Day 4 - The Coldest Day

It was now half way through our week and we were ready to "hit the trail" and see some of the mountains and people of central Kyrgyzstan.

When we left on Wednesday morning from the guest house, we had on 2 layers of clothes. We drove about 90 minutes to where we would get our horses and start the trek and upon our arrival, the wind was so cold and harsh, we opened our packs and began to put on most every layer we had brought with us. In our family, we each had on 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of socks, and 5 layers on top...a short sleeved shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a fleece/sweatshirt, a coat, and a rain/wind jacket along with a hat. 

Yes, in mid June, it was that cold up in those mountains. At our highest point, we were at about 3300 meters in altitude or over 10,000 feet.

Our view as we were starting out; clear, cool and breezy!

On the trail, you can see how we're all bundled up and the horse's tail is blowing in the wind.

One of the valleys we passed through where we were protected from the wind a little bit.

Our horses, on their lunch break.

Our guides, Azis and his older brother, Azamat, brought bread, tomatoes, pickles, apples, bananas, oranges, sausage, and cheese. We ate well in the mountain valley.

Heading back out again for the rest of our ride.

At the top of one of the hills. 

In total we rode about 4 hours on this first day.

We've arrived! 

This is our camp for the night. We were so thankful for a sweet place to rest and a chance to stretch our legs.

I just like this image of old and new...a yurt and a pair of sunglasses stuck through the cord.

My girl, always bringing me flowers.

My two "biggest boys"...Krypto has really been growing.

Gwangi, down by the creek, picking up special rocks.

Taking a creek break.

Sissi and her friend, washing rocks and picking flowers.

I really love these little purple flowers.

And, my other favorites are these yellow wild flowers.

A peaceful view of my girl, as we're waiting for dinner to be prepared.

The sun is starting to set, our horses are free to graze, and we're relaxing by the yurt before dinner.

A lovely view!

In the yurt, it's time for Plov!

A family meal that was enjoyed by everyone!

The sun is now almost down and we're so thankful for a safe trek, a lovely setting, and our Father's grace during another day.

Day 3 - The Black Salt Mine

Following all of the excitement and activity of the previous day (Day 2 - A Divine Appointment), we took some down time on Tuesday and just chatted with our host family and rested during the morning. A few rowdy games of Uno and Monopoly were also played by the children. 

Then, after lunch, we took a trip to the local bazaar in Kochkor to get Krypto a new pair of sneakers, he had holes in his that I hadn't seen before (it's alright, they're the ones we brought from the US last fall, they were old...and really didn't fit him anymore) and a heavier sweater for Sissi because the weather forecast for the week was cold, and wind, and more cold up in the mountains.

Following our bazaar trip, we went to the local Black Salt Mine! And wow, this is an interesting story as well....

This whole area is full of black salt, it's great for animals, and lots of people use it as well. Krypto is pretending to eat his chunk of salt in this picture.

Holding a piece of black salt from the mine.

Intently listening to Azis, our guide, tell us more about the salt and the area.

The outside of the mine

Azis, holding black salt rocks.

And then, we went inside, and the story got even better...salt covering everything!

And the rooms, that people come and stay in because it is said that this kind of salt helps people that have asthma and other respiratory conditions to breathe better. So, from Russia, Kazakhstan, and other places, people pay to come and sleep in these salt caves. 

One of the long tunnels that we walked down.

One of the rooms, with a bed, that people will come and stay in to have salt breathing treatments. They sleep here and since the walls are completely made of salt, they are breathing it in constantly as they sleep. You could smell the salt in the air.

The common room where guests will come to watch television...

and be social. The kids said the couches were great and so we replied that we would just leave them there. For a few minutes they let us jest and joke and start to walk away, but they decided they would rather be with us and so gave up their comfortable resting spots.

This is where things get really exciting. As we continued on our tour, they showed us human made felt stuck in the rocks. Now you have to realize, this is hundreds of meters below ground. This is not animal fur, there are no bones or other "animal" by products left behind in the rocks, but a man made felt product, that they have discovered during their digging.

Another picture of felt embedded in the salt rocks.

And more felt, hanging from the ceiling, hundreds of meters below the surface. As we talked, our minds went to Noah's flood.

Then, we saw this - old plant roots, hanging from the ceiling, when there are no plants for hundreds of meters up to the surface. Is it possible, that when the "fountains of the great deep burst open" (Gen 7:11) and the water came from above and below during the Flood, that human artifacts and plant roots were encased in salt from the water and preserved for years, and then discovered during the past few decades during the drilling and digging of this mine? We were all fascinated!

Following our salt mine tour, Azis said he had a surprise for us, so we drove about 10 minutes back toward the guest house and stopped here, by some houses with a big metal barrel sitting outside. Then, Azis took out a pack of matches and he lit one and put it over the bubbling, natural spring that was coming from out of the ground and up through the barrel and it lit on fire! The kids thought it was so awesome.

There is some kind of gas in the water that is flammable. What was interesting is that it wasn't flammable once it was away from the source...it would not light in your hand if you were holding water, and it would not light further down the barrel, but only at the source, where it is coming out of the ground and bubbling. We could smell nothing, but there is obviously something in that water.

Of course, all of the kids had to have a chance and light the water on fire, what a great time!

We finished off the day with some incredible Manti made by Azis's mom and a good night's rest before heading out for the rest of the week on our horse trek.

Day 2 - A Divine Appointment

We could hardly contain our excitement as the first day of our horse trek began.

Our family had been spoiled the previous evening with some amazing stories, pleasant company, a shower that we weren't expecting, and the Kyrgyz national dish for dinner, Besh Barmak - it contains meat and onions served with a broth over noodles.

After a lovely porridge breakfast with homemade jams, breads, and tea, we were driven to the site that we would get our horses, load up our gear, and start on our trek across the Tian Shan mountains of central Kyrgyzstan.

This was the home of the people that we rented horses from for the first part of our trek.

Krypto on his horse.

Sissi, so super excited as we get underway.

The whole family has been taking weekly horse riding lessons at the equestrian center in Bishkek for the past two months to get ready for this trip.

And, we're off, heading up the foothills of the mountains. It was a beautiful day, with just a slight wind to make you want a jacket.

We saw lots of horses and sheep along our route as people have moved for the summer up to the mountain pastures to graze their stock, away from the cities and villages.

Indy, looking down at the valley and the city of Kochkor beneath us. We went up in elevation rather quickly, this was just about 45 minutes from where we began our trek.

The view of Kochkor and more of the mountains below us.

About an hour into our trek, we came up over a rise and heard frantic screaming and wailing. I was toward the back of the group, but the mother of the family we were traveling with is a veterinarian and she is here in Kyrgyzstan working with some of the problems that the Kyrgyz people are seeing in their horse breeds. She and her husband both have spent their lives riding, training, and owning horses and so she was able to very quickly cover the distance and get to the family.

As the rest of us came upon the scene, my heart raced, my mind jumped to all kinds of conclusions...had one our children fallen off of a horse, who was she bending over doing CPR on, what was going on? As we heard the family screaming and started to figure out the details of the situation, we realized that their 1 year old son had wandered off as the family was preparing and slaughtering a sheep for their meal. He had fallen into the mountain creek and turned purple, stopped breathing, and had no heartbeat. The mother had no idea how long he had been in the water.

Our friend spent a very long 10-15 minutes doing CPR on the baby as we were all praying loudly and comforting children and the hysterical grandparents and pleading with our heavenly Father to save this child and work this situation to His honor and His glory!

Thank God, she got a weak heartbeat back! She and the family then decided to get him down the mountain in the family's car. Our friend went with the baby and the parents and one of our horse guides, and she spent what was probably the longest 20 minutes of her life jostling along the dirt roads continuing to do CPR on this little one. He aspirated water and milk and finally, about 2 minutes before arriving at the clinic in Kochkor, he began to breathe on his own, but very lightly, and only with help.

The doctors and nurses at the clinic stepped right in and it took a good hour to get him breathing regularly and for his color and temperature to return to a somewhat normal state. He was in and out of consciousness for a couple of days, but did seem to recognize his mother and move a bit. Our friend said his pupil movement was not normal and so we have been praying for his brain specifically. We spent time praying with and for the family. Our family stayed with the grandparents and the 3 siblings for a few hours while our friend was down at the clinic.

It is truly one of the amazing and miraculous stories that we encountered this week. 

The baby was dead! 

But, in a Lazarus type of story, the Lord allowed us to arrive at the exact moment that He could use us to show His grace and mercy to this family and we pray this stays with them...that the little boy will be a witness of our Father's healing power.

One of the things that really struck us was the absolute grief and hysteria that all of the family showed during the ordeal. This family had no hope, to them dead is gone -- forever. Can you picture what that really means?

The baby is in Bishkek now, with his mother, and is supposed to be undergoing brain scans this week. We will continue to pray for health and complete healing, for their hearts to be soft and open, and for an opportunity later to follow up with this family. Will you join us?!

The grandmother, still visibly shaken but calmer after receiving a phone call from the clinic that the baby was still alive. She then continued working on preparing the sheep for their meal.

Sissi and her friend using Indy's binoculars to look out over the ridge as we waited for the car to return...it was to be several hours.

Everyone got involved with helping. Here, the girls are working on cleaning some dishes. Sissi was inside the tent helping the grandmother to set the table for afternoon tea.

The kids, waiting patiently.

The older brother of the family.

The tent where they cook and eat.

The yurt that they sleep in at night.

The little sister, who was very shy and took quite some time to warm up to us.

Following what had been an emotional and exhausting experience, we chose not to continue our trek that afternoon, but instead to return to Kochkor so that our friend could be close to the clinic to check on the baby and get some rest. Over the next few days I'll continue to update you on the adventures we encountered during our week long Kyrgyz culture and language immersion!