound knowledge of topography to map out the best route to get into the valley. We told the old man we planned to leave the following day and he warned us that Friendship Pass was much more difficult than the popular Ala-Kul Pass (which we fully expected), but he also recognized based on our gear, the way we spoke about our mountain experience, and the level of preparation we did beforehand; that Ken and I aren’t just some half assed hikers. He gave us his blessing and wished us good luck. If it became too difficult or too hairy to navigate then we could always turn around. Ken and I know how to communicate this to each other. It’s a team effort.

Holy Lakes Trek Day 1 – 5.68 miles; 4,771 feet elevation gain; 0 feet elevation loss 

After breakfast at the guesthouse, we packed our bags and hit the trail. The day started by walking through the village to get out of town where we once again passed by a swarm of kids on their way to school saying hello to us. Boys were dressed in suits and girls in traditional Muslim outfits. There were so many kids in the streets that Ken said “It feels like walking around during Halloween night.” He wasn’t wrong. 

The trail began as a moderate incline on a dirt road through the cow fields that had no shade so it was incredibly hot. The 4×4 road to get out of town wasn’t the most interesting, but it did provide some nice views of the Babash-Ata mountains ahead. These sheer rock faces looked like Wyoming or Yosemite. After a few miles, we found a shady spot behind a rock to stop for lunch. 

The final mile up to the Holy Rock was very steep, and made even more difficult by the blazing afternoon sun. Ken and I walked at our own pace as I raced ahead of him. He is a strong hiker but not nearly as fast as me. I call him the steam engine. Slow and steady but never stops. 

We made it up to the Holy Rock and climbed the somewhat sketchy looking ladder onto the rock to get views of the expansive valley with the village nestled below. The Holy Rock is a sacred Islamic pilgrimage site for locals to leave sacrifices, perform ritual prayers, and seek blessings. There are two local legends behind this rock: (1) Arslanbob-Ata, the 11th- or 12th-century mystic and legendary founder of the village, traveled up the mountain to pray next to this giant rock. The high altitude made him feel closer to God (2) Arslanbob-Ata was betrayed and killed at this exact spot, and believers say his footprints and bloodstains are still permanently visible on the rock’s surface. 

For us it provided a nice view and a good place for a snack. It was also by the last stream of water we could fill up until we were on the other side of Friendship Pass so we stocked up as much as we could for the evening and following morning.

From here on out there was no more trail. I had saved some GPS coordinates I found online for a campsite below Friendship Pass so that was our target. It was only another three quarters of a mile but required walking along side angled cow tracks and a steep hill. We were a tenth of a mile below the coordinates when we found a good spot with flat ground to camp and decided to settle. 

There were ominous clouds hovering over the Babash-Ata mountains so it was a good time to call it a day. The clouds lingered for about an hour giving us enough time to setup camp and make our typical ramen dinner. But then the winds picked up and it started to rain on us so we hid in our tents for about 30 minutes until it stopped. We then hung out for a bit outside the tents. Darkness was approaching when we saw two teenage looking kids coming down from the hill above us. Where the heck did they come from?! Did they really just descend Friendship Pass at 6pm? We thought they might come approach us, but they stuck to the side of the hill and vanished out of sight. Very strange! Maybe it was the ghost of Arslanbob-Ata checking up on us. We will never know! We went to bed soon after that. 

Holy Lakes Trek Day 2 – 7.2 miles; 3,531 feet elevation gain; 3,721 feet elevation loss

Today was game day. We woke up early, had a quick breakfast, and got on trail by 8; which was early by our standards this trip. We had to make sure we got over the pass before any afternoon storms rolled in. Luckily the weather to start the day was perfect. We walked up a small, steep hill before reaching the base of Friendship Pass. It was even steeper than it looked from afar; and full of loose scree. The bottom looked hard, but the top looked absolutely insane. It was a sheer vertical incline. One step at a time.

We both went at our own pace as we worked our way up the incredibly steep, but manageable, mix of loose scree and boulders. I tried to pick a route that favored medium size boulders over the scree. There is nothing worse than sinking in crushed rock. We slowly made our way higher, taking a few five to ten minute pauses for snacks and water. There’s no way this pass could be conquered without breaks. As we started getting closer to the top, it was so steep that I basically had to get on all fours to grip the scree. Add on a heavy backpack and it was a crazy amount of effort just to gain a few feet. 

The last quarter mile was so steep, and the rock so loose, that we decided there was no way we could tackle this gulley head on. It was better to make our way to the rock wall on our right side so we could grip the wall and inch our way up the slope. This is when I let Ken lead. I am faster at hiking up steep slopes than him, but he is better about leading technical sections. We were less than a quarter mile from the top, but this part took us more than 45 minutes. Luckily the rock wall had a good grip, but it was also sharp, so you had to be careful not to over grip. We hugged the wall and slowly climbed up the steepest incline I’ve ever ascended. Concentration and focus were at an all time high. The bluebird day we had when we woke up was gone and the newly formed clouds were getting caught in the mountains. At least they were friendly white clouds. We had to keep our attention on the task at hand. It was a slow climb, but we safely made our way up thanks to the grip support of the rock wall. We were almost there. Just one small rock climb where we had to use our hands and upper body strength to reach the top. 

Wow! We did it! That was the hardest mountain pass I’ve ever done especially since we had our big backpacks. We knew this was going to be a challenge beforehand. It certainly lived up to the billing…and then some. We had gained 1800 feet in 0.5 miles on incredibly loose scree; an unfathomably steep incline. It was cloudy at the top but it didn’t matter. We could still see the peak of Mount Babash-Ata poking out. The mountain looked challenging but doable from below, but once up close we realized you would need ropes and actual rock climbing experience to summit. Props to the old man from the guesthouse for having summited multiple times. He just got even cooler in my book.

I felt a great sense of relief and a huge sense of accomplishment to be done with Friendship Pass. No way those teenagers descended this at dusk the night before…right? We reveled in the moment for about five minutes, but the clouds forming in the sky were going from white to grey so it didn’t take long for us to get back on the move.

It was very rocky terrain on the other side, but not nearly as much of an incline as what we just climbed. Nonetheless it was still a steep decline and we had to keep track of the terrain ahead as we were a few miles away from a marked trail. The topography was wild! We were completed surrounded by sheer rock faces. It felt like we were walking on the moon. I got the sense that not many people cross over Friendship Pass and get to see this landscape. The road remained rocky ahead but spirits were high. Behind us the clouds over Babash-Ata got darker and rain seemed imminent. 

We stopped for lunch before continuing our way into the valley. We reached a point where the lake was directly on the other side from us, but separated by a tall ridge. There was a little pass we could have gone directly over to reach the lake, but we weren’t sure what was on the other side; it very well could have been large cliffs, and I didn’t trust my ability to read the topographic map well enough to know for sure. So we decided that descending all the way into the valley was the safer route, even if it added extra mileage. Once far enough in the valley, we would meet up with the trail and go back around on the other side of the ridge. It was a beautiful valley surrounded by cliffs and sheer rock walls. It made the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado look small. I was exhausted, but life was good! 

We were almost at the end of the valley, and both starting to fade, when we arrived at a freshwater stream under some shady trees. It was our first water source since the Holy Rock the day before. We chugged a couple bottles of water and had a snack. This ten minute break really brought us back to life. We made it to the end of the valley and came across a yurt camp that had been deserted for the season. Next to the yurt camp was the trail. We had successfully climbed Friendship Pass and down into the valley back to the trail. Woohoo! 

Now that we were on the other side of the ridge, we had to walk up a small uphill incline to reach the first lake, Paynav Kol, which had a deep blue color to it in the late afternoon. We considered just calling it a night and camping here, but decided we had come this far and could hike another 45 minutes to the Holy Lake. First we stopped for ramen to give us energy for the final push. 

Then we hiked 700 more feet uphill over the course of a mile and arrived at the Holy Lake, Mazar Kol. Just like the Holy Rock, it is a sacred sight for local villagers to make the pilgrimage to either by walking or on horse (there is a way to get to the lake without doing Friendship Pass if you take an in and out trail; we had just wanted to complete the loop). There were a couple pilgrim huts built around the lake, but this late in the season the place was completely deserted and we had it all to ourselves. I had read they perform sheep and goat sacrifices by the lake, and this immediately became apparent when we saw a bunch of sheep fur on the ground. 

The lake sits in a rocky glacial bowl at an altitude over 9,000 feet and is surrounded by craggy limestone rocks, alpine tundras, and rolling valleys. It was stunningly beautiful and well worth the effort! It turned out that we could have skipped the valley and just gone over the pass we saw on the other side. It wasn’t totally cliffed out and would have been a steep but manageable downhill. Oh well! The hike in the valley was gorgeous. 

There was a big fire pit by one of the huts and even a pile of wood with our names on it. After treating ourselves to a second helping of ramen, we had our first campfire of the trip. It was so nice having the fire to mindlessly entertain us and to provide a source of heat. I got used to going to bed when it got dark, but I didn’t realize how much I missed a good campfire. 

Holy Lakes Trek Day 3 – 12.0 miles; 3,806 feet elevation gain; 3,406 feet elevation loss

We had a slow start to the morning after the long day we had previously. After breakfast, we decided to walk along the lake to see the viewpoint from the other side. It was about a 2.5 mile detour roundtrip and provided some different perspectives of the Holy Lake.

Then we packed up camp and walked back down the valley past the small lake and abandoned yurt from the day before. Next up was a steep mountain pass where we gained 1,500 feet in a mile, which normally would have been difficult, but it felt like nothing compared to Friendship Pass the day before. The ground was rocky, but it wasn’t loose scree, and there was a fair amount of switchbacks which helped lower the grade of the incline. Ken and I were both in our zones hiking at our own pace and enjoying the surrounding landscapes. 

After this pass, the limestone cliff landscapes shifted to dramatic rolling green hills. We walked along a long flattish stretch through the hills with lots of small ups and downs where general direction hiking rules applied. It wasn’t just a singular dirt trail, there were countless cow tracks to follow, and we just had to make sure we didn’t stray too far from the Maps.Me “trail.” While it was nice landscapes, this section went on for a while and started to drag toward the end so we played music to distract ourselves.

Then we came up on mountain pass two of the day, which was a long set of switchbacks that were fairly steep. There was a lot of horse shit on the trail; this must be how the locals get to the Holy Lakes. Even though the first pass of the day was statistically more difficult, this one felt harder because we were exhausted. At least it was shorter. 

We made it to the ridge and had to hike a few more miles before getting close to the GPS coordinates I had saved for a campsite that I found in an article online. In order to get to camp we had to down climb to the river. You could tell it was late summer because the river was more like a stream, but the water was still flowing relatively quickly. We walked along the stream for another half mile before arriving at the campsite. The ground wasn’t super flat, but it was better than anywhere else. There were a few rock pits for campfires so this was clearly the spot. We were treated to a nice alpen glow while we ate our ramen dinner (somehow I still wasn’t sick of ramen after all these treks. We would get different flavors and different brands and always add our cucumbers, carrots, and hard boiled eggs. Well except this trek we didn’t have eggs). Normally we bring way too much food, but this time we planned it perfectly so our packs were nice and light heading into the last day. We had the right amount of salami, cheese, and snacks left. For the second straight day we didn’t see a single other person.

Holy Lakes Trek Day 4 – 10.32 miles; 500 feet elevation gain; 5,403 feet elevation loss

After breakfast, we walked along the river hoping we could follow it all the way until it connected with the trail, but the cliffs on the sides started getting steeper and it was time to get out. We had a short climb up to the ridge and found a path to follow that led us into the valley on the other side. We passed by a few more yurts and huts, but no one was home. People must have packed it up for the winter and gone back into the village. The next few miles were pretty mindless downhill on a moderate grade path into the valley. 

We stopped for lunch by the river before reaching a dirt road in the farm country just outside Arslanbob. We walked for 5.5 miles along the road and it felt never ending. The best part was that we could see Friendship Pass and the Babash-Ata mountain range towering over the village in the distance and know that we conquered the pass. We were one mile from the center of Arslanbob when we got picked up by an old Russian mini van that drove us to the main square. Where were they five miles ago?! Oh well it saved us a mile and it’s hard to complain about a free ride. 

They dropped us off at the main square in Arslanbob and it was packed with people, but it was all guys; no women at all. We really felt the strong Muslim masculine presence. We got lunch in town (yay the restaurants are finally open) ordering chicken wings, manti, and plov. We were so hungry. It was the best plov I’d had yet, but maybe circumstantial since we just finished a four day trek. 

We got back to the homestay and told the old man about our success. He was proud of us. They gave us more snacks and tea and we chatted with a Dutch guy named Emiel (little did I know we’d be spending a lot of time together the next few weeks). He had gone on a horseback ride to the walnut forest and gave us some fresh walnuts. We also had a nice convo with a German couple. After another tasty dinner at the guesthouse, we called it an early night after a long four days. Plus we had to wake up at 5:30 the next morning to catch the 6:45am marshutka (shared mini van) to Osh.

Osh 

Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgzstan with a population of around 492,000 people. It is over 3000 years old making it the oldest city in Kyrgzstan and one of the oldest in Central Asia.  There’s a few attractions to see, but not too much, and I didn’t end up doing anything in the city besides eat, drink, and struggle with a hungover.

Getting In

We got up at 5:30 to walk to the center of Arslanbob and catch the marshutka. Ken had told me some horror stories about his marshutka experiences, but this is a common mode of transportation in the Stans, and I was excited for my first one. It turned out to be seamless. It was more of a bus than a mini van, and they didn’t charge us extra for our luggage. Ken said it was one of the best ones he’d been on. Also on the marshutka was our new Dutch friend Emiel. It was a little over a four hour ride to Osh.  

Lodging 

We stayed at a hostel a little outside the center of town that Emiel recommended because he had stayed there prior to Arslanbob. It had a nice modern feel, cheap laundry, and a good backyard to hang out in. And the Kyrgyz lady working the desk had a great sense of humor. I walked in the door after the other two guys and I heard Ken give a loud high five and go what up man! The guy also knew Emiel. It turns out it was the German guy Tobi who was on our bus from Almaty to Karakol. And he knew Emiel because they met in Almaty airport. Small world! 

A Plan Set into Motion

Originally Ken and I had come to Osh as a stopover for doing a trek in the Alay Mountains in southern Kyrgyzstan, but the weather for the next week looked rainy and possibly snowy so we decided to scratch that plan. Over the prior few weeks, we had talked on and off about doing the Pamir Highway after Kyrgzstan but never got our shit together to figure it out. The new plan was to hang out in Osh for two days then Ken was going to fly home to Bangkok. He even booked his flights. And I was going to head to the Fann Mountains in Tajikistan to do a trek before it got too cold. 

But then alcohol got involved and all plans changed. Ken, Emiel, Tobi, and I went to the nearby Globus super market to get beers to drink in the backyard of the hostel and exchange stories. Tobi had hitch hiked all over Kyrgyzstan so he had some interesting tales to tell. As we started to get a buzz going; Tobi, Emiel, and I began to discuss doing the Pamir Highway. None of us had any set plans to do it, but we came to the conclusion that we already had a group of three people that got along well together and would just have to find one more person. We also agreed that we preferred to rent a car and drive ourselves rather than join a group tour with a driver; even if it was riskier and required significantly more planning. In my mind, if I was going to do the crazy adventurous Pamir Highway then going on a group tour with a driver was a bit of a cop out; might as well get the full experience – either by hitchhiking or renting a car. Plus how cool (and slightly nerve wracking) to get behind the wheel and drive the Pamir Highway going on rough roads and over mountain passes in Tajikistan and Kyrgzstan. 

I’m not sure what was rising faster, our excitement levels for the developing plan or our BAC; but Ken sat in the corner more quiet than usual as he was the odd man out. When all of the sudden, he goes “okay guys I’ll be your fourth!” We all yelled and cheered as we hovered over his phone while he cancelled his flight home to Bangkok that he had just booked less than a few hours before. Now that Ken committed to cancelling his flight and being our fourth person, we had to turn this idea into reality. There was no backing out. We had so much to figure out ahead, but on this afternoon we celebrated by continuing to drink late into the evening. 

The next morning I woke up with a terrible hangover. Ugh what did we do to ourselves? Oh yeah we only decided to rent a car and spend seven days driving one of the craziest highways in the world. It was a rough morning/early afternoon and the thought of what we had agreed to the night before was a bit daunting, especially when hungover. Luckily we had time to figure out the next steps.

When doing the Pamir Highway, you either drive from Osh to Dushanbe or Dushanbe to Osh. We were already in Osh, so obviously the first way would have been more logical if we had made this plan awhile back. But since we made the plan the day before, we had some major things to figure out such as renting a car, getting the mandatory GBAO permit for travel authorization in certain areas of the Pamir Highway, our itinerary, etc. All four of us only had five to seven days left on our Kyrgzstan visas (you can stay in the country for 30 out of 60 days) and we needed to time get our shit together. The GBAO permit alone takes a few days to be verified and approved. So rather than staying in Osh and risking not getting everything together before our Kyrgzstan visas expired, we decided to head to Tajikistan to visit a few cities and hike in the Fann Mountains. Then we could start the Pamir Highway from Dushanbe and end in Osh. This plan bought us more time to prepare and allowed for us to explore Tajikistan while figuring out all the admin tasks rather than just sitting around Osh doing nothing. Even though going to Dushanbe required quite a detour just to ultimately end up right where we started, it still made sense logistically for everyone’s future travel plans – me and Emiel were headed to Uzbekistan, Tobi was hitch hiking to China, and Ken would fly back to Bangkok from either Kyrgzstan or Uzbekistan. Just like that we had organically formed our Pamir Highway group and travel crew for the next two weeks.

World Nomad Games – Cholpon Ata

The World Nomad Games are an international sports and cultural festival dedicated to preserving and celebrating ethnic sports, customs, and heritage of nomadic civilizations. Often called the Olympics for Nomads or Central Asian Olympics. The World Nomad Games are held every two years and this year marked the sixth edition of the Games. It has events like Kok Boru (the main sporting event – an equestrian sport similar to polo where two teams of mounted riders fight for possession of a goat carcass and try to score in a raised circular tube), horse archery, yurt building, eagle hunting, and tug of war; as well as intellectual events involving classic Central Asian board games. Ken and I knew that our time in Kyrgyzstan would overlap with the World Nomad Games and made a point to be in the area for at least three days (he was there for five days since he didn’t complete the trek with me). This year’s events mostly took place in Cholpon Ata on Lake Issyk-Kul, the second largest alpine lake in the world. Because of its high salinity and geothermal activity deep below, Issyk-Kul never freezes despite sitting high in the Tian Shan Mountains.

Getting In

After finishing my five day trek, I got into Karakol around 4pm, grabbed a quick bite to eat, then headed to bus station for a shared taxi. Ken told me he got a taxi from the bus station for 1000 som (around $10) per seat so I was hoping that there were still some people willing to share a ride this late in the day. I got lucky that three German guys were waiting for a fourth person and didn’t have to wait at all. I even got the front seat because they all wanted to sit together. Less than five minutes after arriving at the station we were on the road for the two hour drive to Cholpon Ata. This was the easiest commute ever! 

Lodging 

A few weeks back Ken and I had rented a cheap hotel room just outside Cholpon Ata, the city hosting a good portion of the Nomad Games events. The hotel was walking distance from the events and we knew it would be hard to find a place so we had booked it far enough in advance. The hotel had three beds and Ken made friends with an Australian guy, Rollo, when he had been invited to a dinner in Almaty at Kazakhstani Grandma’s house so we were able to split the costs three ways. There was nothing fancy about our triple twin bed hotel room, but we had a private bathroom and a balcony so it satisfied our needs. And it was a huge plus to be a 15 minute walk from the venue that hosted the main horse events like kok boru as well as the wrestling events. 

World Nomad Games

I arrived at 8pm the first night (which was night three of the Games) and on our way to dinner there was a group of Kyrgyz standing around a car that invited us over to take shots of vodka with them while their friend played accordion and they sang traditional songs. This set the tone for the high level energy of the days ahead.

Krygzstan has hosted four of the six editions of the Nomad Games and you can tell the locals take pride in this event. Throughout the weekend they were battling it out with Kazakhstan for gold. In the end, Kyrgyzstan won the most total medals at 77 (30 gold medals) but Kazakhstan finished first in the official gold-medal and overall standing with 74 (32 gold medals). It’s a heated rivalry reminiscent of the Lakers-Celtics in the 80s.

On my first full day of the World Nomad Games, we went hard. Too hard actually. We started drinking at 11am and didn’t stop until 3 in the morning so it was a rager…a little too much because the next day we lied in bed dying all day and didn’t make it out to any events. More on that later. After a Turkish breakfast we picked up a bottle of vodka and poured it into a water bottle to bring with us into the stadium (when the event doesn’t sell alcohol you have to take matters into your own hands). Then we walked over to the horse stadium and watched Tengu Ilu, a horse sport where you reach for bags on the ground and throw them between the flags. I think my cowboy cousin Jo-Bob would be a star if he played this sport. Of course Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were battling it out for the gold, while Uzbekistan and Mongolia trailed not far behind. Exactly the countries you’d expect to be good at an event like this. 

There was an Australian guy who entered the event on a whim, and we were with Rollo and all his Australian fans cheering like maniacs during his round. We started a bunch of Aussie chants and got on the big screen! Sadly, and not surprisingly, he didn’t do very well and even fell off his horse mid round. But the cheers of the crowd were so loud that they let him do a victory lap around the stadium. The locals were loving the energy. 

We made friends with some of the Aussies and walked with them over to the indoor wrestling arena through swarms of crowds that included people riding their horses as a mode of transportation to go from event to event. You don’t see that at a baseball game. On our way we stopped for a bowl of plov and a coffee. The wrestling events were kind of boring to be honest but it was entertaining to see the size of some of these guys. Some of the Iranian, Mongolian, Kazakh, and Kyrgyz guys made NFL offensive lineman look small. It was also kind of ironic when an Iranian guy faced off against an American guy. Sadly we lost. As a matter of fact we lost every wrestling match. 

We decided to take an intermission from the Games to head back to the hotel and drink a beer (as well as buy another bottle of vodka to bring back in later). Then we went back to the horse to catch the end of America versus Uzbekistan in Kok Boru. If you’re like me, then you had no idea that anyone in America even knew what Kok Boru was. But apparently we have a team consisting of cowboys and ranchers predominantly from Utah. And compared to the Central Asian countries we aren’t very good. Uzbekistan was kicking our ass. However the crowd started a USA chant and everyone was getting behind it. This was a magical moment to hear thousands of people in Kyrgyzstan chant USA. Even during these tense global times, America is still seen as a shining light in many peoples eyes. There was supposed to be another Kok Boru match afterwards but the Hungarian team never showed up and the events of the day were over.  On our way home we got some of the most delicious mantis that I ate in all of Central Asia.

We went back to the hotel to polish off a few more drinks and chat with our Israeli neighbors. It had been a long day of drinking and there was no stopping now. Then we went out to dinner in Cholpon Ata where a 5km Yandex ride took over 30 minutes due heavy traffic after the Games. After dinner, we walked to a nearby club and let’s just say things are pretty hazy at this point and we’ll leave it at that. 

As I mentioned earlier, the next day was an absolute wash after our day one drinking activities. We pretty much lied in bed all day aside from going out to get food. I was a little bummed because our original plans for this day were to take the shuttle bus to the other World Nomad games location 45 minutes up in the mountains where the cultural village was setup with yurts, ethnic bazaars, folklore performances, and culinary hubs; as well as hosting events like horse archery, yurt building, eagle hunting, and tug of war (we met a group of Brits who had friends who entered the tug of war competition for fun. The barrier to entry as an athlete is low. For Central Asian countries the Games is a big deal; for western countries it’s a chance for people to have fun and say they competed). But there was no way any of that was happening after the night before. Ken and Rollo had gone a few days prior so they had already seen it. Sadly I missed that one. Such is the cost of doing business. Rollo ended up leaving that afternoon to head to Bishkek so it was back to just Ken and me.

Day three was the last day of the World Nomad Games and the finals of Kok Boru between you guessed it, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. But first was the finals of Kokpar, a horse event similar to Kok Boru using a goat carcass but with a three meter wide circle drawn flat on the ground rather than a raise circular structure. This version is the Kazakh style and Kok Boru is the Kyrgyz style. The event started at 11 and we made the mistake of showing up at 11. Even though this was the only ticketed event, clearly it didn’t work because it was so crowded in the stadium that we couldn’t find a seat. People were standing on trash cans to try and improve their view. We tried to watch on the sidelines but couldn’t see anything and kept getting pushed. I’ve been to thousands of concerts and don’t get claustrophobic but I felt uncomfortable trying to watch on the sidelines crammed in with so many people.

We quickly decided this wasn’t worth it so we went and sat by the lake for a while then found a fan zone area and watched on the big screen. We popped into the wrestling arena and caught the finals of one event but that was the end of wrestling. After a few more minutes of watching Kok Boru from the fan zone we left to go back home because neither of us really cared. That night was the closing event of the World Nomad Games at the stadium, but we didn’t even have tickets and it was sold out. We should have bought tickets for that event instead of the over crowded Kok Boru finals. Oh well. Overall it was a super fun and unique experience that I’m glad I got to take part in, but I wish I didn’t drink so much day one and squander day two. 

Bishkek

Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan and most heavily populated city with around 1.3 million people. It really isn’t the most exciting city – a main square and some Soviet style statues, big flag, and a few museums. A fun fact I read is that it is the farthest capital from any ocean or sea coastline in the world. The city served as our home base in between trekking in Ala Archa National Park. The traffic in Bishkek was absolutely horrible. What is this, Mexico City?

Getting In

We took a shared Yandex from Cholpon Ata to Bishkek. Yandex has a nice city to city feature where you can reserve a seat in a car with strangers at a set price and you get a pick up time window. This takes out the stress of the shared taxi haggle. The problem with doing shared rides with Ken is that he has a massive 100L backpack that takes up almost the entire trunk of smaller cars. The driver showed up and this is exactly what happened. There was already another girl in the car and there was no room in the trunk for my stuff. The driver was trying to tell us that Ken would have to pay for an extra seat and he would just cancel on the fourth person. After some back and forth argument I said I would just put my big backpack at my feet and keep my small backpack on my lap. We still had to pick up one more person, but luckily her suitcase was able to be jammed in the trunk. Needless to say it was a highly uncomfortable four hour ride for me. Ken had to sit in the middle next to my giant bag on the floor so it wasn’t great for him, but he really owes me for that one. Halfway into the ride, the driver stopped at a cacería style restaurant that served a bunch of hot dishes that you could select from. It was a real relief when we got to the outskirts of Bishkek and dropped off the girl in the backseat with us. 

Lodging 

We stayed at a homestay that Ken had already spent a few nights at the last time he was in Bishkek so the lady loved him. We spent two nights here before the trek and two nights after. It was a comfy room with a TV and YouTube so we spent a lot of time in our beds watching TV; which was a nice decompression from travel life. 

The night we got back from the trek we ended up getting drunk with these young German kids also staying at the homestay. It started with beer and moved onto vodka. We had a lot of fun drinking and chatting with them, but the next day was a struggle. Originally we had planned to leave for Osh, but we decided to stay another night. This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I looked into the weather in southern Krygzstan on the trek we were planning to do and it was going to be rainy. So I started researching different treks and found the Holy Lakes loop by Arslanbob, a little mountain village north of Osh that I had read about once but it wasn’t even on our radar. This new plan would never have been hatched if not for our lazy hungover day. 

Food 

We were both getting a bit tired of Central Asian food and Bishkek has surprisingly good Korean food. I read that the large Korean population is due to Stalin worrying about them being Japanese spies during WWII so he sent a bunch of Koreans to Central Asian territories to distance them from Japan. Many remained in Bishkek even after the USSR dissolved. We ate Korean fried chicken three times in our four nights in Bishkek.

Wandering Around Town

Other than going out for Korean fried chicken and hitting the mall to shop for groceries for the trek (and I needed some new socks and hiking pants), the only time we left to explore the city was our second afternoon. We braved the shitty traffic and took a Yandex to Ala-Too Square. The buildings had a very plain Soviet style look with a big Krygzstan flag waving in front and some water fountains. We walked through the park and saw the Vladimir Lenin statue, which is a staple landmark of many Central Asian cities.

Then we spent $2 to go to the State History Museum which had two floors of various Russian and Asian artifacts; as well as a historical timeline of Kyrgyzstan from early humans to nomadic tribes to Soviet times to the modern era. Something I found interesting was that they call World War II “The Great Patriot War” and the dates are from 1941-1945, starting the year Germany invaded the USSR, rather than in 1939 when Germany invaded Poland as we know it lol. I guess it all just depends which side of history you are taught.

After the museum we walked to a craft beer bar to have a few drinks, but on the way I decided to try a mystery street dairy drink. In both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan every few blocks has people with a small stand selling three different color barrels of beverages – red, blue, and brown. I had been curious about it so I decided to blindly try the blue barrel. The only question I asked the lady was “is it cold” because I was curious what temperature I’d be drinking. She nodded yes. I took a sip and was immediately hit with a very sour taste reminiscent of the camel milk I drank in Almaty. It was rough. But I spent a good $0.40 on this beverage so I wasn’t going to let it go to waste; and luckily I ordered the small. It actually grew on me and I didn’t hate it by the end of the cup (nor did I love it. Plus the taste lingered in my mouth for a while). Upon researching afterwards, the blue barrel is called chalap shoro – a tangy and slightly fizzy yogurt drink made from süzmö (strained fermented yogurt/curd), water, and salt. Hmmm interesting. Definitely don’t need to try that one again. I wanted to eventually try the others but ultimately never did. My loss. 

Three Days Trekking in Ala Archa National Park – 15.87 miles; 7,913 feet elevation gain and loss

Ala Archa National Park lies less than 45 minutes from the city of Bishkek with premier high alpine access in the Tian Shan mountains. The nature reserve was established in 1976 and the park spans over 160 square kilometers of pristine, untouched wilderness with more than 20 glaciers in the park and 56 glaciers in the Ala Archa river basin and valley system. The park can even be reached from the city by bus but we decided to take a $7 Yandex.

Day 1 – Adygene Lake – 7.2 miles; 5,072 feet elevation gain; 394 feet elevation loss

It was a beautiful blue bluebird day with no clouds and the crisp smell of autumn in the air. The trees were in their early stages of changing colors with some starting to get yellow and red leaves. While we gained a lot of elevation throughout the day, it was mostly a continuos moderately steep uphill through the valley along the river. At this point my legs had gotten so strong from the last few treks that I hardly even noticed that we gained 5,000 feet of elevation with our packs; especially since the incline never got too steep. 

Ken and I had a good rhythm and flow to the day staying mostly silent in our hiking worlds keeping a strong a pace. We ran into a few other groups of people, mostly locals that were day hiking to and from the lake. Long day! We were glad to chunk it out into multiple days. Plus we had plans to climb a mountain peak the following morning. 

The last mile before camp had two short, steep uphill rocky sections that required a little more leg strength and mental focus but we still raced up the hill with ease. We were still about a half mile below Adygene Lake but Maps.Me showed this area as the campsite. It was rocky, but at least it was flat, and we didn’t know what the terrain at the lake would look like so we settled here. Our tent stakes were somewhat useless so we used large rocks as stakes instead. There wasn’t a reliable water source by camp because it had dried up to a trickle, so we brought all our water bottles and containers to stock up at the lake. While we were setting up camp these two teens from Bishkek were coming down from the lake and offered us a loaf of bread. Sure, why not!

After setting up camp, we continued to Adygene Lake. It was only another half mile but the entire way was boulder hopping so it took longer than expected. At least we didn’t have our large backpack on anymore, and the boulders were stable, so it was actually a fun traverse. The high alpine turquoise blue lake was well worth the effort and it had a beautiful backdrop of jagged mountains and snowy glaciers. 

There were some weather vanes and A frame cabins in front of the lake, but everything was locked up. Even though the area surrounding the lake was very rocky, we found the perfect campsite by the A frame cabins – flat and grassy. Damn! That would have been nice. Oh well we didn’t know. We enjoyed the views for a bit then filled up on water and headed back to camp.

It was nearly night time at this point when two more Bishkek teens came out of nowhere and approached our camp. They were coming down from Adygene Peak (the one we planned to do the following day) and heading all the way back to Bishkek in one day. They had already been on trail almost 13 hours and still had a few more hours of downhill to go. Absolute legends! They stopped at our campsite to eat their dinner then gave us the rest of their canned meat. It looked like dogfood but actually tasted pretty good. “I didn’t know we were having a steak dinner tonight” – Ken. We gave them some candy as a thank you for the canned meat. 

Day 2 – Adygene Peak – 3.85 miles; 2,841 feet elevation gain and loss 

We had a slow start to the morning as we waited for the cold air to warm up and the sun to hit our tents. Once again it was a beautiful blue sky with no clouds so we didn’t have to rush. Although we were climbing a peak so we also wanted to get going at a reasonable hour. We hiked up a rocky gully out of camp then there was a small uphill section with a dirt trail before we were back in the rocks for the next six hours. There was no such thing as stable ground today; the terrain was challenging right from the start. The distance to the top of the peak was less than two miles so Adygene Peak presented itself early on in the hike. It looked slightly intimidating with its steep rock face in the front and scree field mountain pass to the right with a ridge line leading to the peak. 

We’d done a lot of backcountry hiking so far in the Stans, but this would be our first time summiting a peak. We’ll see how it looks when we get closer. It was a short distance but required 3,000 feet of elevation gain on rocky terrain, over a scree field, and across a ridge line so it was going to be a slow burner. 

As we worked our way through the rocky basin and got closer to the mountain pass, there was a massive glacier to the left of the peak. So cool to still see that much snow in the beginning of September. Even though these mountains are similar height to Colorado, they are much more heavily glaciated.

We approached the bottom of the mountain pass and had to go up a mixture of loose scree and medium sized boulder to reach the top of the pass. It was challenging but since we had light day packs it really wasn’t too bad and went by rather quickly. The mountain views off in the distance were starting to get better. 

We reached the mountain pass and stopped for lunch. The views of the ridge line leading to the top of the peak were intimidating but sometimes it looks even scarier from down below than when you are actually doing it. The ridge is usually (keyword usually) much wider when you get up closer and there is a route that appears that you couldn’t see from down below.

Ken and I have done a lot of mountain peaks and ridge lines together so we felt confident. Plus we have a rule where if one guy starts feeling uncomfortable about the situation then it’s time to turn back. The other thing we always remind ourselves is whatever you climb up, you have to be confident to climb down. Because typically the down climb is harder; especially when you’re dealing with loose rocks. The first section was fairly straight forward on a mixture of crushed scree and medium rocks, similar to what we did going up the mountain pass; just less wide open. Then we got into more of the boulders and rock scrambling that required us to use our hands. Luckily there were rock carins all along the way that gave us guidance and showed us the best route to take. I was always keeping my eyes forward for the next set of rock carins. This type of hiking, or mountaineering really, requires an extreme level of focus and the mind is working on hyperdrive with an incredible rush of adrenaline. This whole section was very challenging but there was never a moment that felt outside either of our abilities and comfort zone.

After an hour and fifteen minutes of scrambling and route finding and one false peak, we reached the 14,412 foot high summit and were greeted with some of the best mountain views I’ve ever seen.

There was an insane amount of peaks; and what was even more crazy is how many glaciers there were. We were at the same height as most of the fourteeners in Colorado but you never get glacial views like this. And this is late summertime too; after months of hot and dry weather. It was spectacular! And on top of it all we had beautiful bluebird skies and almost no wind. We were able to sit at the top and enjoy the scene for almost an hour. Even though Bishkek isn’t my favorite city, it’s pretty cool that you have this amazing of mountain access so close by. 

Of course getting to the summit is just the first part. It was a long way downhill on rocky terrain of all different shapes and sizes. The downhill is worse than the uphill on these types of hikes. But the old adage slow and steady holds very true for this type of down climb. We knew everything we had done to go up and retraced our steps from where we came; taking it nice and slow to prevent any injuries or excessive rockfall. It was a long arduous process which required even more concentration than the uphill climb. I was relieved when we made it back to the mountain pass because we made it down the hardest section, but the fun wasn’t over yet. We still had this mixture of loose scree/medium boulder downhill on steep terrain to conquer. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience but we made it work. We also took a quick detour, you know an easy 20 minute hop along loose boulders, to go to the glacier and refill our waters since camp wasn’t next to a water source (the alternative would have been to head to the lake from the day before after we got back to camp and that didn’t sound like something we wanted to do). The boulders by the glaciers were extra loose and unstable because the structural ice and permafrost that used to bound them has been melting so we had to be extra careful here. 

After our trip to the glacier it was smooth sailing. We still had a mixture of medium rocks and dirt path for the final mile but at least we were on somewhat steady ground. We were almost back at camp when we ran into a Russian family. The son, a guy around our age, spoke great English and we chatted it up. The mother offered us sausage and cheese, some hard boiled eggs, a can of foie gras, and a chocolate bar. Yet another example of the hospitality we encountered on trail. The U.S. and Russia have had many years of political differences, but on the ground level we as people all get along. There was no tension between us on a trail in the middle of nowhere Krygzstan. 

We got back to camp riding high from the incredible day we had summiting Adygene Peak. It was a challenging peak that required constant focus and attention the entire day we were on trail, so it was nice to finally kick back and relax at camp. These two Kyrgyz teens showed up and camped right next to us. They were doing a different mountain peak the following morning. One that we had also considered stacking on but one peak was good enough; we were ready for a chiller downhill day. They were nice young kids full of energy who spoke pretty good English and were stoked to chat with us. We were both tired from our day on trail but tried to be friendly and conversational. 

While we were chatting another group came up that was quite an odd couple – a French girl who was a journalist working in Krygzstan currently writing a piece on glaciers, a Kyrgyz scientist, and a photographer (not sure from where). We chatted with them for a bit but they were headed up to Lake Adygene to sleep in the A frame cabins for the evening. Ahhh so that’s how you get the key; come with a local scientist. Never a dull moment in these mountains! Ken and I crashed early that night.

Day 3 – Return – 4.82 miles; 0 feet elevation gain; 4,619 feet elevation loss 

We woke up the next morning and noticed a few things were displaced while eating breakfast. We had seen some marmots and pikas the previous days and thought maybe they got up to no good. We packed our tents and all the sudden Ken realized he couldn’t find his hiking shoes or his hat. Damn marmots did him dirty!! His hiking shoes were incredibly out and worn out so he had been talking about getting new ones before our next trek, but the universe made that decision for him. His only backpack pair of footwear was his Keane sandals that were missing the backs because they were also old and worn out. He was furious…understandably so. We looked around  the camp area with no success. I guess this is why you don’t leave your shoes outside your tent. I got really lucky because my shoes were also outside under my tent vestibule. I would have had to hike down in my Brazilian Havaianas rubber flip flops. After a few more curses words, Ken decided it was a lost cause and we were off. 

We had to go back down what we went up the first day. Luckily most of it was just a moderate decline but the first mile had some steep downhill on rocky terrain that was no fun for Ken in his warm out Keanes. He went really slowly, as expected, but to his credit he made it down. While I was waiting for him at the bottom of this section I spotted a group of ibex climbing up the mountain in the distance. I used the 25x zoom on my iPhone to somewhat capture them. This was the first wildlife we’d seen on trail outside of marmots and pikas; and of course we’d seen a number of livestock animals like cows, horses, and sheep. Sadly no snow leopard yet. 

After we got down the hard section, I let Ken lead for the moderate decline so that I didn’t get too far ahead and make him even more pissed about his footwear. He actually handled it like a champ and lost his sour mood quickly into the day. As we got further into the valley, the color of the leaves had seemingly changed even more since we were here two days before. The reds and yellows looked a little brighter and more widespread. The whole day was downhill and we made it back to the main road before 1pm, caught the free shuttle to the entrance of the park, and took a Yandex back to our homestay. It was a great three day trek and nice to stay camped at the same place for two of the nights as well as knock out a Kyrgyzstani fourteener.  

“It always feels good to enter a new country. Everything that lies ahead is as new as can be” – Rick Steves 

Krygzstan is the Stan I was most looking forward to visiting prior to this trip, and also the hardest one to spell. The photos I’d seen of its alpine lakes and towering mountain peaks had me salivating. Over 90% of the land is mountainous…it doesn’t get much better than that! These past few years Kyrgyzstan has started to become a popular country for both adventure backpackers and Instagram influencers and I wanted to get there before it becomes oversaturated. While it was nowhere as busy as a European summer or the hot spots in Southeast Asia, you can tell the tourist boom has arrived in this once unknown country. That being said, it still provides a rugged authentic backpacker experience with little infrastructure and many hidden gems yet to be spoiled by crowds.

The history of Kyrgyzstan has many similarities to its northern neighbor Kazakhstan – going from nomadic tribes to regional khanates. The Kyrgyz Khanate was heavily influenced by its Turkic neighbors and they adapted many aspects of Turkic culture, language, and military strategy. The introduction of Islam via the Silk Road further changed the cultural landscape of the Kyrgyz Khanate and gained traction by the 9th and 10th century. The next few centuries saw the fragmentation of the khanate as the region got conquered by empires like the Seljuk Turks and Mongols, however the Kyrgyz people maintained their traditional nomadic way of life and cultural heritage. 

The Kyrgyz remained fiercely independently but they got caught in the orbit of Russian expansion in Central Asia and fell under the Russian empire in the late 18th century. The region underwent significant changes under the hardships of Soviet rule before ultimately gaining independence in 1991 (all five central Asian Stans have the same birth year as me). The collapse of the Soviet Union led to severe economic hardship – inflation soared, unemployment rates sky rocketed, and many people struggled to adapt to a new privatized economy.

Kyrgyz people have a strong sense of identity tied to the land they have lived on for centuries with high altitude pastures, rushing rivers, deep valleys, and the rugged Tian Shan mountain range. They have maintained a deep connection to their nomadic traditions – horseback riding, storytelling, and a bond to the natural world.

A few random things about Kyrgyzstan – (1) they have a three som coin which I found odd and funny (2) the country has a young population. The median age is 25.5 years and children under 15 make up roughly 31.5% of the population. It really shows when you walk the streets; there are kids everywhere, and even the parents all look incredibly young (3) even though it’s a very poor country, we saw lots of nice cars in the streets – Lexus, Audi, Mercedes, and BYD (the Chinese electric car company; I both saw, and rid in, lots of BYDs all over Central Asia and am a big fan). Upon further research, Kyrgyzstan has so many nice cars for a few reasons. The first being that following international sanctions and the withdrawal of western automakers from Russia, Kyrgyzstan emerged as a gateway for parallel imports where wealthy Russian buyers and dealerships utilize Kyrgyz brokers to circumvent sanctions. The second reason is the country maintains significantly lower customs duties, VAT, and vehicle clearance fees compared to its neighbors. The third reason is that Kyrgyzstan has become one of the top destinations globally for vehicle exports from South Korea and China. The more you know!

Getting In

We took the 10:10 bus from Almaty to Karakol that was supposed to take 6-8 hours but it ended up taking closer to 11 hours thanks to mechanical problems. In the end we were lucky to get there at all. The bus was mostly backpackers and we made friends with a few of the guys – Nik from Australia, Tobi from Germany, and Luca from Italy. We talked so much, and so loudly, that these two local women shushed us. Oops.

Two hours into the ride we stopped at a gas station for drinks, snacks, and a bathroom break. We got fifteen minutes down the road when the bus broke down. Oh great here we go. It was so hot outside and the only shade was standing in front of the bus. The driver was fiddling around with the pipes and tubing in the back of the bus. At least now I know what the inside of a Kazakh bus looks like. Everyone was getting off the bus and investigating the problem like they were a Formula One mechanic who had a quick solution.

There was talks of a new bus coming but then after 1.5 hours the driver fixed the piping and we were back on the road. Never a good sign for what’s ahead. We were cruising for about an hour before we broke down again. The bus made this noise like you’d hear when a tire was deflating and we all knew this was a bad sign. The driver got out and spent about 15 minutes fiddling then drove 30 seconds before we broke down again. 15 minutes for another fix then 5 minutes down the road and another break down for 30 minutes this time. Shit. I don’t know that he can do anything beyond temporarily fix this problem. We were in the middle of the desert and miles from the closest town. 

Some people got their bags and started to hitchhike; including the local women who told us to quiet down. The only bright side of this situation was that me, Ken, Tobi, Luca, and a few other backpackers were bonding. The big concern looming over all of us was that this particular border between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan closes at 8pm and each time we broke down the clock ticked closer to this deadline. Would we find a village with a place for all of us to stay or would we have to sleep in the bus? At least Ken and I had our own tents and sleeping bags. 

The bus started back up and we went another 30 minutes before arriving in a small town. The driver did one last round of fiddling with the pipes and he seemed pretty confident all was well; or at least good enough to get us to Karakol. 

We made it to the Kazakh border and it was a moment of truth for Ken. He had spent the past few months bouncing between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan so he was in a weird place playing the visa game. Each county has a 30 day free visa for US citizens but the rules changes for re-entry within a 60 day period depending on the country. Long story short, we determined it would be best if he stayed in Kazakhstan for 31 days rather than entering Kyrgyzstan one day early. When he got to the counter, the guy scrutinized his passport and said come with me. Uh oh. The rest of us all got through the border easily. We walked a couple hundred feet and had an easy entrance into Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile Ken had been taken into a back room. He sent me a text saying everything is okay, he just has to fill out some paperwork for overstaying his visa by one day. At this point everyone else on the bus had successfully entered Kyrgyzstan and we all sat waiting on Ken. I told the driver he had an issue but should be through soon. 20 minutes pass. Then another 10 minutes. The driver is getting impatient at this point. I keep telling him just a few more minutes. Am I just going to leave Ken? Finally after about 40 minutes we see Ken. Phew! Please be quick on the Krygzstan side. Luckily it was. He showed up apologizing. Apparently the border patrol guards were really chill and it should have just taken a few minutes but the finger print scanner technology kept crashing and that’s why it took so long. It was about 1.5 hours from the border to Karakol and by 10pm we finally arrived. 

Lodging 

We had originally only booked one night in Karakol because the bus was supposed to arrive around 4pm and we would have had time to grocery shop that evening and trek the next day. Since we got in at 10pm, we decided to stay for two nights. We ended up staying at two different guest houses because the first one was fully booked on the second night. Nic hadn’t booked anything and our spot night one was big enough to sleep three so we let him crash with us. The three of us then decided to get a new homestay together the following night. 

Karakol

Karakol is the fourth largest city in Kyrgyzstan with a population of around 84,000 people and is located in the northeastern part of country on the eastern side of Issyk Kul Lake. It is not the most exciting city but it has become popular amongst backpackers and hikers as the gateway to the Tian Shan Mountains, particularly the now Instagram famous three day Ala-Kul Lake trek. 

Wandering Around Town

During our day wandering around Karakol, the bus crew got back together – me, Ken, Nic, Luca, and Tobi. We went to the bazaar, ate ashlan-fu (popular cold noodle soup in this region that originates from the Dungan community, a Chinese Muslim minority who reside in eastern Kyrgyzstan), shopped for our trek, shared a big family style Turkish dinner, and had a couple beers at the backpacker bar called the Hut. 

Five Day Trek from Jyrgalan to Karakol – 55.7 miles; 18,198 feet elevation gain; 18,675 feet elevation loss 

Unlike the trek we did in Kazakhstan this one was mostly on established trails, but it was also steeper and more mileage. Ken and my original plan was to just do two nights and three days starting in Jyrgalan going to the Boz Uchuk Lakes. Our multi day hike was actually the first section of a larger 6-8 day trek known as the Ak-Suu Traverse, which I had read about previously. The Australian guy Nic was planning to do the entire traverse so we decided to hike together the first few days. Once we started the trek, I realized that if I continued a few more days (only 25+ miles and 7000+ feet of elevation gain/loss…no big deal) then I could see the famous Ala-Kul Lake. Ken had already gone to Ala-Kul earlier in his trip when his girlfriend Pam was out visiting from Thailand so he had no interest. But since I’ll probably never come back to this part Kyrgyzstan, I felt like I would be missing out a bit if I didn’t hike to Ala-Kul. Plus I had someone to do it with since Nic was doing the Ak-Suu Traverse. In the end, I completed about 2/3 of the Ak-Suu Traverse myself. Luckily Ken and I had brought a few extra days worth of food (and there was the comfort in knowing there were yurts along the way that sold food) to where it was fine that I decided to hike two more nights mid trek. 

Nic is a total lightweight backpacker who extensively researches all his gear and keeps a spread sheet with the weight of each item that he puts in his backpack. This level of neuroticism also translated to how he acted on trail to where he was constantly packing and unpacking his backpack. While he was a strong hiker, and generally good company, he also had this habit of delaying the time we started hiking or constantly taking breaks to readjust his gear. “No one dilly dally’s more than Nic” – Ken

Day 1 – 8.4 miles; 3,015 feet elevation gain; 259 feet loss

After getting a later than agreed upon start, Ken, Nic, Luca (who was doing a shorter one night hike in the area), and I shared a 1.5 hour Yandex ride to Jyrgalan. On the drive to the trailhead, we ran into a stampede of sheep walking in the middle of the road (this would become a common sight in Central Asia). The road was decent at first but became a bumpy dirt road as we got closer to Jyrgalan. You could tell our Yandex driver was starting to regret accepting this ride but once we arrived in the village we gave him a big cash tip that made up for it. 

The village of Jyrgalan is very small and remote, but there’s a lot of construction going on, and it might be the next Karakol in 10 years if Kyrgyzstan keeps growing in tourism as rapidly as it is now. Later in the trek at the top of Ala-Kul pass this older guy from New Zealand told me there are plans to build a ski resort in Jyrgalan. Maybe I should invest in property now?! 

We stopped at a yurt for a chicken shawarma lunch and it after 1pm by the time we finally hit the trail. Luckily today was the shortest day. The first section of the hike was low to moderate incline and wasn’t particularly exciting as we went through a cow field then along a 4×4 road. Our Yandex driver could have dropped us off further! This steady incline was the theme of the day and was a nice way to ease into the trek. 

Eventually we split off from the 4×4 road and followed a trail that went through the valley and started giving us mountainous views. After a slightly more steep incline, the trail flattened out along the river and we entered another meadow with cows and horses (there was a lot of sections like this on the trek). Less than an hour later we made it to our campsite by the river a short distance from the yurts (if there were yurts then that also meant there was flat spots for camping nearby). We didn’t see anyone else on trail all day so that was nice, but we also didn’t start hiking until the early afternoon. The yurts looked like they had a few people staying at them, but weren’t particularly full. 

We setup camp and ate ramen then it started raining on us so we retreated to our tents for 20 minutes. Then we hung out chatting for a bit before heading to bed. We were camped by a bunch of cows so there was a constant sound of mooing and light rain throughout the night.

Day 2 – 10.38 miles; 4,291 feet elevation gain; 3,314 feet elevation loss 

It was sunny when we woke up in the morning and after breakfast we packed our tents and hit the trail. The day started with a short walk along the river before a steep uphill gaining 1000 feet in a mile and going over our first of many mountain passes on the trek. At least it was a dirt path and not challenging terrain. The top of the pass treated us to our best views so far with a sweeping mountain range in the distance that had one towering snowy mountain looming over the rest. We tried to guess how high it was from our 11,400 foot pass. It had to be at least 15,000. 

Back into the valley we go for a few miles of steep downhill. Then came a section where the river is too deep and moving too fast to cross where two guys with horses were waiting to take hikers across for a fee. We had read about this so we were already mentally prepared to pay. We had also read that you could walk 0.5 kilometers out of the way to find a bridge, but for $5/person we decided to go the horse route; even if it took less than 30 seconds. Plus it was an opportunity to get on a horse! Ken had never ridden a horse and he nearly got bucked off in the middle of the river. I think he might have accidentally given it a kick. The guy scolded his horse when they made it across the river. 

After taking a lunch break where a farmers’ dog was staring at us the entire meal the trail continued as a moderate uphill along a stream. We all hiked at our own pace this afternoon. I got way ahead of them getting lost in my own hiking world of thoughts. The trail continued through a meadow with cows and horses. The incline was gradual but nonstop for a few miles. The last section to the pass was steeper and I passed by a group of Indonesian hikers, the first other people I’d seen on trail all day. 

It was dark and cloudy off in the distance, which blocked some of the mountain views, but the skies cleared up a bit while I waited for Ken and Nic. They had taken a few stops along the way and I ended up waiting for 45 minutes.

We went back down into the valley but rather than going all the way down and then back up to get to the lake we got off the trail and stayed up high along the contour line. This required us to walk on a side angled hill, and in the end, I would have just preferred going a little further down and back up. 

We got to Boz Uchuk Lake around 5:30 and setup camp next to the other groups – a couple from Canada and a big group of Polish guys. We cooked dinner and enjoyed the beautiful alpine glow on the mountains behind the lake. This is also when I decided that I would continue on the trek to Ala-Kul rather than going back. The goal was to take two more nights to finish and end up back in Karakol by Thursday afternoon because we already had a hotel booked for that night for the World Nomad Games. Finishing by Thursday meant the next couple days were all going to be long ones. 

Day 3 – 10.67 miles; 2,723 feet elevation gain; 4,587 elevation loss 

The Polish guys were up early and making a lot of noise. Oh well I was already on and off sleeping anyways. We had breakfast and packed up camp before saying goodbye to Ken. He was sticking with the original plan to hike out after the Boz Uchuk Lakes since he had already done Ala-Kul. He was going to head to the World Nomad Games a day early and I would just meet him there. 

The first section of the day was a short boulder field traversing along the side of the hill that led up to the lake. Then it was a small downhill where we passed the group of Polish guys followed by a moderate uphill to the first mountain pass that got steep at the end. The views from the top were stunning. In general I think this day had the best views – furthest into the backcountry, multiple alpine lakes, and incredible mountain views. This was the Tian Shen beauty I was looking to find in Kyrgyzstan. 

It was a steepish downhill back into the valley then we had to hop along some rocks to cross the river before heading uphill to an unnamed lake that provided the perfect place to eat lunch. The Canadian couple from our campsite the night before had the same idea. 

After lunch it was a moderate uphill then short but very steep uphill to the top of pass two of the day which had great views looking back on the lake we ate lunch to one side and a glacier on the other side.

Then it was over four miles of downhill to camp with a mixture of steep sections and flat sections along the river. 

We camped on a natural island in between the milky glacial river with the same group as the night before – first the Canadian couple showed up and then slowly the Polish guys trickled in. Luckily the sound of the rushing river blocked out their noisiness. They took turns bathing naked in the stream as we avoided looking over that way. Then Nik and I sat there eating our dinner watching them struggle to setup their tents. That night it rained pretty heavily on us for about an hour.  

Day 4 – 13.57 miles; 5,738 feet elevation gain; 3,835 feet elevation loss 

We woke up at 6am this morning because I needed to have a big day and make it close to the Ala-Kul pass in order to be back in Karakul the following afternoon. Once again Nik moved slower than I would have liked and we didn’t actually get on trail until 7:45. It was a cloudy morning, but the temperature was perfect for hiking a steep mountain pass. After less than 0.5 miles of going flat along the river, we had to climb 2,600 feet of elevation in just two miles. It was the type of climb that you take it in chunks. Pick a point ahead and slowly walk to it then pick your next point. One little section at a time. Nik and I both went at our own paces. Normally I don’t listen to music while hiking but it was helpful to distract myself on this steep mountain pass with the heavy pack. 

The path was hard to follow at the bottom but then it became well defined and more obvious. The cloudiness helped that it wasn’t so hot and I couldn’t really see too far ahead and dread how much higher the climb was. After trudging my way to what I thought was the top, it turned out to be a false summit. At the end, it was super steep switch backs where I felt like I was going at a snail’s pace but slowly made my way up. I was stoked when I got to the top, even if the views were blocked by the clouds. This was definitely the hardest section of the trail so far. Nik was only about 10 minutes behind. 

After a short break, we started getting cold, and it was time to head down the other side. It was even steeper and more crushed rock than what we had just gone up. We passed by two Dutch girls slowly making their way up and I think it would have been even more difficult to ascend on this side. Then we entered the valley and had a long flat meadow with cows and horses. It felt good on the feet to finally be on flat ground. 

The sky got foggier which led to a light rain. We were glad to be in the valley and not hiking up the mountain pass. The rain continued as we went downhill for a few miles before reaching the small village of Altyn-Arashan. This little village consists of yurt camps and guesthouses for hikers, horseback tours, and people that just want to spend a night in the mountains. We hadn’t seen many people the last few days, but now we were entering the more touristy area of the trek. It was a bit of a shock to the system to see Korean grandmas wearing brand name rain jackets and bright pink shoes; but hey to each their own! We decided to treat ourselves to a warm meal in a guesthouse while the rain died down. The plov was average at best but the potato soup was delicious. Plus it was nice to spend an hour with a roof over our heads. 

Altyn-Arashan also has hot springs, which normally I would be into, but I was on a schedule and wanted to get another 5-6 miles further along the trail in the afternoon. Nik asked me multiple times that morning if I wanted to do them and I always said no. After lunch we were making coffee when the Canadian couple showed up and said they were going to the hot springs. I told Nik he is more than welcome to join them and that I would keep going on trail to the campsites just below Ala-Kul pass if he made it that far later. We said our goodbyes and I continued the second half of my long day. I enjoyed hiking with Nik but was ready to go at my own pace and not be constantly awaiting on his ADD brain. 

After not seeing many people the last few days back to crowds and I walked by so many people heading the other direction (it’s common for people doing the three Ala-Kul trek to go from Karakol to Altyn-Arshyn or visa versa). The walk started out flat along the river through mud and horse shit. This was my least favorite part of the trek because they do horse tours on it and the trail was covered in shit. Then it started raining and the trail got even muddier and more difficult to walk. I continued for three more hours of uphill in slushy deep mud passing by a number of people heading the other way. I was so in the zone that I didn’t even noticed that I gained almost 3,000 feet of elevation over the next 3.5 miles while it continued to rain on me.

I was deliriously tired by the end having been on trail for over eight hours. But I was able to keep going until I found a campsite by the river less than a mile Ala-Kul pass. Luckily the rain had stopped at this point.

I had the place to myself. My clothes were soaking wet and covered in mud, but I was just glad to be done for the day. This was the most elevation gain I’ve ever done with a heavy backpack and my legs and entire body were feeling it. I made dinner then retreated to my sleeping bag because I was cold, wet, and tired. 

Day 5 – 12.68 miles; 2,431 feet elevation gain; 6,680 feet elevation loss 

I woke up at 6:20 but started the day slow because the sun came out and I wanted to try to dry some of my stuff off. By 8:30 I was on trail and in under a mile I began the insanely steep climb to the top of Ala-Kul pass. It was a short section but the highest grade of incline yet and fairly loose scree. Good thing for trekking poles. I had started early enough in the morning that it was just me and an older couple from New Zealand. One final uphill push and I made it to the highlight viewpoint and highest point of the trek – the 12,818 foot Ala-Kul pass. The views of the glacial blue lake with countless snowy mountain peaks behind it were well worth the challenge. I see why this has become so Instagram famous. 

I was glad to be up there early before the crowds and while the weather was good. There were some clouds off in the distance but the sun was shining. I soaked in the scenery for about 45 minutes, glad that I had made the extra effort to spend two more nights on trail to enjoy these views. The New Zealand couple and I chatted for a bit and they had done a lot of cool hikes around the world. I could have stayed at the top even longer but I was on a mission to make it to Karakol by early afternoon so I could then catch a ride over to the World Nomad Games two hours away. 

The other side of the pass was steep downhill over a mix of medium sized rocks, boulders, and dirt paths. I think it would have been even more challenging coming up this way. I passed by swarms of people heading up, which made me even more happy that I climbed the pass early. I got into the valley where there was light rain/light hail on and off for an hour before it finally became sunny. It reminded me a lot of Colorado mountain weather in the summertime.

Then I randomly ran into my Italian friend Luca and a German girl that he was hiking with so the three of us continued on the muddy downhill together. My energy was running low after five long days of hiking so it was nice to chat with them as a distraction. We reached the little yurt village on the main road where taxis were charging an arm and a leg to go the eight miles back to the park entrance (and most of them didn’t even drive you to the entrance, they would only drive you to the bridge halfway). Even though it was a long distance, the road was flat, so we decided to forego the overpriced taxis and walk it ourselves. At first it seemed like a good decision because we were chatting and the dirt road was easy; even if it was a bit muddy. But then the hike really started to drag. After nearly five miles we reached the second bridge and caught a cheap ride with a guy to the entrance. The German girl and I were laughing about how many different gear shifters his car had. We were going to order a Yandex back into town when a friendly guy pulled over his car and hitched us a ride for free.

A quick aside before diving into the excursions I did outside Almaty. 

I just finished reading the famous travel guide writer Rick Steves’ book On the Hippie Trail (highly recommend) which is his journal documenting his travels from Istanbul to Kathmandu in 1978 traveling by bus from Turkey to Nepal through Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India (an unheard of journey in the modern era but a popular backpacker route at that time). This was his first trip outside of Europe to explore more off the beaten path parts of the world where he experienced the highs and lows of adventure travel in third world countries. His writing style and adventurous stories really struck a chord with me. 

After reading about Rick Steves’ struggles in the beginning of his travels through Asia, and how he ultimately overcame them to have the trip of a lifetime, I started reflecting on how far I’ve come mentally since where I was at in the beginning of Central Asia. I had been so excited leading up to this portion of my world travels, and Ken was so stoked for me to join him upon my arrival, but I was having a difficult time mentally adjusting during my first few days in Almaty. I was still hungover from the three weeks I spent in America; both metaphorically speaking and in reality. And I was having my doubts about what I was doing and how I was going to be able to continue traveling in Asia for the next five to six months. But then I had that “aha” moment on my seven day trek in the backcountry that pushed me into the proper mindset and now nearly two months into this trip (meanwhile this blog post is about my second week…yes that’s how far I have fallen behind) I can confidently say this has been one of my favorite trips ever. 

There’s always going to be moments of difficulty and struggles along the way; especially during this type of adventure travel in less developed countries. On top of language barriers, cultural differences, haggling for a fair price, and difficult transportation days; there’s the mental wear and tear of constantly adapting to this ever changing lifestyle. But with that also comes unforgettable encounters, adventurous experiences, lifelong memories, new friends from all over the world, a greater perspective, and so much more. It’s not for the faint of heart but for me the juice is worth the squeeze. 

Two Day Tour – Kaindy Lakes, Kolsai Lakes, and Charyn Canyon

After starting out Kazakhstan going straight into the wild and having my crazy seven day experience in the backcountry, it was time to be a normal tourist. I signed up for the multi day tour to Kaindy Lakes, Kolsai Lakes, and Charyn Canyon with a company called Banana Tour. All of these excursions, two nights at a home stay, bus transportation, and five provided meals cost less than $70. Ken didn’t join me on this trip since he had already done it earlier in his Kazakhstani journey so it was time for me to kick into solo backpacker mode and meet some new people.

The tour bus left at the odd hour of 8pm (probably because it comes back at 7pm, but it’s not exactly convenient). Our guide was a Kazakh woman who spoke great English and had a good sense of humor. Over the next two days she would explain each excursion before our arrival giving us the history and facts about the stop and letting us know what time we had to be back on the bus.

We took a gigantic bus with at least 40 people on it. There was also a mini bus of Russian speakers for the Kazakhs and Russians, but we didn’t interact too much with them. When I got on the bus, there weren’t too many empty seats so I sat down at one where someone had left their backpack. I ended up sitting next to a 20 year old girl from Budapest named Lilla. We got along quite well, but it was crazy to think I got my drivers license the same year she was born. Her and I talked a good bit during the beginning of the bus ride, and we also chatted with an Indian guy in the aisle seat next to us named Monty. The bus stopped 30 minutes in so we could use the restroom and get any snacks and drinks for the remaining five hour ride. At the stop I shot the shit with the two class clowns of the trip, Dan from Australia and Rhys from England. The group was a melting pot of people from all over the world – India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, England, Australia, America, Germany, Peru, Luxembourg, and more – all put together on a bus in Kazakhstan. These types of scenarios feel so natural in the moment but from an outside lens it’s really crazy to blend together people from all these different cultures and backgrounds. 

I had my core group of people I hung out with more, but I ended up interacting with most people on the bus at some point, and it was a nice reminder of all the interesting characters you meet from all around the world. Lilla, Monty, and I continued chatting the first hour of the bus ride until we went into our own worlds listening to music and trying to sleep through the nighttime bus ride. We arrived around 2am in the village of Saty where the home stays were and luckily my named was called for the first one (Lilla was in the last house and had to stay on the bus almost another hour). Hooray for staying in Dream House! The biggest pitfall of the house is that there was only one bathroom for all twelve of us (at least the shower was in a different room). There were five of us in my room and the beds were extremely comfortable; far exceeding my expectations. Plus it wasn’t bunk bunks; which is always nice not to fight for the bottom bunk. My room was three Indian guys: Monty, Rajj, and Gurav; and an Australian guy Max. We stayed up chatting for a bit then retired for the evening. 

Tour Day One – Lakes

The morning started with a family breakfast cooked by the home stay hosts where they served us a tasty porridge, bread and jam, and chai tea. The other rooms in our house were a four person family from Indonesia and a group of three British guys who were friends from back home. After breakfast, we were the last ones to get picked up by the bus. The dream house was in the perfect location where we were always the first ones dropped off and last ones picked up.

Kaindy Lake (3.42 miles; 997 elevation gain)

The first stop of the day was Kaindy Lake, a sunken forest of spruce trees created in 1911 when an earthquake triggered a massive limestone landslide that blocked the gorge and flooded the spruce trees. The water is ice cold which keeps the submerged tree trunks, branches, and needles preserved. Our guide was telling us that sadly this may not exist in the future as the water temperatures are starting to rise.

I sat next to Max on the hour long bus ride and he was an easy person to chat with and crack silly jokes. He had been traveling for over a year now (with a quick detour back home) and had some really interesting stories, particularly from his recent three months that he spent in India. While India has never been super high on my list of places to visit, it sounds like such a wildly different experience than any other country and is definitely a place that I would like to visit at some point in my life. It’s such a big country with so many people that it feels a bit intimidating. Plus you have to spend at least six weeks to really get to know the country, and even still that’s just the tip of the iceberg. One day! 

Kaindy Lake was a very impressive and unique site to see. It was definitely very touristy and there were a lot of other groups at the lake (this would be the theme for all the excursions on this trip), but for good reason. We had two hours to roam around and explore. It was a short hike from the parking lot to the lake. There was a trail that went around the lake with different view points of the sunken forest and the crystal clear turquoise water that changed color depending on how much sunlight was hitting it. 

One thing I liked about this tour is they don’t babysit you and make everyone stay together; they let you do what you want with your time at the stop. I walked around with my roommates Max, Rajj, and Gurav. The two Indian guys were both software developers and we talked shop for a bit. They were telling me how they work 12 hour days and really don’t have time for anything besides work. They probably work for a company that American software companies outsource work to for a very low rate. They were on a seven day vacation to Kazakhstan and this was their big event of the year. Meanwhile I rarely worked eight hours a day at my software job and am now taking a gap year to backpack around the world. Such is the way of the world and I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given in my life. I was telling them about my love and passion for hiking and one of the guys was happy to hear my perspective on my hobby. 

Kolsai Lakes (2.82 miles; 587 feet elevation gain) 

After Kaindy Lakes, we took the bus back to our respective home stays for a delicious plov lunch with a carrot, tomato, and cucumber salad. After a short amount of downtime we hopped back on the bus for a 45 minute ride to Lower Kolsai Lake.

There are three Kolsai Lakes – lower, middle, and upper that sit at progressively higher elevation; the two latter ones require a longer hike and can be backpacked to. The tour just focused on the Lower Lake. 

It was a beautiful deep blue lake surrounded by pine forests that was a nice site to see, but they gave us way too much time here. We had three hours and you could walk around the lake in about 45 minutes. There was also the option for paddle boats but I opted out of that one. Max, Cat, (an American girl who had been writing a travel blog the last four years first about van life in the U.S. and now living in Vietnam), and I found a place on the lake to sit around and crack jokes. We were all very well traveled and exchanged some travel stories, but we were mostly just being silly and having fun. 

Maybe I’m a bit of a snob, but both these stops couldn’t hold a cake compared to the beauty I had just seen on my backcountry hike. And it’s so much less rewarding when there’s hundreds of other tourists showing up on their bus. All that said, the nature was still beautiful and I could why these are big tourist destinations. And it was nice to meet a bunch of other like minded travelers. It also made me so happy that I love to hike and can experience the most beautiful and remote serene nature the world has to offer rather than always doing these types of tourist activities.

Bonfire Dance Party

On the bus ride back, everyone was chatty and full of energy after a solid day of excursions and social interactions. We stopped at a gas station so people could buy beers for the big group bonfire that night. At first I was only going to buy four, but Rhys and Dan gave me shit about how Americans can’t drink, so I grabbed six. They each originally had six but grabbed eight when I got six. Fair play. I’m not going to battle them on that one. I’m too old to get into a drinking competition with a Brit and an Australian. Six will be sufficient. 

We had another delicious home cooked meal for dinner – beef and potatoes with a cucumber coleslaw.

Then it was time for the bonfire dance party. We had to walk 15 minutes from our house to this open field where they had a massive pile of sticks setup in the center that they threw some gas on and lit up. This was also the first opportunity to interact with the Kazakh and Russian group. 

The tour guide started by playing this game where we would all dance while walking around in a circle then she would call out a number (let’s say six) and we would have to form a group of the size of that number. Anyone not in a group was out. It obviously became more difficult as time went on. Sadly I got out after a few rounds. 

Then she would play popular music from all the different cultures (Kazakhstani, Indian, Russian, Uzbek, Korean, America, Colombia) and people from that respective country would show off their dance moves while we all tried to imitate it. Throw in booze and we were all having a really good time. The bonfire lasted a few hours  and it turned out to be a really fun evening! Back at the home stay a few of us stayed up chatting and drinking our final beer.

Tour Day Two – Canyons 

We woke up at 7:30 for breakfast and I felt surprisingly decent. After breakfast we packed our bags and said our goodbyes to the home stay hosts. It was a one hour drive to the first canyon and the bus was silent as people were clearly recovering from the night before. The first two stops were small canyons – Black Canyon and Moon Canyon; each with a river running between them. They were beautiful but very small and nothing too special for me. For some people in the tour it was the first canyon they’ve ever seen. I forget how spoiled we are in America with places like the Grand Canyon and all the canyons in Utah and Colorado. Not to mention the massive canyons I’ve also seen in Peru and Colombia. We continued down the road to a cafe where we had to pay for our own lunch – $4 for plov and manti – before making it to Charyn Canyon National Park.

Charyn Canyon (3.31 miles; 787 feet elevation gain) 

Charyn Canyon is a 90 kilometer long gorge formed over 12 million years ago by wind, rain, and erosion of the Charyn River through red sedimentary rock. We stopped at the most accessible section of the park, which has a walking trail that goes through spired rocks leading down to the river. The rock formations reminded me of the southwestern U.S. 

We had three hours to explore the area. A big group of us walked together to the river where we dipped our toes in the water and hung out in the shade of the trees. We were really enjoying ourselves and no one was ready to leave the river, but eventually the time came to walk 45 minutes back up to the bus. It was the dead heat of the day and there was absolutely no shade. Oh the joys of hiking in a canyon. 

It took about 3.5 hours to get back to Almaty with one stop for the bathroom and snacks. We arrived in the city around 7pm. At midnight that night was one of the British guys in my home stay’s birthday so he invited a bunch of people to come drink at Almaty Backpacker Hostel later that night. I figured why not ride the high of being with this group of people while the going was good. This would probably be the last time I’d see them. I invited Ken, but he wanted to have a chill night. Earlier in the day he went to the bazaar and was approached by a woman who invited him and a few other backpackers to her grandmother’s house for home cooked Beshbarmak. One might expect this type of generosity toward strangers in the countryside, but to happen in a big city is unheard of in western society, and yet another example of the Kazak hospitality and friendliness. He said it was a great experience and he spent a few hours there socializing with the family and other backpackers.  

Almaty Backpacker Hostel was much more social than the Five Seasons. It was full of young backpackers chatting around an outdoor table drinking and playing card games. There were about 10 of us from the tour that showed up (or were already staying at the hostel). I hung around drinking and chatting until about 12:30. The birthday boy and quite a few others were getting ready to go out and tried to convince me to join, but after two straight days of non stop socialization it was time for this old man to crash. 

Hike Big Almaty Lake Loop (6.16 miles; 2,582 feet elevation gain)

I was glad that I didn’t go out late the night before so that I could fully take advantage of my final day in Kazakhstan. After getting breakfast with Ken, I took a 50 minute Yandex out to Ile-Alatau National Park to hike to Big Almaty Lake. Ken didn’t join me because he had already been to the lake multiple times while doing treks in that area. The southeast part of the national park has a network of trails and is much more highly developed and built up than the southwest area where we did our seven day backcountry trek a few days before. I would like to come back some day and explore this area more. 

The Yandex driver could only take me so far up the road before dropping me off at a gate. I had to continue up the road for about 10 minutes before hitting a trail that goes next to a giant hydraulic pipe. The first section was very steep gaining about 1,000 feet of elevation in a mile. It started out with a staircase before turning into a dirt path. There was a metal wire to hold onto next to the pipe but I had my poles and opted for going along the steep trail. 

The trail continued at a more moderate incline and then started leveling out to where it was actually easier to walk on top of the hydraulic pipe than next to it. Even though the trail was pretty crowded, I was embracing the quiet solitude of hiking by myself. While I do enjoy hiking with other people, most my time on trail at home is spent solo, and I really like walking at my own pace and getting lost in my own world in the surrounding nature.

The next mile was a switchback road where you could take a shortcut along a path to cut out the corners. Then I arrived at the massive glacial blue lake. The color of the water was absolutely stunning! There was a grassy patch to sit and enjoy the lake. 

Instead of going back the same way, I took the option of making the trail a loop. The back half was way less crowded. It descended through a meadow surrounded by trees. Eventually I looped back around and linked up with the bottom half of the hydraulic pipe for a steep final downhill. Once I hit the gate, I caught a cheap taxi ride down to the base of the national park where I caught a bus back into Almaty. 

I have a fallen way behind partially because I’m with Ken and just enjoying these experiences in the moment and partially because the WiFi in Central Asia isn’t very good and it’s hard to upload photos and videos. I am going to try to keep going because I know I will appreciate this later and there are so many good stories to share with others, but this may never get finished.

Ile-Alatau National Park was founded in 1996 to protect the Trans-Ili Alatau mountain range (part of the Tian Shan mountain system) spanning nearly 200,000 hectares of rugged terrain at the edge of Almaty. The national park is filled with snow capped mountains, dense conifer forests, wild apple groves, alpine lakes, rushing glacial rivers, and endangered animals. It serves as the vital fresh water source for millions of residents in the surrounding Almaty region. 

I was coming into the trek after lots of socialization and lots of drinking, which are things I used to love and still do love in moderation, but as I get older my social battery can’t hold a charge as long as it used to and I need nature in my life to balance it out. Life to me is all about balance and when the scale gets too much weight on one end or the other then my equilibrium gets off. After a few weeks of partying in the U.S. and a couple party nights to start out Kazakhstan, I was so ready for a big trek and to reconnect with my love of the outdoors. Other than exploring a new culture and lifestyle, the main reason I came to Central Asia to begin was for the beautiful landscapes and remote hiking trails. I didn’t expect us to dive right into a seven day trek as our first hike, but Ken had been waiting for my arrival the past few weeks and was ready to get deep in the backcountry. 

Getting In 

We took a 1.5 hours YandexGo to the trailhead for less than $20. Such an unbelievably cheap cost, especially since there’s no way he got another ride on his way back to Almaty; we were in the middle of nowhere. When we told him the Yandex driver we were from America, he goes: Donald Trump, George Bush, Angelina Jolie, Jeffrey Epstein. Poor Angelina Jolie getting thrown in with that lineup of people. He was playing old school America rap the whole way out. 

Seven Day Ile-Alatau National Park Trek Point to Point (46.35 miles; 13,488 feet elevation gain; 13,653 feet elevation loss)

The stats don’t even begin to reflect the difficulty of this trek. It was a good reminder that mileage and elevation is just a small part of the equation when doing backcountry hiking. The terrain your going through is what creates the real challenge – most of the trek had no trail as we hiked up and down the sides of hills, over loose scree mountain passes, and crossed multiple rivers; all while carrying a heavy backpack. Between the middle of day one and the middle of day six, we never had an actual trail to follow and  had to constantly check against Maps.Me to see if we were going in the right general direction. The “trail” on the app provided a general guideline so that we wouldn’t get too high on a ridgeline or too low into the valley. It was as mentally exhausting as it was physically. 

Ken had already done a few multi day treks in the more popular area of Ile-Alatau National Park with Big Almaty Lake and Shymbulak Ski Resort so we decided to hike in the more remote southwest area of the park. To create our backcountry route, we used the Maps.Me app to pick out already marked campsites by lakes and rivers (always making sure to close to a water source) then followed the path to the next campsite marking pins on the app and building our own custom route. 

Coming up with this backcountry trek in just a few days would not have been possible without the help of map apps on our phones (MapsMe and AllTrails). Ten years ago doing a trek like this would have taken months of planning and a high level of knowledge of reading maps and contour lines. I would like to take a course on reading topographic maps when I return to the U.S. to be better prepared for backcountry hiking and help not get too far off course from the projected path on the maps apps.

The daily diet – protein bar and tea for breakfast; salami, cheese, cherry tomato, and mustard with bread for lunch; candy, nuts, and trail mix for snacks; assorted packaged ramen with cucumber, hard boiled egg, and chili peppers for dinner.

Most days we would hike 5-6 hours between camps so it was a somewhat leisurely pace that allowed us to fully enjoy our campsites each day. We usually would have a slow start to the day waking up around 7:30-8 and hitting the trail by 9:30-10. However that time spent on trail while we were hiking was very physically and mentally exhausting. There was never an easy moment dealing with the backcountry terrain and the constant route finding. Every day had its great moments and its miserable moments; but it always ended with a high sense of accomplishment.

Other than sheep herders (whom we only saw day one and day seven), we saw less than 10 people over the seven days – one group of hunters on day two and one group of hikers on day three. We didn’t see a single other person days four to six. We were backcountry hiking in a remote area of a remote country. It really made me feel isolated from the rest of the world in all the best of ways. It’s difficult to find this level of solitude and disconnection in the modern world. 

Day 1: 6.6 miles; 3,986 feet elevation gain; 1,093 feet elevation loss

The trail started out as an absolute ass kicker. It was a super steep incline through the trees with no switchbacks. We gained 2,400 feet of elevation in the first two miles with our insanely heavy packs. I bet our packs weighed at least 40 pounds on day one. We had brought roughly 10 days worth of food in case we ended up needing more than 7 days, or for any unexpected mishaps that could happen since we were deep in the backcountry of Kazakhstan in a remote part of the wilderness. Plus we each had our tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, warm clothing layers, electronics such as portable chargers, headlamps, first aid gear, and a variety of other things necessary for being in the backcountry. 

I love a good challenge but I was miserable. I was questioning my very existence and why I even like to hike. I was seriously wondering if I was going to be able to last for seven days hiking like this. Luckily, or unluckily, depending how you look at it, this was one of the steepest parts of the entire trail. We lost the barely existent trail multiple times and would have to go straight up the side of the hill stopping every few steps to regain the muscle strength to keep going. It was very tough. Plus the first water source wasn’t until 5-6 miles into the backcountry so we had to be frugal about the amount of water we were drinking (afterwards there was a constant steam of water and we never had to worry about this again). 

The trail became a more moderate incline once we got out of the woods and headed to the top of the hill, but it still continued uphill for another 800 feet of gain over the next 1.5 miles. While the landscape was fairly green throughout, this would be the last trees that we would see on the trek. The rest of the hike was a mixture of grassy and rocky terrain. We took a salami and cheese break on the hill. I was feeling too exhausted to be very hungry but forced myself to intake some calories.

It started to lightly rain on us, but luckily that didn’t last long. There was a few times throughout the afternoon where we got rained on for about 5 minutes then it stopped. The next section was a slight downhill into the meadow and a few miles of easy hiking through the grassy meadow. Finally a chance to zone out enjoying the beautiful scenery. 

No one in the area but us and a few sheep herders. They live out of yurts that serve as temporary base camps for their family and livestock. A few times throughout the summer they pack up their yurts (yurts are designed without nails to make the structure easy to dismantle) and move to a new area to prevent overgrazing and to follow seasonal weather patterns at different altitudes. 

After 5.5 miles, 3250 feet gain, and a little over 5 hours of being on trail; we finally reached a water source. I was so happy to be able to chug water with free refills. We never had to worry about this again from here on out. We continued hiking through the vast open meadow before one final uphill. The campsite we had marked was still another mile further, but we reached the river and decided to settle on a spot with nice flat ground right and a good view. 

It was a long and challenging first day, but the reward was worth the struggle. I’d been feeling a bit in my head to start the trip and was having a hard time getting in the right headspace but now I finally felt the weight off my shoulders. This is what I came for.

We helped each other setup our tents (which became our standard practice) and had some good convos while we ate ramen and enjoyed a beautiful sunset. After a long day we went to bed by 8:30 and the sound of the rushing river lulled me to sleep.

Day 2: 5.1 miles; 1,995 feet elevation gain; 420 feet elevation loss 

It’s my birthday! 35 and feeling alive! I realized that somehow I hadn’t hiked on my birthday, so I couldn’t be more happy to break the seal in the backcountry of Kazakhstan. After our slow start to the morning, we had one of our chiller days on trail in order to maximize birthday fun time. We had filled a water bottle with Jameson whiskey and today would be the day to enjoy it. 

The day began with a flattish section by the river before working our way into the open meadows with rolling hills. It was general direction hiking trying to follow the path on Maps.me. We just had to keep heading in the correct direction as no defined trail existed. We got off the “trail” quite a few times, but as long as we kept our elevation high to avoid down climbing then we were doing good. 

The surrounding mountains and open meadows were absolutely stunning. It reminded me of Colorado, but the landscapes were even more vast and open. It was just us and some wild horses. We took a few short stops to snack and take a break from our heavy load, but had a nice overall pace on a beautiful bluebird day. 

The last stretch was a moderate uphill section up rolling hills where we were able to get into a melodic rhythm. I was back into my hiker self and feeling much stronger on trail than day one. By around 1pm we reached our campsite directly in front of a gorgeous blue lake called Maqtalıköl with a glacial mountain in the backdrop.

We ate salami and cheese lunch with bread, tomatoes, and mustard before setting up camp. Then we started drinking the Jameson in honor of my birthday. It was a day for having fun. We sat there for hours shooting the shit and drinking. Once I had a good enough whiskey blanket I took a dip in the glacial lake which was so cold and refreshing.

Around 5:30, two big SUVs rolled up t o the other side of the lake. We were shocked that vehicles could make it this deep into the backcountry. It was a group of six guys and a few of them came out in army gear.  Uh oh who are these guys? Upon further investigation one of the guys that came over was wearing a U.S. army jacket. Ken told me it was common for people to buy army outfits in a similar way that people in the US buy camouflage outfits. Two of the guys crossed the river and started talking to us in Russian. The communication was poor but the gist was they asked how we got there and we signaled two fingers walking. They seemed impressed…or confused. Then I believe they were asking how long we’d be there or maybe telling us how long they were staying. In the end, we gave them a handshake and they went back to their camp to do their thing and we stayed at ours doing our thing.

Day 3: 4.8 miles; 1,240 feet elevation gain; 2,753 feet elevation loss

We woke up around 8 and the Kazakhs guys across the lake invited us over for chai. Sure, why not? They looked intimidating and Russian sounds so harsh, but they were very friendly and happily willing to share food and drink with us. They gave us coffee and tea, pastries, crackers, and homemade pickles. One of the guys was a jokester and kept cracking his friends up. We communicated through a mix of Google Translate, facial expressions, and hand movements. We found out that they were in the backcountry hunting and fishing and had killed a few marmots the day before. Without even asking they heated us up some of their marmot stew. I was already full from the other food they gave us but we had to keep eating. The marmot tasted gamey and was a bit fatty but overall not too bad. At least it was fresh. The best part was the potatoes in the broth. After hanging out with them for 30-40 minutes, we thanked them for the food and let them know we had to pack up camp and start hiking. But first we got a photo together. It was such a wonderful experience and an incredible way to start the day! I did not have being fed by a group of Kazakh hunters on my bingo card. 

The stats for this day don’t even begin to reflect the difficulty. We started by going uphill along rolling hills where I would make my own switchback formation with my steps rather than going straight up. It was easy to navigate along the projected path on Maps.Me because we were surrounded by mountains so there was really only one direction to go. 

Then we reached the end of the basin and the real challenge began. We had to go over a steep loose scree (unstable collection of small, broken rock fragments and debris) mountain pass. Scree is already some of the most difficult terrain to hike up because the rocks move under your feet like sand making it hard to balance and the surface slides when you put your weight on it. Plus we had to do it with our heavy packs and no defined trail to follow. It was one of the hardest things I’ve done. The incline was so steep and I would sink into the crushed rock where it felt like I wasn’t moving forward. I was struggling on the scree so I traversed across to an area with slightly larger rocks to scramble on. There was a few times where I wanted to just give up, but the body keeps pushing and the mind keeps fighting. Even though it only took 45 minutes it felt like a lifetime. I was absolutely exhausted by the time I made it to the top. I was so glad that was over with. We took a 15 minute break enjoying the stunning 360 views from the 11,952 foot high pass. 

Going downhill on the loose scree on the other side of the pass was so much easier. We just ran down it. We got to the bottom of the pass and I had the horrible realization my phone fell out of my pocket while I was running down. Are you kidding me? I was so mad at myself. Am I really going to have to walk back up this scree field? At least I knew that I took a video of Ken during the downhill. I took off my pack and started walking up the scree and luckily only hiked up for two minutes when I saw it sitting in a pile of rocks. Phew! That could have been way worse. Note to self, don’t keep my phone in an open pocket when running down a scree field.

It was all downhill from here for the rest of the afternoon. We could see the lake where we would be camping off in the distance. It looked much closer than it actually was. We still had another three miles and 2,000 feet of downhill to go. We hiked through thick brushed meadows into a beautiful vast valley with a river running down the middle and mountain views on both sides.

We made it to the river and had to cross a wide section where there was no choice but getting our feet wet. Then we continued along the river another 10 minutes before arriving at lake Zhasylkol. It was a relatively short but very difficult day. We made ramen, played poker using sticks as chips, and chatted. We also went for a short walk around the lake where we found an ibex skull with its massive horns sitting on a rock that provided a good photo op.

Another group of hikers showed up in the early evening and camped across the lake from us. This would be the only other hikers we saw the entire trek although we didn’t actually interact with them. That evening we were treated to a beautiful alpine glow on the mountains.

Day 4: 6.1 miles; 2,877 feet elevation gain; 640 feet elevation loss

The beginning of day four was all about rolling hills and it was very easy to get off course from the maps. We would get to the top of a hill and be greeted with a new set of rolling hills. Always going up. Sometimes it was steep and other times the incline was moderate; but it was a continual slog. 

The surrounding landscape was out of this world – red mountains, glacial mountains, sheer vertical rock faces, rushing rivers, and endless valleys all in one view. And all of it so remote and untouched. You could tell this was an area that not many people ever get to witness.

Amongst the endless rolling hills, we had to rock hop across a few narrow rivers. In my brain rivers are always at the bottom of a valley at lower elevation, but in this landscape with so much snow melt coming from the mountains, you would get to a higher elevation and there’d be a new stream of water. Of course ultimately all these different streams did feed to the same river system lower in the valley.

We got to the top of a grassy mountain pass and stopped for a quick lunch break. Then we continued walking slightly downhill on a side angled mountain before entering a valley with massive mountains on both sides and rolling hills in the middle. It was a very slight uphill through the valley; just enough to keep you getting your butt kicked. The views were incredible and at one point we could see four different glacial peaks off in the distance in front of us.

We crossed another river then the grassy terrain turned into medium sized rocks. With the towering spiky peaks in the distance, it felt like we were entering Mordor getting ready to climb Mount Doom and destroy the ring.

The last section to the lake was a steep uphill boulder field. It required a heavy level of concentration and focus. I always had to be looking three boulders ahead to make sure I was on a good route. Normally I like boulder hopping, and today it was a still an enjoyable challenge, but it was especially difficult with our heavy backpacks requiring an extra sense of balance to offset the weight on our shoulders.

We finally reached the lake, P’edestal, and boy was it worth it! It was one of the clearest lakes I’ve ever seen and surrounded by a 360 arena of mountains and glaciers. It felt like the quietest, most remote place on earth. It took four days of trekking in the backcountry of Kazakhstan to reach such a peaceful place. We guessed that less than 50 people a year get to see this place (this is based on peer speculation but it’s very difficult to find and probably only reachable in July-August when there isn’t a high level of snowpack).

We were looking around in awe at our new home for the next two days (even before arriving at this lake we had decided we would spend two days here and just do a small day hike on day five; it was time to put the packs down for a day and chill out in one spot). It started lightly raining so we quickly setup Ken’s tent and it’s a good thing we did because the rain started getting heavier. We were so glad that this weather hadn’t started 15 minutes earlier while we were climbing up the boulder field.

He has a two person tent so we both sat in there for shelter. After about 15 minutes the rain subsided and we setup my tent. The sun even poked its head out for us while we enjoyed a bowl of ramen. But the good weather didn’t last long and it started lightly raining again so we both hung out in our tents. After another 20 minutes it stopped and we hung out down by the lake chatting before dinner and early bed. This on/off weather would be the theme of this campsite. Such is life at 11,640 feet high living on a lake sandwich between the mountains; the weather can change on a dime.

The weather continued to turn on us that night. We had setup our tents on a ridge because it was the only flat spot by the lake and the wind was absolutely ripping. The rain fly was loudly flapping and it felt like I was inside a vortex in my tent. It was incredibly loud the entire night and didn’t make for the best night’s sleep. Luckily Ken had the foresight beforehand to put giant rocks on top of our stakes to provide extra support. It also lightly rained throughout the evening. Kudos to Big Agnes for making such quality tents to hold up against these conditions.

Day 5: 1.9 miles; 417 feet elevation gain; 430 feet elevation loss

The morning brought about the same bad weather. The wind had died down a bit but the light rain continued; and it was cold as night outside. Finally around 10 the sun came out and we came out from being bundled in our sleeping bags in our tents to make some tea. After four straight days of backpacking our legs were pretty cooked but we still wanted to do a short hike in the area. Although short hike still didn’t mean easy, but it was so nice to do without the big pack. After an early lunch we packed a small day pack and headed toward the glacier.

The hike began by walking on the side angled hill along the lake that was a mixture of grass and big rocks. Nothing around here is flat. Even when you aren’t walking up an incline, the terrain is still an angle.

Then to get above the lake it was a moderately steep boulder field. It required a high level of focus but was much more fun to do without so much weight on our backs.

Now we had entered a field of medium size rocks below the mountains and the glacier with a hidden pond. The theme of today’s terrain was rocks, rocks, and more rocks.

Once we turned the corner the base of the glacier came into view with streams of glacial water trickling between the rocks. It was truly a magical sight to see. I picked up a few nice rocks for my collection. We hopped along the glacial stream before standing on the base of the glacier. 

The ice was frozen solid and easier to walk on than the rock field. We filled our water bottles with the crystal clear fresh glacier water. It was ice cold and so refreshing! We started walking up the glacier but the clouds in the distance were looking ominous so we decided it was time to head back. Not many people can say they’ve walked on a Kazakhstani glacier. The hike back through the rock field and down the boulders was a slow and steady process.

That afternoon was typical crazy mountain weather where it lightly rained like eight different times for five to ten minutes each time then the sun would come back out. It continued to be incredibly windy on the ridge by the tents so we hung out on a rock by the lake that had less wind and felt 10 degrees warmer. Finally around 5pm the weather stabilized and it was nice for the next few hours. We sat outside in our sleeping bags cracking jokes and telling stories about hiking, travel, and life.

The night started at calm as can be when we went into our tents, but an hour later the hurricane force winds were back. It wasn’t as bad as the night before but it was still roaring throughout the night.

We’d just spent the last five days navigating the backcountry of Kazakhstan without a clue about anything else that was going on. I really felt disconnected from everything and no thoughts about the rest of the world had even crossed my mind. We were living in our own bubble facing daily challenges far beyond the normal life routine and being rewarded with amazing landscapes and a great sense of self satisfaction.

Day 6: 10 miles; 2,333 feet elevation gain; 4,157 feet elevation loss

We didn’t linger at camp too long as we wanted to ensure we got down the boulder field while the weather was nice. This day started out as the reverse of day 4. We went down the boulder field, through the valley, up the side angled hill, down the rolling hills, then stopped for lunch at the lookout above the lake we camped at on night 4. My legs were tried but still running strong; however my biggest struggle was the bottom of my feet. They were really starting to hurt after six days of hiking and carrying so much weight. I tried to focus on other things but it was easier said than done. Each step I could feel the pain in my feet. The wear and tear from the trek was showing.

We took a shortcut to the river and hit our first real trail since day one. Wow what a treat! It was so much easier to walk on an actual trail (especially for my tender feet) and we no longer had to constantly check the map on our phones to ensure we were going in the correct direction. We did our final river crossing and continued along into a beautiful gorge with the river cutting through the middle. The rest of the afternoon was a mix of up and downhill sections as we winded our way around the mountains.

We had saved a pin on a spot next to the river, but it didn’t have an actual campsite marking. To our disappointment, the river was at a sharp incline with no flat spots next to it. We had already hiked for over six hours and were tired, but we had no choice but to keep going. First we took advantage of the water source to make a late afternoon ramen snack. Then we filled up as much water as we could because it looked like we might not be camping next to a water source that evening.

We started hiking up another steep hill in hopes that it would be flat at the top. There were a few flattish spots along the way that we considered pitching our tents at but they were pretty rocky and when we tried to move the rocks out of the way there were massive ant colonies underneath. Yikes no thanks. We got to the top of the hill and were pleasantly surprised how flat and grassy it was. This was our flattest and most open campsite yet. We were so glad we didn’t settle for the ant infested spots. There was no water source but we had stocked up on plenty beforehand. We were treated to an incredible sunset for our final night of the trek. I soaked in these moments and reflected on how wonderful this trek had been. It made me never want to leave the mountains. But my body was tired, my feet were hurting, and I was really looking forward to a shower.

Day 7: 11.7 miles; 640 feet elevation gain; 4,160 feet elevation loss

We packed up camp one last time and walked along a trail through the pastures for a few miles before hitting a 4×4 dirt road. We were officially out of the deep backcountry and getting closer to civilization, but still walking in farmland.

We passed by a couple of yurts when a sheep herder on horse whistled at us from afar. We waited for his arrival and he invited us into his yurt for chai tea, sheep butt fat with bread and sheep pasta. We knew it was sheep butt fat because when we asked what it was he goes bahhh and then made a butt shape with his hands. Upon further research afterwards it’s called kurdyuk; it is a natural, fatty deposit that grows on the backside and tail of specific fat-tailed sheep breeds found in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Caucasus. The raw fat tail is sliced and melted down in a pot or pan into liquid fat/tallow.

It was really cool to see the inside of his yurt and it was much more spacious than I expected. We used Google Translate to chat with him. He told us that he had 883 sheep in total. He comes out every summer to herd the sheep then heads back to Almaty during the winter. On his free time he likes to box. This was exactly the type of experience I was hoping to have in Central Asia! It was amazing getting to interact with this friendly sheepherder and learning a bit more about how he lives. After about 30 minutes we thanked him for the hospitality and said we had to keep going. We gave him our leftover sausage and cheese. At first he declined the offer, but then he graciously accepted. We also asked if we could take a photo together. 

I was truly beaming after this experience. What an incredible way to end our trek!  It started to lightly rain on us as we continued downhill but it only lasted five minutes. After another hour the final lake came into view off in the distance Woohoo! But no cars there. We knew it would be a gamble at the end of the trek as to whether or not we would be able to quickly get a ride. Then we saw a car as we were about 30 min away from the lake but they took photos and left. It was too good to be true.

When we got to the lake there were no cars and no cell service. We had to start walking toward the closest village, which was 4.5 hours away, and hope that a car would come by. It also started raining on us to add insult to injury. Nothing like ending a seven day trek only to have to walk more. At least it was all downhill. We got service after about 25 minutes but no Yandex cars were available in the area. Damn! We should’ve gotten the number of our driver that dropped us off. Ken had mentioned that during the ride in but then we forgot. Sigh. Guess we need to keep walking. We walked for another hour before we saw a building off in the distance that looked like a hotel. As we got closer, we realized it was abandoned. Damn! 

We had been walking for over 1.5 hours since the lake when we arrived at a little compound where a guy was sitting outside. We asked him for a ride but he couldn’t because he was on the clock. It was a Turkish dude and three Russians who were working at a livestock depot. They couldn’t drive us anywhere, but they invited us in for chai and snacks. Yet another group of strangers who fed us! We chatted using Google Translate. The Turkish guy was very chatty and asking us lots of questions. Overall he was friendly but some of it was a bit personal and off putting. After about 30 minutes, we were ready to keep moving. They were trying to feed us more, but we thanked them for the hospitality and headed out. 

We got five minutes down the road when finally a car came by. We stuck our arms out to hitch a ride and he stopped to pick us up no questions asked. We asked to get dropped off at the closest town. He rolled down the windows when we got in. We must have smelled horrible. He drove us 25 minutes down the hill. It would have been a crazy walk. From here we were able to get a 50 minute Yandex back to Almaty. Our driver also rolled down the windows and when he dropped us off I noticed he gave me one star. Damn we must have really smelled. First stop when we got back to the Five Seasons was the cold shower. I told Ken I wanted to stay somewhere nicer for a night after the trek, but all our clean clothes were at the Five Seasons, and it was easier to just continue staying in our shitty twelve person dorm. It wasn’t a luxurious ending, but whatever.

My first trek in the Stans far exceeded all expectations. The landscapes were incredibly beautiful and we got fed by three different groups of people – hunters, a sheepherder, and farmers. It was such a unique and incredible experience that I will never forget! I had now fully entered my Central Asian backpacker frame of my mind and felt much more confident about the future ahead. 

Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world and the largest landlocked country spanning across Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Due to the incredibly warm summers and harsh winters, the early history of the territory was dominated by nomadic tribes constantly on the move; and elements of this lifestyle can still be seen here today with how rural herders and shepherds raise livestock in the summer. The land served as a critical crossroads for Silk Road merchants connecting East and West. The nomads were conquered by Genghis Khan and the Mongols in the 13th century for a few hundred years before breaking free and forming the Kazakhstani Khanate, a nomadic state that existed from1456 to 1847.

During the 18th and 19th centuries the territory was gradually integrated into the Russian empire and eventually became part of the Soviet Union where their traditional ways of living were suppressed. The USSR conducted 456 nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk site in northeastern Kazakhstan which exposed an estimated 1.5 million people to radioactive fallout over the four decades frequently without warning, evacuation, or protective measures. Kazakhstan declared independence in late 1991 and has since become Central Asia’s largest economy driven by massive oil, gas, and mineral reserves. The country is the world’s number one producer of uranium supplying around 40% of global output. 

I am totally getting out of my comfort zone and entering a whole new world going to Central Asia. I couldn’t comprehend how different it was going to be until I got here. I am embarking on an entirely new journey of travel and cultural exploration. Being in a country where I don’t know any of the language, hell I don’t even know any of the alphabet, was a bit overwhelming and took some time to adjust to. The culture shock was real. Luckily I was meeting up with my friend Ken (a Colorado buddy who loves hiking and mountaineering and has done a lot of world travel. He recently “retired” to Bangkok and has no short term plans to return to the U.S.). Ken spent the previous three months before my arrival in the Stans going between Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan so I was relying on his local knowledge to ease my transition into the Central Asian lifestyle. It took a few days for me to get into the right headspace, but once I reached it, there was no turning back. I knew this was going to be one of my greatest adventures yet! The Kazakhstani people quickly showed their kind and hospitable nature squashing any previous fears and anxieties. They truly are some of the most friendly and inviting people I’ve ever met.

Almaty 

Almaty is the largest city in Kazakhstan and former capital until 1997 with a population of around 2.37 million. The city has a very modern feel and is the country’s main cultural, financial, and commercial center. It lies in southeastern Kazakhstan close to the border of Kyrgyzstan near the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains (a mountain range within the larger Tian Shan mountain system). The name Almaty is associated with apples as “alma” means “apple” in Kazakh. The wild ancestor of the modern domesticated apple is native to the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan particularly around the region of Almaty.

I ended up spending 15 days in the Almaty area and eight nights in the city itself. Almaty served as our home base to rest and chill in between adventures. If not for all the hiking and other activities nearby the city, you could get the gist in 1-2 days. The first three days of my trip were spent getting over jet lag and slowly exploring the city. Then Ken and I left for our seven day backcountry trek 1.5 hours outside the city in the southwest part of Ile-Alatau National Park and returned to Almaty for two days of recovery. Next up was a two day tour to Kaindy Lake, Kolsai Lake, and Charyn Canyon before returning to Almaty for two final nights. On my last day, I ventured out of the city to hike to Big Almaty Lake to soak in the beautiful Kazakhstani scenery one last time.  

Getting In 

I was glad that I arrived at JFK two and half hours early for my flight because checking a bag and getting through security took forever. The first leg of my journey was an 11 hour flight that left JFK at 11:20am and got into Doha at 7:05am. The flight went by surprisingly fast. I watched a few movies, listened to music, and slept. Next thing you know we’re hitting the runway. The Doha airport is the cleanest, sleekest, most upscale airport I’ve ever been in. It’s got a giant indoor tropical garden, mall with high end shops, modern terminal design, and artsy statutes. 

It already felt like I was in a whole different world and I liked it. I had been so busy with my South American travels and time back in the U.S. with friends and family that this was the first time it truly hit me that I am entering a new part of the world that I am totally unfamiliar with. This part of the world has a completely different culture, customs, religions, history, and lifestyle. We all carry preconceived notions about the Middle East. However, seeing the everyday rhythm of life at the airport really put things into perspective: at the end of the day, everyone is just living their lives.

I had an 11 hour layover in Doha that I was dreading beforehand but it actually went by quickly. I was considering going into the city, but I was too tired when I landed, so instead I took a four hour nap on the fake turf in the garden. Then I passed the time by walking around the airport soaking in the sites and hanging out in the lounge. 

My next flight left Doha at 6:15pm and got into Almaty at 1:40am. It also went by fairly quickly. My buddy Ken had told me beforehand to download YandexGo (the Russian version of Uber that they use in the Stans) because the taxi drivers at the Almaty airport are known to totally rip you off and charge upwards of $100 for a 25 minute ride. I’m glad he gave me this tip as my ride cost less than $20. I arrived at the hostel around 2:30am on Thursday morning after having left JFK at 11:00am on Tuesday morning. 

I don’t think there’s many people that have gone from the Thousand Islands in New York to Almaty, Kazakhstan in less than a 72 hour time span. It was an incredibly long stretch of travel that I was glad to be done with. Now time to start battling the jet lag.

Lodging 

We stayed in the Five Seasons which definitely puts the Four Seasons to shame. The hostel was more of a compound. It had families that lived there full time as well private rooms and a 12 person male dorm room that was usually less than half full (one night it was just me and Ken) hosting a mix of short term travelers and Kyrgzstani taxi drivers needing a place to crash for a night. It wasn’t a luxurious place but the beds were actually pretty comfortable and for $6/night it served its purpose. I just wish they emptied the trash cans in the bathrooms more frequently. I ended up spending eight nights here over the course of 15 days; whenever we were in Almaty, this was home. They were very lax about us booking on a nightly basis rather than committing to a set timeframe. It also had free laundry. 

The Five Seasons clientele was not your normal European backpacker crowd; it was mostly from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and India. We still had some interesting conversations and sometimes the only way to communicate was by using Google Translate. Right when I got back from the two day tour to the various lakes and canyons, this young Kazakhstani guy started chatting with me (using translate) and after less than five minutes he gifted me a soccer jersey from his home town of Aktobe. It was one of many interactions where the local Kazakhs showed their friendliness and kindness. More to come on this in the backcountry trek stories. 

We also met an 18 year old Russian kid who was living on a shoestring budget and had hitchhiked all over Japan, China, and Turkey. 

Food

Kazakh food represents the country’s Central Asian nomadic heritage with cuisine that is very meat heavy – horse, mutton, and beef. Kazakhstan eats the second most horse meat by ton in the world behind only China (and most per person). It is generally considered a delicacy rather than everyday meat.

Beshbarmak is the national dish of Kazakhstan typically served on special occasions but also offered on many restaurant menus. It consists of boiled horse meat served over wide sheet noodles with onion broth. The name means “five fingers” referring to the traditional way of eating it by hand. 

The first time that I tried Beshbarmak, I decided to go full Kazakhstani and paired it with fermented camel milk (shubat). The camel milk had a very sour taste that wasn’t amazing but I got used to it over the course of drinking the carafe I ordered. Needless to say, I don’t need to try it again. 

I also tried horse in a variety of other forms including horse meat stir fry and dried horse meat which tasted like beef jerky. 

Lagman is hand pulled noodles with meat and vegetables associated with Central Asian Uyghur and Dungan communities. There are a number of variations to the meats and veggies that can be served with lagman and the first time I tried it there was also an egg on top.

There are a number of Turkish restaurants around Almaty including one right across from the Five Seasons that we went to a few times for doner kebabs. 

Other things I ate were samsa (baked pastry filled with meat and onions), manti (steamed dumpling filled with spiced meat), and plav (rice dish with meat, carrots, onions, and aromatic spices).

We also had one really authentic Kazakhstani meal at this place called Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen.

Cost of Living

Kazakhstan was not Bolivia cheap, but it was still pretty damn cheap. Meals cost between $6-12 so it was more expensive than menu del dia in Peru but much more cheaper than going out to eat in America. The YandexGo (their version of Uber) was super cheap with 20 minute rides in the city costing $3-4 and a 1.5 hour ride to our trek costing less than $20. Beers at restaurants and bars were $2-3. My multi day tour with two nights of lodging, meals, transportation, and multiple sightseeing attractions was $65. So overall I’d say things were very affordable. 

Wandering Around Town

28 Panfilov Guardsmen Park

On my first day in Almaty, I woke up around 12:30pm and forced myself to do some tourist activities to help fight the jet lag. Ken had to run some errands in the early afternoon so I was on my own. I took a Yandex to 28 Panfilov Guardsmen Park, a city park with multiple tourist attractions. My first stop was at the Ascension Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox Church made entirely from wood without metal nails, that has miraculously survived several major earthquakes. 

The architecture of the church is very unique to this part of the world and much different than the churches you see in South America and Europe. 

Then I continued walking around the park where there were Soviet style turrets and various war memorial structures. You could see the remnants of the impact the USSR had on Kazakhstan.

I made a stop inside the Museum of Musical Instruments which features Kazakh and other Central Asian folk instruments. There was a lot of dombras on display, a traditional long-necked plucked string instrument with two strings and a pear-shaped body. It is known as the national instrument of Kazakhs. 

There was also a number of cool drums and horned instruments. 

Green Bazaar 

After the park I continued to the Green Bazaar, the major market in the city that sells food, clothes, souvenirs, and just about anything else you can think of. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed from the culture shock and my jet lag so I only spent about 10 minutes at the market before deciding it was time to calm my nerves with a beer. I walked to a craft beer bar nearby where I met a lovely Irish couple, Darragh and Mary. We were the only people in the bar at 3pm and they invited me over to their table to chat. They were in their mid 40s and crazy world travelers who had been to over 150 countries; this was their third trip to Kazakhstan. We started exchanging travel stories and their love of Central Asia got me more excited about my future ahead. They had just come from China and were telling me how wildly futuristic it is there. Ken finished up his errands and met us at the bar joining in on beers and story time. The four of us were vibing and went out to dinner together where I got my first taste of horse meat ordering it in a stir fry. Having a good experience with fellow travelers always helps with getting back into the backpacker mindset.

My second trip to the Green Bazaar was after Ken and I got back from our seven day trek and I felt much more comfortable with the Kazakhstani lifestyle. We wandered through the horse meat aisle, bartered at the shops for a hat and some socks, and had lunch at one of the market restaurants where they combined meat, pasta, rice, mashed potatoes, French fries, and lentils on one plate. I found it funny that you could bit poorly aligned Colorado hats in the market. Maybe I should get one?

Forum Almaty

The Forum Almaty is a giant mall with five stories that was easy to get lost in. Malls are a dying concept in the United States, but not here, it was full of people. Seeing lots of teens walking around enjoying their independence reminded me of my youth loitering around Sarasota Square Mall. Nearly half of the Kazakh population is under 30 and it shows when you walk the streets and go out in public places. 

The mall had animal go karts that little kids were driving around; something my nieces and nephew would absolutely love. There is a huge grocery store inside the mall where we did our shopping for our seven day trek. They had these miniature shopping carts that I was wondering what the point was then I would see families walking around where the little kids were pushing the cart. Ahhh smart; make the kids feel helpful while also putting them to work. We ended up at the mall twice in the same day so I could buy a second portable battery to ensure my phone would last seven days. I had a surprisingly delicious burger from one of the food court restaurants. 

Bar Hopping

On my second night in Almaty, Ken and I had a few beers then went out bar hopping. Everyone I met was super friendly and hospitable. You could go up to anyone and start a conversation. They were curious why I was in Kazakhstan and what I liked about their country. People were very proud of their culture and they wanted us to enjoy our experience. They also love rap music. Most of the bars were playing early to mid 2000s rap and everyone knew all the words. I felt like I was back in college at the Boot in New Orleans. Kanye West was playing a concert the following night and multiple people asked if I that was why I was in Almaty. Hell no! We had a great time and met a lot of nice locals. Next thing you know it was 3:30 in the morning. 

South Park

My two day tour to the lakes and didn’t leave until 8pm, so that afternoon I went to a city park called South Park and setup my Brazilian conga to lie on and read. I needed to escape the Five Seasons and get some fresh air.