Kyrgyzstan is a Central Asian country weaving along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route between China and the Mediterranean, a land of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions. The Tian Shan mountains, which surround the ancient caravan route and tower over the country, are home to snow leopards, lynx and sheep.
Its ancient trading history and semi-nomadic, yurt-dwelling shepherd culture mean its people are extremely hospitable, and love to interact and entertain visitors to their country. A few words of Kirghiz will go a long way to reciprocating this warmth. Find out first-hand, as our travel blogger, Michael N. recalls his time there.
“The giant alpine lake of Issyk-Kol stretches onwards while surrounded by snow-peaked mountains on all sides. Even in the midst of winter, however, the lake never freezes over due to high number of hot springs that feed in to it. It was along the shores of Kyrgyzstan’s most celebrated natural wonder that I found myself one weekend while I was living and working in the country.
The small village of Kadji-Sai is home to an annual regional horse games that involves competitors in a variety of sports from neighbouring countries in Central Asia. As well as sports like horse-racing, spectators get the opportunity to cheer on their heroes in horse-back wrestling and horse-back archery.
Among these regular events, though, are some perhaps less known activities, such as kok boru, best described as ‘dead goat polo’ and involves teams trying to score a goal using the body of a dead goat in place of a ball, and kiz kuumai, a race between a man and woman on horseback with a twist; if the man catches up to the woman he may ‘steal a kiss’ as his reward, but should he fail before she crosses the finish line, she may chase him back to the starting line and whip him, if he is in range, as her prize. Along with my companions and the thousands in attendance, it was a treat to witness these events and join in with the festivities (namely eating lots of great local food washed down with a bit of vodka).
The real highlight of our trip, however, was the excursion we had planned for the following day. Our host at the homestay was a former champion of falconry and eagle-hunting (eagles used as the predator rather than as the prey) in the games we had attended. He had offered to take us all out on horses at the break of dawn to witness his prized eagle in action. The journey to the start of the trail was interesting enough, as I got to share a mini-van ride from his home to the mountains with the eagle perched next to me. I hadn’t realized up until that point just how big those birds actually were.
Another creature that was a lot larger than I had expected was the horse I had been allocated to ride on the trip. (The Kyrgyz are famous horsemen dating back to the days of Genghis Khan, and it is said that all Kyrgyz are born being able to ride! )
I had never ridden a horse before, so had assumed that I’d be given a pony to carry me along the way. I was helped on to the beast and closed my eyes and held my breath as I anticipated the fall that was about to come. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my horse was actually a gentle giant and was happy to trot along quite compliantly. At various instances along the route, our host and guide would spot a fox or rabbit and set the bird of prey loose.
Watching the eagle soar high above before swooping down was a sight that I will always cherish as a reminder of a beautiful country I got to call home for a short time.”
Things You Need to Know about Kyrgyzstan
Language: It has two official languages: Kirghiz, or Kyrgyz, and Russian
Climate: Typically continental climate with cold winters and hot summers, and rain during autumn, winter and spring.
Local dishes and drinks:
Paloo: rice based dish prepared with bits of meat, vegetables and garnished with herbs.
Manty: dumplings filled with meat, onions, potato and fat, and served with vinegar and ketchup.
Laghman: dish of homemade noodles with vegetables and chopped peppers
Jarma: drink made of fermented barley and enjoyed mostly in summer
Tea: a hugely important part of this culture! People in Kyrgyzstan love their tea! It’s like a replacement for water, and they drink it with every meal. It’s served in bowls instead of cups, and generally, people order traditional bread to have with it.
Learn Kirghiz, also spelt as Kyrgyz, one of the two official languages of Kyrgyzstan, along with Russian, with Uzbek also thrown into the mix for good measure. The further you get from the city and the deeper you go into the mountains, the more you will hear Russian fade and Kirghiz take over!
Mike
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