Horses and eagles

Just like the Mongolians, the Kyrgyz nomads were born in the saddle and are talented equestrians. The plateau of Song Kul is Kyrgyzstan’s most famous summer pasturage and provides stunning scenery. At Song Kul Lake, 2,500 meters altitude, our team becomes eye witness of a traditional horse festival. 

The rules of the game designate that a young man has to catch up a girl on the horse in order to be allowed to kiss her. If he doesn’t succeed he will be chased by her with the whip. 

The incentive of getting on the horses was high enough for our team, even though Nina didn’t want to follow the initial rules of the game… But as you can see our athletes do well not only on the rock face. 

Stephan was so fascinated by the natives; he had to show off some horse riding tricks of his own.        

A further highlight for our team was the Issyk Kul Lake; Kyrgyzstan’s landmark and most popular tourist destination during the times of the Soviet Union. A must for the group: jumping into the crystal clear, slightly salty lake water. Stephan and Nina swam far out and enjoyed the freshness of the snow-capped mountains in the background. On the Eastern end of the lake lies Karakol – once a Russian military base and today mainly a starting point for trekking tours to the mountains of Tianshan. Eagles have been trained here for many centuries, to use them for the hunt of young wolves, fox and rabbits. 

The team is astonished how unerring the eagle swoops down to kill a rabbit. The master of the eagles is called “Berkutshi” and he tells us the story, how he undertakes dangerous journeys into the mountains to steal an egg out of an eagle nest and hatch it at home. 

Many new impressions have to be processed, and what better way could there be than to do that during a dinner with Kyrgyz-Italian spaghetti? At the end of the day a slackline is being tightened between a bush and the van. Not only the athletes balanced on it, but also the cook and the passing Kyrgyz people. Building bridges to other cultures is not the only way – also slacklining brings people together!

Best regards

Michi Mammut