WHO WE ARE
We are small Kyrgyzstan based expedition company. We run serious and challenging expeditions across Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. We put together tough custom built expeditions for pre-existing groups. We have some existing routes but often expeditions are exploratory.
We accommodate all levels of fitness, experience and challenge. We have solid local knowledge, experience and support, combined with western training, qualifications and guiding standards. We love what we do so only run expeditions we guide ourselves, which means we stay small and focused on guiding, getting into the hills ourselves as much as possible.
We can also put together logistics and support for self-guided trips.
Patrick
Patrick spent a decade travelling Eurasia, before arriving in Kyrgyzstan in 2009. His first post in Kyrgzstan was ‘Hutman,’ in Ala-Archa national park, for the Kyrgyz Alpine Club. He’s since worked for a local company as everything from porter and cooks help to lead guide on a variety of expeditions. In this time Patrick’s developed an intrinsic understanding of local practice and an invaluable network of local friends and partners.
Patrick is an Outdoor Education Instructor and Guide having guided in Australia, Kyrgyzstan and abroad. He holds an Australian Guiding Qualification with training in a variety of outdoor disciplines.
Patrick’s adventures include some bike trips in Siberia and a 6000km solo ride across West China and Tibet, including riding into Everest Base Camp. In 2014 Patrick again completed a full 80hr Wilderness First Responder with NOLS.
Languages: Native English, Russian, Basic Kyrgyz
Rob
Rob’s grand dad was a shepherd, and his ancestors were the original Magyar nomads that traversed the wild northern steppe from Siberia to modern day Hungary, so he’s felt drawn to Central Asia since his first visit. He was educated during the USSR, so also understands well current geo-political transitions undergoing Kyrgyzstan.
Rob’s been active in the outdoors since the age of 11 and has led over 30 expeditions worldwide. He’s competed at international level in Orienteering, Ski-Orienteering and Rogaining and has run the Tenzig Norgay Everest Marathon. He has a Masters in Sports Science concentrated on High Altitude Physiology and as of 2014 holds a WEMT (Wilderness Emergency Medical Technician). Rob likes long walks on the beach at sunset and doesn’t eat hot meals.
Languages: Native Hungarian, English, Basic Russian
WHAT IS TENGRI?
Tengri is commonly accepted to be a word of Turkic origin, used by the Turkic Mongol tribes who, between the 6th and 9th centuries, migrated from the Yenisy River region in Siberia through the Tienshan Mountains and Central Asia to the Eastern European Steppe.
Tengri means, sky, heaven, celestial or blue, and was the governing force in ancient shamanistic beliefs of the region.
The Kyrgyz people are descendants of those nomadic tribes and the wild herders of today’s high altitude pastures still retain an intimate relationship with their natural environment. A proud respect rooted in old world nomadic beliefs. These beliefs can be evidenced all across Siberia and Central Asia.
We live and work in the Tienshan Mountains. Tienshan is the Mandarin name for the range, translated it means Celestial Mountians. In Kyrgyz the same range is known as Tengir Too, in Uzbek and Uyghur it is known as Tengri Tah. So the Mandarin word, Tien, from Tienshan, has a similar etymology to the word Tengri.
For us Tengri is mostly related to respect. Respect for culture and respect for environment.
Tengri relates to the traditional identity of local indigenous peoples and to the character of the wild environments we explore.
The Tienshan are beautiful, but as all natural environments are, they can also be dangerous. By respecting their potential and the mountain elements, we can enjoy them in greater safety.
An explanatory quote from an amazing book called “Genghis Khan,” by John Man.
“…missionaries spreading Buddhism and Christianity among nearby Turkic tribes made no impact on them. They were shamanists, retaining an ancient belief in the sanctity of natural events and objects. Rivers, springs, thunder, fire, sun, wind, rain, snow, such things were invested with significance, identified as the domains of the spirits. While the supreme power, Blue Heaven, Khokh Tenger, watched over events below with remote benevolence. Tenger means both Sky and Heaven, as the equivalent does in many languages, a distinction made later by a shift of emphasis, with Blue, increasingly replaced by eternal. Tenger could be sensed dimly by ordinary people if they climbed the highest peaks, or by shamans when they read the ominous cracks in the scorched shoulder bones of sheep. This faith was common to all central Asian peoples. Tenger, also spelled, Tngri, Tangra or Tengri, was the god of the 6th century Turkic tribes that migrated westward and eventually became Bulgarians.”
Please contact us directly on info@tengriexpeditions.com for further information or to discuss a program.