McLeanCamino: 16 May Karakol and environs

After a wonderful breakfast of eggs, fresh cheeses, yogurt, muesli, and espresso coffee we happily started out for Djety-Oguz gorge (35 km west of Karakol) and known for its “Seven red sandstone oxen” and “broken heart” reportedly from the legend of a beautiful girl that lost her lover and ended up as red sandstone. On the way we passed mobile bee-keeping facilities that people brought there so their bees could use the local pollen, and herds of horses, cows and sheep being guided by mounted Kyrgyz "cowboys". We hiked a bit along a clear glacial stream, then went down and walked through a small Soviet-era sanatorium and village to the edge of the sandstone cliffs that look a bit like seven red bulls, seeing some beautiful horses with their foals. A charming old bearded Kyrgyz gentlemen came over and chatted and was happy to have his picture taken with us. Mare's milk is the traditional Kyrgyz drink but we declined the sample.

Returning to Karakol, we passed through town and out the other side to the museum dedicated to the great explorer of Central Asia, Nikolai Mickhailovich Przewalski. His biggest achievements were the crossing of the great desert Taklamakan in China, travelling some 40,000 kilometers in four expeditions, and the discovery of more than 4000 new species, including the Horse of Prejevalsky, which was a wild species between a donkey and a horse, now extinct. Prezhevalsky died of typhoid in Karakol, and his last wish was to be buried on the shore of Issyk Kul Lake. He said that it was the most beautiful place that he had seen in his life. The small museum was of interest but we needed our guide to translate all the Russian.

We next visited the Dungan mosque, which was built without a single nail. More than 100 years ago a Chinese master builder lived in this town. At that time the Kyrgyz were already Muslims, but they did not have they own mosque, so they had to pray at home or in yurts. The Chinese builder liked the local people for their traditions and hospitality, so he decided to built a mosque for them, and of course it is Chinese style. The construction was made of bricks and wood, and wood was curved in a special way in order not to use any nails and yet to have a very stable building. The whole mosque is decorated with wood fretwork.

The name, Dungan Mosque, is after the Dungan people from China who were Muslim. These Dungan Chinese were persecuted in China, so they left their motherland. Now they live all over the world, and some live in Kyrgyzstan. Usually they prefer to live separately from other people. There are two big communities in Kyrgyzstan: One in Karakol town and another one on the southern shore of Issyk Kul Lake. These people are famous for they hard-working character. We were not allowed into the mosque, but only to look from outside, and our female guide wearing pants was forced to borrow a loose robe before going into the compound.

The old wooden Orthodox Church was built more than 100 years ago by the Russians that established the town. During Soviet times it was used as a dance hall, but locals secretly kept it in good condition. After independence in 1991 the church was re-established, and it is now used extensively by the Russian community.

We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant serving mainly Russian food. We enjoyed a "sizzler" chicken and beef with vegetables and went happily to bed.