CBT Yurt Camp to Kosh-Moynok Yurt Camp, via Kosh-Moynok Pass

21.38km 

8hrs 47mins

868m total ascent

After a very average sleep, Josh treated me to coffee delivered in the tent - one of the great joys of life, I think. We were deep in a steep valley, so we all pulled ourselves out of our warm sleeping bags to get walking before the sun hit. Today started with a whole lot of down, we had to drop to a town called Kichi Sary Mogul, at 2,400m elevation. The 1,000m of descent was at least incredibly scenic and as we got further down we could see some more peaks that we had been too close to last night to have good views of. 

Once we reached the outskirts of this small town we parked up next to the river in the sun for a coffee stop and to swim/wash in the freezing water. This time Tommy the Mediterranean had a bit of a splash around, which we were all very impressed with. From the town we hitched a couple of kilometers down the road and found a place for lunch. We paid a ridiculous price for three Manti (dumplings) each, so we made sure to stock up on the chocolates and candy they laid out on the tables for the climb after lunch. 

From the town we had to climb back up to 3,220m to get into the next valley, and somehow we had managed to time this with the heat of the day! We had a bit of a crew forming by this point, we’d met two other lovely Italians from the Dolomites who were on the same schedule as us, and having more company up the hill was really nice. It was hot and dry up the hill, leaving us all finding our own rhythm and hunting for small pieces of shade to take breathers in. 

Of course, it was a great accomplishment reaching the top, but what was even greater was the sight of our campsite below. This place was the most quintessential Kyrgyzstan campsite you could imagine. Make sure you scroll through the photos to find this place, but I’m going to describe it as well. Green fields either side of a bubbling river, sheep, horses and yaks grazing, a couple of yurts, big mountains up behind a big valley, and trees starting to appear down the valley as the river dropped out of view… just magic. 

One of my favorite moments of Kyrgyzstan was when a big flock of sheep came past our tents, followed by a very skilled horseman and a wee boy on a donkey. These guys appeared to be true nomads. His horsemanship was unlike anything I had ever seen before, more befitting the Olympic dressage ring than the mountains. He pulled up at the yurt camp next door where several of the men came to admire his steed, with one of them giving it a test drive. Before long he had trotted back across the river and then continued moving his sheep down the valley. All the camp tasks like cooking, cleaning, putting up tents etc were second nature to Josh and I, but a bit newer to Tommy and Orshi. It was exciting to see them learning to enjoy life in the mountains and testing themselves on a trip they likely wouldn’t have embarked on without us. Sharing these moments with friends makes them all the more special.