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TV Fame at the Nomad Game(s)
Hello all, us again! We finally left our little haven on the south shore of Lake Issyk-Kol and are now on the more touristy north side. On the way we stopped for a night at a yurt camp in Karakol, one of the main towns on the lake. Here we were thoroughly touristy – we had a much anticipated beef-burger (first in over 2 months), ice creams and a trip to the local, rather sad zoo. We then went out in the evening for a slap-up meal of zharovni (sizzling beef dishes) and a few beers to celebrate our anniversary, somewhat late! The yurt camp was very cute and full of other travellers, it had a small bar where about 5 very wee kittens slept on top of a fridge. Caroline was happy! Then it was on to Cholpon-Ata for the World Nomad Games.
We found the arena and then set off for a nearby place to camp, planning on returning in the morning. Seeing some vehicles parked on a beach, we followed a track towards them, but it suddenly became too soft – evidently it wasn’t the track they’d taken. Deciding to reverse back the way we came, one set of rear wheels hit a rock, so the opposite side started spinning and digging in – we were stuck! As we were getting the sand ladders and commandos shovel out, two guys turned up to help tow us out. After half-hour or so of shovelling, digging with our hands and repositioning the ladders, we were free! The locals wouldn’t accept any gifts, but politely advised us where the real track was! However, not wanting to push our luck further, we decided to get back on terra-firma and spent the night in a lay-by. Not ideal, but at least we could sleep soundly, knowing we wouldn’t start sinking over night!
Up early the next morning we found a guesthouse who agreed we could park on their forecourt allowing us to come and go as we pleased, knowing Mario would be safe. The strange lady owner, complete with gold teeth, initially wanted 1000 som per night (£12.50), but we agreed on a more reasonable 300 som! It would appear the hospitality industry was a new adventure for her and she had much to learn. Sometimes she just ignored us, other times she was overly intrusive. Other guests were clearly unhappy with her and her constant attempts to increase her rates, or charge them for showers - we were glad to just be sleeping in Mario, out of her way.
So on to the “First World Nomad Games”. This was mainly held at the Hippodrome, just outside Cholpon-Ata – a dusty scrubland with a grandstand on one side, but which over-looked the lake and mountains in the distance. The main event was “Kok-Boru”, which everyone told us was the Kyrgyz national sport – “This is our football”. They were certainly passionate about it, although also very sporting to the other teams, there was no booing and all goals got a good cheer. The game is played with four players on horseback on each team, with another 8 on the bench with rolling substitutes. The “ball” is a headless goat carcass, that has had its front legs chopped off at the elbow and the aim is to get this into a concrete bowl shaped goal. The players start by rushing forward to try to be the first to reach down to the ground and pick up the goat – a sort of “billy-off” if you like! The players then tuck it under their leg, or carry it on their lap towards the goal, while the opposing players try to get the goat off them, often by ramming into them with their horse. It was a brutal spectacle, but the strength of the players and their horsemanship was amazing. Kyrgyzstan won all the games we saw.
Other sports we watched were Kurosh (wrestling), Ordo (marbles with sheep’s vertebrae and knuckles), At Chabysh (flat horse racing), something akin to abduction where a bloke chases a girl, both on horseback, to make her his wife and Er Enish, horseback wrestling, where the horses get as involved as the players, both in giving and receiving punishment. There were also demonstrations of other traditional sports such as archery at speed on horseback and a type of British Bulldogs with spears, which, yes you guessed it, was also on horseback.
Over the road from the hippodrome was a large food bazaar where we tried lots of ethnic dishes. Our favourite was shaslyk kebabs which were served to us in a colourful yurt, where we sat on the floor with the locals, eating with our hands and having our photos taken by the other diners. It’s quite amusing how the locals are as interested in us and we are in them.
We spent 3 days at the arena and another day at the “Rukh-Ordo” in town where there was more entertainment laid on, mainly based on ethnic music (including some crazy robotic-style dancing by old blokes), crafts and of course more sports. One evening there was a fashion show where we were amused to see that one of the outfits was covered in Union Jacks. We’ve seen loads of them on clothing over here, but wonder if the wearers know what it is. We wouldn’t have been able to identify the Kyrgyz flag until we got here!
Last night we went to a circus, but only after seeing that the animals were well cared for, by chatting to one of the performers who showed us the stables. The show was amazing, mostly human acrobats, contortionists, blatant Disney character rip-offs for the kids and only the last 10 minutes of the 2 hour show involved the horses, with the riders doing all-sorts of acrobatics in the saddle. We had a great time, and all for £1.80 each!
All in all it has been a great week and we’ve seen some sights. Many people have been very proud that we chose to attend “their games” and made us very welcome. We were interviewed for TV three times (twice in one day!) and they all wanted to know what we thought of their country and the games. Obviously, we were very polite and said all the right things. Although we were tempted to say they need to sort out their corrupt police and learn how to use a portaloo for goodness sake! FYI most of the toilets here are “squats” - holes in the ground - so faced with a portaloo (such as those at the games), the locals still stand either side of the “hole”, balancing on the flimsy box around the seat. This affects their aim, resulting in a seat covered in “mess”. We know this as they also do not appear to be able to use a door lock – we have seen things we really want to un-see.
Today we went to the local yacht club and were invited aboard the owner’s craft. Sounds very posh, but the reality was we were after some new leisure batteries and thought that would be a good place to go. Apparently not, we’d have to get them in Bishkek, which is in the wrong direction. The reason we were on the owner’s yacht was that he offered us some of his old ones. After watching him haul them up from the hull, Bry’s multimeter showed they were in as bad a state as our own, so we politely made our excuses and left. We will try to find some in China, although with the miles we’ll be doing everyday there, they won’t have a chance to go flat!
Talking of China, we have heard that we have our Tibet Permits (yay!). Unfortunately, our route has been changed (boo!). Apparently there’s a big Buddhist festival on resulting in the authorities stopping foreign visitors to one area we were due to pass through. The lack of roads in Tibet means a diversion of about an extra 1000KMS, which will also take us through the Taklamakan Desert. We should still see everything we had originally planned, and more, so it’s good really, just extra driving we hadn’t planned on!
We are now staying at a guesthouse in Tamchy for 3 nights, again just parked up, sleeping in Mario, but this time we’ve got him plugged into the mains to save and charge the batteries. Then we’ll be heading to Naryn and then onto the Chinese border. There is a chance we may not have internet access after Naryn, and we have been told the access in China is extremely slow – so we may have problems providing updates. We will see and let you know when we can. Whatever happens, Caroline will continue to keep her trusty handwritten journals – several pages every night! Volume One has already been completed and the wonders of DHL mean it’s safely back in Cheltenham. Thank you to everyone who gave a journal as a leaving present (and there were many of you!) Caroline is loving filling them up and we look forward to reading them back for many years to come.
Speaking of many years, it was 12 years ago today that we met - which means we must say Happy Wedding Anniversary to Karen and Nick! Some things never change - Caroline is still attracting the attention of the local drunk. We have lost count of the number of times Mr Slury has come to say hello to her, normally quickly followed by a very apologetic and polite daughter - Dads really seem to “enjoy” their family days out here! Luckily though, Caroline’s happy with the Original Mr Slury!
TTFN
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