Horse Riding in Son Kol Lake, Kyrgyzstan

Yurt camping by Son Kol Lake.
Horse riding is something I love, but it makes me nervous. When your childhood horse throws you from its back so violently that you break your arm as you hit a nearby gumtree, you’re going to have leftover emotional scarring. Every time I get on a horse now, I feel a pang of anxiety. Throw in a terrifying fear of heights (we were riding across mountainous terrain) and you’re going to have more than a case of bad nerves.
I eyed the buckskin gelding I’d chosen. He gazed back at me, a look of indifference in his face. He was to spend two days carrying me up and down mountains, along tiny paths for hours at a time. I couldn’t help but feel that I had the better end of the deal.
Once I swung up onto the back of my buckskin friend, all my anxiety disappeared. I could do this. I’d been doing it since I was 11. But I would keep my helmet on the entire time. You know. Just in case.

Safety is sexy… right? (Photo credit Stephen Lioy)
The first was because I was far too out of shape to do a hike. Walking up the escalators of London Underground stations was enough to wear me out, these days.
A horse trek seemed like a nice way to enjoy Kyrgyzstan’s scenery, without taxing physical effort on my part.
The second was because I do really genuinely love horses, even though riding scares the bejeebers out of me. We should push ourselves to do the things that scare us, correct? Or is that an insane notion? I’m never quite sure.
We were in for some heavy duty horse-related action, that was certain. We’d be riding for at least five hours a day, stopping for breaks every now and then. Our first night would be spent at a remote yurt camp, tucked in between the mountains.

Tortoise the horse.
I’d wanted to name my beautiful buckskin horse and soon christened him Tortoise. He was slow (or just possibly lazy, he had a bit of an attitude to him, which I rather liked) but surefooted, picking his way carefully around the mountains.
We’d ride up incredible heights and as the rules of physics go, would then have to make our way down again. I spent half the trip gazing around, marvelling at the sights and the other trying desperately to look straight ahead – not down, off the side of a very steep mountain.
After several hours, we stopped at our first camp of the night. A secluded trio of yurts, sitting in the middle of nowhere. The Kyrgyz are still largely nomadic and spend the summer months camping in remote areas, fattening their animals up for the winter season. And it would seem, opening up their homes to whichever foreigners happened to pass by.

The first yurt camp we stayed at overnight.

Some of the snacks that awaited us, inside the yurt.

Sunset, over the mountains.

The most scenic dunny (toilet) I have ever had the pleasure of using.

The horses unwind and recharge.
I grit my teeth and pushed on, willing myself to look down every so often to take in the views. What a sight they were.

Now I can say I’m glad I did look down, as I would have been sad to miss out on this.

Stopping to take in the view.

The horses didn’t care – they’d seen it all before.

One of the dogs that followed us for two hours to Son Kol Lake.

The ride to Son Kol was just a little bit pretty.

Beautiful Son Kol Lake.
While it’s possible to travel to other regions of Kyrgyzstan at anytime even in the colder months of the year, September was perfect for riding to Son Kol. The days weren’t too hot, the nights not too cold. There’s a reason this month is my favourite to travel, a fact I was reminded of constantly during the two day trip.

Son Kol sort of reminded me of a caravan park, but with yurts.

Our home for the night.
We went exploring for awhile – checking out the lake, taking photos and befriending the local animals. There were dogs everywhere here (including the cutest little puppy, that I really wanted to take home with me), as well as chickens, cows, horses, turkeys and even a trio of donkeys. They were fearless creatures, coming right up to us to say hello and hoping to receive a head scratch in return. We obliged, happily.

Chilling with the world’s sweetest baby donkey.

Expect to see the most dramatic sunsets just about anywhere in the Kyrgyz countryside.
Like the post? Watch the video!
_______
Our trip was organised in cooperation with Discover Kyrgyzstan and made possible by USAID. All opinions are my own.
Pin for future reference!