Tien-Shan

...or the Celestial Mountains (in Chinese) offer a bit of cool air in sun-scorched Central Asia.

Most of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous, so, apart from Bishkek and Kyrgyz part of the Fergana valley, the summer temperatures are surprisingly bearable.

Scenery of the 4000m range just south of Issyk lake features stunning red rocks, most prominent of which is the Broken Heart. Unsuprisingly, the nice view and easy access has prompted the locals to open a small chaihana just next to it. Cafe of broken dreams heart, they call it. Fallout anyone?

A kilometer or so up the valley from the Broken Heart is the once-famous Jeti-Oghuz sanitarium sanatorium. Just as most of the country, it's lacking basic caretaking and, as a result, it is largely decayed. Few remaining statues in the surrounding park contribute to the eerie atmosphere, blocked hallways make it seem almost scary. Best of all, there are tubs which haven't seen any cleaning substance in quite a while - and yet, for 40 som, you can still have a hot, 'curative' bath. The red sign says 'no trespassing', the white one - 'shower 15 som'. Once a place visited by various Soiuz officials, Yuri Gagarin, and even Boris Yeltsin himself, now it has an atmosphere which makes the term 'post-apocalyptic' seem nice and cozy. Fallout anyone?

Kyrgyzstan - Jeti Oguz

Even further up the valley you can finally meet some tourists. Mostly Russian, with tents, stoves and all the necessary equipment, they spend quite some time up here drinking - get this - not vodka, but 'nuclear milk'. 'Gives us energy' - they say. It sure does.

We walk by a small yurt camp, complete with not-so-small hotel, and, confident in my map reading skills, continue towards a 2800m pass leading to the next valley.

The next valley is inhabited by few families living in old buses and trailers, 20km from anything. That's all there's left of a 3000-cow kolhoz - at least that's what a local claims. Few remaining poles prove that there was electricity here once - until the wires have been stolen.

The transportation here is non-existent (as is everything else), but we manage to catch the single passing car just before the storm. Guess how many people you can fit into a moskvich.

On the way west we visit some Kyrgyz cemeteries. They all look completely forgotten, as if people didn't want to think about the ones they have buried. The graves themselves however are very imaginative: some look like yurts, others like miniature mausoleums - but almost all, in addition to muslim symbols, bear some communist stars. Sort of sums up the whole country...