28th August - 1st September - Otmok Pass and Lake Toktogul

Colin and Chrissy spent the night of 27th August in a Yurt similar to the one in the picture, near Talas.

The Kyrgyz Republic or Kyrgyzstan is situated in the northeastern part of Central Asia. It borders Kazakhstan in the north-west, China in the south-east, Tajikistan in the south, and Uzbekistan in the west. Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country, with a range of altitudes from 400 m to 7 400 m. About half of the country’s territory is situated at an altitude of more than 3,000m above sea level. The mountain masifs of Pamir-Alai and Tien Shan are the dominant features. Colin and Chrissy have 5 major mountain passes to negotiate in this country, as well as driving beside:
Toktogul reservoir
The largest man-made water reservoir in Kyrgyzstan was constructed on the Naryn River as storage for hydroelectricity production. The reservoir is at 900 m altitude and situated in the Ketmen-Tubin valley of Osh Oblast. Apart from the Naryn the reservoir also receives the rivers Chychkan, Uzun-Ahmat, Nichke and Kandul. It covers 284 km2 and the full storage capacity is 19.5 km3. The mean depth is 65 m, maximum depth 210 m. The reservoir is 70 km long and the maximum width is 13 km. The gorge in the western part of the reservoir is 6 km long and 90-95 m deep. The lake-like sector is much larger but also much shallower, with a maximum depth of only 15 m.