The Kyrgyz family, deciding that it would be good for me to wake up 700h, came around early to yell in my tent. Pleading for another hour or two of sleep, they left me alone - for a while. I eventually succumbed to their calls around 835h and had a watermelon and beef breakfast (served independently). Slowly packed up, had another swim, and got on the road by 1100h. Followed the lake for about 15km, but then struck inland around a set of hills. Had to climb about 400m, and was met at the top by a party of young Kyrgyz celebrating their friend's upcoming nuptials. Celebrating, naturally, means drinking lots of vodka and driving around the countryside bodies half out windows yelling at cyclists. Awesome.
Arrived in Bokonbayevo around 1430h and lunched on laghman (beefy noodle soup). With a full belly, I followed the road along the water where many Kyrgyz were on the numerous sandy beaches. Quite a nice stretch of shoreline with minimal development and lots of secluded nooks on which to set up a tent. I pushed on toward Tamga and eventually reached the steep road up into the village. Found the recommended guest house run by a very nice family, and was soon privy to motherly family gossip like: "My daughter, running the family store, is unmarried at 25! A good Kyrgyz girl should be married with children by now! She even turned down a suitor from Karakol! She will be unmarriable soon. Sigh." Another interesting cultural nugget is that, in most Kyrgyz wills, household wealth is split equally between the sons. Daughters receive nothing, because it is assumed that they will have their husband's money.
I was taken to a friend's cafe in the middle of the former Soviet officer's Sanitarium, where I was promised an extra spicy bosso laghman. After finishing the delicious meal, I was seconded to the cafe's entertainment system and lived out my dream of being a 1994 club DJ by spinning hits by great artists (such as Snap!, Ace of Base, Wigfield and Culture Beat), urged on by the shuffling steps and drunken missives of three elderly Russian women. Slept well.
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