Lake Issyk Kul is the second largest saltwater lake in the world (second to the Caspian Sea), the second largest mountain lake (second to Lake Titicaca on the Peru/Bolivia border) and the tenth largest lake in the world. Lake Issyk Kul has a length of 182 kilometres (113 mi), a width of up to 60 kilometres (37 mi), and covers an area of 6,236 square kilometres (2,408 sq mi). (Thank you, Wikipedia.) The mountains you see in the background stretch as far as you can see and border Kazakhstan and China.
It was too cold to swim (for this Phoenician, at least) but there were people in the clear, blue water. I walked the beach barefoot and sat and stared at the lake and mountain. We went on a boat ride that gave us a good view of a nearby glacier.
We drove to a gorge to walk around and came upon some men and boys on horses. Two of them had eagles with them. They ran after our van on horseback, laughing and smiling, and kept up until we stopped. I'm sure it was a tourist trap, but it was one I gladly walked into: I got to hold an eagle for the first time.
At first, the eagle flew away from me. Thank God I'm a relatively calm person. FLAP-FLAP-FLAP Doug got winged in the head. The owner put it back on my arm and it stayed. It was amazing being that near one of these birds. It is quite heavy as you would expect. After I held it for a while the owner raised my arm and turned my hand a little which was the eagle's signal to spread its wings.
The picture of me with the eagle and the following were taken in a gorge that was so scenic it reminded me of the cinematography in old westerns and the best pictures in hunting and fishing magazines. We walked along a road that ran alongside a gushing river. Mountain music. There was even a small falls.
We saw some petroglyphs that had been restored at a place called Cholpon-Ata (dating from the II millennium BC upto the Middle Ages upto the VI century AD - thank you, Advantour). It was kind of interesting, but they just didn't seem genuine to me. While, in America, things like that would be protected from people, these are just out in the open for all to handle. They were in a large boulder field. Anyone could have climbed all over them.
Those were the highlights of the trip. It's very different traveling in Central Asia than in America. Our liason for tours told us the drive from the airport to our hotel would be about three hours. It took five. It was a strange feeling sitting in a van in itch black not knowing where we were going or how long it would take to get there. The road conditions ranged from just fine to God Save Us. And these drivers knew these roads and drove fast. Our hotel and room were both very nice looking. The temperature in the room, however, was about 90 degrees. No exaggeration. The heat came from the floor which was so hot that Doug couldn't stand on it in bare feet. The bed was boxsprings with no mattress. Doug had bruises on his hips after the second night. Behind the reception desk were two pretty young women with nice smiles who were very good at apologizing for everything. On our first full day there, our travel guide didn't show up until around 4:00 so we lost almost an entire day of excursions. I tried to keep a good attitude which wasn't too hard since the lake was so beautiful. We sat there and read. Later, after lunch, I offered to tell stories to the ten children who were with us hoping that would diffuse the situation a little. It did. Just before I told stories, however, I needed a little something to calm down so I went to the store to buy chocolate. It was closed. It was supposed to be open. Grrr. Me. Chocolate. Barrier in between. GRRRR . . . I went to the cute smiley girls and told them that someone needed to open the store now and SELL ME CHOCOLATE! I waited another 15 (long) minutes, but they finally roused the storekeeper and she opened shop. On the second day the accountant didn't show up on time leaving us unable to exchange money before our excursion. I finally went to the desk and told the cute smiley girls that someone needed to find someone now to exchange our money. They finally did it from their own purses. The hotel advertised a gym which was unavailable to us. The food and food service at the hotel was very good. The food was disappointing in that it was not Kyrgiz food. We were actually served hotdogs and hamburgers for breakfast!
Overall, the trip was enjoyable and worthwhile. I'm trying to have few expectations in life. I think the Buddhists say that to live without expectations is to live without disappointment. Makes sense. I'm also careful to not travel around here and expect things to be like in America. However, when someone promises something then smiles and says "Well, in actuality . . ." or "Our website doesn't say that" (when it, indeed, does say that) or "That's unavailable right now (and the rest of the time you're here)" I'm upset. I'd rather have no expectations and be happy. I was not upset about the meals, just disappointed. I didn't complain. I did complain about the staff not showing up on time to help us. Any Buddhists or wanna-be Buddhists out there with suggestions for my attitude?
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