To top off our stay in Karakol, we wanted to explore the local hiking trails. Three roommates in our guesthouse came back excited about the popular tour to Ala-Kol Lake and assured us that the three-day hike was doable despite snowfields.
After David had cured a recent stomach illness, we started our hike to the Holy Lake of Arslanbob (Kol Mazar). Thanks to the forced break days, we were able to benefit from a perfect time window of good weather for our trip. In order to safe space in the backpacks, we pre-cooked the dinners (buckwheat stew) and stuffed them appetizingly into Zip-Locker plastic bags😉.
Only two hours by bicycle away from Samarkand we were already at the border to Tajikistan. The first impressions of the new country were great: good roads, the wonderful view of the Fann Mountains, English speaking young women who talked to us at the tea stop, two fresh breads from the baker’s family who took selfies with us… We were excited, felt comfortable and welcome!
The Asian part of Turkey is so big that we have chosen highlights for the journey and set realistic sub-goals. This way we keep our motivation high, even if our progress on our 1:1’100’000 map is very slow. Between the various highlights, we look for the most promising connections, but the most exciting encounters and experiences always happen quite unexpectedly along the way.
During our stay in Novi Pazar we spotted a new trekking idea in the Bulgarian Rila Mountains. The planned route takes three days from Borovets to the Rila Lakes and because of the altitude of 2200 to 2900m stable weather is a must!
