Burana tower

We left at 8.30'am and got to our hotel in Karakol at 9pm. First we visited Burano Tower, all that's left of the ancient city of Balasagun. On the way we technically passed through Kazakhstan - only because the river is the border and we crossed it briefly for about 100 yards before crossing back again! The tower dating from 11th century is thought to be the oldest minaret in a Central Asia. All that remains is the bottom 45 m, which we were able to climb, part of the way on steps outside then it was steep, narrow and dark with 54 high steps inside.. I made it to the top and we got a good view of the mountains on either side. There were some carved stones we looked at nearby, then we headed off in the bus till lunchtime when we stopped for soup, before continuing to Issyk Kul Lake. We had the shore in the distance on one side, and mountains on the other as we drove east.

The drive was 240 miles, some on good roads, others where the road was under construction, and others pretty rough, till we got to the petroglyphs in Cholpon-Ata, the stones varying in size from 30cm to 3 metres. Ancient drawings of hunters, ibex, goats and reindeer dated from the Scythian period from 5th century BC. We had views of the distant lake, 60 km wide and very long. It is called the warm lake by locals, not because it is actually warm, but because it does not freeze in winter. Today was hot in the day, but cooled off quickly once the sun set.

After dark we arrived in Karakol, which was a Soviet military outpost, and gateway to the Tien Shan mountains. We enjoyed the hospitality of a Uygur family, Muslims of Chinese origin. Ulia showed us how to make noodles, in her garage, then we took off our shoes and sat down to a meal cooked by her. Lovely bread, salads, a kind of roasted curried cauliflower, followed by Lanman, a thick noodle broth with veg. Next was meat or potato pies in very flaky pastry, washed down with green tea. We finished off with very sweet cake. Our hostess started providing this food for visitors after her husband died young - of a heart attack.