My Journey Through Kyrgyzstan

Rose
Sep 3
4 min read

When I joined the M2M Kyrgyzstan trip, I didn’t fully know what I was stepping into. A country I had never visited, a group of people I barely knew, and a journey that promised to push me into the unfamiliar. Yet from the very first moment, I had this gut feeling that it would be bigger than expected in every way…the landscapes, the laughs, the lessons. And I was right.

Ade and I on a hike to recce a valley with the group

This wasn’t just a trip through the mountains. It was an immersion into connection, growth, and perspective. A reminder of the power of nature, of people and of choosing to embrace life in all its unpredictability.

Left to Right: Rose, Hannah, Hannah, Will, Dave, Ian on a hike to explore another new valley

This journey was made possible through the charity Millimetres to Mountains (M2M) founded by Ed Jackson, and the relationship he has developed over the years with my partner and IFMGA Guide Ade Nelhams. Ade has been leading expeditions to the Kyrgyzstan mountains for over 20 years and has completed over 100 first ascents of virgin summits. He knows these mountains and valleys intimately and he has a deep connection with the land and the people that one only develops with a lifetime of adventure and exploration.

Ade and Ed using the latest recce technology (drone)

M2M, and Ed’s story, is nothing short of extraordinary: after a life-changing spinal cord injury, he faced the possibility of never walking again. Yet he defied the odds, step by painstaking step, climbing mountains both literal and metaphorical. He started with Snowdon and step by step he then worked his way up to bigger and more technical peaks. Last year with the support of Ade, he summited the Matterhorn and shortly after we left Kyrgyzstan Ade and Ed successfully summited a virgin peak!

Ade and Ed on the summit of Hope Peak - first ascent!

The name Millimetres 2 Mountains embodies Ed’s journey - the idea that progress, however small, accumulates into extraordinary achievements.

Traveling with Ade, Ed and the M2M community brought everything into sharp perspective for me. It wasn’t about “conquering” mountains or ticking off experiences; it was about embracing life. About cherishing health and the sheer ability to move, to breathe, to connect.

Hiking through one of the remote valleys from ABC

The Tian Shan mountains rise like a wall between earth and sky… huge jagged, snow-capped peaks standing guard over vast valleys, rivers, and alpine meadows.

They don’t reveal themselves easily.

Just to reach our base camp, we spent around eight hours rattling across off-road tracks in an old Soviet GAZ66, its engine roaring as it clambered over rocks and splashed through streams and delicately rolled over the most precarious wooden bridges.

M2M Kyrgyzstan expedition 2025 - Left to Right: Paul, Dave, Hannah, Rose, Ade, Hannah, William, Ed, Ian

The journey in the GAZ66 felt like a rite of passage. The dust, the bumps… the sheer remoteness swallowing us whole.

Our Gaz66 and an Edelweiss

When we finally rolled into the valley that would become our home, rebuilt the bridge and shuttled a months’ worth of food and equipment over… I felt as though we had crossed into another world. A place untouched, raw, and humbling.

But what struck me most wasn’t just the scenery; it was the silence.

Taking in the views back down to basecamp

A silence that demanded presence. A silence that made space for reflection, for laughter around the table, and for quietly listening to the stories of those around me.

Kyrgyzstan Shephard from the valley

Because travel is never just about the place; it’s about the people.

And I couldn’t have been in better company. Everyone who sat around the table had chosen to step into something bigger than themselves. We carried different backgrounds, struggles and hopes, but we walked the same paths, breathed the same thin air, and shared the same laughter under wonky headlamps and starlit skies.

An evening in the mess tent

In the Tian Shan, time stretches differently. Days are long and full of walking, of talking, of silence.

Nights fall heavy and star-bright.

Basecamp by night

And in that space, you start to notice things… With no distractions, no buzzing notifications, life distils down to the simplicity of each present moment. Stripped of comfort zones, connections feel more meaningful and in the vast valleys under towering mountains, your own worries begin to feel small in the most freeing way.

For me, the biggest lesson was growth. Growth in leaning into the unknown. Growth in seeing how resilience, when shared, becomes strength multiplied.

The team at ABC

I’ve travelled a fair share and I’ve been to some wonderful places, but Kyrgyzstan felt different. It wasn’t a glossy postcard version of adventure. It was raw, unpredictable, and sometimes uncomfortable... But that’s where the magic lies.

Loading up the horses ready to go find an advanced base camp

Kyrgyzstan showed me the beauty of seizing the opportunities available to us.

So say yes. Yes to new landscapes. Yes to new people. Yes to growth. Yes to living.

Riding around camp on the local shepherds horse

Coming home, the mountains still linger in my mind. The silence, the laughter, the sense of possibility. What Kyrgyzstan gave me wasn’t just memories, it was a mindset.

A mindset that life is richer when we embrace uncertainty.

That progress, however small, adds up to transformation.

That health is not to be taken for granted.

That connection - with people, with place, with purpose - is everything.

Hannah, Hannah and I on our last night at basecamp

This journey was bigger than the landscapes. It was about living with intention, about leaning into the unknown and about trusting that we are stronger, more resilient, and more capable than we imagine.

And that is what I will carry forward: to live with courage, gratitude, and openness.

To keep saying yes. To keep climbing - millimetre by millimetre.