Son Kul Lake, Kyrgyzstan

Yes, someone is still alive here...or better said, struggling to survive this heat....i know I always complain about the summers in Skopje (though practically summer hasn't even come yet), but the worst thing is that this weather strikes all of a sudden and from 10 degrees, it just decides to go to 30 overnight...and then people feel lost in the universe...well of course they do..and i dont seem to be an exception...

apart from that...well, I dont know, life has been going at some fast pace and i just seemed to have really little time for one of my favourite hobbies lately...so my mailbox is in some starvation phase, my postman feeds it like once a week with some breadcrumbs...and then my dear darling blog has not been given enough attention from my side...and that pretty much gets me down coz I have some really great stuff to give to my blog, but I've been this selfish little thing, depriving it of what it deserves..and what has either way initially been intended for it...
Erm, Im talking too much no? But this cute horse seems to be patiently waiting for me to stop the claptrap and get down to something meaningful...like for example telling you that this sweet horse came all the way from Kyrgyzstan...and he came tagged (in the philatelic terms, read: written and stamped) Yay!! Finally a written and stamped card from Kyrgyzstan! Im soo extra happy!  Thanks a bunch to Sonya and Travis who have offered to send cards from their Silk Road journey. I tried to be modest, and pick just a few out of all the countries they are travelling to *blush*
It is so cool to visit a card like Kyrgyzstan....with such undiscovered beauties (like Macedonia, btw...;)

the card shows some yurtas near the Son-Kul Lake. Yurtas are portable, bent wood-framed dwelling structures traditionally used by Turkic nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. And what's funny is that they are designed in a way so that they can be dismantled and the parts carried compactly on camels or yaks to be rebuilt on another site. So cool! These are most likely the yurats that are rented to tourists, since there are no other facilities in the area, but for sure you will not remain without accommodation.
And this beautiful Son-Kul lake is the second largest lake in the country (18x29km wide, 13 meters deep).
The area is inhabited and safely accessible only from June to September....so you still have time to pack your bags and enjoy the morning sunshine lurking through the yurt.

and i just love the cancellation...so clear! and the stamp is so beautiful too!! (and pretty much blending the whole postcard mood). It was issued in 2008 in a set of 4 stamps representing the Yaks of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan

Aaaaayyy, my first two Kyrgyzstan cards!!!! If I was told like a month or two ago that i would own a card from Kyrgyzstan, i wouldnt have believed it. Though they are not sent originally from there, right now im not too picky about those things,.....id rather have a card from such a place than be stubbron and dont have it at all, just coz its not sent from the country of origin....if in the future i am lucky enough to get a stamped Kyrgyzstan card, that would be great...but for now, im pleased with this also :))


Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked and mountainous country in Central Asia, border by Kazakhstan to the North, Uzbekistan to the West, Tajikistan to the Southwest and China to the East (in this country list, China feels like an intruder :))) Its capital and largest city is Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan is one of the former Soviet Union republics, which declared its independence in 1991.
(to me all the former USSR republics which end up in -(t)an, always seemed as completely different compared to the ones ending in -(v)ia...as if they dont originate from the same country...)
(btw, Kyrgyzstan was established as a full republic of the Soviet Union in 1936).

On the card you can see the Teskey-Alatau range (larger picture).
It is a mountain range which belongs to the northern Tien-Shan (a range located in Central Asia, whose name in Chinese means "Celestial Mountains"). The Teskey Alatau rises to a height of about 17,300 feet (5,300 metres) and borders the vast Lake Ysyk basin, the centre of which is filled by Lake Ysyk.

The smaller picture shows a craftsman at harness.

Kyrgyzstan

This is the second Kyrgyzstan card.

Here, on the larger picture you can see the "Cholok-Korgon fortress" from the 19th century, situated in the Naryn Region.
The smaller picture shows Mausoleums from the Kochcor region.

If anyone could provide me some more information about these two Kyrgyzstan cards, id be thankful.