skiing at too achu

our friend chris from the us embassy invited us to tag along as he went skiing at too achu ski area. the "resort"... i use that word loosely... is about a two and a half hour drive west/southwest of bishkek and in an area of kyrgyzstan that we haven't explored yet. the drive there was worth the price of admission. crazy, huge mountains. crazy, windy road over the top of a 10,000 foot range. and crazy, amazing views.

too achu is located above a snow bound valley at about 8000'. one ski lift that is below the resort. you ski down and then ride the lift back up. if you want... you can ski past the lift down to the village below (about 6 kilometers) and ride a taxi or marchutka back up (a 20 minute drive). the views were unreal. snow covered peaks in the back ground and a completely snow covered valley below. no green to be found anywhere.

jen and i didn't ski. arena, our doctor, happened to be there with some other embassy folks and suggested that she didn't. so i happily decided to hang with her while our friends skied.

too achu is a pretty surreal place and we wish we could take our family and friends from the states there to show them. someone... come visit!