Visiting the jailoo (summer pastures) of Song-Köl near Kochkor

 

Experiencing the life of the nomads out in the 'jailoo', the summer pasture, is the main attraction of the Kochkor area. The shepherds are actually semi-nomad who live from May to mid-September in their yurts and shacks out on the highland plains with their animals, then spend the winter in houses in villages and towns. This is the most traditional way of living you find in Kyrgyzstan, there are no real nomads anymore - the practice was stopped by the Soviet administration. But apart from not moving around all year round, in its essence, the shepards live very much like their ancestors did for hundreds of years. 

Several jailoos are located around Kochkor, they are all at high altutude and approachable over high mountain passes, and often around a lake. Song-Köl (or Song lake) is one of the popular destinations, and this is what I visited, but I stayed away from the lake shore tourist establishments. My host family only kept cows and sheep, but the neighbour had horses and that's where I finally tasted horse milk and the famous kumis. I liked the first more then the fermented variation.

It was already quite cold in the jailoo, and most people were pulling down their camps. They take the yurts by small trucks, and herd the animals all the way to the villages from horse back. On our way back to Kochkor, I saw for the first time yaks. 


















































































































































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