We woke up to an amazing sight of the wide open steppes, the yurts, the horses, the mountains, the lake. Rode horses for a bit, packed, and set out before a massive storm approaching from the mountains hit us.
Hail again on the way out ... this time bigger, more intense, but shorter in duration. The way down the mountain was uneventful and spectacular.
We stopped at Balykchy next to Lake Issy-kul for lunch ... met Cholpon ... she had just returned from a one year exchange program to the US (Florida) ... her English was perfect and it was like talking to an American teenager ... strange considering where we were.
She did tell us that in Kyrgyzstan all you need to do to get married is to kidnap the girl you like ... any girl ... whether you had ever talked to her or not ... kind of cool : ) ... although the tradition is disappearing.
After some rain we decided to stay here and head to the border tomorrow. Found a hotel, a bit surreal ... empty ... doors locked ... but managed to get in. It had a nice beach ... lots of people from the town ... grabbed 2 chairs and chilled.
Tomorrow, we head to Almaty ... the half point for this stage of the trip!
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