Nurbek was the first link to our now long-time partner village—connected via a friend of a friend of a friend who lived on the other side of the Issyk-Kul Valley. During our scouting mission in the winter of 2009-10 we stayed at Nurbek's house with his wife, Aijarkyn, and their 3 amazing daughters, and quickly realized how perfect his setup is for both hosting clients and accessing the mountains we now operate in. Nurbek primarily worked as our village coordinator for the first few years of 40 Tribes operations—arranging and hosting the home stay, and also arranging horses as needed to transport food and group gear up to the yurts. When we discovered that Nurbek used to be a chef in the Kyrgyz army, we bought him an apron and invited him up to work with us at the yurts, and he has been our "Chief Chef" ever since. It's not uncommon to hear guests sing praises for his cooking, and both he and his cooking have evolved into a big part of the experience at Jalpak Tash. 40 Tribes would not be what it is today without Nurbek, his sweet family, and their willingness to take a leap of faith on this wild idea proposed by a group of foreigners many years ago.