On To Mongolia

I have been plowing through these posts without a whole lot of effort. That is all on me because I have not been keeping up. Suddenly a few posts became a few weeks and now it is a few countries. So I am going to jump ahead a bit and wrap up my time in Kyrgyzstan as best as I can.

While in Karakol I did another day trip with my partners to the hot springs a short trip from town. They were fun and well needed. Kaori ended up going back three days in a row. We also went to the Sunday animal market where the farmers in the area bring their livestock to sell. It was bizarre but interesting enough for a couple of hours.

I really enjoyed this country and there was so much to explore, especially along the southern part of the lake. Making plans because to difficult and Robert, well he just was going along with anything. In the end I had to tell them both that I was going back to Bishkek as I had booked a flight to Mongolia. It was time to move on. I think that bit of new shocked them both a bit. They are seasoned travelers and would be just fine, but I think the comfort of traveling in a group became, well comfortable. Not for this cowboy, I needed to move on. Sure, I missed a bit of Kyrgyzstan but that can easily be remedied with a future trip. My like Tajikistan, there is so much to both countries to be discovered. I had my mind made up and it was time to jump on a flight and get to one of my dream destinations, Mongolia.

This required another bumpy ride back to Bishkek, where I would stay for a few nights and wind down. The a bus ride across the border to Almaty Kazakhstan. I would stay there for one night and catch my flight to Ulan Bator. Almaty has become a bit of a hub for international flights in and around Central Asia. It is well worth the effort and savings to get there.

In the end, Kaori and Robert were excellent people to travel with. Their idiosyncrasies of  everything being "expensive" did wear on me at times but in the end meh. Without them I do not get to the 7 Lakes in Tajikistan or experience Karakol as I did. It was just time to say good-bye and get back solo traveling. Karakol, to Bishkek, to Almaty to Ulan Bator would do the trick.

This post is titled "On To Mongolia" but I have been in South Korea for two weeks now. That is how far behind I am in writing, something I really enjoy doing. Mongolia was immense, immersive and incredibile in every sense of the word. I was there for three weeks, so I better get on it.