Kyrgzy drive-by

While traveling through those corduroy hills of the Kyrgzy Republic, I had the chance to sample some mare’s milk — fermented, smoky, not-pasteurized or homogenized, a little bit alcoholic. It’s sold at roadside stands, like this:

The kids will pour you about a liter in a recycled plastic container; they let you sample, too, in little cups that we passed around. Not exactly yogurt, and definitely an acquired taste. The kids tease each other while you take it all in, and ask to get their pictures taken, so they can see themselves on your digital SLR. I don’t know what else they do all day; not like there’s that much traffic going on through; but they seem to smile a lot.

Seems like it a lot more fun to be helping out with the roadside stand than to be in the cities, where the “action” is…

Then there’s always the beach — at Lake IssyKul, a very, very big lake. The boardwalk by the beach is lined with yurts and stands selling fish, baked pastries, breads. We were hungry when we got there, and sampled some; wasn’t a particularly good idea for our less-toughened still-western digestive systems. But it tasted good at the time.

My favorite part of Kygzstan, apart the festival at Lake Sol Ikul and the spectacular beauty of Tash Rabat, was just looking out the car window, at the scenery as we drove on through.

~ by mimi on August 3, 2008.