Fans of strange news from around the world know that recently, in the Issyk Kul region of Kyrgyzstan, someone died of Bubonic Plague. So, since we decided to move here, Kyrgyzstan has been in the global media as a home of terrorists and world shaking disease. Well, of course, we were in the area of the plague when it happened, although we were never closer than 100 miles or so from where the unfortunate fellow contracted the Black Death. Some scholars put Issyk Kul as the place where the plague originated many centuries ago. We managed, or rather, I managed, to get pretty ill at Issyk Kul, which was responsible for a major lag in my blogging - not that anyone noticed or cared...but I managed to not get plague.
On a positive legend note, Issyk Kul is also a putative resting place for St. Matthew. It is also the site of many unexplored tombs and villages dating back thousands of years, including impressive petroglyphs that we skipped largely due to illness. Central Asia is actually a treasure trove for a motivated archaeologist.
Well, to get to Issyk Kul, you have several options - Bus...no good due to my son's inability to sit still and not bother people. Although, now that I've experienced Kyrgyzstan for over a month, it is an incredibly child friendly country. My son gets pinched and poked and salaamed everywhere he goes. Maybe people would be okay with him sitting in their laps? Option two is the train, which takes 5-7 hours to go to the first town in Issyk Kul (a two hour drive), and then you have to get into a taxi. Or, the way we decided, a taxi from Bishkek. A taxi for this distance would be prohibitively expensive in the US, but it is not here. Our trip to Issyk Kul was about 280 kilometers and cost about 2800 soms - ten som per km or about 20 cents per kilometer. In American, 170 or so miles, at a cost of 16 soms per mile or about 30 cents per mile.
Interesting side note - cars here drive on the right hand side, like in the USA. BUT, the driver's seat might be on either side. The taxi up to Issyk Kul was British style, driver sits on right, and the taxi back was driver on left. Honda and Toyota are most likely to have right side driver's seats and about, in my casual estimation, 1 in 4 or 5 cars has the driver on the right.
I took some notes on the 3 and a half hour drive to Cholpon Ata...
Trip
1. Get out of dusty Bishkek
2. Nice highway thru farms and bucolic countryside, ringed by mountains
3. Mountains on both sides, valley narrows
4. Narrow mountain road, gorge...my son is screaming(joyfully), I hope the driver can focus
5. 1 lane road! Rivers!
6. Lake!
We decided to go to Cholpon Ata because of the petroglyphs, ease of getting there - it's the most popular destination - and our ability to make reservations in English at a hotel. I think a lot of people just go to Issyk Kul and take care of their housing arrangements later, something I am not willing to do. So we booked into a place called the English Castle or the Castle Hotel. It looks like this
Hence the name, English Castle. It was a disappointment, however. Mind you, not a huge disappointment but one nonetheless. It was too expensive for what it was, the rooftop terrace was chained shut, there was construction going on to the right and behind the hotel and well, Cholpon Ata itself is kind of a dump. You think you're pulling into Vegas...jokes, you're in Atlantic City. We were looking for nature and pristine air, we got smog and crowds in town - a 30 minute walk - but actually, it was nice near our hotel.
And we had a nice view from our balcony of the mountains to the north
And a relatively secluded beach was, as advertised, a 10 minute walk.
One of the problems I've found travelling in Asia is that people throw their trash everywhere. Not littering is so ingrained in me that I can't comprehend why people do this. I don't think these photos will reflect how much trash there was...everywhere in Cholpon Ata...but it was everywhere. Downtown Bishkek is pretty good, there are trash cans every few feet (just like NYC!). But elsewhere, Oscar the Grouch would call Kygyzstan home.
Issyk Kul is surrounded by mountains. Tall mountains. It was the first time in my life that I've ever been swimming and looking at snow at the same time.
Come on...let's walk to the BEACH!!! Note - be careful for poop, it's everywhere. My son said it was Tiger poop, but we definitely saw some sheep grazing...
We had one of the best dishes we've eaten in Kyrgyzstan...although, it was one of the two possible places (both in Cholpon Ata) that made me sick. No, I take that back - it made me sick, but breakfast the next day I think made me ever sicker. This first meal was a violation of a rule that keeps me safe - NEVER, while travelling in Kyrgyzstan, eat fish. The plate is was served on should have been warning enough
But it was tasty fish (salmon maybe?) and it was definitely a trip well taken, even if it was polluted, overcrowded and led to a week long illness. Really, I mean it, but it's probably the last time I eat fish off of a sizzling cow plate.
On a positive legend note, Issyk Kul is also a putative resting place for St. Matthew. It is also the site of many unexplored tombs and villages dating back thousands of years, including impressive petroglyphs that we skipped largely due to illness. Central Asia is actually a treasure trove for a motivated archaeologist.
Well, to get to Issyk Kul, you have several options - Bus...no good due to my son's inability to sit still and not bother people. Although, now that I've experienced Kyrgyzstan for over a month, it is an incredibly child friendly country. My son gets pinched and poked and salaamed everywhere he goes. Maybe people would be okay with him sitting in their laps? Option two is the train, which takes 5-7 hours to go to the first town in Issyk Kul (a two hour drive), and then you have to get into a taxi. Or, the way we decided, a taxi from Bishkek. A taxi for this distance would be prohibitively expensive in the US, but it is not here. Our trip to Issyk Kul was about 280 kilometers and cost about 2800 soms - ten som per km or about 20 cents per kilometer. In American, 170 or so miles, at a cost of 16 soms per mile or about 30 cents per mile.
Interesting side note - cars here drive on the right hand side, like in the USA. BUT, the driver's seat might be on either side. The taxi up to Issyk Kul was British style, driver sits on right, and the taxi back was driver on left. Honda and Toyota are most likely to have right side driver's seats and about, in my casual estimation, 1 in 4 or 5 cars has the driver on the right.
I took some notes on the 3 and a half hour drive to Cholpon Ata...
Trip
1. Get out of dusty Bishkek
2. Nice highway thru farms and bucolic countryside, ringed by mountains
3. Mountains on both sides, valley narrows
4. Narrow mountain road, gorge...my son is screaming(joyfully), I hope the driver can focus
5. 1 lane road! Rivers!
6. Lake!
We decided to go to Cholpon Ata because of the petroglyphs, ease of getting there - it's the most popular destination - and our ability to make reservations in English at a hotel. I think a lot of people just go to Issyk Kul and take care of their housing arrangements later, something I am not willing to do. So we booked into a place called the English Castle or the Castle Hotel. It looks like this
And we had a nice view from our balcony of the mountains to the north
One of the problems I've found travelling in Asia is that people throw their trash everywhere. Not littering is so ingrained in me that I can't comprehend why people do this. I don't think these photos will reflect how much trash there was...everywhere in Cholpon Ata...but it was everywhere. Downtown Bishkek is pretty good, there are trash cans every few feet (just like NYC!). But elsewhere, Oscar the Grouch would call Kygyzstan home.
Issyk Kul is surrounded by mountains. Tall mountains. It was the first time in my life that I've ever been swimming and looking at snow at the same time.
Come on...let's walk to the BEACH!!! Note - be careful for poop, it's everywhere. My son said it was Tiger poop, but we definitely saw some sheep grazing...
Looking south, away from the town, towards the Tian Shen or Celestial Mountains...the mountains completely encircle the lake, the world's second largest alpine lake...
The water was extraordinary and made the trip entirely worthwhile. It was, with the exception of the water at St. John's in the Caribbean, the clearest water I have ever been in. It was super shallow and it took quite a walk, well over 100 feet out, to manage to find water where you could not stand. You could clearly see your feet the whole time, as if they were not in water. It was also super calm, and since I'm not the strongest swimmer, I liked that too. The water was cool, but not cold, I'd put it at about 70 degrees or so. I was able to bring my camera out with me since it was so shallow and calm, and snap some shots from the water...Looking east at beach, then south at town, north at mountains than south at town again...
Town was noisy, dusty and overcrowded. I have no visual proof of this, but trust me, Cholpon Ata's charm is not in town, it is on the beach. Although it looks kind of nice here...
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