Up in Naryn
posted on 4 October, 2023 by Dan Vonk in personal, travel
One of the highlights of the trip to Kyrgyzstan was taking the UAZ, the go-anywhere vehicle, up into the remote fringes of the country. It was the type of journey for which the van was designed and I was not disappointed! The scenery encountered along the way remains some of the best I’ve ever seen and being able to drive around essentially anywhere unrestricted or meeting much sign of human life remains a priceless experience for me.
The aim of the journey was to see Kol’su lake, an alpine lake hidden between the peaks of the central Tian Shan mountain range, which separate Kyrgyzstan from China. The lake itself sits at an elevation of 3514 metres. The lake itself has an air of mystical quality about it: Kol’su was formed by a seismic event in the 1970s and has no proper outflow. Nevertheless water manages to escape underground through cracks in the rock formations and through soil. This causes it to occasionally dry out entirely, before it can be resupplied by the Kurumduk river.
We set off from Bishkek and headed due south. It felt good to be out of the capital, which was, as usual, an extremely polluted and chaotic place–not the primary reason anyone has for visiting Kyrgyzstan. The further south we went, the emptier the place became until it was more common for us to meet animals on the road than other vehicles.
Eventually we ran out of road, which is more common than it might sound in Kyrgyzstan. Really only the main highways and population centres are paved. People instead make do with a nice gravel track most of the time and that was certainly no problem for the UAZ, though the lack of any good suspension made it less than comfortable for the passengers inside.
Sunset marked the end of the first day of driving as no sane person would drive nocturnally here. The UAZ was configured in camper mode and we had an agreeable meal of childrens’ alphabet soup. The rest of the “victuals”, especially those in glass containers, had been completely obliterated due to the obscene levels of bumpiness along the way.
Still driving further south, the scenary went from beautiful to stunning as we left the open country for the mountains.
Driving on these dirt tracks in the UAZ requires a bit of skill. The roads are universally terrible with deep corrugations and many potholes. Becuase the UAZ has so little in the way of suspension, hitting a pothole means jumping up in your seat and hitting your head on the roof, meanwhile the whole car squeaks and groans. Therefore, the best strategy is to go as fast as you can in order to glide over the corrugations while juking and weaving around the potholes.
Towards the afternoon of the second day on the road, we crossed into the controlled area along the chinese border (permit required) and that marked our ascent into the Tian Shan mountains proper.
The final stretch of road to Kel’su is flat and open, with the glistening, snow-capped mountains towering taking centre-stage. This was the most memorable scene of the entire journey for me and it far outstripped seeing the actual lake itself! A family call the feet of this mountain range their home, with their yurts setup here. To see the lake, the patriarch of the family took us on horseback up through the trail to see the view. After this, we returned and had a nice dinner of local honey and jam (delicious) along with some boiled yak (an acquired taste).
