I stepped out from the warmth of the dark yurt to a freezing cold outside. In the gentle pre-dawn light, I spotted the beautiful rolling hills covered with a thin crust of overnight snow. A cold fog was flowing down from the heavens along the smooth contours of the surrounding hillscape. High above, the sky was aglow with a bright pink, while down below, horses and cattle gently grazed on the fresh summer grass.

This is life on the jailoo, a harsh, silent and beautiful landscape in the heart of the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Songkol

Kyrgyzstan