Stage 116: From Korumdu to Karakol

The next morning the weather was better again and the last stage at Lake Issyk-Kul was due. These were still almost 120 kilometers and the navigation was switched off to save the battery. But anyway, there was only one road and it always went along the lake. The trip was as unspectacular as it sounded, but that was fine with me. A little before Karakol, a man and his son approached me. They were very curious, but my Russian was only enough for a short, halting conversation.

In Karakol, I had originally planned for a rest day, but it turned into three. This was partly due to Jalil and his family, who welcomed me incredibly warmly and integrated me immediately; it definitely wasn't a hostel in the classical sense, I was used, among other things, to entertain his three children. Furthermore, I could use the break well and even had a room for myself. As if that weren't reason enough, Jalil also had his birthday on the second day. Because he had told me that he had lived in Barcelona for a few years, I found the perfect gift in the city's largest supermarket: a Spanish red wine! He was very happy about it, and I had to drink some homemade schnapps with his brothers and answer all sorts of questions about myself. I needed the third rest day to calm down my stomach again. Did I eat something wrong, or was it the schnapps after all?

If you don't have the luck to stay with a Kyrgyz family, everything worth seeing in Karakol can be done in one day. A highlight is the Trinity Church, which was largely put together from wood. There is also the Dungan Mosque to visit, which looks much more like a Chinese pagoda, an unusual mix!

In Karakol, I was also able to exchange some Kazakh tenge at a currency exchange office. The exchange rate was even better than the official one, which confused me a bit, but it probably wasn't counterfeit money! After four relaxing days with a warm family, I was finally ready for Kazakhstan.