On Friday, we took a marshrutka from Cholpon-Ata to Karakol, where we would start our 3 day Ala-Kul Trek. We were both feeling a bit under the weather, which, combined with the worst marshrutka ride we've taken so far (hot and crowded, multiple crying babies and basically no sealed road between Cholpon-Ata and Karakol), did not make for a good start to Karakol. Once we arrived in Karakol, we checked into our hostel (much nicer than expected), ran around town picking up supplies for our hike and met up with Dav for dinner.Read more