Dropping Nina off to the mechanic felt like leaving a naughty child with a babysitter. Our growing fears that we had purchased a ‘lemon’ had been placated by the ease and confidence of the ‘wizard’, who we were convinced was the best mechanic this side of the Alay Mountains. And, we were finally getting into the mountains! No better way to ease the stress of suddenly owning a swift depreciating multi thousand dollar asset than to head into the hills for a few days. 

The Heights of Alay loop is known as one of the more “off the beaten track” hikes in Kyrgyzstan, although judging by the number of trekkers at our hostel, I think this beta from last summers blog posts is maybe slightly out of date now. It certainly lived up to expectations though, and every day had us walking through more of the movie set scenery that was so stereotypically Kyrgyz. Yurt camps, horsemen, pick up rides and 4,000m passes… it was just a lot of fun. I expected this hike to be a little harder based on what I had read online, but I was pleasantly surprised overall. Of course, 4,000m passes are never easy, but by this stage we were well acclimatized and coping well with the altitude. We wanted each stop on this trip to be shown on the blog, so please excuse a little spam as we list each day separately FTM (for the map). 

Sary Mogul to CBT Yurt Camp, via Sary Mogul Pass

16.71km

10hrs 12mins

1,026m total ascent 

We’d booked a taxi to take us to the start of the trail, and we were equal parts surprised and stoked to see the wizard show up to drive us! Not only the local Lada mechanic, he also drove tourists into the mountains as a side hustle. We all piled in his iconic Maroon Lada Niva, and got to experience the joy of being driven by someone who really knew how to handle this old Russian car. His gear changes were flawless, line choice a real art and I swear we got air on some of the culverts we crossed. 

The drive into the start of the hike was beautiful. A big wide river valley with seasonal yurt camps, mobs of sheep, horses and yaks and peaks rising up all around us. The valley began to narrow and we got dropped in a shady spot above the river. The wizard snapped a quick picture of us before speeding off back down the valley, seemingly (and unbelievably) even faster than we had arrived. We headed off with all our layers on and quickly gained height up above the river. Our goal today was to cross Sary-Mogul pass, actually the highest and supposedly the hardest day of the hike. 

As the river gorged we climbed up above it, walking through herds of yaks and enjoying views back to Lenin Peak behind us. It was warming up quickly, and in typical NZ fashion we found a spot for a swim in a mountain stream. Orshi joined us, but it will take a little more convincing to get Tommy the Mediterranean into the freezing mountain water. Gradually we climbed out away from the river and over a number of false summits, until the actual pass was within view. Nearly all vegetation was gone by now, and it was a gravelly sidle up to the pass itself. At 4,300m the pass itself is no joke, and breathing was tough on the way up. I scrambled along the ridge for a picture, and we recovered from what had been a seven hour climb to this point. We met a number of other walkers at the top, some up for a day trip, and some doing a similar hike to us. There were even a number of horses coming up behind us, and it was very hard to imagine how they were going to get down!! 

The descent was much more treacherous than the way up, but I’m pleased to report that years spent on the scree slopes of the Craigieburn ranges have left me with steady feet and limited fear on that kind of terrain. We slowly made it down the dodgy section, avoiding using the fixed rope with the seriously concerning looking anchor, and were all happy to get to flatter ground. Totally rompable terrain down to camp. We didn’t stay at the Yurt Camp itself, but found a (semi) flat spot below next to the river. Pasta was on the menu for dinner, before putting on all our clothes and climbing into bed. We were still pretty high at 3,500m, and it was not warm! Falling asleep in a tent next to a river is my idea of heaven, and we were all exhausted and asleep in no time. Incessant midnight cramps in my glutes and hamstrings reminded me of the importance of stretching, and also highlighted the fact I’m not 22 anymore, shit. When did that happen?!