Ala Archa National Park

As soon as my backpack arrived and I handed over my luggage ticket--good thing I was there!--we hired a car to Ala Archa National Park just 45 minutes drive south of Bishkek. In the 3 hours we had before our driver took off, we poked around old summer camp ruins and got up some unbelievably sketchy and steep riverside trails looking for a climber's cemetery. Also this bridge, sans boards:

This place was a hotspot of alpinism  back on the Soviet days, and continues to be a destination for climbers around the world. I'll come back next time with a guide and my gear. 

Up another trail, we met a friendly Kyrgyz trio followed by a large, aging Japanese group valiantly sweating up the steep trail. Both were delighted to exchange a few words in Russian/Kyrgyz and Japanese, respectively. 

On the way back we had our first taste of kymys--fermented mare's milk--in a yurt. Smokey and sour, but definitely palatable. Adam liked it a lot more. 

Met up with our driver, who stopped so we could get super touristy with a hunting eagle photo opportunity.

Despite not meeting any of our hiking goals, our trip to Ala Archa had a couple good cultural/touristy moments.