Ala-Archa National Park

• Before setting off to work, Jennifer arranged a daytrip for the two of us to Ala-Archa National Park with Nicholai as our driver. We expected he would drive his car into the park as far as possible and that we would begin our hike from there. However, Nicholai’s command of English was only marginally better than our command of Russian (which was nil). Our only certainty was that Nicholai had to return in time to pick up the children from school.
  
  Exiting town, we traveled along wide and shady Manas Blvd:
  

  

  This is the same street the Kyrgyz President drives daily between his home and the White House.
  
  As we climbed through the suburbs, we could see snow on some of the higher, more distant peaks:
  

  

  That sight only added to our expectations of outstanding mountain scenery. Eventually out of town, we still felt the snow beckoning despite four-legged distractions:
  

  

  
  After Nicholai parked at the end the road, near a small hotel, we set out on foot as planned. The main trail was actually a road that was closed to vehicular traffic.
  

  

  It felt wonderful to be walking through such a pretty area beside a glacier-fed stream.
  

  

  

  For a mid-morning break, we selected a shady spot across this bridge, which was missing a 3 foot section of floorboards.
  

  

  “Not unlike a few Bishkek sidewalks,” I thought.
  
  Moving on, we were surprised when the trail ended abruptly, long before we were ready to quit. As best we could gather from Nicholai, it went only to a cabin for VIPs and no further. To be sure, the view from trail’s end WAS beautiful ...
  

  

  ... but the snowy peaks were still far off and only a sliver visible from our position. This is all we could see at maximum zoom on my camera:
  

  

  Had they been closer and in full view, they would have made superb photo subjects but it would have taken a great deal more effort to reach them, not to mention time. Nicholai’s frequent glances at his watch after lunch were reminder enough that he had a rendezvous to keep.
  
  So, we headed back to the car. Patty was clearly not dismayed as I spotted her doing a little waterside jig for no obvious reason:
  

  

  
  Close to the parking lot, we passed this yurt, probably for tourists seeking more traditional accommodations than the hotel:
  

  

  
  Back at the car, we decided we were just a month or two early --- since it snows in Bishkek, these mountains would soon receive their fair share: