Kyrgyzstan Travel Guide

Faiza situated on the silk road with Ordinary atmosphere but considered to have the best plov ( rice ) in townHigh-quality rapid-service local dishes at reasonable prices are brought by waitresses in scarf and tunic to heavy marble-topped tables. Expect queues at lunchtime. Tea costs 30som per pot. Rice ( plov)

Excellent economic-priced Turkish food including levash (huge hollow hot thin bread) with green yogurt and other sauces. Outdoor and indoor seating.Yusa (Logvinenko/Bokonbayeva)The lavash is outstanding here, as are the range of sauces that compliment a wide array of vegetable and meat dishes. $$Yusa restaurant is famous with turkish food ..

We were on our way home and walked past Kings Court (Tsarski Dvor) and it looked pretty cool (compared to every other drab place we had seen in the city) so we just had to stop by for a beer.It got a nice decor with spacious area, the whole place is outdoor with covering.It even got some 'swing seats' to sit at.Beer is 70som (80p).

Cafe California is a bit of a westerners cafe.Don't expect TGI Friday style interior or service, this is just a basic cafe with a mixed menu of pizza, salad and western classics (pasta or burger).We just had tea, salad, soup, coke and bread for 341som (£4).Decent enough place and good for anyone craving some western food.

Lenin statue is always standing in the center of the city.Some other kirghize celebrities are replacing the former russian influence.

If you have a day or two in Karakol you must visit Altyn-Arashan natural hot springs. It is located about 30 km from the city and only place to get there is walk for about 17 km from Teploklyuchenka or hire an offroad taxi from travel company. The road is something. I called it an automoblie-climbing path. Once you get to the spot you see a...

Old wooden tipically russian house with shutters, nice old russian village interior, friendly watresses make this place a nice spot to stop for a portion of russian "Borsh" or "bliny" as well as have a cup of beer. bliny, cake for breakfast. Borsh or pelmeni (dumplings) for lunch. Selyodka (herring) with beer for dinner.

My memories of this sauna close to the Pik Lenin base camp (about 5km away) make me smile. I anticipated our group all sitting together having a relaxing social sauna. Instead the sauna - based at the TV relay station overlooking the base camp - was in a tiny room that fitted 1 adult and 1 child maximum at a time. Still, a sauna is a sauna, and...

From Osh to Pik Lenin Basecamp took 10 hours for 300km. We did it there in our trusty 4x4 mitsubishi minibus, and back in the truck in the picture. It was organised as part of the support for the Pik Lenin climb by Dostuck trekking.

Pik Lenin is one of the most accessible and least difficult peaks above 7000m to climb. It does require snow/ice experience, but is a good introduction to the high altitude peaks of the Himalaya and Pamirs. This was why we were there. The base camp was at 3720m, and it was not possible to see Pik Lenin from base camp itself. There were 4 groups of...

Taking the local transport ( shared taxi) from Naryn to Kochkor could be a great experience.Be early at the station in Naryn, we have to wait for the next available car.The road climbs up to the Dolon Pass (alt 3030 m.) on the way up the car has to take some rest and fresh water ! The driver and the men are taking some strong drink !You are not...

One of the last gas station leaving Naryn...the next one might be in china some hours further after passing the torugart pass.

Just outside the city a short walking distance is situated a hudge cemetery overlooking the whole valley

Glorifying the soviet time, but not really an interesting museum..this might be the only activity in Kochgor coming back from a visit at Song Kul lake.

In Kochkor we met the CBT organisator, it took some time to arange the trip to the lake Song Kol.The road is spectacular, a lot of Yaks on the way.

a nice place to discover the kirghiz culture in a small town.KALPAK traditional kyrgyz white felt hat, worn mostly by old men.KYMYS (koumis) a dairy product, fermented horse milk.KORUT sheep cheese ball

The climb up the tower is through a non-lit staircase and it is quite a pleasure to visit areas that are not yet "touristified". The tower is about 1000 years' old, and was once 20m taller. Over time, and through earthquakes, it has become the only ancient building in the area (that used to be the ancient city of Belasagun).The Kyrgyz people love...

The open air museum around the Burana Tower has got a pictorial representation of the history of the tower, and the city Belasugan founded in 960 AD - so I am told. I could not read the history because it was in Russian only. Apparently the city was so beautiful that when Genghis Khan came through, he spared the city and renamed it Gobilik (the...

Balbals are grave markers used by nomadic Turkic peoples who used to roam Central Asia. They could be carved with the face of a victim of war, a conquered person or someone special to the carver. This collection at Burana Tower has been assembled from all over the Chui valley, and is displayed in the open air near the tower.

I fully intend to look at my maps and get the name of this gorge.We drove in our trusty Mitsubishi as far as we could before parking at a beautiful lake, and walking around. It was light walking. The children loved it - they picked handfuls of flowers, and saw their first eidelweiss.

Row boats, jet skis, wind surfers are all available. Some of the hotels offer these in their own grounds.

Rybachie town is linked to Bishkek by regular buses with are cheap and look reasonably decent for the place (forget the air conditioning, though) – though you really must come in advance because this means of transportation is quite popular.

Lenin statue is always standing in the center of the city.Some other kirghize celebrities are replacing the former russian influence.

If you have a day or two in Karakol you must visit Altyn-Arashan natural hot springs. It is located about 30 km from the city and only place to get there is walk for about 17 km from Teploklyuchenka or hire an offroad taxi from travel company. The road is something. I called it an automoblie-climbing path. Once you get to the spot you see a...

Old wooden tipically russian house with shutters, nice old russian village interior, friendly watresses make this place a nice spot to stop for a portion of russian "Borsh" or "bliny" as well as have a cup of beer. bliny, cake for breakfast. Borsh or pelmeni (dumplings) for lunch. Selyodka (herring) with beer for dinner.

Cholpon-Ata "bus station" to Bishkek.The traveller will be recognized long time before he arrives at the bus station.The "tout" will present his friend or the most rewarding driver.Don't pay inadvance and try to find the best way for you.From 500som to 250som...for the same distance..cholpon-bishkek

Cholpon-Ata Tcholpon means Venus, Ata is the fatherThe Legend of a beautifull girl , who could not choose her djigit (name of kirghiz horseman) .When she died, the tears of the whole Kyrgyz population created the Lake Issyk-Kul.

Since this is on the route to China, trucks with scrap metal go past frequently, taking Kyrgyzstan's junk to China to become useful stuff. At times, we past 7 trucks parked at the side of the road, getting some rest before they went through the border. Big trade in recycled metal!

The prices of the day were 1600 som for a horse ($40), 1200 som for a goat ($30), 2500 som for sheep ($65) and between 10000 som and 16000 som for a cow (lots of $). It struck me that the animals could spend all day in a muddy area, tethered to each other, just to face a trip back to their original home at the end of the day - only to come again...

We had a picnic under a happiness tree - the usual bread, cheese, sausages, tomato, cucumber and of course tea. Some card games, laziness and laughter.

Much of the walking is gentle and easy. The altitude is 2150m, and the location near Bishkek, which makes this an easy day out. It is possible to do some more difficult hikes, but this was our last day in Kyrgyzstan. The footbridges were well maintained, and the area is a national park.