Arslanbob, Kyrgyzstan – village Life At Its Finest

often we come to a location as well as we understand immediately that it will stay with us for a long time. Arslanbob was one such place. We shown up at night after a long 10 hour shared taxi trip from Bishkek (the Kyrgyz capital). even in the pitch black we might feel something special in this little mountain village.

View from behind our homestay
Arslanbob is an alpine village of 13,000 people, 97% of whom are Uzbek as well as almost all are of the Muslim faith. This village is nestled below the Baba-Ata Mountains as well as is popular for having the world’s largest walnut forest! This is the type of location we had been waiting for.

The Mighty Baba-Ata Behind Arslanbob
The owner of CBT Arslanbob as well as avid businessman Hyat, walked us to our homestay (#16) in the dark as well as the friendly household invited us in with open arms as well as cooked us dinner even though we shown up late.

Talking with Isreal, the owner of our homestay as well as self-proclaimed women man
The complying with morning we awoke to fresh brewed chai (tea) as well as a tasty meal of eggs, bread as well as regional salsa. We walked out of our personal space as well as into our hold family’s lovely orchard. As we cleaned aside a few chickens, we gazed up as well as the true appeal of Arslanbob slowly started to expose itself.

The Baba-Ata Mountains Behind Arslanbob expose Themselves In The morning Sun
Behind us, towering over the entire village, were the soaring peaks of Baba-Ata. next to our homestay’s property, a crystal clear, turquoise river cut with the village successfully separating it from east to west.

Crossing The River Arslanbob
As we left the gates as well as waved goodbye to our new family, we walked into a world of authentic Uzbek culture. people strolled the streets in standard clothing. The women were dressed in colourful gowns which frequently matched their head scarf. guy congregated in little circles on the gravel road, sporting the normal muslim taqiyah (hat) as well as long coats while their gold teeth gleamed in the morning sun. when once again our travel juices were streaming as well as we were reenergized by a burst of excitement.

The golden Teeth Of central Asia
There are so lots of things to perform in Arslanbob that we didn’t truly understand where to start. We checked out our good friend Hyat, back at the CBT office as well as he provided us lots of options.  We made a decision just walk around the village on our own as well as discover a few of the sites around the village.

The little waterfall Of Arslanbob
First we walked up a long dirt road to the 23 meter high little Waterfall, named only by its comparison to the village’s huge waterfall (80 m) that we regrettably didn’t go to. The little one was excellent enough. The mist from it reached us before the actual falls were visible as well as approved us a much needed retreat from the heat. We climbed around the waterfall as well as took pleasure in the cooler temperature before heading as much as Panorama, a perspective over the city.

Enjoying The Panorama perspective In Arslanbob
That afternoon we blogged in the orchard outside of our homestay. With the noise of the river roaring down the valley, as well as with a view of the large icy pinnacles above us, we realized just exactly how much we like our new job.

Blogging With An Audience
The next day we organized a fishing excursion with CBT with a local, 73 year old fisherman named Badash. We left in the afternoon as well as shown up at the village in best time for fishing, as the sun sank low in the valley. Unfortunately, the trip was plagued by my old fishing curse as well as we didn’t catch anything bigger than 6 inches, however it was the surroundings as well as the business that made the trip.

READ MORE: Fly-Fishing in The Patagonian Lake district of Argentina

Badash The Fisherman, maybe the most Photogenic guy In Kyrgyzstan

In the evening, we sat around a campfire with Badash as well as our guide, Lechin, swapping travel stories with hunting tales. Badash has seen lots of things in his life, including lots of snow leopards as well as a modification in his country. We had originally really hoped to save some money as well as not have a guide, however we’re delighted we made a decision to opt for one since Lechin was a riches of understanding as well as he provided us a higher comprehending of Kyrgyzstan as well as its people. After a few hours of chatting around the campfire, we gazed at the limitless number of twinkling stars above us, before retiring to bed in our tent.

Enjoying The Campfire, A excellent end To A excellent DayThe next morning, we ate a tasty breakfast prepared by Lechin as well as spent a few a lot more hours of unsuccessful fishing before heading back to Arslanbob. Our one night trip was memorable, however as well short as we would have liked to spend a lot more time with our new friends.

Me as well as Badash At The end Of An Unlucky fishing Trip

Upon our return to the village, we inspected into a new homestay (#12) as well as satisfied a new family. The CBT homestays in Arslanbob are numbered 1-20 as well as rated from 1-3 stars. This homestay was rated 2 stars as well as we were told it was the very best in town. After we inspected in we kicked back on the terrace, which had a stunning view over the valley. It was difficult to peel ourselves away to go as well as see what made Arslanbob famous, its walnut forest!

Great view From Arslanbob Homestay #12

We walked back up past the Panorama perspective as well as slowly the path closed in as large walnut trees covered the trail. We weren’t sure if they were walnut trees at very first up until a small, encased nut fell from a tree directly above us. I utilized my reliable Leatherman to break into the shell as well as expose the oily brown morsel inside. This would be the very first of lots of nuts we would eat as we walked deeper into the forest, the taste was fantastic as well as we just couldn’t get sufficient of them.

Delicious Ripe Walnuts Of Arslanbob

Further down the path, we discovered a entrance which led to a thicker forest of the towering trees. We walked with the entrance as well as over numerous fallen nuts towards a hill in the distance. As we came better to our target, we observed a regional household had set up a picnic on the grass. We didn’t want to intrude however they invited us over as well as we took pleasure in tea, bread as well as a giggle-filled photo-shoot with the friendly family.

There was Grandma, Mom, Dad, kid as well as child all camped out under the trees for 2 weeks of the gather season. They would actually eat, sleep as well as online walnuts for 14 days before returning to the village to offer their plunder. After an hour or so, we provided the youngsters some Canada stickers as well as waved goodbye to the exceptionally hospitable family. With large grins on our faces, we walked back to our homestay, understanding we just had a great, authentic regional experience.

The charming Walnut forest Family
We spent a overall of 4 nights in Arslanbob as well as we liked every minute of it. With so much to do around this small village we might have spent 2 weeks checking out the mountains, wandering the village as well as getting to understand the locals, however often travel has its deadlines as well as as our visas were about to run out, we headed for Osh city, the administrative as well as monetary funding of the Osh Province.

From Osh we will embark on a genuinely legendary journey, a 14 day 4WD haul on the breathtaking Pamir Highway. one of the world’s a lot of lovely roads as well as the second greatest on earth.

Arslanbob Was one of Our much-loved Villages Ever… What’s Yours? Please Leave A comment Below.

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