Issik Ata: a pool in the mountains

Issik Ata, a mountain resort featuring an outdoor pool heated by spring water, is a place we had often heard about but never visited - until this weekend. My friend Svieta, who was one of my Russian teachers, invited us out for a day of swimming and picnicking, and we were delighted to have the chance to go. The weather in Bishkek was warm, but after driving two hours into the mountains, the air had a definite chill. We immediately changed into our suits and took advantage of the pool. It was as warm as a bathtub, going from moderately warm in the deep end to comfortably warm in the shallow end to burning hot under the chute of water piped directly from the hot spring. Old ladies loved to stand under this water for several minutes at a time, even though I could only stand it for a few seconds. The water is believed to have healing properties from the radiation. I'm not convinced that radiation is a good thing, but we enjoyed the heated water anyway. Sebby especially loved it, since this pool had a shallow end in which he could stand and run. Other pools I have taken him to in Bishkek didn't have a section shallow enough for him, so this time he had a huge smile on his face the whole time, even if he tripped and dunked himself every now and then.

While swimming was very enjoyable, getting out of the pool was torturous. We dashed out to the changing room (a three-and-a-half sided outdoor structure) and dressed as quickly as possible. The air was getting colder by the minute. We spread out a picnic and enjoyed oromo, salads, potatoes, eggs, and chocolate, talking in Kyrgyz and sometimes Russian, chatting, making toasts, and encouraging everyone to eat more. Luckily we just managed to finish our feast before the heavy rain started.

Gulsar, me, Svieta, Bekjan, Baitur, Miki, Sebby, Misha. Photographer: Josh

We piled back into the car and drove partway back home, stopping at a beautiful meadow with grazing sheep, a gushing river, and picturesque foothills in the distance. The weather there was warm and sunny, and the children ran off toward the flock of sheep with their lambs in tow. To the boys' disappointment, the sheep immediately turned and fled. But never fear, there was a river to play in, and kids can be content for hours simply tossing stones into flowing water. Misha and Sebby worked together to start building a stone bridge across the river, and they were disappointed when we had to leave before it was finished.

We drove back to the city by early evening, having enjoyed the day and worn out the kids nicely in the process!

The next day we spent preparing for Bud and Ashley's arrival, while Misha and Sebby spent most of the day outside, playing with friends and climbing trees. I love tree-climbing pictures, so here is the weekend spider-monkey installment:

Sebby was content digging below.

A great shot of Misha and Vladik

Misha taught Alihan a bit of climbing technique

Turat helped Sebby find a good place to sit.

 In the evening we walked to the cafe Faisa with friends to eat delicious gan fan and lagman, particularly enjoying the pleasant walk to and from.

Anara and me

A few other recent shots:

"Kakuyu ruku?" - which hand? - Sebby asks me. Gee, so hard to tell...

I was a bit frustrated when Sebby got into the non-washable paint and ruined one of his cute sweatshirts with random splotches. But then I realized we could still save it by strategically planting his hand-prints on it. Now he loves this shirt and he can't wait to wear it to school.

Misha gives a bike lesson to Yan in Derjinka

Biking over the train bridge

Sebby could watch trains for hours.

Sebby and Misha in front of the Bishkek train station.

Bud and Ashley arrived early, early this morning! The boys were so excited to see them when they woke up. Josh is thrilled to have his brother here, and we've got a long list of things to squeeze into these two weeks with them.