Today we woke up early to the light streaming through our window. We got up and went for breakfast before it was, once again, time to depart for another day of exploring.
Our first stop was a local cooperative centre where they produce traditional handicrafts, including almost everything you need to make a comfortable yurt. We walked around the centre, going into the different rooms where they made the various handicrafts. First, we saw how they weave the belts used for yurts and make some of the straw-felt decorations. Next, we saw how they make their felt carpets before heading to the woodworking room, where our guide even tried to sell us one of the beds they had made!
After the tour, we were led outside to a spot where lots of different yurt pieces had been laid out on the floor. As we sat down, they started building the yurt in front of us. First, they secured the door and then the outer ring of the yurt. Once that was tied in place, they used a pole to lift the central piece high above our heads before starting to place the poles around it and attach them to the bottom outer ring. This was where we got to help, placing some of the different wooden pieces ourselves.
Once the wooden structure was finished, the next step was to cover the yurt with a straw layer, followed by a thick felt cover to keep it nice and warm inside.
After we had finished building our yurt, we walked around the centre a little more before getting back into the bus and heading to our next stop: Seven Bulls Valley.
There, we got out and hiked for about 15 minutes to reach a viewpoint overlooking the famous red rock formations. We stopped there to eat our picnic, which was mostly tasty, except for one tiny package that looked like candy. I opened it and it looked like a chocolate truffle, but as soon as I bit into it, it turned out to be salty and tasted absolutely disgusting, like terrible parmesan. It was so bad that I had to spit it out. Turns out, it was cheese curds!
After finishing our food, we got back into the van and continued our journey, making a couple of stops along the way. First, we visited a wooden Christian Orthodox church, followed by a wooden Chinese Dungan mosque, where we learned more about the buildings and their history.
Finally, we arrived in the city, where after doing some shopping, we were able to check in to our hotel.
For dinner, we ate at a local restaurant where they served us our last Kyrgyzstani meal. The most interesting dish was this bread that you dipped into a meat gravy, it was surprisingly simple but very tasty!
After dinner, we headed back to the hotel to relax and get some rest after another busy day.