Issyk-Kul

Lake Issyk-Kul (Turkic “warm lake”) – one of the largest in the world, lies at an altitude of 1640 meters above sea level; its area is 6200 sq. km, length 185 km, width up to 60 km, depth up to 71 m. The lake is surrounded by two mountain ranges of the Tien Shan Kungey Ala-Too (Turkic “Turned to the sun”) from the north and Terskey Ala-Too (Turkic “Turned away from sun”) from the south. about a hundred rivers flow down from them, not a single river flows out of the lake, which explains its salinity.

Until the second II century BC, the lands of the Tien Shan were inhabited by the tribes of ancient nomad Saks, better known as “Scythians”. From the second century BC, the lands of Turkestan belonged to another nomadic people – Usun. Numerous kurgans, towering everywhere around Issyk-Kul, remind of their former power. In them the Scythians and Usuns buried their kings and famous warriors. In the Middle Ages, the Great Silk Road passed through the cities of Barskhan, Yar, Sikul. Many cities of those times are now hidden under the waters of the lake, due to the rise in the water level. In the XVII-XVIII centuries. the shores of Issyk-Kul were under the rule of Kalmyks-Buddhists, numerous Tibetan inscriptions around the lake remind of this.

In the middle of the 19th century, the Kyrgyz recognized Russian citizenship (1855-1860). Russian travelers Semenov P.P., Severtsev, Roborovsky described Lake Issyk-Kul and discovered it to Europe.

There are a lot of interesting and beautiful places around Issyk-Kul:

• Valley Tamga
• Barskaun Gorge
• Jety-Oguz gorge
• Valley of the Karkyra River