Cheers to 20 years, Overcome Life!!! :)

Cheers!!! :)

Just realised now that this blog has been with me for 20 years now. Wow!!! Look how far I have grown and how much memories and moments I have made! It is incredible!!! It is really like a diary, that I can open anytime, to see what kind of event I went through, what mood I experienced, what songs I listened to, what lesson I learned, and so on. 

Life has been good for the past 20 years and of course it is without hiccups in between. Many things I want to forget, many things I still want to do too. I am still grateful for everything, especially for the good health (15 years of SLE and still going strong), only that I prefer a slow life these days with handful of people who are close to my heart. 

Could not believe how many countries I have been to for the past 20 years and that was the drive of living my life to the fullest while my legs still can walk.

I know one day I will be gone from this world. But as long as I live, I will still write what I want to write, express all what I feel. Just as when as I want, have feeling and have time. 

Time to sleep now. Once again, cheers to 20 years reeverking.blogspot. Thank you for being there for me always and all the readers (if you are still there to read my non sense post or just to see beautiful photos that I share).

Wish everyone be blessed with good health and happiness. Take care and smile always :) Hope there will be more decades to go in this blog journey. Cheers.... :)))

Where to go and what to do in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

We spent a night in Karakol. Karakol is the forth largest city in Kyrgyzstan, located near the eastern part of Issyk Kul Lake. It used to be a place where the Russian military outpost founded in 18th century, and also the place where the place where large number of Dungan, the Chinese Muslim fleeing warfare in China. I will share here some of the places that you can visit or things you can do in Karakol.

Holy Trinity Cathedral (Russian Orthodox Church) - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

1. Visit the Russian wooden Orthodox church called Holy Trinity Cathedral. The building was constructed in 1894-1895, replacing the earlier church that was destructed by the earthquake. During that period, this church was initially built as a chapel for the Russian military personnel. Later on, after the 1917 revolution, it also served as a school, sport hall, theatre, and even a coal store, before it was briefly returned as a church. By 1961, again it was not used as church until the collapse of Soviet Union in 1991. 

The church is beautified with flowers and trees at its surrounding, plus the snow capped mountains view as the background. Inside it was quiet, calm and peaceful. You could grab some wooden souvenir or accessories to bring home afterward. 

Dungan Mosque - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

2. Visit Dungan Mosque - a mosque built and designed in 1904 by Dungan, the Chinese Muslim, without a single nail and looks resemble like a Buddhist temple. If you visit it in September, the place will look more like a garden with so many beautiful roses beautified the area. Fruit trees like pear, apple, and walnut would be full of fruits too!!! We were lucky that the staff plucking some of the apples and pears to be shared with us. I had them for breakfast next day and it was really wonderful!!! They were juicy, sweet and crunchy, most importantly, organic and grew with TLC (tender loving care) :D

Issyk-Kul Brand Shop - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

3. Shop local products at the Issyk-Kul Brand Shop - a store that sells natural, high quality handmade products made by local community, such as: honey (Kyrgyzstan is famous for its pure white honey and varieties of honey from Kyrgyz mountains), wool products (bookmarks, wallet, hat, shawl, doll, slippers, bags, etc.), various local fruit juices and jams made of sea buckthorn, barberry, raspberry, walnut, etc., soaps, lip balm, hand cream, paintings, various handcrafts, etc. You can try some of the products before deciding to purchase or not. The store commits to support the local communities with OVOP - One Village One Product concept - to produce, sell, and earn from their products sustainably. You can find more information about the shop here. 

Dinner at Dungan Family House - Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

4. Have dinner at Dungan family house, tasting the dishes that Chinese Muslim would eat on their daily life. We were given a private room where 7 of us could peacefully enjoy our meal. They served 9 different types of dishes plus laghman (handmade pulled noodle - similar with Chinese lamian) as the base to eat the dishes with. The owner's son served us the food personally, explained their cultures and traditions, also origins with us. He could speak a little Chinese too as he went to learn Chinese in China himself, so that he could communicate better with his guests (many Chinese or Chinese Asians guests came and dined at his house). It was a great experience and for us, we could finally have something Chinese in our food after almost a week of mostly Central Asia food on our menus. Hahaha... Something spicy and delicious :D

5. Visit Karakol local bazaar. Unfortunately it had closed by the time we reached Karakol and we did not have time to visit the next day as we still have many places to go. But if you have more days to visit, it will be a great experience to see how it looks like and what types of things they sell over there.

We continued our journey to Bokonbayevo village and on our way, we passed by many places, which I will cover next. Stay tune :)

Kyrgyzstan - Land of Kyrgyz

Statue of Manas and Kyrgyzstan flag in Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan

Bordering with Kazakhstan, China, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country blessed with Tian Shan and Pamir mountain ranges. Bishkek is the capital and also the largest city in Kyrgyzstan. 

Issyk Kul Lake, Tian Shan mountain range and Kyrgyz flag reflections :)

It is also part of the Silk Road with Issyk Kul Lake as one of the stopover (a land route for traders, merchants, and other travelers from the far east to Europe) and was inhabited by succession tribes and clans, such as Turkic nomads, Mongol empire, Manchu-led Qing Dynasty of China, Dzungar Khanate, Russian empire, Soviet Union (USSR), and finally independent in August 31, 1991.

Beautiful nature of Kyrgyzstan :)

The word 'Kyrgyz' - in Turkic word means 'we are forty', which refers to the 40 clans of Manas, a legendary hero who united the forty regional clans into a single country back in 9th century. 

Ethnic Kyrgyz is the majority of its over 7 million population, followed by minorities of Russian, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Germans, Tatars, Kazakhs, Dungans (Hui; Chinese Muslims), Uighurs, and Tajiks. Languages spoken are Kyrgyz, Russian, Tajik, Uzbek, and Uyghur. 

Beautiful Dungan Mosque in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz people used to raise livestock and engaged in farming. But since late 20th century, the country had become a source of nonferrous metals. There has also an increase in gold mining activities, plus they are rich in coal and some petroleum and natural gas. 

Herding in Kyrgyzstan

Pasture in Kyrgyzstan

It is said now 50% of Kyrgyz population that lives in rural areas - primarily farmers - are growing rice and vegetables in the area (doing agriculture), and also raising dairy cattle to reduce poverty, improve their income inequality, increase food security, and also to generate employment

On our way after crossing Kazakh and Kyrgyz border :)

On our way after crossing Kazakh - Kyrgyz border, we passed by many nomadic herder going back home after grazing wild vegetation in the area. Usually riding horse and accompanied by dog, at least two persons managed their hundreds of cattle, sheep, and horse. It was such a beautiful scenery, at least for me, who lives most of my life in city. And I still miss to watch them walking on the road in front of us :)

Lush pines, greeneries, horses, living in harmony - Kyrgyzstan

The country landscape is amazingly beautiful!!! Mountain ranges, lakes, valleys, rivers, deserts and plains offer beautiful natures wherever you go. Their famous tourist destinations include Karkara Gorge, Djetty Oguz Gorge (7 red stones formation "Broken Heart" and "Seven Bulls"), Barskoon Gorge with its cascading waterfalls, Skazka Canyon also known as "Fairy Tale" consisting of limestone clusters, bulging sandstone from the colorful soil, and so on. 

Will cover them more on my next blog post. Keep on reading and following my blog :)

Beauty of Kazakhstan - Kolsay Lake

Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan

This was the last nature we visited in Kazakhstan before we moved to the Kazakh - Kyrgyz border in Kegen town. Kolsay Lakes National Park is located on the north slope of the Tian Shan Mountains, southeast Kazakhstan, also known as "Pearls of Tian Shan". 

Signboards at the entrance - Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan

Beautiful Kolsay Lake in Kazakhstan

There was road to access to this area. From Saty Village, where we stayed the night before, it took us around 45 minutes ride to this place. 

Flowers found around the Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan

Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan

With snow capped mountain at the background, the lake was surrounded by lush pines and other mountain floras. I could not take my eyes from its beauty :)

Perfect weather to visit the Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan

Visiting this place in September was a great choice, especially when the sun was out, complimenting well the cold weather.

Me with the beautiful background and clear water at the Kolsay Lake, Kazakhstan

We visited the lower Kolsay Lake, a natural mountain reservoir, which was formed by landslides that blocked the Kolsay River. The trees at the surrounding were so beautiful. The water color was clear, consisting mixtures of greenish and bluish. There was a hiking trail too starting from there, but we did not cover that. We were just walking around and enjoying the beautiful view. 

Hope you enjoy the photos and the scenery too from your mobile, laptop or desktop screen, wherever you are around the world :)

Beauty of Kazakhstan - Lake Kaindy

Beautiful nature of Kazakhstan

Here is another beauty of Kazakhstan that I wanted to share - Lake Kaindy - which means 'birch tree lake', located in south Kazakhstan, within the Kolsay Lakes National Park.  It took us 1 hour plus from Charyn Canyon to Saty Village. We could see the beautiful snow-capped mountains on our way there. Also village life with cows, horses, yurts, and so on.

Beautiful Village Life in Kazakhstan

"The lake was formed as the result of a major limestone landslide triggered by the 1911 Kebin earthquake forming a natural dam. It blocked the gorge and was filled by mountain river water. Lake Kaindy is about 400 meters long, reaching depths of nearly 30 meters at its deepest point. Altered by limestone deposits, the water maintains a bluish-green color." (Source: wikipedia.org)

Beautiful Kazakhstan - Saty Village

We managed to reach the place before it turned dark. It was not a very easy journey. From there, we had to take another ride of a very old Russian jeep, and go through a severe bumpy road, and sometimes a deep water puddle. Our kind and caring driver was very skillful in both the driving and direction, even when the sky had turned dark. He kept us safe all through our journey.

Our caring driver focus on the road ahead - Journey to Lake Kaindy from Saty Village

My friend and I were sitting at the back of the vehicle. Little did I know that sitting at the back gave us the most bumpy situation compared with those who sat in front and in the middle. Our butts and heads were often bumping with the car seats and ceilings, but still, we had great fun. We had the fun that those sat in front and middle would never experience. Hahahahaha..... Even our guide told us that children loved most sitting at the back. And instead of complaining, they wanted more and did not wish the car to end the journey. But perhaps, I was a bit too old for that kind of fun :P

Changed to another jeep to Lake Kaindy 

Again, we stopped at one place. Here, we were given the choice to ride horse with additional cost or take the jeep. We were quite running out of time, so we were sticking our choice with taking a jeep. The driver, seemed to be Kazakh's army, was kind enough to drive us all the way until the nearest entry to the Lake, which otherwise he would stop us somewhere further and we had to walk on our own. And this time, I chose to sit in front seat. 

Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan

"This lake had recently become a popular international tourist destination as someone posted it on TikTok and made it famous," as said by our guide.

Simply beautiful!!! Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan

The Lake Kaindy was simply beautiful and I was mesmerized by it fully!!! The water was clear. The color was green bluish, plus the reflections were really beautiful!!! The mirror effects reflected the trees (some with yellowish leaves) that existed surrounding it.

Seized the memories - Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan 

We spent our time there clicking our camera here and there, capturing beautiful moments and scenery.

Peace and serene - Lake Kaindy, Kazakhstan

What an experience. We finished when the sky had turned dark and the driver drove us back to where we began. It was such a lovely place!!! It was worth the bluish butt and the bumped head.... :D