How to stay in a Yurt in Kyrgyzstan, dogs and Shyrdak’s

Firslty this is not some luxury option complete with 5 star facilities and a swimming pool but an authentic way to see how people live and keep their livestock over the summer months.

There are several options. I chose Son Kul Lake which involved going through the town of KochKor. I used CBT for my trip Click here for details.

From here you will be assigned a driver who will take you to the lake, usually wait till your tour is over (I stayed two nights) and bring you back to the town. The drive can be treacherous over dreadful roads and high mountain passes which is why these excursions usually end by mid September.

You will be given a host family and eat all your meals with them.

I had the option to sleep in their yurt or have my own yurt next door. I chose the latter. Meals are prepared over a wood burning stove and are tasty and plentiful. The home made jam is to die for.

Song Köl stands at an altitude of just over 3000 meters in the Northern Naryn province of Kyrgyzstan. Believe me at that altitude its cold. Come prepare! The lake covers an area of 270 km² and at its deepest is 13.2 meters. Don’t bother bringing a bathing suit, the water is freezing.

If you did nothing else except stroll around the beautiful lake you will leave with a lovely feeling. However there is more on offer for a small fee. You can horse ride (I did) or go trekking in the nearby hills.

You can also join your host family and help milk the cows first thing in the morning. I gave this a miss as my hands were freezing.

A word about the important facilities. Basically there are none. The bathroom and i use the term loosely is a small hut about 50 meters away from the yurts. You would be hard put to find it in the middle of the night without a spotlight. Make your own mind up about it.

The families that call this place home come here with their animals who graze only in the summer months. For the rest of the year they live in town. When I came in September most of the children had already left and gone back to school.

The dog incident.

One episode I had and not sure how amusing it was at the time. I was strolling back to my yurt when suddenly out of no where a dog making a rather ferocious noise raced towards me, grabbed my leg, ripped my track suit bottom and left a puncture wound. I found another tourist, an English guy whose girlfriend was a doctor. His first words were “if you haven’t had a rabies shot you might not make it to the morning”. Not very reassuring. It was early evening, already dark and there was no way to get over the mountain passes in the pitch dark to take me to a hospital. By then word had got round and a large group gathered in one of the yurts to discuss my impending death. Finally everyone agreed that because of the importance of the animals and the large presence of children during the summer a health inspector had already visited the lake to ensure no such disease or any other disease was present in the livestock. The English guy provided some antiseptic and a plaster and there was nothing more to be done except hope.

As for the dog. Apparently she had just had puppies and her mothering instincts to protect her litter stepped in at exactly the moment I was passing. I left the next morning with a ripped tracksuit bottom and a slightly injured pride. No I didn’t go back to take a picture of the dog.

A last word about Shyrdak’s

These stunning felt rugs , wall coverings or cushion covers are traditionally made by Kyrgyz women It takes the wool of five sheep to make one rug. The sheared wool is washed thoroughly and once it has been dried it is dyed. A pattern is then applied and this is soaked with soap and water and rolled up tightly. This may be repeated more than once to make sure the pattern sticks. This is then repeated on the reverse side. Once everything is completely dry two layers of felt are laid on the top and the pattern is copied on to the fabric using chalk.  This is then painstakingly cut out. The symbols usually represent the surroundings like yurts or animals and are often used to adorn the interior of yurts. Shyrdaks can be purchased in Bishkek, but the best place for them is without a doubt at their source, the most popular being here in Kochkor where many of the shepherds from the nearby yurts make them. If you are heading for the CBT office either before or after your tour you will find some stores selling original shyrdaks at amazing prices.