Long drives and 2 walks

The night was cold night in our cabin - I had to get up and put on a jumper. The wind was biting as we headed out to the dining hall. fir porridge, bread and jam and black or green tea.

Our minibus headed down to the tar road and soon stopped for fuel, where we were able to indulge in drinkable coffee. We drove down a steep pass with lorries grinding up and going very slowly down.. We were were quite close to snowy peaks at the top of the pass which can be closed with avalanches in winter. We stopped to take pix of another statue of Manas on his horse, where some Kyrghiz were parked - they were keen to get pix with us, very jolly. We then following the course of the Chichkan River and we reached the the junction with its tributary the It-Agar River.

We set off up a dirt track at 11.10 to walk to a small lake. The mountains surrounding us were impressive. It was about 4km to the pretty lochan Saz Kul. We continued up, crossing a little burn by 2 logs - I needed my stick - till we reached a pretty picnic spot by the river, then made our way back.

After short drive down the Gorge we stopped to see a plaque on a rock to commemorate Stalin - surprisingly, to us, it was only 4 years old. Olga says they like a strong leader and she denied his purges, saying there were some people who were criminals and were put in prison, and those who were killed were trying to destroy the system. She likes Putin but not Gorbachev as he "destroyed the economy and people hadn't enough to eat."

Olga took us for another second walk up to a small waterfall, about 45 mins up and 20 down. It was a dirt track at first then a path through high bushes and plants with burrs which got stuck to our clothes. It was very hot hot, and there were some steep soily bits, but after driving we enjoyed getting a leg- stretch. However only a few of us elected to walk- the others preferred to sit in the sun.

Continued the drive downhill, stopped for water and drove along by a huge reservoir in one direction till we were able to cross a bridge at the end. Headed on the south bank in westerly direction. Beautiful folds of hills and views. Past an overturned lorry - Olga says a very dangerous road with many bends and fast traffic. Reached our hotel on the reservoir at 6.15, and enjoyed time to relax.