We woke Saturday morning surrounded by mountains in the village of Kara Suu. We were in awe of their majesty and quickly started studying them for potential ski lines. This area has had an extremely dry winter so far, with only about 40cm of snow since October, compared to an average of about 1.5m. The initial part of the range we were intending on skiing simply doesn’t have enough snow and so we headed to the far northeast of the range, where they’ve had slightly more snow to investigate options there. We’ve had to put the skiing on hold however as my ski bag is still somewhere in Turkey (maybe in Istanbul, maybe in Ankara, it depends on which representative you speak to). Instead we went to check out the village’s museum, which was very impressive given the size and stature of Kara-suu. We were able to learn a bit more about Kyrgyz history, their nomadic traditions and learn the in’s and out’s of a yurt. We also were fortunate to witness a Sunday afternoon game of Kok-Boru, a traditional Kyrgyz version of polo, where the ball is a goat carcass. Sunday is market day and everything in the whole region stops. We were able to entertain ourselves for hours wandering through the aisles of colourful materials, wool, cheese, sheep, horses and cows for sale. It was -30 and pretty grey but the vendors and shoppers were full of laughs and smiles. We were also laughing and smiling for the most part, until we tried the jarma. It’s a fermented wheat drink, kind of like salty, moldy porridge, apparently it’s delicious but it made us all sick (actually). That afternoon we went visiting, hoping to find a variety of villagers to interview about climate change, their thoughts and how it’s impacting them and their families. We struck gold when we interrupted a social gathering of several women. Despite our unannounced arrival we were warmly welcomed with many cups of tea, more food than we could possibly eat and several more cups of jarma. (The big lesson learnt here was to eat as slowly as possible). We also had champagne and wine and were toasted to many times with “may you have as much luck as the mountains are high”. We were able to interview several villagers here and were amazed at their insights into the causes and consequences of climate change. Like we are so connected to the mountains with skiing, they are so connected to the land with their farming. They may live very simple lives, mainly as subsistence farmers, and have relatively little education but they are well and truly aware of the changing weather and how it impacts them. Despite the toasts our luck came to an end. Sunday night found all three of us visiting the outhouse at various times, fortunately not all at once. The Jarma didn’t go down quite so well and spending a few hours squatting over a hole in the ground in -30c has made us not very willing to try it again. On Monday we went to the local school. It serves the whole village of 5000 people and has about 700 students from grade 1-11. Once again, we were welcomed with open arms and hearts into the class rooms. We taught a small amount of English, some New Zealand geography, did some skipping (Gabby’s secret talent) and had some general discussions about climate change with some of the students who were especially eager to hang out with us. Again, the students were well aware of climate change but weren’t quite able to explain the how’s and the whys. One thing is for sure though, they are not doing anything to contribute to it. Every single student in our classroom walked to school, many from more than 5km away. In the summer some of them will ride their horses or take the busses that run more frequently then. None of them drive or were driven. Compare that to Aspen where it is 30°c warmer on the average winter day and there are 12 free buses an hour drop kids right at the school, yet most are driven. We had our first shower of the week at the local sauna. It was pretty awesome, really warm and we left feeling squeaky clean. Nobody in Kara-suu has running water inside their houses which means a twice weekly visit to the sauna for most people. Again, we are learning to appreciate the simple life, and little these villagers contribute to the global problem of climate change. Lastly we went to visit a women who makes Shyrdaks in her home. Shyrdaks are a traditional Kyrgz carpet made from sheep wool. They are stunning and the skill and time that goes into making them is also incredible. It can take several months to stitch one together and it shows with the remarkable detail. If my ski bag ever arrives I will buy one to put in it on the way home. With no skis in sight on Tuesday we headed out for an overnight adventure to visit a local Shepard in a nearby mountain valley. It would have been an amazing afternoon, heading out on horses with the shepherd to visit his sheep, had I not been folded in half with what felt like some sort of animal moving around inside me. The jarma was back for round two and so I had to sit the day out. Nicole and Gabby however got some horse riding practice in and learnt a lot more about farming in this area. It’s really unusual that the sheep are able to graze at this time of year but as there is so little snow they are still being taken out from their yards each day. Again, we were amazed at the high spirits and good humor of the shepherd and his family, and of their skills. Our host made her own butter, yoghurt, cheese, jams and noodles and carefully stoked the fire with cow patties all day. They too had some great perspective on climate change, having lived as shepherds and worked the land for the past 25 years they had really noticed and felt the impacts of the past few extreme winters. They noted that despite life being a little easier in such a remote location (they now have some solar panels and a car) We were able to ride horses back to Kara-Suu village today. The 3 hour journey breezed by as we passed through valleys and over rolling hills to get back to Kara-suu. Gabby was officially declared an incompetent rider by the local horseman, and provided with a special horse for the trip… we’re not going to let her forget that. On the other hand, I’m officially and incompetent drone flyer and managed to crash our brand new drone twice in one day. Luckily the first time was into a pile of snow and it appeared unscathed. The second time however involved a direct impact with a tree. The three of us spent quite some time digging around in the snow and cow manure (frozen fortunately) trying to find the missing propellers and once again provided some good entertainment for the locals. Tomorrow we’ll head out to visit Tash Rabat, an historical landmark on the old Silk rd. On Friday if my skis have still not arrived we will change course and head to Arslanbob where there’s potential to rent touring gear and explore the mountains there. Stay tuned for more updates!
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AuthorMarian Krogh Archives
August 2019
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