Day 7 - A Wistful Goodbye and Shyrdaks

As we wind up our special week seeing and meeting the lovely people and places of central Kyrgyzstan, we found even more lovely vistas...and also some motion sickness as we bounced down the mountain roads in a van.

Can you believe this view? It is just incredible! I am so thankful that our Father has allowed us to live and serve in this amazing country.

Our group!

Following this, we had another 45 minutes or so down the mountain and when we got out of the car, we had some sickness...poor Gwangi. Sissi and I felt pretty green, but our stomachs did settle down.

Azis had us stop by his grandparents house, so we could meet them. His grandmother is 87 and his grandfather is between 93 and 95. No one actually knows his age because he was born up in the jailoos (the high mountain fields) and it was a year before his family brought him down to town and did the official paperwork to register his birth.

When we returned to Azis' home (which is also the guest house we stayed at) his mother showed us how they make the Kyrgyz felt and Shyrdak carpets that I have come to enjoy.
She first has to beat the wool to get all the dirt out and to loosen up the fat so that it will "keep the wool together" in the felt carpet.

She then showed us how they put down the base layer of darker wool, they also use lighter wool colors that they dye and lay it all out on a reed mat. The carpet is put together by hand with all kinds of patterns that tell a story. The 3 pronged picture you see is the claw or foot of a bird.

Then, she added the horns of a ram. The name of the town, Kochkor, means ram in Kyrgyz.

When the carpet is complete, they roll it up in the mat, pour boiling hot water on it and roll it around for hours. This flattens it and helps the fat from the fur to join all the hairs together and when the product is complete, it is felt.

Solid colored felt is made also and then layered together to make the Shyrdak rugs.

She is drawing, with chalk, a pattern on these squares of felt.

Then, she cuts it apart.

She is being helped by her daughter in law and grandson, a super sweet 10 month old that earlier in the week we all fell in love with. He is just so precious!

They then switch the pieces so you have opposing colors in the patterns.

So, we now have the rust colored outside and white inside, plus the white outside and rust colored inside.

Here she shows a more complete Shyrdak and how they then hand sew all the pieces together to make the carpet.

The detail work, by hand, is incredible. These rugs take months of work and many hands to help finish them.

She also showed us how they make the ribbons and weavings that you see on the yurts. A woman can complete up to 1 meter in one day if working full time. She told us that her 87 year old mother, that we had met earlier in the day, had in her life made all of the pieces and felt parts for 5 different yurts. Wow! That is a lot of work!

Lacing her yarn back through her loom.

Sissi taking a turn.

We were told that girls about 6-7 years old start doing this work and learning from their mothers, side by side.

What an amazing adventure we had these past few days. We have been so blessed to see our Father's hand work in miraculous ways, saving lives, confirming His love for us and those around us...we could not have asked for a better view into His heart for the Kyrgyz people. Our time here has only strengthened our love for the people and country He has placed us in. Will you join us in believing for lasting fruit from this trip?! For His salvation and hand of mercy to sweep through these mountain valleys and touch lives!

Day 6 - The Lake, Yurt Building, and Another Answer

It was now Friday, and we had no plans to ride any further. In fact, our guides were going to take our horses back the way we came and return them. Then, we would be driving down the mountain on Saturday, back to Kochkor.

As we woke up, a bit tired and groggy after the "smoke incident" from the previous evening (Day 5 - The Night of Smoke), we came out to find our guides returning from riding the past couple of hours to look for our horses. The horses had all wandered off during the night and they couldn't find them. They did say it happens occasionally, but they had gone to all the usual places and it seemed that the horses were nowhere to be found.

We had breakfast together and we prayed for them, that they would find the horses quickly and easily that day and then they departed on their quest.

Our two families spent the day enjoying the lake and the surrounding area.

This lake is truly lovely, so peaceful, and the mountains and clouds were astounding.

I know, the previous picture is similar...

Which do you like better, the first one that is further way, or this one that is closer to the boat wreck?

Then, I had the kids get in the boat for a picture.

My two boys stayed in the boat, talking with each other.

And, just the mountains, the clouds, the water, the reflection...so tranquil.

We came back to the yurts and discovered a new one being put up. Since we've never watched the whole process of putting up a yurt, we asked if we could stay and help and take pictures. Of course, the answer was, "Yes!"

First the frame goes up, and then the reed wrap-around is attached.

The men secure it with rope.

Then they add this layer at the bottom to keep out the wind.

Then, another layer is put around the frame...

along with plastic to keep it waterproof and then a layer of felt.

Here, they are attaching it to the roof to ensure it is secure and won't blow away if the wind picks up too much.

Finally, they start to layer the roof.

It started to get a little cloudy, and we knew a storm was heading in for the evening. The kids really wanted a few minutes in the water, so we took off all their warm clothes and let them freeze a little bit!

Here we are talking to some of the boys that live in the yurts.

We were surprised at how long the kids stayed in the water. The local boys wouldn't go in.

But, they did say the kids could ride their donkey!

Sissi fell off at first, but she got the hang of it and tightened up her hold.

The donkey was pretty stubborn though and she had a hard time getting him to go without help from the boys.

Gwangi on the donkey.

Krypto riding the donkey.

This was funny...the man was watching the turkey look at and try to attack himself in the mirror. The noises and clicking sounds as he hit his beak against the glass was really humorous!

Here is he, totally confounded by the turkey he sees looking back at him.

That night, when we all came together, we found out from Azis that the horses were found! They had gone all the way back and past where we had eaten lunch the previous day, trying to get home by themselves. This isn't uncommon, but they were surprised at how far they had gone. Another answer to our prayers! Thank you Lord for showing our Kyrgyz friends that you care about them and their horses, and all the things in their lives!

As we fell asleep that night, to another round of story telling and a rain storm, it was peaceful in our "Little Yurt on the Jailoo" (a jailoo is a large mountain field)... but, that ended about 3 am, when we awoke to loud techno music followed fifteen minutes later by what sounded like gunshots!

Indy and our friend again, got up, and headed out to figure out what was happening. It turns out, that down by the lake, a bunch of young guys had driven the 3-4 hours out from Bishkek and were drinking and partying and setting off fireworks! It took some convincing from our guide for them to quiet down and cease all the racket. We were able to get a few more hours of sleep before heading out on the last day of our trip.

Day 5 - The Night of Smoke

After our first night sleeping in a yurt we awoke refreshed, to the sounds of animals, a gentle breeze, and the smell of breakfast! 

Ahhh, sleeping in the mountains, there is nothing like it!

We got ourselves repacked and ate a hearty meal and were off for another day of beautiful pictures, a bit of wind, some steep peaks, and a sore backside.

This is an hour or so into our trek for the day.

Off in the distance we saw lots of yurts and animals during the day. It's amazing how many people move out of the cities and into the mountains for the summer.

This was probably our steepest peak of the day. I felt so bad for our horses, but they persevered and steadily plodded their way to the top.

...even when it got really rocky and I was thinking, ouch!

This was our view at the top looking in one direction.

And this was our view in the other direction.

The lake! It's Song Kul Lake!

Taking a break on the top of the ridge.

The last hour, down to the lake for our lunch break, was super hard. Going down hill...lots of bouncing, my knees and back were sore and I just wanted to get off the horse.

We finally arrived and here you can see our horses taking a break in view of the lake.

Our lunch stop! More great food, sweet people, and hospitality like you wouldn't believe!

Then, we rode another 2 hours around the lake and got to our stopping point for the evening.

We unloaded our animals and set up our stuff for the night. The kids took a walk along the lake before dinner.

This was our camp as you are looking back from the lake.

And, then I turned around and took a picture of the lake.

Sissi, doing what she does best...pick flowers!

Love this combination.

And all the kids collected more rocks as well.

Gwangi, skipping rocks on the lake.

Collecting more rocks and throwing others as far out as they can.

There were other guests staying around our yurt and they bought a goat and asked the men to play one of the traditional Kyrgyz games. You can see that the third man from the left in the picture is carrying a dead and decapitated goat and the men then race around trying to steal the goat from each other.

One of our guides, Azis, trying out our friend's saddle that she brought with her from the US.

So, at this point, you are wondering about my title for this blog post...I haven't mentioned the night or smoke a single time...

Well, that night, we went to bed with another story from Azis, this time he began a multiple part story about the legendary figure, Manas. As we settled in for the night, in our new yurt, one of the hosts started a fire in the metal stove in the yurt so that we wouldn't be cold during our sleep. We were told that in an hour or so, someone would come in with coals to stoke the fire so that it would last for the rest of the evening. We started dozing off and I kind of remember a lady coming in, it was dark, and adding the coals and leaving. 

A few hours later, after midnight, I wake up to Indy and our friend talking and I realize we are surrounded by smoke and we can hardly see or breathe. When they brought the new coals in, they didn't seal the lid of the stove properly and the so it was leaking smoke...in a completely enclosed yurt, with no fresh air, and 9 people sleeping! We are so thankful that the Lord woke up our husbands and they were able to use their flashlights and fix the stove. We then slept with a shoe propping open the door of the yurt so that we could get fresh air in the yurt and breathe, though it got a bit cold after that.

In the morning we talked about how we could have all slept the entire night in that enclosed room and possibly died of smoke inhalation, and no one would have known until the morning. It was an incredible miracle and blessing for our Father to save us that night!

His mercies are new, every morning! Great is His faithfulness!