Skazka

I woke up at around 5:20 AM since the meeting time was at 6:00 AM. I was pretty proud of myself and while I was on the toilet, the tour organizer started to text me if I was coming. I was like yeah for sure. He said they were already there and waiting. I told them yeah, I know, the meeting time's at 6:00 AM right? He said that it was already 6. That can't be right, my phone says it's still 5-ish. Only then did it dawn on me, Kyrgyzstan was 1 hour ahead. I was already the last person they were waiting for!

Oh I had thought I would get a chance to shower but not really. I soon found myself already running towards the meeting point. The organizer was asking for my geo-location and told me to just meet them by the supermarket. I told them I was literally 2 minutes away. Thankfully, I made it just in the nick of time.

I apologized profusely to the people and took my seat at pretty much the worst spot in the car which was the middle back seat. Fair enough. We stopped by the supermarket to grab some supplies for the day and made another spot at a cafeteria for brunch.

Our first stop was the Fairytale Canyons, Skazka. It was a long trip but much worth it. The features of the area were nothing like the ones I saw in Kazakhstan's Charyn Canyon. Skazka was fiery. Possessing all the colors of fire, from red, orange, yellow, and everything in between. Just as its namesake, it really felt like it was something out of a fairy tale.

We were just left to do our own thing and there were several routes around the area. At first, we all went together toward the Great Wall which was aptly named as it resembled it well, a huge towering chunk of collided plates that seemed to protrude towards the sky. The rest chickened out to go down the other side but I felt like it was doable so I went down, albeit precariously.

I explored the castle formations and these mushroom-looking formations but the one I wanted to see the most was the panorama view point which was at the other side. I hurried back to the spot where we were dropped off and went around, trying to find the way up. I climbed up a steep hill and saw a familiar face who was also heading up. I quickly caught up to her and together we finished the small hike to get the best views in the house.

On the way down, I ended up pushing too far ahead and ended up getting lost. I had to ask for some directions and found the parking lot after expending a lot of energy running around. Still, it was only the first stop of the day.Read more