Generous hosts and people with a formal sense of occasion but the good grace to manage these occasions casually, I was fed fermented horse’s milk to mark the purchase of some rugs – alongside lamb stew, deep fried pastries, the inevitable bowl upon bowl of herbal tea (drunk in this part of the country in the English way, or is that the Kyrgyz way, with milk – and occasionally salt for rehydration), dried fruit, delicious bread, cream to dip it in (do try this at home), various yoghurts and other pastries. This was a trip of numerous culinary firsts. One sheet lasted me a day of casual addicted nibbling. Outside the village of Arslanbob, overlooking the forests and dominated by yet another mountain ridge I ate apple leather – apples boiled into a syrup then cooled, stretched and flattened as trail rations. The market at Bishkek is a glory of chewy golden apricots and rich dark raisins – truly delicious food. The Kyrgyz are expert driers and preservers of fruits and nuts. One can understand the need for the apples, for food that lasted on a long trip. Visiting the national museum in the nation’s second city, Osh, one can see quite clearly how the apples found their way into the hands of merchants and thence to us. It simply rises and then extends and then throws up surprise upon surprise. The place is quite beyond the imagination and I do it far from justice in extolling its virtues. Children play in the fields leaping onto horseback and running amidst their lambs and sheep. Smoke drifts out of the chimneys of their yurts. These places are peopled by horse herders. Narrow passes give out onto spectacular pastures which roll and hide their own narrow valleys and mountain rivers and lakes. This happens repeatedly in this marvellous country. The mountains close in, as if in calm pursuit and one is hugged and held more and more tightly until, at altitude the vista opens out again. ![]() One’s sense of speed is gently taken away. Wherever we drove we were accompanied by mountain ranges. The Alps are more like the mountains of Kyrgyzstan than the other way around. ![]() The mountainous regions I visited one can only describe as Alpine but that feels like a deficiency in the vocabulary. ![]() But then as one climbs, one passes through glorious bucolic pastures and faces the prospect of mountains almost absurd in the rapidity of their vertical motion. This alone is remarkable and beautiful, perhaps because the scale is so large. At one moment the arid south feels biblical, with sculpted sandstone hills and jagged valleys – and bright hot sunshine to match. There is a curious rapidity and variety to the landscape which startles the newcomer. Would even a glimpse be too much to ask? What I found in the landscape of Kyrgyzstan were several such glimpses. What presumption, to think one might encounter paradise. In planning the trip I couldn’t get away from the idea it might be like paying a visit to the Garden of Eden. A fact so remarkable it is worth repeating – it is actually possible to visit the place in the world from which all the world’s apple trees stem. Whilst Fauna & Flora International (FFI) works with ecologists in the country to protect various species and assist in managing its mountainous, remote protected areas, the main reason I went was to see how we’re helping to look after Kyrgyzstan’s apple trees.įor those that don’t know, it is widely accepted that the fruit and nut forests where these trees still grow in the wild are the genetic origin of the world’s apple trees. I’ve recently returned from a week visiting the central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan.
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