2020-05-01_Lonely_Planet_Traveller

You concentrate so much on not crashing that you
miss a lot of scenery.
At such a slow pace, changes in the landscape
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It gets greener and wetter the further north you go,
with more forest and boggier ground. In Tajikistan,
the harsh, 7,000-metre-high mountains make plate
tectonics obvious. In Kyrgyzstan, the sandy folds of
2&#!,7-,1--)')#50',)7,%#010#!&',%-32
to grab you. All the landscapes are so vast and often
3,',2#003.2#"#6!#.2$-02&#2',7%30#-$7-30
friend riding out in front. It leaves you awed –
especially at night when the skies were the clearest
I’ve ever seen. In Tajikistan, we saw the Milky Way
framed by the outlines of the Pamir range. In
Mongolia, we watched a herd of horses silhouetted
againsttherisingmoon.
Becausetheseareasweresodeserted,whenwe
didcomeacrosssomeone,we’dalwayswantto
approachthem.Andtheywerecuriousaboutustoo.
There’sa strongtraditionofhostingtravellershere.
Peopleinsistedyoustaythenight,whichwasalways
welcomeafterlivingoutofa tentfora week.Even
whenwethoughtwewerealone,sometimes
someonewouldturnup,outofnowhere,ona horse.
InMongolia,once,wewereholedupinsideourtent
duringa duststormwhenwehearda voicecalling
outside.Thenextthingweknew,wewerebeingasked
toa nearbyhousefordinnerandshelter.Another
time,atLakeKhövsgöl,westumbledupon– andwere
invitedtojoinin– a shamanicritual,ledbya woman
withanowlheadpiececoveringherface.Luckily
someoneinthegroupspokeEnglishandcould
explainwhatwasgoingon.Butmostofthetimewhen
wemetpeoplewehadtousea mixtureofGoogle
translate,handgesturingandsmiles.
#-.#-$2#,#6.#!2#" 31 2&# %3#1212- # 2 012
I feltsostrangeandwouldencouragethemtoeatat
thesametimeasus.Everywherewewentthere

Naryn Basin,

Kyrgyzstan.

Below le: Riders

in the Naryn Basin

Nicole Heker tends the

campfire in the Issyk-Kul

region, Kyrgyzstan,

and (below) meditates

next morning