Even though we like Tashkent so far, it is still a big city, and with big cities there are big headaches: noise, trash, pollution, traffic, harried life. If you squint on a good day against the haze, you can see the western end of the Chaktal Range of the Tian Shan Mountains from the city, and we were aching to go hike them. Getting there wasn't easy though - because there are no hiking guides and no maps (that I have found). Roads are often blocked off for secret military reasons, so you are forced to detour. Forget about consistent GPS and cell phone coverage. Then, if you get to where you want to go, trailheads are not marked and the word "trail" itself is relative, leaving hikers to make it up as they go.
We hired a local guide who kinda knew where to go. She shared some interesting details about the dynamic landscape and boasted about meeting Paul McCartney once. Unfortunately, she also had a lot to say about politics and current events, nothing of which I cared to discuss on my family hiking trip. And her singing was terrible. There had to be a silver lining somewhere. By not having a proper trail - I could socially distance as much as I wanted.
At this time of year, the mountain's plants are brown and brittle but the spines were as sharp as ever. Only the juniper trees were green and thriving. They made excellent hand holds when we were sliding down or scrambling up. We ate tiny fruit off a tree, which looked like yellow cherries with a pit and tasted like apple-mango. We watched eagles, sparrows, and vultures glide overhead against a panoramic view of snow dusted mountains that spread into Kazakhstan. My children summited the extinct volcano like champs, and the charm of the vastness was enough to put me in a cautiously good mood for the rest of the day.
donkey: осел (pronounced osel)
Vendors on the R12 highway at dusk.
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