Kyrgyzstan - the Switzerland of Central Asia

23 July 2022.

Kyrgyzstan was the final stop on our tour of the Stans. Each Stan (literally «land») had its own particularity, its own vibe. Kyrgyzstan was all about nature, its mountains lofting over three quarters of the country. We could see the snowy summits of the Tian Shan as we rolled into its capital, Bishkek. Its highest point is Jengish Chokusu, at 7,439 meters. No wonder it is known as the Switzerland of Central Asia. It also has a beautiful lake, Issyk-Kul, the world’s second largest high-altitude lake at over 180km long and still a popular holiday resort today. We would see that later but first up was the capital.

Bishkek is a city of vast plazas and dramatic monuments and its Soviet past is very conspicuous. You can see it in the grid pattern of the streets, in the ordered high-rises and in the polished marble-fronted buildings. You can hear it, too. Russian is spoken by almost everyone, everywhere, as indeed is the case in all the Stans. Kyrgyzstan is moving on however. Communism has been supplanted by a revival of Islam. The statue of Lenin that once graced the main square, Ala-Too, beside the Presidential Palace, is now hidden behind the excellent History Museum, which describes the long fight of the Kyrgyz people for their freedom. It has been replaced by a statue of their own folk-hero, Manas.

It was also fascinating to watch the changing of the guard at Ala-Too Square, the two young guardsmen had being standing immobile in their little glass cage for over an hour with the outside temperature exceeding 40 degrees Celsius before they goose-stepped back to their barracks: it had seemed almost inhuman to leave them there so long.

Gold accounts for a remarkable 43 per cent of Kyrgyzstan’s exports and there was a vast range of gold jewelry on offer at the Osh Bazaar, a huge labyrinth selling everything under the sun and in which it is very easy to lose oneself.

It is also worth mentioning the excellent Japanese restaurant, Furusato, that we visited (and more than once). Such a welcome change from the typical Stan meat-based dishes. The decor, the welcome, the food, all were memorable. Of course, it was also very inconspicuous from the street outside and we had to look hard to find it. Highly recommended.

It was now time to head off into the nature and a 5 hour ride with a marschrutka from the bus station brought us to the small resort of Kaji-Say on Lake Issyk-Kul. We left our bagage at our guest house (Dinara’s) and headed off to the lake to cool down. Unfortunately the lake, which looked more like a sea, with huge waves, was too rough to swim in and we had to wait until the next day to do so. The view was superb, the high mountains around the lake providing a spectacular backdrop to the huge expanse of water.

A twenty minute car ride from Kaji-Say brought us to Skazka (Russian for «Fairy Tale») Canyon. It’s an area of sandstone which has been eroded by the wind over the centuries and has left behind a giant child’s playground with some bizarre rock formations that would not look out of place in somewhere like Utah. Narrow crevasses weave along next to jagged cliffs, and we were feeling adventurous enough to climb to the top of these wave-like rocks for some breathtaking views of the lake. What really makes Fairy Tale Canyon so unique though are the layers of colors that have come alive over the years, like being surrounded by an earthen rainbow and it is a real delight.

We moved on further along the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul to the city of Karakol, the 4th largest in Kyrgyzstan. Here we visited two wooden structures, Dungan Mosque (with the look of a Chinese Buddhist temple) and the Russian Orthodox Holy Trinity Cathedral, both very impressive. The walk to the Central Bazaar proved to be a trip too far in the oppressive afternoon heat and so we jumped into a Yandex to take us back to our hotel to cool off. The next day, before jumping into a marschrutka to take us back to Bishkek, and our flight home, we visited one of Kyrgyzstan's most photographed natural features. The Seven Bulls (Jeti-Ögüz) is an abrupt serrated ridge of ferric-red sandstone cliffs that have been vertically diced into a series of rounded bluffs. The formation is not especially big, but it was very eye-catching.

There was of course much more to discover in Kyrgyzstan but for now, we parted vowing to return another time. Central Asia is a deeply engrossing region that makes the heart beat faster.