Hike to the mountains above Lake Sonkol

The panorama north of Lake Sonkol forms a flat ridge with about ten peaks high between 3,700–3,900 meters above sea level. A very passable and at the same time nice view is the mountain at the very western end of the ridge. After about four kilometers (50 minutes) walk along the shore of the lake from the Bataj-Aral camp, you can turn directly to this mountain at a lone yurt.

The lonely yurt where you turned from the lake towards the mountain looks really mystical – almost like solitude by the forest, but here the tree would look.

After a 15-minute walk you are already on the edge of the massif. The animals around the lake are just crowded and give it charm

After a while, it is easy to see, through the flowering meadows, the yurt camp Bataj-Aral – the starting point of this tour.

The actual output is not very demanding, you can go virtually any way. However, it is best to climb the ridge on which the remnants of rock gardens are sometimes scattered.

With increasing height, you get a slightly different view of the ridge than from the lake. They are mountains of two faces – on one side gradual grassy ridges, on which you can walk comfortably, and on the other large sections of sharp weathered rocks, which are so for climbers.

After two hours of walking from the lake, you are almost on top of the mountain. The big and only inconvenience here can be a very strong wind, which almost always blows here

The top of the mountain, which is visible from the lake, is actually just a pre-peak with a large rock. The view from it, especially to the lake, is very nice, but if you want to see the north, or get to the main ridge of this mini mountain range, you have to continue even more than a kilometer away.

Although it seems from a distance that the main ridge of this mini mountain range would be ideal for a comfortable tourist crossing, it can be seen at close range that this is not the case. Unlike the long ridges leading to it, it is relatively sharp, full of cracked rocks and steep rubble fields leading to both sides.

The very top of the mountain is more like a long ridge at an altitude of 3,700 m above sea level with remnants of snow at the beginning of summer.

However, the most beautiful place is on the main ridge, where you can see the „other“ side of the valley. In good weather, you can see the Kyrgyz ridge with almost five thousand mountains, 70 km as the crow flies. In the late afternoon, however, it is not much to photograph these distant mountains, as they are in strong backlight.

Looking north, you can see another „insignificant“ even smaller grass ridge. Behind him, more proper, nicely jagged mountains are already rising.

You will return the same way for almost an hour before you begin the descent into a larger valley with several pastoral yurts. In such side valleys you will still see the original life unaffected by tourism.

In the early evening it is quite lively on the slopes of the mountains – huge herds return home from the pasture. Only occasionally, however, you will see a human with them, usually the animals move here the way they want.

The return is very nice, because the grassy valley with yurts is very picturesque, especially at the end of the day.

Looking to the other side, the valley looks much more dramatic. Anyway, it's about an hour's walk from here to the yurt camp, so you may be a little pressed for time if you didn't go on this tour until the afternoon.

Before you return to camp, you can enjoy true Kyrgyz romance along the way.