Scenic drive through At-Bashy mountain range and a visit to a 15th century stone relic, the Tash Rabat Caravanserai

Tash Rabat Caravanserai is a well preserved ancient stone relic from the 15th century. It used to provide shelter to traders, merchants and travelers on the old Silk Road. Located inside the At-Bashy mountain range, with the structure half tucked into the mountain side, our drive in the valley takes us through some pretty scenic rocky mountains.

Turn off the main A365 and onto the dirt road that goes through the At-Bashy mountain range to Tash Rabat

Son Kul Lake to Naryn via Moldo Ashuu Pass

We had our half boiled egg with bread and tea breakfast by the lake and prepared a simple lunch to have later on our way through the mountain pass.

Today, we leave Son-Kul Lake and make our way down to Naryn city via the Moldo Ashuu pass.

After driving for about 13km, we are at Moldo Ashuu Pass.
At this point the elevation is 3,250m. Moldo Ashuu Pass goes up to 3,346m above sea level.
From here, the dirt road zig zags, jumping from the side of one hill to the next as we make our way to lower ground.

Kochkor to Son-Kul Lake via Kalmak Ashuu Pass

From a distance, this looked like a small settlement with ornately constructed structures...

The south shores of Issyk Kul Lake - Jeti Oguz to Kochkor

Jeti Oguz, translates as ‘Seven Bulls’, the name comes from the large red-rock cliffs that resemble, you guessed it, seven bulls. Jeti Oguz is around 30km from Karakol,

The south eastern edge of Issyk Kul Lake - Karakol city

Karakol is a major city on the south eastern edge of Issyk-Kul Lake and the fourth largest city in Kyrgyzstan.

Dungan Mosque

The Dungan mosque with distinctive Chinese influence was built by the Dungan community, the Chinese Muslim refugees who fled persecution in their home country in the late 1800s. 

Scenic drive in Karkyra Valley and onwards to Ak Suu

We left the shores of Issyk-Kul Lake for a day at Kuturga and drove along the A363 towards Tyup village. At Tyup, instead of continuing on the A363 to the southern shores of Issyk-Kul Lake, we decided to turn left onto A362 and drive east along Karkyra Valley. 

It's cold this morning. Temperature about 20°C.

Issyk-Kul Lake and snow capped Tien Shan mountain range in the distance.

The northern shores of Issyk-Kul Lake - Cholpon Ata

Cholpon Ata was once a caravan stop along the old Silk Road. Apart from the beach, one of the main attractions here is the Petroglyph.

Cholpon Ata Petroglyphs 

Cholpon Ata Pretoglyphs, one of the easily accessible petroglyphs site in Kyrgyzstan, is in an open field less than 2km off the A363. 

Hunting long horn ibex with tame snow leopards (8th century BC - 5th century AD)

Balykchy Town on Issyk-Kul Lake

Local vendors in yurts peddling their wares along the A365.
We are about 14km west of Balykchy town.

Bishkek to Chong Kemin Valley

We left Bishkek and took the A365 east to Tokmok.

Lots of watermelons sold on the roadside near Ivanovka

Krygyztan Krygyz food and drink we tried 2013

Kymyz / Kumis

This lightly fermented mare's milk is the national drink of Kyrgyzstan. Kymyz are offered to guest as a sign of hospitality. This drink is also said to have a long list of health benefits.

We had a taste of kymyz at Chong Kemin Valley on 5 Aug 2013. We were camping near a local family's yurt and the lady of the house came over and offered us some kymyz. Kymyz is light, not as creamy as cow's milk, with a tangy / soury taste and a little salty too. It doesn't go down very easily and it is definitely an acquired taste. Nevertheless, we still drank the entire glass.



Barrel of mare's milk at Kochkor Bazaar on 10 Aug 2013.

At a place below the mountain... Bishkek

Sightseeing around Bishkek, capital city of Kyrgyzstan. 

Osh Bazaar

First stop is Osh Bazaar, a nice place to have a glimpse into the daily lives of the locals. Even though it is almost noon time when we arrived at the bazaar, it was still packed with locals going about their day.

Suusamyr Valley and onwards to Bishkek

Suusamyr Valley lies in between Ala-Bel Pass in the west and Too Ashuu Pass in the north. The M41 from Osh to Bishkek cuts through Suusamyr Valley.

Manas statue at the junction to Talas and the Kyrgyz/Kazakh border.
We continued east on the M41.

Collecting honey and making dried cheese ball at Chychkan Valley and crossing the Ala-Bel Pass

We left Toktogul in the morning and continued north on M41, driving through the picturesque Chychkan valley. Here, the M41 travels alongside the river Chychkan. We started at an elevation of about 1,500m and climbed all the way to more than 2,500m. At the end of Chychkan Valley, we ascended into Ala-Bel pass, the highest point of the pass stands at an elevation of 3,175m.

On this stretch of road about 40km north of Toktogul city, there are a lot of beekeepers. 

Honey in clear bottles are put out for sale along the roadside.

Scenic drive along river Naryn to Toktogul

Today we drove along the Naryn river, heading north for about 240km and end our day at Toktogul. 

Turqoise green water of river Naryn

Osh City, Kyrgyzstan and onwards to Jalal Abad

Capital of the south of Kyrgyzstan, Osh is the country's second largest city with more than 3,000 years of history.

We left the Uzbekistan / Kyrgyzstan border after going through customs and immigration at around 3pm. We drove along the A373 to the city of Osh, located less than 10km away from the border.

As we enter the city of Osh, we were greeted by the towering Sulaiman Too or Mount Solomon. Once a beacon for ancient travellers and tradesmen travelling on the old Silk Road, Sulaiman Too was the first site in Kyrgyzstan to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. The mountain is revered as a sacred mountain and legend has it that Prophet Muhammad once prayed here.