Kochkor

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Kazakh visa: Check! And heading back into the mountains again, this time to Kochkor for a two day horse-trek to the small Kol Ukok lake.

I had to fill one day before the horse-trek so I randomly hiked up a mountain; with a great view on the Kochkor valley and surrounding mountains as a reward.
On my way back down into the village I passed a couple of graveyards; the people here put quite a bit of work into them.
After 3,5 hours of horseback riding we had lunch in the Yurt where we would be staying for the night. The shepperd told us that there were wolves in these mountains and that the night before the horse of the neighbour (1km down) was eaten...
After the thrill of climbing a small rocky path to a mountain pass by horse we reached the lake.
View from behind the wheel.
A well deserved break for our horses, while my guide took a nap and I checked out the lake.
I'm on a horse!
Sunset down the valley from the yurt, that had been moved 1.5h down from the lake because of the cold; and cold it was with wind coming down a glacier!
In the evening the sheep and goats were put into a small enclosement to keep them from wandering off during the night; this didn't really impress the goats though who immediately started climbing out and where all over the place in the morning.