30th September 2002.
For an hour and a half the truck crawls up a rough track alongside a fast flowing river up the Altyn-Arashan valley. The sides are steep and interspersed with conifers and pasture. At last we drive over a crest and the valley suddenly broadens out. The river sparkles as it flows through rough pasture, there are horses grazing and in the distance a yurt and chalet-style huts. A truck similar to ours, not quite as old, is parked outside the two chalets which are our destination too. One is the home all the year round for the owners, a Russian couple, who rent the other to tourists.
The other vehicle had only arrived earlier the same morning. It brought a group who had come on from Uzbekistan and stopped to soak in the natural hot springs here. They left almost immediately to continue what seemed rather a punishing schedule.
We had rested for three days in Karakol so were ready for a serious walk. Eventually we decide to walk up the mountain on the west side of the valley. A shepherd is hired to guide us and we set off with Kanat carrying a picnic. The valley floor is 2,600 metres and then it is a relentlessly steep climb. Except for the shepherd we all find it tough going. It takes us 2 1/2 hours to reach the summit. Our guide scans the mountainside opposite with a pair of ancient binoculars hoping to spot wild sheep. Marco Polo sheep live in the Tian Shan mountains but are now considered an endangered species. We don’t see any.
(On a trip to the south Sahara the year before, PJ spotted a mouflon – a similarly rare species of wild sheep.)
We get back to base by 4.30 to restore our strength with borscht made by Tania and a soak in the hot sulphur baths. In the evening three foresters arrive with a fir tree. We had given them a lift up the valley in the morning. They are sawing the trunk into sections using a push-me-pull-you saw. By now it is intensely cold and PJ and Alex welcome an offer to do some work. They are rather effective and make sufficient progress for Alex to drive a wedge in to stop the saw jamming.
Sixteen years on, the road up the valley hasn’t improved.