The Mongol Rally:
Kyrgyzstan, a horse meat scandal?
Kyrgyzstan is full of horses
Entering Kyrgyzstan from the high Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, the scenery suddenly changed. Gone was the high-altitude lunar landscape of the Pamirs, instead replaced by a rolling pastureland (called jailoo in Kyrgyzstan) fringed by snow-capped peaks and covered with yurts and horses. So many horses. Why? Surely there aren’t enough people to ride them all? What else could they possibly do with them?
A first taste of Kyrgyzstan
Eat them. The Kyrgyz are a traditionally nomadic people, and unlike some of the other Central Asian nations, they managed to hold on to their nomadic culture even through the Soviet years. And that includes breeding horses for their meat. There’s no chance of a horse meat scandal in Kyrgyzstan (unlike the 2013 uproar in the UK when people realised horse meat was in some of their beef products). According to our guidebook, horse meat sausage is a favourite.
Horses have right of way in Kyrgyzstan
Slipping down from the jailoo towards Osh, on the border with Uzbekistan, we left the nomads and their horses behind and descended to a more arable land. No horse meat on the menu in Osh, unfortunately. Instead, we feasted on Uzbek-style noodles and dumplings, washed down with a few local beers, in celebration of our successful Pamir crossing.
Kyrgyzstan is a cheap place to repair your car
The following morning, we had some car issues to attend to: a wash to remove nearly three weeks’ worth of dust, some coolant to help with that overheating problem, and a trip to the mechanic to stop the gradually worsening clunking from the front left wheel. With no Renault parts in Osh, it took some ingenuity, a trip to the bazaar, and a few hours to fix our dodgy wheel bearing. At £13, it felt like we’d got ourselves a bargain.
Spa day for the zebra in Osh, Kyrgyzstan
And we had. With the clunking noise exorcised, we left Osh and headed north towards the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek. It’s a long and winding road through the mountains from Osh to Bishkek. We could have made it with a full day, but leaving after lunch, we settled on driving until darkness fell. Pulling off the road just as the sun set, we found a picturesque wild camping spot overlooking the Toktogul Reservoir. The view more than made up for the stony ground and our dodgy egg-fried rice
Another campsite with a view, overlooking Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul Reservoir
Trying some Kyrgyz delicacies
We set off early the following day (the rocky ground not lending itself to a restful night’s sleep) and climbed up over mountain passes to re-enter the high-altitude pastureland. Yurts? Everywhere the eye settled were yurts. Clustered across the rolling green landscape. Dotted along the roadside. Most selling homemade kymys: fermented mares milk (those horses again), kurut: dried yoghurt balls, and kaimak: homemade cream. All of which we tried, alongside bread and fresh tea, inside one of those roadside yurts. It’s safe to say kymys and kurut are a bit of an acquired taste. The cream with bread and tea was more to our liking.
Stopping for a roadside snack of kymys, kurut and kaimak on our way to Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek
Rico was unconvinced by the kymys
Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek
We coasted down from the yurts all the way to Bishkek, and soon after arriving, we met up with Joldoshbek, Rico’s friend from university. After some sightseeing (with few significant sights, this didn’t take too long), we headed out of the city with Jol and his wife for an evening of traditional Kyrgyz food.
The main square in Bishkek with the Kyrgyzstan flag flying proudly
Doing that tourist thing in Bishkek
And that meant horsemeat. Or it did when we asked for horsemeat. When in Rome, right? We had a lovely evening. The horsemeat was just okay, but the company and rustic restaurant were a delight. The next day, we’d be leaving Kyrgyzstan. It was a shorter stop than we would’ve liked, but we had somewhere to be…onwards to Mongolia!
This Leg
Days: 2
Countries: 1
Distance: 426 miles
Time in car: 13 hours
Total
Days: 36
Countries: 22
Distance: 7,594 miles
Time in car: 9 days 5 hours 30 minutes