Kyrgyzstan is one of those forgotten nations of central Asia that always seems to be in the midst of civil war between various political and religious factions. When you look at its barren, mountainous landscape, it's hard to imagine what these people are fighting over. Yet that same forbidding jagged terrain is a paradise of sorts for hardy rock climbers. Back on August 12th, four Americans -- three men and one woman, sponsored by a sports gear company, tackled the challenging vertical pathways in the Kara-su Valley. These daredevils got a bit more adventure than they expected.
Halfway up the cliff face, they realized that someone was shooting at them. At first they thought that these were errant bullets from a hunting party. Then they saw a band of armed men near their base camp. The message was clear -- climb down, or we shoot you down. The climbers reached the bottom to find their campsite ransacked. The bandits, who called themselves rebels, had stolen their provisions, their two-way radios, and, more importantly, their warm clothing. At gunpoint, the brigands forced their hostages to march through the Kyrgyz badlands.
They traveled mainly at night. By day, their captors buried the hostages under rocks and brush to hide them from the army helicopters and patrols. Their only nourishment was the few bits of energy bars they had hidden away and a little stolen butter. For up to 17 hours a day, they had to lie still in the teeth-chattering cold.
One day, an army patrol caught up with the rebels, and a pitched battle erupted. For six hours, the hostages huddled in their filthy camouflage as the terrifying sounds of gunfire and mortar shells burst around them. The bandits captured a soldier and forced him to guide them to safety. The next day, as the Americans listened from their hiding places, they shot the soldier in cold blood.
On the sixth day, the bandits left two armed guards with their captives atop a ridge. The batteries in the walkie-talkie gave out, so one of the guards headed for the base camp to get fresh ones. Seizing the opportunity, the Americans overpowered the lone gunman and pushed him off the edge of a cliff. Then they fled across the craggy ground. Soon, the bandits were in hot pursuit. For four hours, the young Americans battled fatigue and topography and dodged bullets as they traversed eighteen miles of hostility. Then they caught sight of a Kyrgyz army camp. Their ordeal was over. A few days later, they were back in the security of home sweet home.
What's most surprising about this story is that, other than National Public Radio, none of the American news media picked it up. It wasn't on the news wires or in any major newspapers. The Internet news services, cable TV news networks, the broadcast networks -- none of them made the barest mention of this incredibly dramatic true tale of human endurance.
And even if the news media had reported this story, most Americans probably would have paid no attention. They were too fixated on the final episode of the summer's hit TV show. You know the one. It was called Survivor.