Kazak Yurt

As we got off the back of the truck to start our climb this family of Kazak's were living right beside the mountain pass road. It was lunchtime as we walked passed - they didn't even lift their heads from their meal. I looked into the pot on the fire and it was filled with vile smelling boiled fatty goat meat, no vegetables at all - it was nausiating.

Looking Back Down the Valley

A Great Place to Live

Perched on a rocky outcropping they had a great view up and down the valley.

Looking Down the Valley From Campsite #1

Looking Up The Valley From Our Camp

Jagged Rocks

All these rocks had a high sheen to them - I think they were schist or mica.

Kazak Boy on Unruly Mule

We watched this young kid come up the valley and laughed as many times he looked like he was going to fall off - the two mules had their own ideas of where they wanted to go and did not match the boys ideas at all. He hung around our campsite with a big smile for a while, looked inside our tent to see our gear, then meandered off higher up the valley.

Kazak Family Going Visiting

We saw this family on the way up to the glacier - they must have been going visiting another family further up.

Another Yurt

These are the summer dwellings for the mountain Kazaks - in the harsh winters they pack up and take their goats & horses down to the little village.

Campsite @ 3,500 meters

Getting Dark

Looking Higher

Although it is hidden in clouds the galcier we were to walk to the next day is to the right of the center peak.

Meandering Stream

The water was very cold and sweet to drink - no pollution here - yet.

Grassy Area

This was a pretty steep peak, we could barley make out goats and a herdsman high up in the grassed areas, unfortueatly they cannot be seen in this photo.

Frozen River

Frozen Waterfall

This was beside the glacier - unfortueatly I had left my SLR camera down at the first camp as we did not want to carry too much stuff up high and my digital camera ran out of battery power after this photo.

Summertime Snow

Comming Down

On our way home - the night before we had an unexpected snow storm - great for summer time.

Paitently Waiting for a Ride Home

Kakak Kids on the Side of the Road

These kids came up to us while we were waiting for a ride home - they were quite friendly and very curious - there father in the background (legs only) was a little standoffish.

The kids were selling flowers easily the size of a large dinner plate - some kind of alpine food.

Homeward Bound

We hitched a ride back on the back of a truck - a bit of a hairy ride, but we got there safely.

Mountain View

Taken from the back of the truck.