Balykchy- the closest city to Bishkek on Lake Issyk-Kul (186 km). If you just want to look at the lake one day and return to the capital, you will have time to visit Balykchy. For a beach holiday, it is better to go further to Cholpon Ata or to the southern coast.

Cholpon Ata = civil beach holiday . Cholpon Ata - chief resort town on northern bank of Issyk-Kul. Go in the summer to swim in the lake and relax by the water.

Tourist infrastructure: hotels, guest houses, cafes are located in Cholpon Ata and neighboring villages from the village Tamchi to Korumdu.

There is sand and stones at the bottom, the water is clean. To the east of the village of Korumdu, the “black” side of the lake begins: there is clay at the bottom, the water is not clear.

From Cholpon Ata it is convenient to visit the Grigorievskoye and Semenovskoye gorges, thermal springs, petroglyphs, cultural center "Rukh Ordo".

South coast = wild beach holiday. The south of Lake Issyk-Kul is considered more picturesque, but less developed in terms of tourism. The choice of comfortable accommodation and cafes is still modest.

Come in summer with tents or live in yurts. Yurt campsites are located next to the Skazka canyon near the towns of Bokonbaevo, Kadzhi-Sai, and Tosor.

Karakol = mountains. No beaches, but from December to March there is a ski resort 10 km from the city. Many people celebrate New Year in Karakol.

From May to October, people go on one-day treks and multi-day mountain hikes from Karakol.

By car, visit the Karakol and Jeti Oguz gorges (Rocks of the Seven Bulls), waterfalls, Altyn-Arashan gorge, Broken Heart, Skazka canyon.

Do I need to book in advance?

In the spring, in order not to complicate my life, I rented housing online based on reviews.

Around the lake there are hotels, sanatoriums, cottages and private sector. In the summer, rooms are rented out in each house; you can choose on the spot if you have time.

Prices from 400-700 soms ( 6-10$ ) for a bed in a yurt/hostel up to 50-100$+ per day in hotels and cottages. Bed and breakfast rooms in guest houses 20-30$ .

Weather and season in Issyk Kul

The season in the mountains is from May to October, for climbing the peaks July-August, when all trails are accessible.

Swim in the lake: mid-June to August. During the day, air +21+28, water +20+22. In other months the water is icy and there is frequent rain.

In mid-April, only a dumb man did not tell me that the time was bad. +10+13, wet. We need it in the summer. I still believe that the time is always good if you fill your days with joy and don’t focus on the weather.

How to get to Issyk-Kul from Bishkek

Find transport from Bishkek to Lake Issyk-Kul at the Western Bus Station. You can get there by minibus or shared taxi.

Address: Bishkek, st. Chimkentskaya, 1
General taxi parking coordinates: 42.885137, 74.568090

Minibus

From Bishkek to Cholpon Ata 300 som(300 rub/4$), to Karakol 350 som (5$)

They depart when all seats are occupied. I waited for half an hour, returning from Karakol to Bishkek.

Just come to the station, go and see where the most passengers are gathered. Minibuses run from morning to evening.

Taxi

There are passenger cars (shared taxis) in front of the station; they leave when they are full. There are a lot of cars.

500-600 soms(500-600 RUR/9$) per person or 2000-2500 som($30-36) for the whole car.

On the way to Cholpon Ata 260 km, 4-4.5 hours, 405 km to Karakol, 5.5-6 hours. On the way, stop for lunch.

The Yandex taxi driver dropped me off at the shared taxi rank at 10.30 in the morning, and I immediately took the front seat in the Merc. 10 minutes later a family with a child arrived and we left.

Issyk-Kul in 4 days, route by car

Rent a car in Bishkek and go around the perimeter of the lake. Without a car it’s possible, you’ll just have to take a taxi or day trips to the mountains. Details below, but for now let’s imagine that you have a car.

Plan a trip around Lake Issyk-Kul for 4-5 days. It’s also possible in 2-3 days, it’s just tiring and you won’t have time to do much: the one-way trip from Bishkek takes half a day.

🐎 Logical route around Issyk-Kul on the map

The map can be enlarged and reduced. When you click on the icons, see photos of Issyk-Kul attractions.

Day 1. Bishkek-Cholpon Ata

▫ Departure from the center of Bishkek or from Manas airport at 8-9.00 am.

▫ Burana Tower- the oldest building in Central Asia(10th-11th centuries). Important architectural monument with a sad legend. You can climb the minaret. Views of the steppe and mountains, a museum underneath open air. Located 80 km from Bishkek near the city of Tokmok.
9.00-17.00 seven days a week
GPS: 42.746634, 75.250376

▫ Dinner in a roadside cafe. Just look where there are a lot of cars. The food in the canteens along the highway is normal, the prices are low (200 rubles for the first, second, compote).

▫ Arrival at Cholpon-Ata or one of the villages, check-in to a hotel/guest house.

▫ Excursion to the cultural center " Rukh Ordo» named after Ch. Aitmatov.
9.00-17.00 seven days a week
Entrance 400 som (400 rub/6$)
GPS: 42.648172, 77.095115

Rukh Ordo is the spiritual center of Issyk-Kul. Sculptures of historical figures, paintings, photos and five chapels in honor of the main religions: Buddhism, Judaism, Catholicism, Islam, Orthodoxy.

There is also a memorial house of Chingiz Aitmatov and a wonderful view of Issyk-Kul. I was lucky to be completely alone in the complex. It’s rare to have such a sincere and romantic time alone with yourself.

▫ Visit Petroglyph Museum — cave drawings and Neolithic inscriptions found around Lake Issyk-Kul and in the Chui Valley.
GPS: 42.661540, 77.057120

▫ Dinner at the restaurant “ Lamb» or any other in Cholpon Ata.

▫ Swimming in hot springs Ak-Bermet open air
8.00-22.00 seven days a week
GPS: 42.627311, 77.044881

From Bishkek to Cholpon Ata 260 km, 4-4.5 hours. Plus 1 hour for a circle to the Burana tower. General mileage per day if you visit all the places described above: 290 km, 6+ hours driving and 3-4 hours stopping for photos and visiting museums.

In Cholpon Ata they take boat rides on the lake

Day 2. Cholpon Ata - gorge - Karakol

▫ Moving from Cholpon Ata to Karakol, 150 km, 3 hours

▫ Visit along the way Grigorievsky And Semenovsky Gorge, additionally 3-4 hours for a trip through both gorges.

Grigorievskoye Gorge

The main advantage: these mountains are located only 40 km from Cholpon Ata behind the village of Grigoryevka. You can climb up Grigorievsky Gorge and go down to the highway through Semenovskoye.

The road in the mountains is unpaved; from autumn to spring problems due to avalanches are possible. In the rain and mud, the car “drives”. Safer in an SUV.

Route through the gorges on the map:

▫ Check-in to a hotel/guest house/yurt in Karakol.

▫ Excursion around Karakol. The city was founded by Russian settlers in 1869. Here you can see the wooden Dungan mosque (built without a single nail), the Holy Trinity Cathedral, parks, and a market.

▫ Hot springs in the evening Ak-Suu 15 km from Karakol, GPS: 42.462262, 78.539709

▫ Ashlamfu in Karakol- signature dish, don't miss it. Contains noodles, starch, sauce.

Manti in Karakol

Day 3. MOUNTAINS

▫ Trip to the ski resort and Karakol gorge
GPS: 42.303137, 78.485352

▫ Trip to the gorge Altyn-Arashan(“Golden Spring”), swimming in hot springs, overnight in a yurt Eco Yurt Camp Arashan.
GPS: 42.375820, 78.611852

You can go to the mountains on your own or contact Neofit (they organize excursions around the outskirts of Karakol).

Day 4. Karakol - Bishkek

▫ Return from Karakol to Bishkek along the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, 410 km, 6h 30min.

▫ Along the way there is a gorge " Jeti-Oguz"("Seven Bulls"). You can stay overnight and hike to the waterfalls along the “Valley of Flowers”. Overnight at the Golden Yurt yurt camp at an altitude of 2200m. The camp runs from May 5 to October 15.
GPS: 42.33777, 78.2315

▫ Trek to the waterfall Barskoon,GPS: 42.011728, 77.607603

▫ Visit to a picturesque Canyon "Fairy Tale", GPS: 42.156936, 77.358927

▫ Cultural Center « Aalam Ordo» exactly opposite Rukh Ordo, only on the southern bank, GPS: 42.198147, 77.223847

This is the maximum program. The road along the south of the lake is worse than the north, but more picturesque. Minibuses going to Bishkek don’t like to travel on it.

If you don’t have a car, you need to negotiate with a shared taxi driver or hire a separate car to see the south.

North road beautiful too

Issyk-Kul on your own without a car

My route:

Day 1. Bishkek→Cholpon Ata

▫ 10.30 departure from the Western bus station of Bishkek by shared taxi, 600 som/person

▫ 15.00 arrived in Cholpon Ata, checked into a family room Issyk-Kul Svetlana (rating 9.7 ).

Lovely family, clean, delicious homemade breakfasts. From the window there is a view of the lake, there is a passage to the beach.

The center is 2 km away, the owner Victor took us to the bank and the Narodny supermarket and told us everything.

He himself organizes excursions and takes tourists around the surrounding area in a jeep (gorges, hot springs, petroglyphs). Alas, he was busy, but he found me a car for tomorrow for a trip to the Grigorievskoye Gorge.

▫ 15.30 Spent an hour in the Rukh Ordo complex (400 som)

▫ To the hot springs Ak-Bermet I didn’t go, although the owner offered to take me for 100 soms.

▫ 17.30 I was just asking passers-by where to eat in Cholpon-Ata. We recommended the restaurant "Lamb".

What will you eat? (they like the word “eat” here)
-Something simple without fat and meat.
-Take our signature salad.

OK. They bring 3 kg of warm veal, stewed with mushrooms and peppers. Such a light salad. I honestly have never seen so much meat anywhere. I also foolishly ordered trout fillet (350 g) and a liter of tea.

Gave 1000 soms (1000 rubles /15$ ) and stood up a little, although she didn’t even eat half of it. A shocking amount for dinner in Kyrgyzstan, but tasty and unusual.

Day 2. Grigorievskoe Gorge→Karakol

▫ 10.20. Departure from Cholpon Ata to the Grigorievskoye Gorge by taxi ( 1500 som/ 22$ per car). They sell it in summer group excursions for 500 som.

Again in the summer, yurts are set up in the Grigorievsky Gorge and horses are brought. You can ride, sleep/eat/drink, take pictures with birds.

The whole excursion took 1h30min from the threshold of the guest house to the highway. During this time, they showed me a small stream of water - like a waterfall, and we simply drove along a dirt road in the mountains along the river.

But I met some yaks. They used to live high in the mountains (yak loves 3000m+), people hunted them. If I needed meat, I went and shot it. Now little yaks are walking with horsemen and their cows. Animals began to be tamed about 7 years ago. Domesticated and bred.

▫ 11.50 returned with the driver to the highway to Grigoryevka, waited for a passing minibus

▫ 12.30 minibus Grigoryevka-Karakol, 110 km, 2 hours, 120 soms

Clean and warm lakes for us!

Mila Demenkova

Route book: No. was not issued

Area: Kyrgyzstan

Route: Around Lake Issyk-Kul

Running days: 23

Route length, km: 990

Number of participants: 3

Three weeks is the optimal period for inspecting everything we have planned.

It probably made sense to leave a week, or maybe two, earlier because... on the lake, and even more so on the passes and valleys, it was already very cold at night, although it did not reach frost. By the end of the hike, the water in the lake, which was not very warm, became much colder (about 17 degrees), which, however, did not stop us from swimming in the morning.

The guide at the Przhevalsky Museum, a very nice elderly woman, said that this year is very cold and the winter will apparently be harsh because... Already on September 6, a yellow leaf appeared on the birch tree, and snow fell in the mountains.

To travel to Kyrgyzstan you do not need a passport and do not need a visa. Russians can stay in Kyrgyzstan without registration for up to 90 days.

After purchasing tickets for an Aeroflot flight (RUB 21,000), we carefully studied the baggage rules. To eliminate problems, we called the airline 2 weeks in advance and informed that we were carrying oversized cargo - bicycles whose weight does not exceed 20 kg (the ticket limit was 20 kg) and indicated their dimensions in height, length and width in centimeters in disassembled form ( we were given the number of our request). 2 days later we called back and received verbal permission to transport bicycles there and back. You could carry another 10 kg into the cabin hand luggage, but its dimensions and contents were specified. We were ready to pay about 5 kg of excess weight (7 euros per kg), but this was not required.

Among the equipment we had a three-person tent, an awning, a multi-fuel burner (we only used gasoline and bad gasoline), a bow saw, a hatchet (we could have done without it), a tagana grille, canchiki, several plastic bottles for water and gasoline, a first aid kit and repair kits with a large number of patches, spare tubes and spare brake pads.

The bicycles were packed with special care. Tubes were inserted into the front and rear forks so that they would not be broken or bent, the rear derailleur with the cock was unscrewed, I tied the wheels to the frame with rubber bands (stars inside the frame) so that they formed a single whole with it. Inside the frame I packed tent poles and a telescopic spinning rod. On the outside, I lined the bike with foam and a bike backpack and wrapped it all with stretch thin polyethylene film (stretch), dispensing with a bike cover, although finding a roll of stretch on the market in Bishkek was not easy.

Losses after the flight - one broken spoke and a bent trunk.

It is best to exchange rubles for soms (1 ruble ~ 1.4 soms) in the center of Bishkek at the intersection of Moskovskaya and Sovetskaya (MosSovet) streets, there are many exchangers, some work around the clock. There were also exchangers in Karakol (Przhevalsk), Cholpon-Ata and Balykchi (Rybachye ), but the exchange rate there is less favorable.

As for prices: lunch in a cafe for three (without alcohol) rarely cost us more than 500 - 600 soms. Melons cost 20-30 soms per kg, tomatoes at the market in Bishkek from 7 to 15 soms per kg, lamb 170-200 soms per kg, flatbread 20 soms, seven-year-old cognac 230 soms, visiting hot springs from 150 soms per person, rent a one-room apartment apartment in Bishkek for the night from 1000 soms.

The most economical way to get to Balykchy (Rybachye) is by train, which runs only in the summer months - the price is about 70 soms and another 30 for luggage, but the train leaves Bishkek at 4.25 am, the next option is an Ikarus type bus with luggage compartments(150+50 soms) - runs from the new bus station. At the bus station you can hire a taxi for about 1,500 soms per car, but first think about where to put your luggage :).

We collected bit by bit information about what was worth seeing, implemented most of our plans and made no mistakes.

Boom Gorge.

Canyons near Kök-Moinok (overnight on the Chu River).

Salty (dead) lake Karakol.

Fairy tale (next to Tosorchik).

Barskoon Gorge (monument to Gagarin, waterfall, pass, Lake Jashilkel).

Juuku Gorge (red rocks, hot spring).

Chong-Kyzylsu gorge (mountain spring Djilusu).

Jeti-Oguz gorge (seven bull rocks, broken heart rock, meadow of flowers, waterfall, side gorges with yellow and red aeolian rocks).

Arashan Gorge (Aksu resort, Altynarasan folk resort - we didn’t get there).

Przhevalsky Museum and the grave of Nikolai Mikhailovich.

Sukhoi Ridge (unparalleled views of Tyup Bay, Przhevalsky Bay and mountains).

Semenovskoye Gorge and drive through the pass to

Grigorievskoye Gorge (high-mountain lake Syuttuu Bulak?, horseback riding to the waterfalls).

Chronology of the campaign

1 day

Boom Gorge.

An unforgettable gorge for its beauty, through which the road from Bishkek to Issyk-Kul goes. Stunning views that we saw from the car window. Riding through the gorge on a bicycle is very difficult busy traffic transport.

We were unloaded on a road bridge over the Chu River, which is 15 km upstream from the Red Bridge of the Boom Gorge. On the opposite bank of the river from the highway we collected bicycles. This bridge is clearly visible from the highway; there is an asphalt road across it to the Orto-Tokoy Reservoir. We planned to see the fantastic aeolian canyons that begin 5 km from the bridge. A dirt road leads to them (downstream of the river). You need to drive through the village of Kek-Moinok, then follow the road through the cemetery for a little more than a kilometer. There are an infinite number of canyons. They are quite narrow, sometimes with high vertical walls about 40 meters high. The bizarre turns of their labyrinths lead far from the entrance, revealing more and more new pictures. Several hours flew by unnoticed; I wanted to endlessly look and be amazed at this incredibly beautiful splendor.

We spent the night on the banks of the Chu River. We managed to catch small trout using maggots, the size of minnows. Surprised by mosquitoes.

Day 2

It was sunny and warm in the morning; it turned out that the wheels were pierced with thorns. The spines are small and thin, like the point of a needle 2-3 mm in length; they must be picked out of the tire to avoid repeated punctures. We didn’t know then that punctures would happen all the time when driving from asphalt to dirt roads. We reached Issyk-Kul and purchased food for 3 days in Balykchy at the central market. We waited out the thunderstorm while having lunch in a cafe. A gust of wind knocked down all the partitions in the yard. Having filled our bottles with water, we drove along the southern shore of the lake. We spent the night on the shore, not reaching 1 km from Ottuk. In the evening a thunderstorm came from the south, but not for long. An incredible evening. The Rybachy lights on the other side of the lake, the Mullah’s call to prayer, stars, salt marshes, thorns and an endless number of unprecedentedly large mosquitoes that do not bite.

Day 3

It's warm and sunny in the morning, we swim in Issyk-Kul, we glue the cameras - today everyone made it through. We try to drink salty tea from the lake. Beyond Ottuk, apple trees grow along the road, we pick apples, swim somewhere beyond Kara-Tala (we saw a ramp to the lake through the iron “collective farm” gates) and have lunch in a cafe, having crossed the Ak-Terek River (there is a spring on the left before the bridge). To Kyzyl -You need to turn off the asphalt to get to dead lake Karakol. A road with picturesque views runs along the Ak-Terek River and leads to the Issyk-Kul Bay, where the farm is located, there is also a lake, but this is not Karakol. It’s still a few kilometers away along a sandy road (14 km from the asphalt). If you reached the barrier and were charged 50 soms, then you are at the salt lake Karakol. In the springs that bubble up on the shore of the lake you can get fresh water (a little brackish, but cold). The water in the lake is very salty and warm, there are many vacationers here. A very unusual bathing experience. It is impossible to dive deep - it immediately pushes you in. Less than a kilometer from the salt lake is the Issyk-Kul Bay. We spend the night there on the shore.

4 day

The morning is sunny and warm. We swim in the lake. Attempts to fish are unsuccessful. Where are you, oh my zanders, will I catch you? We return along the previous road to Kyzyl-Tuu, have lunch in a cafe and go to the pass. The calm before the storm, the steam room is like a bathhouse, the ride is hard. The thunderstorm is coming from the south from the mountains. She catches up with us, lightning flashes, but we are already rushing down from the pass and wait for her at the stop in Ak-Sai. Here we turn off the road into the mountains and reach Kek-Sai, taking another pass. We stop in a guest yurt to drink tea. The hosts are very hospitable and welcoming. Tea is served with ayran, flatbread, melted butter, kaymak (real sour cream), currant and apricot jam. We are sitting on pillows, wrapped in blankets (baiting), a thunderstorm is raging outside. The owner tells us about the short road from Lake Karakol to Ak-Sai. We needed to go forward, not go back. We decide to stay overnight in the yurt. For dinner they serve argali meat fried with onions and fried potatoes - kurdaak. Then tea drinking, conversations and a whole ceremony of making the beds in the yurt.

5 day

The morning is sunny and warm. We glue the flat tire again. After having breakfast and paying the hosts (YurtCamp company = 2000 soms for three for tea + dinner + tea + overnight + breakfast), we leave this cozy place, from where horse groups are led to the mountains, and continue our journey through this wonderful valley. Proud snowy peaks rise to the right, and Issyk-Kul stretches beyond the mountains to the left. And in the valley itself there is a rich carpet of grasses on which herds graze, hay is prepared and where irrigation ditches rustle with clean mountain water. The dirt road took us through the villages of Jer-Uy and Temir-Kanat, and after climbing the pass, it opened up a delightful view of a wide valley, where several streams merged into one noisy stream. We marked the place just beyond the pass near the stream as suitable for spending the night. The noisy stream managed to completely demolish the bridge, but this did not stop us from crossing to the other side on concrete slabs and again ending up on the road leading to Bokonbaevo through Tura-Suu. Having purchased food for 2 days, we found out the way to Kargon-Bulak and again left for the mountains, without stopping at Issyk-Kul. The long and difficult climb to the pass 2540m began. Behind me was a mirror of the lake, behind which rose the snowy peaks of the northern coast, and in front was a forest of Tien Shan spruce. How wonderful it is to see the forest again, and not bare stones. We collected water from the house before taking off to the pass (when we saw that the bed of the running stream at some point turned out to be dry). Having crossed, we immediately stopped for the night in the forest. There was no thunderstorm in the evening. There was a huge starry sky, faint lights in the valley and on the opposite shore of the lake, and cosmic cold.

Day 6

The morning is sunny and warm. My dream came true: I saw a snow hare and a teleut squirrel:). All morning I galloped along the edge of the forest with a camera. After breakfast we went down to Korgon-Bulak and again climbed to the pass, which turned out to be 40 m higher than the first. The descent from the pass was quite steep, then we found ourselves in a valley from which there was no visible exit. Amazing mountain panoramas appear before you. Around a sharp turn, the road dives into a narrow and stunningly picturesque canyon in which the Tesh-Sor River flows, rushing its waters to Issyk-Kul. This canyon alone is worth overcoming two passes.

Having reached the asphalt, we turned to the West to drive 2 km towards Bokonbaevo along the asphalt to a drying creek bed, which is surrounded by concrete slabs, and along the dry bed we went up another kilometer to see a truly unforgettable and amazing highlight of the entire coast - " A fairy tale." I think we walked for at least 3 hours and enjoyed the splendor that Nature has created. And the evening light gave the brightest, most intense experiences of what he saw. When the last tourists left this place, we decided to spend the night here to watch the dawn in Skazka. We even found water here.

The night was endless. The dream was difficult. Apparently some kind of fumes influenced us or it was due to the abundance of impressions, but I have never seen such nightmarish tales at night again.

Day 7

The morning was cloudy. Having said goodbye to the Fairy Tale, we set off. In Tamga we bought food and, after having lunch in a cafe, decided to take a shortcut to Barskaon, but after passing the airfield we got lost. The locals helped. The road from Barskaon, although unpaved, is in good condition. It is watered daily. Huge trucks drive along it to the mine where gold is mined. I was very impressed by the canyon in which the Barskaun River flows. The headwind did not allow us to go far and the approaching southern mountains a thunderstorm forced us to stay in a yurt next to the Gagarin monument at the waterfall. We were glad that we spent the night in a yurt. The thunderstorm was very strong and it seemed that the next gust would blow away our yurt along with us and our bicycles.

Day 8

The weather improved and we were in the mood for a feat. We planned to take the 3754m pass to see the Arabel stone desert, spend the night on Lake Jashilkol and see the demons of this desert. But it seems demons came last night and tried to stop us. At the 28 km cordon (former store building) we stopped to drink mare's milk and tea. We were greeted by very nice people. The owner invited us for tea and did not advise us to go to the lake to spend the night, but said that we could easily get to the first crossing of 3442 m. We left our bicycle backpacks and rode lightly in just over an hour to the first pass. It was very cold and uncomfortable there - it was raining with snow, a strong wind was blowing, nothing was visible - the demons did not want to let us in. The hospitable hosts invited us to visit next summer and were ready to provide housing and food for 500 soms per day. They also offered to organize horseback riding tours to the mountains for the same money. They showed photographs of those who had visited them in past years. Very nice and decent people - we recommend them. After lunch we went down to Issyk-Kul, where a local allowed us to put up a tent behind his garden on the shore, borrowing 100 soms - we agreed.

Day 9

The morning was sunny and warm. We admire the lake and the clouds above it. Swimming and sealing punctures have become traditional for overnight stays on the lake. After driving about 10 km we stopped to swim again. In Saruu we bought food and had lunch in a small canteen, which is often visited by local residents; the food was delicious and the portions were large. In the same village we turned onto the dirt road leading to the Dzhuku gorge. A very beautiful gorge. Behind us remained the expanse of Issyk-Kul, and ahead we flaunted Mountain peaks. We stopped for the night on the spout of two tributaries near the red rocks. The place was damp, near the road, but no one disturbed us.

10 day

As soon as the sun illuminated the tent, it immediately became warm and I wanted to get out as quickly as possible to sunbathe in the sun. Red rocks, incomparable in their beauty, rose next to us. We have never seen anything like this in any other gorge. We drove along the orographically right tributary (Dzhukuchak) and in less than 5 km we arrived at a hot spring, which was located in a stone yurt. Giuka - comfortable resort, there are several residential buildings here. While we were waiting for our turn to take hot baths (150 soms for 1 hour per person), they kindly agreed to charge the battery for the camera. Here in the gazebo we met pleasant interlocutors. The attitude towards Russians is very good. Almost the entire adult population speaks Russian.

It’s a pity that time did not allow us to explore the gorge of the left tributary of the Dzhuku and we were forced to return to Saruu. We lost sight of the fact that today is the holiday of September 1st and the celebrations in the dining room have not yet ended :). The head of the village of Saruu kindly invited us to drive our bicycles into the administration building (next to the canteen) and we still managed to have lunch. The men had already finished celebrating, but the women continued to celebrate the holiday in a separate room. Everyone is dressed modernly, the young Kyrgyz women are very attractive and friendly. There was a sense of celebration throughout that day, it was very pleasant.

At 16 o'clock we arrived in Pokrovka. At the market we replenished our supply of food, bought steamed lamb and watermelon and rushed to the next Chong-Kyzylsu gorge (the turn into the gorge immediately before the bridge over the Chong-Kyzylsu river). When we passed a large village, the sun had already disappeared behind the ridges and one and a half kilometers from the village we stopped for the night in the sea buckthorn thickets on the shore of Chong-Kyzyl-Suu.

Day 11

In the morning the sun is back and the tires are broken again. About 12 km separated us from the hot spring, which they managed to improve this year. There is probably no need to say that this gorge was also fabulous in its beauty. The breath of autumn was felt most strongly here. Tall graceful spruces rose on the slopes of the mountains. We took a half-day and took long hot baths. In the evening we climbed a hill free of forest to admire the sunset.

12 day

Sunny but cool. The nights in the gorges are very cold. We drove down to Pokrovka and drove towards Jetioguz. I remember the repair work on the road ~ 5 km (crushed stone was poured in the middle of the roadway - this is the separator). From the highway to the resort itself there is asphalt. In Jeti-Oguz itself we bought some groceries and had lunch in the dining room, opposite the mosque. Rain is coming. From Jeti-Oguz to the resort it is about 10 km. We stopped for the night just above the resort (behind the bridge over the river), next to cyclists from Novosibirsk. Great guys, it’s a pity we didn’t have much time to talk more.

Day 13

Sunny, cool - we are going to a meadow of flowers (about 6 km from the bridge). Along the road there are 2 springs with live and dead water. The Meadow of Flowers is a magnificent place, I can’t even imagine how beautiful it is there in the spring. We crossed the bridge and drove along the road through a birch grove, after 3 km we reached the guest yurts, where we agreed to leave the bicycles and go see the waterfall ourselves. The steep slope trail offers magnificent views of the valley and mountains. There are many tourists here. Coming from the waterfall, we bought ayran and flatbread. We returned to the resort and, in good weather, admired the “Seven Bulls” rocks, which from the Issyk-Kul side form the “Broken Heart” rock.

We decided to spend the night in this gorge, because... We no longer had time to get to either Teploklyuchenka or the toll Karakol gorge (200 soms per person), and we didn’t want to spend the night in Przhevalsk.

If you drive from the resort to Issyk-Kul, then immediately after the “Broken Heart” to the right of the road you can see small gorges (two for sure, but maybe more) with bizarre outcrops of red and yellow rocks. Some of them have streams and where you can spend the night. There is something to see and photograph there, especially in the evening light, I assure you.

We set up our camp in one of these gorges and were even invited to visit by a shepherd who grazed cattle there. Simple and at the same time unusual treats were presented with all their hearts and, of course, there were topics for conversation.

At night, a strong thunderstorm came from the western part of the lake, but only a small part of it reached us. Powerful flashes of lightning illuminated the tent, and peals of thunder made everyone shudder.

Day 14

It's cloudy in the morning. After saying goodbye to the shepherd, we set off towards Przhevalsk. Rain is coming. It was like in a song - a continuous veil over Issyk-Kul and did not stop until the evening. From the gas station in Jeti Oguz to Przhevalsk - 18 km. After lunch in Przhevalsk and purchasing groceries, we went to Teploklyuchenka. Everyone was soaked through, it was very cold. There are still 12 km to the heat switch. And it’s another 6 km from Teploklyuchenka to the Aksu resort. At the fork in the road (already in the valley behind Teploklyuchenka) we turned left to the well-equipped Aksu resort with hot radon baths. The right road leads to the Altynarashan folk resort, but it is much further away. For 900 soms, three people rented a room, where they rolled up their bikes and ran to bask in the radon baths. There we were able to see and listen to folk artists - performers of folk songs (Sadykov?), who sang very beautiful and melodious songs in national costumes.

Day 15

It rained at night, which turned into snow in the morning. But by 10 o'clock the sun came out and it began to get warmer. The mountains around were covered in snow, it was very beautiful. We drove back through Przhevalsk towards the port where the Przhevalsky Museum is located, which is open until 17.00. The museum is located in beautiful park, on the high bank of Issyk-Kul. The grave of Nikolai Mikhailovich is also located there. A very sweet grandmother gave us a tour - thank you very much! Then we had to go to Przhevalsk again to visit the exchange office and already at dusk we arrived in Mikhailovka, and in complete darkness we camped for the night in roadside bushes 1.5 km from the village above a cliff, where we didn’t dare go down at night to spend the night by the water .

Day 16

It seems that the weather is deteriorating in the evening, the wind is picking up, but in the morning it is always sunny and warm. As always, in the mornings on the shore of the lake we glue the wheels and swim. Fishing with a spinning rod does not bring results - it is shallow and mud clings, but it was in the mouths of fresh rivers that pike perch were promised. Although there are many fishermen at the very mouth of Jergalan. It was decided not to return to the asphalt, but to go around the Dry Ridge. Before reaching the village of Issyk-Kel there is a very beautiful poplar grove on the shore ( perfect place for an overnight stay). In the village of Peschany, a very cheerful local cyclist kindly invited us to tea and told us about the harsh life on the Dry Ridge, where there is almost no water and problems with feed for livestock. But it is from here that a stunning panorama of the northern ridge and Tyup Bay opens up. The mountains stood so majestic and gray from the suddenly fallen snow, and mighty birds circled over the ridge in the rising currents. We were able to have a snack and buy groceries only at the market in Tyup. Having crossed the Tyup River, we turned left and along the asphalt we arrived at a very picturesque cape jutting into the lake. The place, judging by the amount of garbage, is frequented, but in the evening there was no one here (except for the owners of the house standing nearby).

Day 17

Got up before sunrise. KMK took some good photos. Fishing luck rewarded me with the most magnificent landscapes, three good bites, one cliff and a pike perch :). The place is very wonderful, but it is completely devoid of any bushes and we still had to drive away the calves that kept sneaking up to the tent in the morning. We left late because... We fried pike perch and finished off the watermelon. We had lunch at Ananyevskaya dining room (very tasty). We spent the night at dusk in the roadside bushes on a ditch (on the map there is a stream) exactly in the middle between Ananyevo and Semyonovka (the water in the stream was clean), driving 1 km from the highway towards the mountains. There is real suffering in the fields - combines rumble, tractors and old lawns drive by. This is a return to the eighties - nostalgia.

Day 18

It’s a quiet morning and we are in a strip of bushes between the fields, where people are already working. We brew aromatic coffee over the fire. The emerald waters of the lake sparkle in the morning haze of a sunny day, and behind us rises mountain range. Beauty and splendor all around. In Semyonovka we stop at a store, buy cognac and cigarettes as always :) and drive up the Semyonovka Gorge. The road winds for a long time among the plateau and then dives into the gorge. Once again, spruce and birch trees delight the eye. You can already feel the approach of autumn. The pointer indicates the presence ski resort. Behind the forester's farm there is a fork in the road straight to the Sutbulak pass, and our road turns left to the Kek-Bel pass. Behind the bridge over the tributary we have a snack and begin to force the steep ascent of the pass. The descent turns out to be just as steep. Our goal is a high-mountain lake, but from the pass it is not visible, but only the road that leads to it is visible. We cross the tributary over the bridge and begin the tiring climb to the lake (another 6.5 km). Tourists came to the lake and we decided to spend the night above the lake, and for one buy ayran from a shepherd (marked on the map as an MTF 1 km above the lake, which is not on the map). The tea party ended with dinner, and we decided on a 5-hour horseback ride to the waterfall on the left tributary of the Chong-Ak-Suu. We spent the night in a tent opposite the camp.

Day 19

We got up early, packed up the camp and went to have breakfast with the shepherd Talan. At 9 am we were already in the saddles. The waterfall has three stages - it’s very beautiful, it’s about 4 km away, but it takes about 2 hours to get there on horseback or on foot. The gorge is also very beautiful. The guide advised us to look at the ridges - where you can see argali, but, alas, we did not have the chance. Along the way we encountered numerous thickets of wild currants and rose hips. We returned around 14:00 and after an hour of rest we moved to the bicycle saddles. Dinner, breakfast, lunch and horseback riding cost us 5,000 soms for three, which is more than 3 times more expensive than similar services on the southern shore of the lake, but horseback riding in the mountains left a strong impression even on experienced riders. We drove down the most beautiful Grigorievsky Gorge. The landscape was filled with autumn colors and in the soft evening light was amazingly beautiful. A graceful stream, falling steeply through huge boulders, was in a hurry to bring its waters to Issyk-Kul and its deep catches looked into the sky like crystal clear turquoise.

But the lower we descended, the more vacationers, guest yurts, cars, barbecues with barbecues we encountered, and the more the clouds thickened over the mountain tops and the more fiercely the lightning flashed. We spent the night on the shore of Issyk-Kul opposite the last house of the village of Kurumdu in the thickets of sea buckthorn. At night there was a strong surf, but in the morning it calmed down.

Day 20

There's a thunderstorm in the northern mountains, and it's summer again! We swim in the lake, sunbathe and, as usual, patch up broken tires. We bought a melon at the market in Bosteri. The entire coastline is in boarding houses. After lunch at a cafe and a visit to the call center in Cholpon-Ata, we decide to take another swim and have difficulty finding the entrance to the water in front of Bayetovka.

We stopped for the night after passing Tamchy. An asphalt ramp along the fence of the boarding house leads to poplars on the shore of the lake, where we put up our tent in a clearing among reeds and sea buckthorn bushes. In the evening the wind rises and drives low thunderclouds over the lake. In the evening we sit for a long time by the fire and listen to the night.

21 day

The sun greets us again! Our hike is ending and I want to linger in summer at least a little longer, absorb the fresh breath of the lake along with the sun’s rays, enjoy the sun’s glare on the transparent surface and listen to such a gentle and lazy morning surf. I walk along the edge of the water along a deserted beach, leaving a chain of footprints on the warm sand, and Asia leaves the same traces in my memory and in my heart, and I want to come back here again!

The closer you get to Balykchy, the more the landscape resembles a stone desert. Only ephedra bushes brighten up the harsh landscape. Having passed Sary-Kamysh, we turn onto the dirt road leading to the shore of the lake. Among the rare sea buckthorn bushes, we spent a long time choosing a place for a tent. There are no more than 5-7 km left to Rybachy. After lunch, the wind picks up and short-term rain gives way to a rainbow.

Our afternoon bliss was disturbed by the hum of the turbines (in three weeks we managed to wean ourselves off it). Two pairs of SU-25s passed over us in full combat suspension, making a combat turn over the mountains and shooting off decoys - they launched missiles at ground targets. And this happened several times, and then again at night. It was very wise to arrange an overnight stay opposite the training ground :)

Day 22

Sunny. We get ready and arrive in Rybachye in less than an hour. We disassemble the bikes and pack them in covers. And we take a taxi to Bishkek, once again enjoying the views of the Boom Gorge. We spend the night in an apartment. In the evening we walk around the city - it’s very warm, we’re surprised that we don’t need to wear fleece, hats and vests. We went to the kiyashnik :)

Day 23

In the morning we go to see the Sunday market. A lot of people, a lot of goods, vegetables, fruits, nuts, honey - everything is very colorful, colorful, noisy. Next, taxi, airport and hello Capital!

Despite the cordiality and hospitality, always inquire in advance about the cost of a particular service, so as not to overpay 2-3 times.

When buying vegetable oil, ask if it is cottonseed oil (a very specific product).

You can poison yourself with kumiss, even to the point of death (it is important to know in what container it was prepared).

Mare's milk (even in not very large quantities) has the effect of completely cleansing the body :).

After a week, the patches on the bicycle tubes begin to etch and the tube needs to be either vulcanized or a new one installed.

It’s pointless to fish with a spinning rod from the shore - the grass clings, and pike perch only takes at the confluence of the Tyup and Dzhergalan rivers, but catching small chebak with a fishing rod in the vicinity of Rybachy is problematic due to the wind and waves that intensify in the evening.

In the vicinity of Rybachye the bottom of the lake is muddy, further from Ottuk to Lake Karakol the bottom is sandy, and in the Barskoon area it is already rocky, but you can swim everywhere.

What would I change in the route:

When the route was being planned, I really wanted to spend as much time as possible on the lake, but now it seems to me that the most interesting were the roads along the gorges and valleys away from the lake. Maybe I was tired of passing motorists honking their horns in greeting on the highway around Issyk-Kul :)? But now I would change the route so that after visiting the canyons near Kök-Moinok, I would go not to Rybachye, but to Ottuk through the Orto-Tokoy Reservoir. Then, after spending the night on the shore, I would again go to the mountains, turning into Kara-Shaare on the road along the Tuura-Suu river and, driving through the Ala-Bash pass (2365), I would look at the petroglyphs. Then I would go down to Kara-Koo through Den Talaa. Then I would drive to the salt lake Karakol, but then I would not return to Kyzyl-Tuu, but would try to drive along the shore of Issyk-Kul to Tong Bay, and then on the road go to Kyok-Sai and then along our route, visiting all the gorges.

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There was a desire to see and photograph Khan Tengri, Lake Merzbacher and Pobeda Peak, reaching base camps, but it seems to me that this is a separate trip and, most likely, without bicycles :)

October 9th, 2010

When the Kyrgyz say that they are going to Issyk-Kul, this does not mean that they are going to swim or otherwise spend time near the water. Most likely, they are heading to their home village or to relatives, and it will be very far from there to the water. Also, my “first coming” to Issyk-Kul this year took place mainly away from Issyk-Kul itself. After Kochkor I went to the village of Aksu near the city of Karakol. My friend Nurlan’s father-in-law, who lived there, recently died. Relatives were supposed to gather for forty days. And either Nurlan invited me, or I asked for it myself, but on the appointed day and hour I was also there.

On the way I stopped in for a couple of days resort village Kaji-Sai, which I liked last year. At the end of the summer I returned there for two weeks. I’ll tell you about it separately later. That's where Kadzhi-Sai is located at the very end of the cape.

The name of the village Aksu is translated as “white river”, meaning “mountain river”. The Russian name is Teploklyuchenka (due to the hot radon springs nearby). Settlements around Issyk-Kul now often have two names - old Russian and new Kyrgyz. Kyrgyz, as a rule, is official. But not always: if the official name is still Russian, it means that the majority of the inhabitants in that place are Slavs.

The Kirghiz, like the Russians, remember the dead on the fortieth day and a year later. But, unlike the Russians, the funeral here lasts several days. On the first day, only relatives gather. Anyone can come on the second and third days.

In the morning, the women prepared borsok - traditional Kyrgyz bread in the form of individual small pieces.

The relatives gradually gathered.

This woman did not have children for a long time. And only in the second marriage a son was finally born.

A mullah came (in Kyrgyz “moldo”), and before slaughtering the sheep, they read a prayer.

According to custom, at the father-in-law's funeral, the animal must be slaughtered by the deceased's son-in-law. But Nurlan has long since become a “city dweller”; he doesn’t know how to slaughter sheep, so he only symbolically sharpened his knife.

According to Muslim tradition, when slaughtering cattle, blood should not be spilled on the ground. Therefore, it is collected in basins.

While the sheep were being slaughtered, the guests chatted cheerfully about something.

Then we prayed some more. Notice the woman in the blue headscarf on the left. This is Nurlan's mother-in-law. According to custom, the widow should wear a dark loose scarf. Married women wear headscarves tied at the back.

After the prayer, the sheep were butchered. Having removed the skin from the animal, the Kyrgyz leave it lying on the ground, using it as a “table” for subsequent processing of the carcass.

Almost the entire animal is used for food. They burn the hair on the head and legs in order to cook them too.

This is a traditional Kyrgyz table. They eat while sitting on the floor, on mattresses. One city friend once told me that it was unusual and uncomfortable for her to eat while sitting on a chair :)

After Aksu, we went to another village, where they commemorated our grandfather, who died a long time ago. There, too, they slaughtered a sheep and invited guests.

And THIS grew along the roads. They say that Issyk-Kul IS the best in Kyrgyzstan.

Then Nurlan and his family went back to Bishkek, and I stayed in the city of Karakol, the center of the Issyk-Kul region.
Previously it was called Przhevalsky, in honor famous traveler, who died here. Not far from the city there is his grave and museum. This is a map of his travels in the museum.

I was already in Karakol last year. This time I stopped at guest house"Yak Tours" He is quite popular with Western tourists, of which you can find many there. Because it’s cheap - 350 soms for a place in a room (private, if you’re lucky) with a shared shower and toilet. And you can leave your things there when you go to the mountains. And, of course, since there are a lot of people there, you can find travel companions for the trek.

There are still many Russians left in the city. One day I attended a celebration in a local church. They celebrated something related to the main icon of the temple. A lot of people gathered. Even our military personnel serving here came.

When entering the temple, you had to walk under the icon (this, they say, makes your wish come true) and kiss the cross.

This church, by the way, is quite famous and is mentioned in all guidebooks. Another attraction of the city is a wooden mosque in the Chinese style, built by representatives of the Dungan people.

I photographed such a colorful visitor there.

Here is one of the bazaars in Karakol.

Another bazaar has several rows where you can eat ashlyam-fu, a traditional local dish borrowed from Dungan cuisine. (I will tell you in detail about Ashlyam-fu and Kyrgyz cuisine later).

From Karakol I went to the mountains for several days, to the Altyn-Arashan resort (meaning “golden spring”). It is extremely popular with Western tourists. The place is really interesting. It is located at an altitude of approximately 3000 meters. The road there is very bad, so many people walk - about 15 km with an ascent of 1000 meters. There is no special extreme there - the road just goes up all the time. The journey took me two and a half hours. If you don’t want to walk, you can rent a UAZ or a jeep in Karakol.

In a clearing in the valley there are half a dozen guest houses. Price with meals - 400-550 soms per day. Without meals, you can rent a bed for 200. The conditions are quite spartan.

At the end of the valley, in clear weather, Mount Palatka is visible.

Some houses have indoor swimming pools that are filled warm water from radon springs. The price of such pleasure is 100-150 soms per person. For this money you can sit there all day. But for health it is better not more than 15 minutes a day. After that you really start to feel hard. But overall, these baths are very relaxing. Because of them alone it is worth visiting Altyn-Arashan.

After Karakol, I went to the village of Barskoon, located near the lake. Here it must be said that the roads around Issyk-Kul are one of the few places in Kyrgyzstan where minibuses run regularly and frequently. Travel there is not expensive - from Karakol to Barskoon, for example, 70 soms.

There is a guest house in Barskoon, organized with the help of some French people. But it is a bit expensive (750 soms without meals). Therefore, in a minibus with the help of the driver, I agreed to stay at the house of one of the passengers for 400 soms with meals. After that, the driver and I went to the beach to celebrate our acquaintance.

Barskoon translates as “tears of a leopard.” The main attraction here is the waterfall, located deep in the gorge behind the village. The next morning I went there.

I met this character along the way.

I didn't have to walk for long. Soon a hitchhiker was found to give me a lift. Actually, there are several waterfalls here. On the top right is a large one, below it is a second smaller one. And on the left, too, something is “leaking” a little.

Under the waterfall there is a monument to Gagarin, who rested in these places. There was an even larger monument nearby, but some vandals broke it.

This is the valley of the Barskoon River. Along it there is a road to the large Kumtor gold deposit, developed by a Canadian company. Fuel tankers and trucks constantly drive back and forth along the road, raising dust around.

In the valley there are yurts for vacationers, where you can eat, drink kumiss and milk, or rent horses for a ride. Here is a family of “five people” in one of these yurts.

Another day I went to the nearby village of Tamga to see a stone with Buddhist inscriptions - Tamga-Tash. In the 16th century, Kalmyk tribes came here, professing Buddhism, of whose presence only a few artifacts now remain.

Tamga-Tash is located about six kilometers in the gorge behind the village. Actually, there are several such inscribed stones there. Almost all of them are carved with the traditional Buddhist mantra “Om mani padme hum”. The one called Tamga-Tash is the largest of them. Finding it without outside help is almost impossible. At first I walked around the neighborhood for a long time looking for him. I've seen such landscapes.

And almost at dusk I found a local resident who showed me the right place.

To come up with the idea of ​​celebrating the New Year on Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, where, like in Kazakhstan, this winter there are abnormally low temperatures and generally snow and stormy winds, you need to be an adult. And you need to be an adequate person to come up with the idea of ​​riding bicycles around it :) And bad luck - there were still people who wanted to :)
Five people, united by the common goal of an unusual celebration of the onset of 2013, bought tickets for the Barnaul-Bishkek train. We overcome two state borders(Russia-Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan), four customs control, surprised looks and questions: “What are these? Bicycles? Why? Do you know that there is snow there? Do you know how far it is around the lake? How much does a bicycle cost? What do you have in this package? Are you paid for the trip? athletes? Why didn’t you go in the summer?”
Everyone goes there in the summer. And we are going in winter, and as it turns out, even the Kyrgyz do not know that in fact, around the lake, due to its salinity, a special microclimate is created and is always about 10 degrees warmer than in Bishkek, from which the highway leads to the lake through the Boom Gorge. There is no snow at all in the southwestern part. We had little information about the northeastern part: mostly views from ski resort in Karakol. But it’s even interesting to find out how things are there and see all the beauty of one of the big and deep lakes peace!
We start from the village. Balykchi, which we reached from Bishkek by hired vehicles so that our backpacks and bicycles could fit.

The first walking day was so sunny and warm that it seemed there was nothing better than riding a bicycle on the asphalt on December 30th and seeing huge mountains a little in the distance. Absolutely summer mood, unbuttoned jackets and wide smiles, we flew east. The first part of the route passed along the southern coast. The southern coast is less populated. There are few villages here, and boarding houses are rare. And most of these health resorts are abandoned.
We had a hearty breakfast and bought flatbread and cheese for lunch. We were going to have dinner at beautiful place next to hot springs.
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3. Ak-Zhol - Bright Path!

Issyk-Kul freezes in winter only partially in its northeastern part, and sometimes there will be a few ice floes near the shore. Overall, the lake remains an attractive body of water. Just like in the summer, it shines, splashes and lets out little lambs. Just like in the summer. Only in winter. :) Wave temperature plus 4.
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There is almost no traffic flow, except for the occasional Kamaz, Volkswagen with sofas on the roof and donkey carts. Many cars always appear near large settlements and begin to rush past, as if they were sitting somewhere behind a bush and waiting. And unlike in the summer, even if cars pass quickly nearby, they do not cause any discomfort in the form of dust. And the wind is not cold.
What kind of cars are there, oh, we’ve already forgotten about them: trucks and Buicks, a lot of old, old Volvos, Mercedes, BMWs, Muscovites. A sort of back in U-S-E-Er.
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It starts to get dark in the Issyk-Kul region around 17.30. More precisely, at this time the amazing sunset begins. And most importantly, to be at this moment in in the right place to take a closer look at it.
I noticed one feature, the more you drive around different cities, villages and countries and localities in general, the more uniform everything around becomes. Identical houses (roof, fence, glassed-in balconies), identical people (even despite racial differences), identically arranged life (either very rich and elaborate, or simple), dogs bark identically, tea is poured identically, and this tree I've already seen it somewhere on the side of the road. There are, of course, one or two distinctive features that form the image of the area. In Kyrgyzstan, for example, these are flatbreads. But SUNSETS and SUNRISES are always LIKE THE FIRST TIME. Captivates, delights, amazes and you want to watch endlessly! After all, every next second will not repeat the color, shadow and overall beauty of what is happening. And let someone drive behind the fog, I will drive to see the dawn and setting sun in a new place.
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Imagine hundreds of people on this beach and melting heat. Boring. Another thing is the deserted shore, the ducks who woke us up by quacking, and if the hot spring had been a little closer to the lake, we would have stayed there and swam alternately in Issyk-Kul and the spring. A place called Barbulak. An overnight stay in a summer house in winter cost us 30 soms per person. The service includes a gas stove, kettle and heater, which can be plugged into an outlet at night. But, because Since electricity in many villages is turned off at night, there is no point in this device. Let's breathe.
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On December 31, according to the plan, we have a mandatory “wild” overnight stay. This means no houses, no people around, and preferably on the shore of the lake. Having gained a little height to overcome the overhang, we looked into the distance. Soon the road from the intermountain region will again approach the coast. So close that pitching a tent near the lake will not be entirely comfortable. Let's go and have a look. You also need to prepare the cake and watch the sunset in the right place. Then take out the sparklers and decide in which time zone the chimes are striking. There were proposals for astronauts to meet New Year several times: in Moscow, in Barnaul, and for those suffering from insomnia - in Kyrgyz.
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The Tien Shan surrounds Issyk-Kul with the Kungoy-Ala-Too ridges in the north and Terskey Ala-Too in the south. We are currently driving along the southern part. We don’t turn into gorges, because... The goal of the hike is not to freeze in the snow, but to travel around coastline, closing the ring. It is possible that some of us will return here at another time of the year and travel somewhere along the paths of the ridge.
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Zhany zhylynyzdar menen!
None of the locals ever told us that. But from every child who saw us and could speak, we heard: “Hello! Hello!”
"Happy New Irrrr!!"
Sometimes we silently looked at the Americans and drove past, but when you answer them: “Hello!” or “Hello,” they are very surprised. "Are you Russians?" “That’s good” And they treat you to apples in addition to the amount paid. And they insistently offer to buy a cake. There is generally a New Year's cult of cakes. Some villages are even called Tort-Kul. Every self-respecting Kyrgyz buys two cakes. Cakes are sold at street markets, from cars right on the road, and there are much more of them than the population of villages.
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They dress there mostly in European style. Young people wear exclusively skinny jeans, a leather jacket and bright shoes. Guys. At the same time, they can, in this form, go to the pump for water or stand with a shovel. Girls in high heels and short jackets. But they don’t look glamorous and disgusting, but quite natural. Adults dress more casually. And to continue the theme that everything seems the same to me everywhere - I say hello to the Chinese! Abibas!
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After Bokonbaevo the road catapulted us to Mars. And thanks to many cosmic accidents, the most suitable nook for placing tents, organizing a festive dinner and global solitude was found. At the end of a difficult year, the Ecumenical Father Frost gave a very warm and sincere gift. SUNSET, fire and a jar of mango :)
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On a non-existent day for some, January 1, Nature frowned a little. To the right are the beautiful “grand canyon” red clay mountains, behind which towering snowy peaks. Issyk-Kul was very noisy. On its other bank one could see the outlines of the gorgeous, no less snowy, mountains of the Kungoy Ala-Too ridge. The cloudiness did not allow us to photograph everything in beautiful view, but in two days we will get closer to them.
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The favorite letter in Kyrgyzstan is Y. In almost every name of a village or other object it appears from 1 to 4 times. Ysyk-Kel, Kyzyl, Chyrpykty, Balykchy.
A very fun country. Yyyyy:
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Baby cradle. The only furniture in the house of a young family in Pokrovka, where, by the will of fate, we ended up on the first evening of the New Year.
Weather and landscape conditions did not allow us to set up a tent and we gave up locality to stay at a hotel. It turned out that it was closed for renovation. My vision darkened. It’s always like this - as soon as the sun sets, it immediately becomes dark and cold.
Near the store, the old man, whose wife pulled him by the sleeve and sent him home, did not remain indifferent to our problem. “It’s cold,” he says, “and there are wolves everywhere: you don’t need to spend the night in a tent. Now I’ll find you a place to live. I would invite you over, but (he glanced sideways at his wife, who had already taken his shopping bags and was standing menacingly on the sidelines), but I don’t have any room at all, so you won’t have anywhere to lie down.”
After a chain of conversations and calls with the old man and the store seller, we went after the now young man.
A small house: an entrance hall and one room, which just fits five tourists lying on their backs. The most important thing is the stove! A young man with his wife and small child, for whom the cradle was intended, went to their parents in another house. Water is collected in a column. That evening there was the most delicious dinner. And at night we were given a surprise.
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In the morning we saw the transformation of the surrounding landscape. If before this there was an autumn road ahead and yellowed fields on the side, now everything has become winter white! It was no coincidence that the snow fell. After all, we were finishing southern part route and moved to the north pole shore.
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Before the trip, one of my friends said: “Well done for riding bikes to Issyk-Kul, it’s beautiful there! But you definitely won’t get to Karakol, because it’s snowing.” I then did not answer that we would definitely pass through the ski town, because we would completely go around the entire lake. But I had no idea how to ride in the snow on a loaded bicycle. Okay, as it turned out, the ride is not scary and easy, but you can also spend the night in the snow! And here it is correct to use “to spend the night” and not “to sleep”, because There was no time for sleep in places. :)
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After Tyup, I didn’t really want to trample down the snowdrifts again and put on all my clothes to sleep. So we made a wish.
We pass one village, on the opposite side of the road a little man stands at the slightly open gate. Seeing us, he raised his hand and shouted: “One moment!” We traditionally responded: “Hello!” He began to take simple, uneven, but amazingly fragrant apples out of his pocket. “I have just five pieces,” the man put a piece of fruit in each of our hands.
As you can guess, these were the most delicious magic apples in the world. :)
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After the village of Kuturgu, the snow stopped lying on the fields, we entered spring. The knocking wind on the pier, bright green fir trees on the territory of the boarding house in Bosteri and turquoise water under the bright rays of the sun - I think these are signs of spring. Now we saw familiar mountains on the opposite bank along which we had traveled in that life. Because More than half a million seconds have passed since the start of our eventful trip. And on hikes, every second is unique.
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It is very convenient to go hiking with vegetarians and altruists. They eat everything and a lot. If there is nothing, they don’t complain, because they can eat little. But they don’t refuse tasty things.
The procedure for eating on a Kyrgyz trip was simple: we had breakfast with what was left after dinner. Half a flatbread, for example. :) and then we go to the nearest cafe to have a hot lunch. For dinner, we cook pasta, porridge or puree in a pot from strategic reserves that are in our backpacks. Natural drinks include tea and cocoa. It often happened that, counting on good service Asian country, in the morning we drove 60 kilometers until we came across the first cafe on the way. And to our great joy it turned out to be closed :) And even on the resort-developed northern side of Issyk-Kul.
“It’s not the season,” thought Stirlitz.
Prices are the same as in our “Uzbek”: lagman - 90, chuchvara - 60, tea - 40. The price numbers are the same, but the cost is less. Because here they give 1.5 soms for one steering wheel. Not fish, but paper or metal national currency. Thus, you can eat in Kyrgyz cafes much cheaper and tastier.
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At seven in the morning we were at the Balykchy bus station. The early morning in Issyk-Kul was gloomy and cold. The sun had risen, but the clouds were doing their job. On the square in front of the autobaket, taxi drivers were loudly calling customers, very old grandmothers were placing buckets of apricots on the curbs, preparing to sell. We slowly got ready and left Balykchy towards the southern coast. We planned to get to the village. Tosor, spend three days there and begin the climb to the Tosor pass according to the original hike schedule.

We literally escaped from Balykchy - we wanted to quickly find ourselves in nature and sensibly assess our situation, make plans for the future. Having driven three kilometers from the city, we stopped to study the map. Then a Russian woman stopped next to us, lowered the car window, she asked: “Boys, why did you come here? Don’t you know that they’re shooting here? Leave. You’re still so young.” According to the woman, in Issyk-Kul there is a division of power, pogroms and showdowns all around. In Naryn, as the driver claimed, it is also restless. The woman’s words upset us. As far as we were aware, the unrest that day only affected the Osh and Jalal-Abad regions, which are far from the line of our route. Immediately after the unpleasant news, we felt all the grayness of the Kyrgyz morning; the sleepless night spent on the bus began to affect our morale. The lake was nondescript. Having driven without breakfast until 12 noon, we stopped under an apricot tree and ate ripe fruits.

After the fruit lunch there was a more nutritious lunch. Pasta with stew on the edge of a potato plantation restored strength and lifted my spirits. How does food intake affect your overall mood? Immediately it became deeply perpendicular to local bandits and revolutionaries. Half an hour after the pasta, we bought half a bucket of apricots on the edge of one of the many poor coastal villages. The saleswoman invited us to tea. She, contrary to the information received before, said that the lake was calm, and in Naryn and Bishkek, too, no one had been shooting for a long time. So, having overturned a tub of cold and then warm information, local residents influenced our mood and desire to continue the hike as planned. Apricots, by the way, were cheap, but greenish. Right after buying fruit from a woman, we stopped to buy apricots from the children. As a game, we bought 10 apricots from the children for 10 soms.

By that time we had already come up with new route. It was decided to play it safe and not go to Naryn. Instead, we planned to go around Issyk-Kul, climb through Kochkor to Lake Song-Kol, and then move through the Tyo-Ashuu pass to Bishkek.

The road on the southern shore of the lake is paved along the entire length from Balykchy to Karakol, but the quality of the asphalt... the Mongols, of course, dream of it, but for the Russians it is not acceptable. We were able to observe the pothole repair of the road. Workers in orange capes lay asphalt in a hole filled with bitumen and diligently pat it down with a shovel. A slide appears in place of the hole. Mounds - business card highway Balykchi-Karakol. The terrain of the road to Bokonbaevo is not easy. Once turning away from the shore, it winds through the hills.

By the way, we spent the night that day on the shore behind the village of Kazhisay. We had dinner in the village. For 210 som we were served two large portions of lagman, a flatbread and a kettle of tea. The tent was set up seven meters from the water. We didn’t swim, but we managed to wash ourselves. At night there was a strong surf, and it started to rain.

· Mileage per day - 115 km

· Travel time - 6:30

For breakfast - buckwheat porridge, brewed the night before + stew. It was drizzling all morning, all day, we rode in raincoats. In one of the villages we managed to buy a bucket of large ripe apricots for 80 soms. The digestive system was in shock, but we did not give up and ate apricots all day. Along the road, behind fences, there are gardens in which these same apricots grow.

At 10:30, outside the village of Tosor, we met two French women - sisters Sophie and Audrey. They walked from Kochkor through Naryn and Issyk-Kul to Bishkek. The horse Garson traveled with them. We did not accept their invitation to lunch and hurried on, although we ourselves did not have lunch that day.

We got up early for the night because of the relentless rain. At the exit from the large village of Kyzyl-Suu we found dense thickets of young maple trees, and we set up a tent behind them. We went to bed at 18-00, having dined on flatbread, apricots and watermelon.

· Mileage per day - 85 km

· Travel time - 5:30

We decided to have breakfast in Karakol and reached the city in an hour and a half. We stopped at the cafe twice to eat ashlyamfa. 15 som per serving.

It was Sunday, on the way from Karakol to Tyup, one after another we were overtaken by cars carrying cattle. Horses, rams, and cows were selling like hot cakes in the markets of Karakol. Local traffic police officers were pleased with this influx of non-standard cargo and stopped each such vehicle to check documents. Behind Tyup we stopped at natural park, rested, ate two melons. Coastal villages have running water. It was immediately felt that the northern shore was more developed than the southern one. In the north there are shops, gas stations, and people of Slavic appearance.

At noon we stopped for lunch in order to dry our things that had gotten wet the previous day. In a mown clearing not far from the birch trees, they laid out everything from socks to sleeping bags and began to prepare lunch. Then Kostya noticed a cyclist with a backpack pedaling towards Karakol. Kostya ran out onto the road. By then the cyclist had parked at the side of the road. My brother motioned for him to come to us, but in an instant he broke down and moved on. I got scared. After 5-7 minutes I saw a second cyclist riding in the same direction. In a hurry, I ran out onto the road and, with the same gesture as Kostya, called out to the cyclist. He immediately turned in our direction. He turned out to be Thai and had been on the road for nine months, and the frightened biker was his friend. Together they traveled from Thailand through China, Laos, Cambodia, India and Pakistan. They planned to finish the trek in September in Uzbekistan. The route was laid through the Tosor and Song-Kol lanes. The Thai looked at our things scattered on the grass with surprise, looked into our pan and left. He is a member of some kind of ecological expedition in support of orangutans and the prevention of global warming. His bike backpack had stickers to match.

Before reaching Ananyevo, on the edge of one of the villages we met a hitchhiker from St. Petersburg - Shurik (You can find him here). We spent the night together on the shore of the lake. It was hard to find the way to the water. There is only one road to the shore, among the quagmire.

In the evening we swam a little, although the bottom was very flat, the water was cloudy due to a strong wave.

In the dark, they prepared dinner on Sanka’s wonderful burner, burned a fire for a long time and listened to the stories of a new acquaintance about his trip to the Pamirs. By the way, it was after these stories that we decided to go to the Pamirs next year.

· Mileage per day - 95

· Travel time - 6:40

It rained a little at night, but in the morning the sky cleared and the lake calmed down. Breakfast was already prepared on our burner. It was last time, when she at least somehow made a fuss, although until that moment the burner worked without interruption. Having said goodbye to Sanko, we headed back to the road; leaving took 15 minutes. And Sanyok, as it turned out later, lived in this place for eight days. Until I finished the bucket of apricots.

In the next village after the parking lot, we bought a Megacom SIM card for 120 soms. Beyond the village we called home. It turned out that our Beeline SIM cards in Kyrgyzstan did not accept calls and SMS messages.

We arrived in Ananyevo and were surprised by this village. The main means of transportation for residents is a bicycle. Everyone rides it - men and women of all ages, and especially children. Mostly they drive old Urals. In Ananyev (the village is named after a soldier who fought under the leadership of Panfilov and died during the defense of Moscow) we stopped at the market, where we bought watermelon and zharma (a national drink made from a fermented mixture of talkan and water). Outside the village, in a small clean park, we stopped for lunch. There are a lot of Russians in Ananyevo, there are shutters on the windows of the houses, this indicates that the owner is definitely not Kyrgyz. As we were told later, there are also many Germans in the village. We left the village on time, because within a few minutes it was covered by a rain cloud. The sun mercilessly burned us for the rest of the day's journey.

We arrived in Cholpon-Ata at 14-20. The quality of asphalt has improved before our eyes. It was ideal and started exactly from the border of the tourist capital of the lake. In some places, road repair work was carried out, but the workers did not compact the asphalt with a shovel - they had a vibrating plate in their hands. In Cholpon-Ata we went to shops that we had known for a long time (we had been to the city twice before the trip) and bought groceries for the evening. We had lunch a few meters from the road, sitting on the grass and leaning our bicycles against the low fence of the flowerbed. We reminded ourselves of homeless people with bicycles, and this thought inspired self-respect.

We stopped for the night, a couple of kilometers short of the village of Chon-Sary-Oy, on the shore of the lake. The bottom of the parking lot was rocky, the shore was quite dirty due to large quantity people who have ever vacationed in that place. We never took a swim. However, we found a flat area covered with grass. They set up a tent on it. Making my way through the thorns to the parking lot, I punctured the rear tire. While Kostya was preparing dinner, I was gluing the camera.

· Mileage - 95

· Travel time - did not count

We left without breakfast. In Chon-Sary-Oy we bought a half-kilogram roll for 100 soms, washed it down with lemonade in a deep ditch and drove on. The body didn’t require any more. Before Tamchy (yes, the local spelling is amazing) we bought two melons, this was our lunch. We had lunch in a clearing in the shade of a tall pyramidal poplar and watched as two donkeys, far from us, lay peacefully on the ground. They scratched their backs and sides, raising clouds of dust.

It was unusually hot and the road was difficult. We arrived in Balykchi at 14:30, turned left at the roundabout and drove towards the Orto-Tokoy Reservoir. We spent the night in a gorge on the banks of the Chu River. In the evening a strong wind rose and there was light rain.

We can briefly describe the nature of Issyk-Kul, around which we traveled. The western and southwestern coasts are deserted. The vegetation is sparse, and there are very few rivers flowing into the lake. There are practically no open bodies of fresh water. The southeastern coast is wet and fertile. The main tourist village of the southern coast is Kazhisay. The eastern and northeastern coasts have a humid climate. The annual precipitation there is the highest in the Issyk-Kul Basin. Rich vegetation and sufficient comfortable travel amount of fresh water. North Shore from Karakol to Balykchy it dries out. The optimal climate for recreation and tourism in Cholpon-Ata and Bosteri gives these villages the right to be tourist center North Shore. For many reasons, the North Shore is more popular among tourists than the South Shore. This includes both natural diversity and existing tourism infrastructure.

As it became known at the time of writing the report, China signed an agreement with Kyrgyzstan on the construction of a road around Issyk-Kul, so descriptions of road potholes on the shore of the lake may disappear into oblivion in a couple of years.

· Mileage per day - 70 km

· Travel time - 5 hours