Day 4: Acclimatisation begins

After breakfast we began the drive from Osh to the village of Kozho-Kelen. The contrast of the simplicity of life in the South of the country compared to modern Bishkek was apparent. Here the locals still adopt a nomadic way of life, centered around livestock and their temporary yurt homes. Each year, families will spend the winter in the valleys and migrate upwards to alpine meadows for the summer months. Horses are critical to daily survival where riding is learned from a young age and they serve as transport, provider’s of nutrition and are the centre of Kyrgyz national identitity. On route, we passed the Papan Reservoir, which provides Osh residents with water and is used for irrigation in both Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. After around a 4 hour drive, we arrived at our guest house where a local family would host us for the night.

The mother of the family had prepared us rice with horse for lunch in addition to laying out several snacks and dried fruits. We sat on cushions, crossed legged and fuelled up for our first acclimatisation walk. The Russians didn't eat with us, but Roman gave us a blunt 5 minute warning for the beginning of our hike. Obviously, we'd received no information about the hike other than it being labelled as "acclimatisation, above 2000m, bit steep." Some group members asked where we could access drinking water and Roman simply pointed at the river, as if it was a ridiculous question to be asked. Horses grazed next to the water source and a small cow was stomping around, wading through the stream. We all grouped together our various water purifying techniques and prepared enough safe drinking water for the afternoon using filters for the silt, then UV or aqua tabs for the pathogens.

The acclimatisation walk began gently along the river, Roman adopted a quick pace and Sergei stayed at the back. The route was lined with unusual rock formations and narrow mountain canyons. Some of the trail was inaccessible due to falling trees so we were led on a diversion, up a steep grassy bank and onto a treacherous muddy slope. Around 3 members of the group fell and Roman did not show any ounce of concern. We arrived at a narrow canyon, where we had to remove our rucksacks and hold them above our heads in order to squeeze our bodies through. The rock underfoot was slippy and it was a real challenge to navigate. Roman was already on the other side waiting for us, casually smoking a cigarette and offering no assistance or guidance. Patrick and Darren kindly climbed up onto the rock above the canyon, relieving everyone of their rucksacks so we had our hands free for stability. After further chaos and more slips and falls we arrived at a waterfall which Roman simply pointed at. Alex and I were caked in mud, her elbows covered in cuts and we were in fits of giggles at the lack of guidance as she said "Are we actually trusting this man to take us up a 5000m peak next week?" It was becoming clear that we were out on our own and we'd just have to figure things out for ourselves.

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"Return now" was our next Russian command as Roman began marching downhill back towards the guesthouse. At this point, the heavens opened and the rain made the trail even more slippery. We were already all saturated in mud so simply embraced it. We arrived back at the guesthouse and congratulated each other for a successful hike, looking over to Roman for approval. He simply passed me a brush and said "Boots, muddy, clean!" I looked at Alex and we both instantly fell apart. After a relax and some more horse rice, we were treated to another delightful Roman russian military style briefing. "Wake 7, breakfast 8, walk 9!" There was so much mystery and intrigue to our days!

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We all slept on the floor in one room, surrounded by kit bags and rucksacks and trekking poles. We laughed at the concept of paying quite a lot of money for such a trip and to end up with the sleeping arrangements of a teenage girl sleepover party. The toilet at the guest house was one of the worst squat toilets I've ever witnessed, so I wandered along the river with the light of my headtorch. I cleaned my teeth next to 2 horses and a cow and went to the toilet squatted between the livestock. Kyrgyzstan was already turning into an unforgettable, wild adventure - just the kind I live for!