So, after crossing the Pamir Highway, we took a few days to relax in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. It was really necessary for us — we were clearly exhausted! We were thinking to come back to the South of Kyrgyzstan, around the Sary-Mogul village, for a few days trek in the famous Alay Mountains.
The famous Lenin Peak was an option (base camps) but it's clearly a crowded place — it is one of the highest peaks of more than 7000 meters of altitude in the region you can do quite easily compared to others on Earth. But of course, it takes like 2–3 weeks to make it! Let's leave it to another trip, who knows? So, we chose the Heights of Alay Valley which takes around 5 days depending on your fitness.
Getting There (and the Landslide)
It was a bit weird to come back on the way we already passed, but it was the better decision to save money with our rental car. Anyway, we took one of those common marshrutkas from Osh and you know what? We got another landslide… We are not beginners anymore with those situations. So, we crossed the landslide and river by foot and started to hitchhike. And of course, we paid almost double price to reach Sary Moghol…
Mark from the Pamir Highway was already there and waited for us in the Guesthouse. This is how we met a really nice couple from Slovakia (Suzana & Peter). The last Slovaks we met were in Iran, and for trekking as well. What good people! Normally people take a taxi to skip the first 17 kilometres but we didn't do it because they really abuse on the price… And we had good surprises because the valley is really nice! We dropped our tents, ate and played cards ("Trou du cul" in French, or called "Mr President" in some countries such as Israel).
Day 2: The Sary Moghol Pass
The next day was the toughest. We started to ascent and crossed the first pass (Sary Moghol Pass). It was the most beautiful alpine view for us on this trek — and we love the pictures we took! We went down to the other side of the pass and quickly found a place for our tents as a storm was coming fast. Lots of thunder but not heavy rain luckily. The rain flyer of our Big Agnes tent was starting to be really useless… Really boring.
Day 3: Valley Villages and the Second Pass
The descent of the valley was long but really nice the next morning — a good place to see plenty of animals and local Kyrgyz activities. We ended the descent on a road where a small village stands (Kyzylshoro). We hitchhiked a small truck for 2 kilometres — lazy hiker group! The village is a peaceful place for lunch. Then, we started to ascent the second pass which was not as long as the first one, but still tiring after more than 20 kilometres.
Day 4: The Yurt Family
Our 4th day seemed to be easier but it was not! We ascended the third pass (just 400 metres) and descended more than 1 kilometre in the Koshmoinok Valley until the village (Kojokelen). We took a jeep to skip the road as much as possible and slept close to a really nice family proposing Yurts, food and so on. They invited us for tea and baked really nice fried bread. It was cool! Then, we had our second storm with heavy rain. It was not a good night for us…
Day 5: The Jiptik Pass and Home
We started earlier than the other days for the last pass (Jiptik Pass). It was 4 intense hours to ascent 1100 metres. It was the least beautiful pass of the trek, but maybe because of the bad weather. We rushed to the other side of the pass in the Darbazatash Valley to get a taxi back for Sary Moghol. We were quite surprised arriving around 2:30 PM.
We can say it was a good and tough trek. The scenery was not as good as the one of the Fann Mountains, but still, it was worth it! Now, we are still in Osh relaxing before taking the road again. 11 days before the World Nomad Games — we are excited!
August 12–17, 2018