Kyzyl Oi is Kyrgyz and means
Red Valley. If you look around you understand where the name comes from. The clay hills around show this typical reddish color.
Kyzyl Oi is the name of a small village in the valley of the Kokomeren river on the connection road from Suusamyr to Kochkor. It is a very remote place. A mobile phone is silent here (at least as of 2005). Here, in this small village a host family belonging to the CBT organization provides our night's lodging. The next morning we plan to have a ride to the mountains.
We started our small excursion which should led us to discover a waterfall up in the hills on the other side of the Kokomeren river.
The horses were already waiting for us when we finished the breakfast offered by our hosts. Here in Kyrgyzstan, horses are small but strong. Seeing me sitting on a horse you may think that they cannot bear my weight. Believe me; they can.
After we had left the village behind we crossed the Kokomeren river on a small bridge. The bridge was shakily and narrow. We couldn't get across on horse back. Instead, we had to guide our horses walking by foot. Then, on the banks of the river, we followed the sheperd's pathes for one kilometer. Where a creek came down the hills we turned right and followed its streambed which guided us up to the mountains.
The pathes led us through a barren landscape at about 2000 m. Here, on the mountains in this area weren't many trees; just grass and stones. I was very happy that my horse knew how to move here on these narrow mule tracks. Even it was already end of November we had luck regarding the snow. Around us a fascinating landscape with wonderfuls views.
Finally, we arrived at the falls. The pathes became small and steep; so we left the horses behind, took a break enjoying the wonderful views over the valley and the mountains and our lunch packages. We had bread, sausages, cheese and juice (No, we hadn't any vodka).
I walked down to the landing of the waterfall, however, the icy water already started to freeze. It built fanciful sculptures and shapes. You can see the beard of a mountain troll?
By the end of the day we returned back home, riding downhill with a great panorama and the pictures of these mountains deeply engraved into my memories. This was my first trip to the Kyrgyz mountains; many more should follow...
As we arrived at the village, the day began to cease; back home in the house of our hosts our dinner was already waiting (Yes, we had vodka).
Thanks to Talant who made this possible.
...also, have a look at the photo gallery...
