Ak Sai II

I ended up oversleeping a bit and missed out on saying goodbye to Ruslana, Em, and Nur. Even missed out on breakfast but today was a rest day. A day to truly do nothing as there was literally nothing to do. I spent the morning lazing away inside the yurt, watching the light filter through a hole on the roof.

It seems like everyone from camp had already left so I decided to go for another swim at the lake. Today, the waters were surprisingly calm and so my morning bath was quite relaxing as well. Still, the waters were still freezing yet I found myself completely comfortable in their embrace. I went back to camp after a few more dips to take a shower and returned to my yurt.

Nothing much to do today at all, I found the outside to be a bit chilly and windy at times so I would just go back to the tent to rest. This cycle went on for a while, with me alternating lazing about on the hammock before going bad to wrap myself under a blanket on the bed.

As the sun started to set, I felt that I wanted to go out on a mission today. Try to snap myself a good profile photo with the golden hour and Lake Issyk-Kul behind me. Off I went on a long walk by the beach, I was really thinking about my life situation throughout this walk. Voicing out my concerns to the world and just giving myself some time to vent.

I found an interesting cinderblock and decided that this is where the photoshoot will be taking place. I used it as a stand while propping some rocks to hold my phone and after more than an hour of shooting, I left satisfied with plenty of great shots to filter through.

When I got back to camp to eat dinner, I found myself to be the only one left, save for another lady at the other end of the corner. She slowly started to make small talk while I chowed down some vegan food. Suddenly, she was at my table. Her name was Kate, from Russia as well, just like the rest of the campers. We went outside to join the group of Russians making a bonfire which was a welcome one during this cold night. When I mentioned the lake, Kate mentioned that she wanted to see it so I invited her to join me. After a walk through the dark, we arrived at the still calm waters of Lake Issyk-kul and stared at the stars for a while. The conversations here got much deeper, and we got to know each others' past a bit more. Not a sound coming from the waters too, that's how quiet it was.

I told her that I needed to go back to take a shower but invited her to knock on my yurt after she's finished with her business. We met up again later that night to sit by the camp fire, now just a few people were left. The fire slowly fading into dying embers. The rest of the campers left until it was just me and Kate left. We talked until 1AM or so which was pretty insane. I kept on probing the embers to make them light up again but there came a time when it was really time for bed. I bid Kate good night and hoped to see her again the next morning before I left for Karakol.Read more