Just up! On the other side of the Viewing pass, Tashkent region, Uzbekistan

Hello, in my last post I announced a story about a hike to the Viewing pass, which was in early May. Fortunately, we managed to go before the hellish heat set in and the mountain slopes were still covered with greenery. If the hike took place a month later, then we probably could not withstand it - a non-stop 1,5 kilometer climb at temperature of 40 degree - we would definitely have to call rescuers.

Actually, this summer was just awful. In early June, the thermometer exceeded 40 degrees Celsius and stayed at this mark for almost two months. The temperature broke all records and, I'm afraid, this is not the limit - it will be even hotter.

And so, early in the morning, we left Tashkent. Since I arrived before everyone else, I legally took my usual place in the minibus. As I already mentioned, when traveling to the mountains of the Tashkent region, I like to sit on the right side - it is very convenient to photograph sunrises.

As usual, the dawn was magnificent - a fiery orange ball illuminated the sky and mountains. It's amazing how many times I have seen such sunrises and they are always different and always beautiful!

We arrived at the starting point early in the morning. It was pretty cool and fresh. White clouds floated in the sky, which from time to time hid the sun. We crossed the turbulent Pskem River and went up to the Ispay village.

By the way, I have already been to these parts when I walked along the Ispai-say In the past year. However, this time my route ran perpendicular to last year's.

To the lazy barking of recently awakened dogs, we walked around Ispay and climbed up. All the following hours we did nothing but go upstairs.

The ascent was not very steep, I would say that it was even gentle - but it was constant.

We climbed higher and I saw the Ispai-say bed – last year we walked along it.

With a gradual climb, a beautiful panorama opened up in front of us.

We climbed a small plateau, which was dotted with yellow flowers…

…and maybe mountain tulips. Or not tulips ...

As we climbed up, we were blown by a pleasant cool breeze blowing from the opposite mountains. But this medal also had a downside - this breeze brought clouds with it, which very quickly turned into clouds. Moreover, these clouds were creeping in our direction.

Wandering in the rain on the clay slopes of the ridge is a very dubious pleasure. Therefore, we had to speed up.

But constantly accelerating was very difficult. Therefore, after an hour, we made a short break. While the people were resting, I walked around the neighborhood and took pictures of the local animals.

Of course not without "ladybugs" :).

The higher we climbed, the cooler it got. There was even snow in some places.

I and a few other tourists went ahead a bit and stopped waiting for the group. Looking around, I lifted my head up and saw a halo. Actually, I did not immediately understand that it was a halo. I decided that due to the lack of oxygen caused by the altitude, my vision was impaired. But, the height was only about 2200-2300 meters above sea level. And then, I was able to photograph this effect, which means that it is not in my eyes. Seeing that I was photographing the sky, my companions also lifted their heads up. One of them said: "Oh, halo!" This is how I first saw this optical phenomenon ...

We waited for the laggards and climbed up again.

The weather was quickly deteriorating. But I must admit that the clouds added beauty and atmospheric to the landscape ..

Finally, we climbed to an altitude of 2500 meters and settled down for a short rest. Due to the approaching clouds, there was no time to rest, so we had to round off and start descending.

Below I have posted small videos from the summit during the halt and during the descent.

We were descending, and the clouds were creeping in. A strong wind blew out and a little rain began to drizzle.

We put on speed, as we were afraid to get caught in a downpour.

The sky was quickly overcast with clouds and thunder rumbled.

But the alarm turned out to be false, the clouds passed behind our backs and the sky began to clear.

Moreover, the wind died down and began to bake. When we went downstairs to the car, we got a lot of noise. Therefore, we stopped near Ispai-say to wash off the sweat and dirt, and to cool down a little.

After that, we loaded into our car and headed home. My feet were buzzing. I also rubbed my leg a little with new boots. I looked forward to new hikes and ascents. But fate decreed otherwise - for the whole summer I only went to Boysun, where I climbed Mount Sanjar. Well, I also managed to escape to Almaty for a few days. I spent the rest of the summer at home, working hard. Literally and figuratively.

I really hope that in the fall I will catch up. Autumn promises to be warm, and the announcements of "Mysterious Uzbekistan" are simply packed with interesting hikes.