GeoEx traveler Linda Lewis recalls: The most unusual market my husband & I have experienced was on Geoexs Central Asian trip 2 years ago. Our small group set off for the Sunday animal market in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan which was trading in horses, goats, cows & fat-tailed sheep. The weather was problematic - cold & threatening rain. Upon arrival we scattered, dressed in layers of all the clothes we had packed. The rain began & the bare earth turned to mud. The rain turned to sleet & we pulled our collars up higher. The animals were arrayed in groups beside their owners vehicles & buyers looked & did the bidding. Abruptly some unknown weather line was crossed (maybe it was the snow) & the market was over. The scrambling & noise was something to behold. Animals were push onto trailers barely big enough for a couple of bikes - three sheep, a goat & a horse sharing four square feet - & everyone tore towards the open road. Henry Jays, old pick-ups, fancy chrome jobs all ground through the mud. We tourists, by now widely separated, valiantly made our way back to the bus as the cavalcade streamed by. When I saw my husband he remarked that he had just seen a Lada rumble by with a sheep in the passenger front seat. What a ride!
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 18:19:34 +0000