This gallery contains 7 photos.
Today was the last day of the trip – and it was cold and rainy (basically a preparation what was waiting for us in Germany a day later). In the morning we had a short tour of the main sights … Continue reading
Our last activity in Kyrgyzstan was a visit to Bishkek’s Osh Bazaar – before making it back to the bus and heading for the border into Kazakhstan, with Almaty as our destination for the day.
This gallery contains 8 photos.
Today we closed our circle around Lake Issyk-Köl – now following the road on its Southern bank … and then the road back to Bishkek – all in all a good 400 km. Already after an hour or so we … Continue reading
Back in town – after our short visit into nature – we made it for Karakol’s big sights – the Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Chinese Mosque – before – after a long day – arriving at our hotel.
This gallery contains 8 photos.
We reached Karakol around lunchtime; after a simple lunch we continued for Jeti-Öghüz canyon to see its red stone formations and – during a short hike (that I would clearly count as a short walk) – to get back into … Continue reading
We continued our circle around Lake Issyk-Köl this morning, now heading East towards Karakol. On the way we had several stops to take in the landscape, get some insight into Kyrgyz burial traditions and to visit the memorial of Nikolai Przewalski.
From Cholpon-Ata we continued to our hotel for the night. As it turned out, we were spending the night in a lake-side resort – complete with holiday homes, restaurant, bar and its own sand beach.
This gallery contains 8 photos.
From Tokmok we continued to Lake Issyk-Köl, the world’s second-largest alpine lake (after Lake Titicaca). Obviously we had to get up … passing through the Ala-Too range and then along the lake front to make it to our first stop … Continue reading
We continued from Rotfront for another nearby stop at the Burana Tower. The tower is basically – beside some stone piles around – what remains of the citadel of Balasagun. The tower seems to be the stump of a minaret.
From the tower we continued to the town of Tokmok – during Soviet times a center of military production – for a hearty lunch … before continuing towards lake Issyk-Köl.
We left Bishkek for our way up to Lake Issyk-Köl; on the way we stopped at Rotfront, a village in the Kyrgyz countryside originally settled by Germans – of which even today a minority remains.
The pastor was welcoming us at the cemetery – with him tea, coffee and cake – plus the opportunity to get some insight into the history of the village and some background on the living conditions during Soviet times and today.
For more background, check the wikipedia page on Rotfront; for photos of gone-by life in Rotfront, check the homepage of the Dutch photographer Wim Klerkx.
