Fun things to do in Kyrgyzstan

If you want to experince the local way of life find a family that accept guest in their yourt (a felt tent). Local shephard spends the summer months grazing their animals (horses and yaks) in the mountains; their accomodation are round felt tents that dot the highlands. There is an Association - Shepherd's life - that can tell you - roughly - where the locals have set up tents when you are there. Ask in bishkek, they should be able to help you find them.

When you are there you can go horse riding on perfectly trained horses: galop across the planes, alongg shimmering Lake Son Kol.

Stunning and unfogettable..one of my best travel moments!

The main well known wonders of this small country bordering China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan are the beautiful lake Issyk-Kul, which means Holy Lake, where you can admire the Tian Shan Mountains, then the exotic bazaars of Osh. Very few travel to the remains of an old caravanserai along the legendary Silk Road: Tash Rabat (it is in a rarely frequented path to China and hard to find; even the locals ignore its existence).

In Tash Rabat you can sleep in a yurt provided that you brought a very warm sleeping bag.

From Tash Rabat you can join again the road to Sinkiang, in China, walking and hitch hiking through the Torugar Pass (3752 metres). Once in China you will be surprised to find so many facilities for the tourists: good food, regular transport, internet, beers, etc., it is like crossing from Papua New Guinea to Japan.

Thanks to countries like Kyrgyzstan the travellers realize that in the XXI century there are still marvels to discover in this beautiful planet Earth.

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A beautiful wooden orthodox cathedral at corner of Lenina and Gagarin, its fine yellow domes have been destroyed and rebuilt and during the Soviet era it was used as a club, I realy recommend also a stop in the beautifu lgardens around it too cool off!

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LP says the walk from the center of Osh to Dom Babura is steep, well it is not, it is really easy because there are steps on the way and you don't really feel the increase of gradient.
So walk up to Dom Babura on a beautiful day, it will take you 20 min approx to reach the top. Along the way you will meet many nice Uzbek ladies who will ask where do you come from, Uzbek are really friendly people and I really regretted I cannot speak so much Russian; on the top of the rock (It is called Solomon's throne) you will find this little prayer room which is carved from the rock of the promontory, people go inside to pray or leave a prayer, especially women who have difficulties in getting pregnant go there to pray.
On the top the view is breathtaking with a view on the Pamir range.
If you turn around the prayer cave and go towards the cemetery on the way down you will find other small caves, in every cave there some sort of caretaker, a religious person but not belonging to a religious hierarchy, in every cave and many people leaving prayers or money, gifts to see their wishes come true..from the way the people acted I had the impression these caretakers were some sort of fortune tellers but my Russian was to poor to dare ask...
See my pics below, I made friend with a bunch of beautiful Uzbek kids, the love to be photographed

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here are some random suggestions...When in Bishkek you will be probably amazed by the emptyness and vastness of its streets and squares, their have been built for hosting military parades rather than for people to move around...Fortunately in summer the children make good use of the massive, otherwise quite useless fountains by turning them into water parks, they swim and play with the water jets, summer days in Bishkek can be really scorching....I have wished I was a kid too...
When walking around Bishkek I felt I thought that the city reproduced in urban shapes what is around it, vast, flat, empty spaces with no apparent purpose than just "being"....another striking feature of the Kyrghyz capital is the abundance of trees; as travel writer Colin Thubron remarked, the streets are like green tunnels, it seems to be walking in a forest with an air strip at the middle (the road); the trees with their abudant foliage hide the buidings behind them thus erasing every trace of urbanity...
About shopping...if you are not the bazaar type you can find good value handicraft at TSUM department stores located on Chuy Avenue; handicraft on the last floor, on the other floors a good selection of cameras and related equipment, forget about the rest.The picture you see below is a part of my collection of "no stress jobs in former Soviet Union Republics" ; the pic is a little unclear but you can see a lady sitting on top of the escalator with a phone next her, she's doing crosswords..her one and only task is to stop the escalator in case of troubles, failure and so on...
Now a little about the rest of Kyrgyzstan, if you happen to be in Karakol in Eastern Kyrghyzstan, do not miss the unique Chinese Mosque..see the picture below for this unique mixture of All-Asian architecture!!!

There are yurt camps for tourists all over the country (mostly Issyk-Kul and Naryn Oblasts) where you can experience the traditional life of the nomad Kyrgyz. Some prices can be a bit expensive though, so if you are on a budget, look around before you decide who to stay with.

Jailoos (mountain pastures) are situated high in the high mountains, at an altitude of 2500-3000 m. above sea level. You will be amazed at the sight of mountains.
Jailoo tourism is part of a new approach to developing Kyrgyzstan's tourism industry, a strategy centered on Cultural Tourism. Cultural Tourism emphasizes the interaction and communication of tourists with authentic culture and the everyday life of local people, while encouraging multi-national cooperation and cross-cultural interaction. By taking the tourist into the mountains to spend time in the yurts of Kyrgyz nomads, "jailoo tourism" gives the "guest" a chance to get the taste of Kyrgyz nomadic life.

The trip to Kyrgyzstan is not completed without the visit of beautiful Issy-kul lake. It is among world's most glorious lakes, surrounded by snow covered majestic tian-shan mountains its pure and clean water and lovely beaches invite tourists to spend some relaxing days here.