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!

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.