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Alex Schnee
Collab Media/Shutterstock
Things were quiet when we landed in the capital city of Bishkek in the early-morning hours. This surprised me because in other Asian cities I’d traveled to, like Seoul and Bangkok, there always seemed to be people out on the streets.
Although our hotel was far from the city center, we did get to do some exploring later in the day.
As we wandered around Bishkek, we noticed the streets were wide, the sidewalks were clean, and trees offered shade from the summer heat. Buses rolled past us, with commuters heading home from work.
We popped into a Thai restaurant, where the owner took our order in English. While most of the population speaks Kyrgyz or Russian, we could still communicate with almost everyone in Bishkek with a little help from Google Translate.
Alex Schnee
It only took driving about two hours from the heart of Bishkek to feel like we were in an entirely different country.
Our driver took us off the highway onto rocky, bumpy roads, and as we approached the mountains, we saw fewer people and more animals.
Much of the traditional nomadic culture in Kyrgyzstan is centered on horses, and we saw children no older than five or six galloping across the vast land.
These nomads are herders, moving around the country depending on the season and where they can find food for their livestock.
Alex Schnee
Many of the accommodations we stayed at in Kyrgyzstan were yurt camps, located in remote areas far away from towns and cities.
Usually run by a nomadic family summering their livestock of cows and horses, most yurts had beds, rug flooring, and even a small stove to keep us warm during the cold nights in the mountains.
Each had decorations inside, like tassels and carpets, reflecting the family’s personal style.
Different yurts served different purposes. Some were for sleeping, while others were for a communal dinner we shared with other guests.
Alex Schnee
Since herding is an essential part of Kyrgyzstan’s culture, the food we were served reflected that.
Almost every dish served had a component of beef, whether it was the broth in the soup or the main focus of a noodle dish. This made finding a hearty meal for Jessie a challenge since she’s a vegetarian.
I was shocked to see so many options for noodle dishes — served for both breakfast and dinner, with a pot of black tea and some biscuits for dessert.
Alex Schnee
After almost 10 days of road-tripping, Jessie and I headed into the mountains, where we hiked 40 miles over four days.
The 14,000-foot elevation hit us hard. Both of us struggled to breathe, and my feet felt like they had 200-pound weights attached to them.
However, the surrounding landscape was well worth the difficulty of the trail. Almost completely untouched by people, mountains were everywhere we looked.
After adjusting to the altitude, we were able to appreciate what a beautiful area of the world we were in.
I’ve been fortunate enough to hike to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal and camp out in the Sahara desert in Morocco, but Kyrgyzstan was a trip I will never forget.
While the photogenic mountain scenery was worth the flight alone, getting the opportunity to experience a slice of the Kyrgyz people’s nomadic lifestyle is something I will remember forever.
