kayakstan.net :: Day 13 - An early start
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Tim, Phil C and Rob got up at an icy 6am for a quick blast down a 10km scenic gorge section of the Saryjaz, putting on straight from where we'd camped for the night. At first, a strong wind in our faces made it a bit of a struggle, but by the time we entered the gorge the water difficulty had picked up and the wind died away. Paddling through the sunrise on medium volume grade 3/4 was quite an experience.
We spent most of the morning driving back over the pass - this was one big dead-end we had driven down. The Turgen Ak-Suu (or Chong Ak-Suu depending on who you ask), flows down alongside the road on the way down and by its gradient alone had distinct promise. Most of the group were feeling in need of a breather so pushed on straight down to Karakol, but Tim, Rob and Dave jumped on the river to see what it could offer.
Pretty full-on rocky grade 4 was what it offered in plenty, and it was a tired but happy crew that made it off the river after about 6km. Collapsing into our truck, we headed after the others to Karakol. We caught up with them just before they were going to go out into Karakol for the night. It was almost halfway through the trip so a bit of a celebration was needed, and we found that the Kyrgyz know how to party, especially in Karakol which has a large student population. Dinner was first, then beers, then vodka, then vodka, then dancing, then vodka, then dancing, then it was about 10pm. Any nightclubs around? Yup, we carried on in 'Arizona' till about 3am before staggering back to bed.
