Registan Square in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Heart of the ancient Silk Road and crown jewel of Timur the Lame’s great empire.

Writing Wednesday?

We stayed as guests at a local camp. Our friendly hosts fed us huge meals and built a nice, warm fire in our yurt. We drank plenty of water to hold back the altitude sickness.

The locals are nomadic people whose ancestors have been coming to the lake for thousands of years. There are gravestones up there so old that images of the deceased were carved on them—because writing hadn’t been invented yet.

There are no trees that high up, but interesting wildlife abounds. You can see and hear marmots that sing like birds, many rare birds, mountain fish like salmon, and even the majestic yak!

They say Son-Kul is one of the only places where you can experience all four seasons in one day. When we were there, we saw a rainbow in the afternoon and snow flurries at night.

It’s Travel Tuesday. Son-Kul Lake in Kyrgyzstan is one of the most unique places I’ve visited. It’s almost 10,000 feet above sea level and takes 5 hours of off-roading to reach. No electricity, no cell signal, no phones. Just you and nature.