Larry Memmott's Blog

I’ve never been attracted by the “peaking” thing.  Always figured that once you had peaked, it was all down hill from there.  So, climbing to get to the top of something never mattered to me.  Actually, I’ve often found that if you bushwhacked a bit off of the beaten trail to the top (or to […]

Sary Chelek lives up to its billing as one of the gems of Kyrgyz natural beauty (a pretty tall order). A large alpine lake set in a deep mountain bowl and surrounded by pines, Sary Chelek reminds me of the rugged beauty of the mountain lakes high in the American Rockies (specifically, since they were […]

A couple of weeks ago I visited the Bordunskiy/Krasnyy Most area near Boom Canyon on the road to Issyk Kul Lake. I’d been told to expect a Grand Canyon-type experience. Well, that’s a bit of an exageration, but the area is gorgeous, anyway, and pretty unspoilt. Definitely worth a day trip, and I’d love to […]

We had a great week visiting Lake Issyk Kul. Issyk Kul is the centerpiece of the biosphere reserve of the same name, and one of the most famous sites in Kyrgyzstan. At more than 5,000 feet above sea level, 113 miles long, up to 37 miles wide, and more than 2,000 feet deep, it is […]

Alexandra, Christina and William arrived on July 1! The adventures have already started. On July 2, they came with us to the U.S. Embassy 4th of July celebration. It rained a bit, but we had chosen our spot well, and just slipped into the yurt which had been set up on the Embassy grounds. The […]

I got a few hours free on the weekend to hike up to the climber’s cemetery in Ala Archa National Park. The cemetery was established in Soviet times for fallen climbers (most often, literally fallen climbers). It is hidden away in a grove of larch trees — well enough hidden that I missed it the […]

We spent one day visiting the ruins of the ancient Silk Road City of Balasagun, including the thousand-year-old Burana Tower. Balasagun was the capital city of the region when Genghis Khan showed up in the 13th Century. He didn’t destroy the city (which was apparently quite out of character for him), but just renamed it. […]

Alexandra, Christina and William came to visit us for Christmas and New Years. We had a great time exploring Bishkek and some of the mountainous areas around the city. Although we were disappointed with the light snowfall (and they missed the Blizzard of 09 back at home), the mild weather did allow us to have […]

Lake Issyk Kul is the tenth largest lake in the world (by volume) and the second largest mountain lake (after Lake Titicaca, which I have also visited). It is also the second largest saline lake in the world, after the Caspian Sea (so, bigger than the Great Salt Lake). It’s not heavily salty, just enough […]

The Ambassador loves Basketball, so when the Harlem Globetrotters came to town, she had them to her residence for a reception. This is Skyscraper Alleyne, together with Tanya and I, and two friends from the embassy. At 7’2″ Skyscraper is the tallest player on the team. and standing next to Tanya, Skyscraper looks like he’s […]