Some locals had tried to discourage us to go to Son Kul. They told us the place was not worth it, that there was only "sand and sun". They all prefer Sary Chelek. We certainly have very different taste than them.

Those 4 days of horse riding around the lake were definitely one of the main highlights of the trip. Green smooth mountains around this still 3000m high lake, colorful flowers, snowy peaks, horses running freely between yaks, cows and sheeps, a few yurts for nomadic families... No network. No electricity. Total disconnection. The weather was sometimes harsh, with snow and strong wind troubling the stillness of the place.

We were riding 3-4 hours per day, for a distance of approximately 20km. My horse, Thor, was very active, always wanted to be the first of the group. Manloi's, Typhoon, was much more lazy, and started to move well since the moment our guide gave the wipe to Manloi. We did not have problem to control them, and did not suffer physically from this new activity. Amazing sensations to gallop through the steppes, making our own path.

Kyrgyz horses are smaller than horses we can see in Europe. They are fit to resist to hard weather conditions, and go through complicated path (the descent on the last day was very steep, super scary!). 

We discovered the life of the nomad families living there, all very kind. We spent most of our time with the kids, all very eager to play with us. I got defeated by a 10-year-old boy at checkers, played football and volleyball, teached juggling and accro yoga... Food was good, I successfully had some vegetarian food for the whole trip, and Manloi was brave enough to try the typical drink of the area: horse milk. 

Nomads are not the same I could see in other countries: they have cars, smartphones, kids go to school, sometimes they speak English, they have a house in the village, they often go to the capital city with their friend for weekend or holidays... In fact, this nomadic life in yurt at 3000m altitude is a 4-month parenthesis, like a summer-break to reconnect with nature. The rest of the year, they live in the village, with the rest of the citadins whom, most of the time, never dare to come in this remote place.

Our guide unfortunately could not speak English, but we could talk to other guides there, to learn more about their life and traditions. We talked a lot about nomadic games, especially kok-boru: a dangerous kind of polo where the ball is a headless goat. We were surprised to learn that there was international competition of nomadic games, where central Asian countries were competing, but also some other random nations like Turkey, USA (known as "the cow-boys") and France! 

We tried to learn more about the bride kidnapping thing which is still happening in the country. They seemed not very comfortable with the subject, and tried to tell us that it was going less and less, for the best. 

We also talked a bit about religion: like in Ouzbekistan, Islam almost disappeared during USSR. It is picking up now, but in a not-so-strict way, especially toward alcohol (vodka).

And about the war in Ukraine, people do not stand clearly for one side or the other. The young generation (especially in Bishkek) is mainly pro-Ukraine, the rest mostly pro-Russian. Since we left Georgia to enter Middle Asia, we have not seen any Ukrainian flags.