Hello! I will continue my story about a spontaneous trip to the dear to my heart Boysun. The day before we visited the foot of Ketmanchapta and Kyzyl canyon. The next day it was planned to visit the Sauk-Bulok tract and the Zaur-Boshi canyon. These two places are located on the other side of the valley.
After a hearty pilaf, we slept very well. The room in which I spent the night was pretty cool, but the heavy cotton blanket perfectly saved me from the cold and I slept well. I even woke up half an hour before the alarm went off.
Soon, the rest of the team also woke up and we sat down to breakfast. In addition to the gorgeous pilaf in linseed oil, Choraka also has a couple of signature delicacies - fig and watermelon crusts jam. With an incredible effort of will, I forced myself to put down the spoon and stop emptying the vases of jam.
Finally, we packed up and plunged into the car. In the morning it was rather cloudy and cold but without precipitation fortunately. We arrived at the starting point and hit the road. Sauk-Bulak (or Sovuk-Bulok) justified its name - "Cold Spring". As you remember from previous posts, Surkhandarya is the southernmost and hottest region of Uzbekistan, but Boysun is the coolest place in Surkhandarya. And Sauk-Bulak is the coolest place in Boysun. Sometimes the difference can reach 6-8 degrees Celsius. Here, at an altitude of 1800-2000 meters above sea level, numerous springs flow, making the local climate cooler. It can be quite windy here and in cold weather it blows to the bone. This is what we felt as soon as we got out of the car.
After taking some pictures of the surroundings, we quickly went upstairs to warm up a little.
Cloudy skies and overcast weather lent a harsh charm to the area.
When we were about half the way, the clouds began to part and a blue sky appeared.
We went through another mine and the rocks had an interesting and unusual color.
When we went downstairs, Choraka was already waiting for us. As on the eve, there was already a cauldron on the fire, in which potatoes and meat were being fried, and a kettle was boiling on a nearby fire.
After a delicious and hearty lunch, we went to the observation deck to look at the "beak" of Khoja Gur-Gur ota and, possibly, see the entrance to the famous Dark Star cave, named after John Carpenter's science fiction film. Why exactly "Dark Star" - I have not yet had time to find out, but I will!
Unfortunately, the clouds covered the mountain range and we could not really see anything.
It was very cold on the road and the wind blew to the bone. Therefore, we took a couple of shots and ran back to the vehicle - at least there was no wind there.
We drove back, stopping along the road near the Zaur-Boshi canyon. I also have to find out where this place’s name came from, but I read that somewhere there are traces of hoofed dinosaurs. This means there will be a reason to return and get to know these location better.
The sun was already sinking and the clouds came over again.
At some point, they became so thick that the sun barely broke through them. It got colder right away, but I got a pretty good shot with silhouettes.
Time was running out and it was necessary to return. We returned to Choraka's house, had dinner and went to the station. We warmly said goodbye to Choraka and went to their compartment. As is often the case with me on the train, I woke up quite early and could no longer fall asleep, so I sat down by the window and watched the sun rise.
We drove up to Tashkent and had to rush home first to throw things and then immediately run to the offices.
Well, let's hope that in winter there will be many more clear days and we can return and look at the already winter Boysun. In the meantime, I have at my disposal the mountains of the Tashkent region - winter has already come here and the mountains are covered with snow. It's time for winter hiking.
A week after returning from Boysun, I went to make a winter ascent to Kungurbuka. I was here recently, but then there was still no snow... Now it became interesting for me to walk through familiar places in winter. But about this in next post.
!pinmapple 38.301920 lat 67.533105 long Sauk-Bulok tract and Zaur-Boshi canyon. Unexpected trip to Boysun (Day two), Uzbekistan d3scr