Some photos from my final dip in Kyrgyzstan’s famous “warm” (but actually frigid most of the time, nippy on the best days) lake, Issyk Kul. I’m getting a bit emotional thinking about it. It wasn’t a trip I was most excited to take. It was peak season, we were going without the most solid reservations …
Tag Archives: travel around Kyrgyzstan
taking the train to Issyk Kul
This is an experience that seems to make it around the various expat circles. Let’s take the train to Issyk Kul! My first reaction to hearing it was something like, really? You can do that? I just finished reading The Great Railway Bazaar and, influenced by the book, I imagined the train to Issyk Kul …
a perfect weekend in Tamga
There were several factors that made this possibly one of the best trips to Issyk Kul that I’ve ever had. First, wonderful company. Daniel was prepared for anything, and he had a car, and he’s a very laid-back, awesome guy. When the apartment we rented didn’t have sugar, he had sugar (a necessity for my …
Karakol Antiques
During our day spent walking around Karakol, we passed an antiques store and I told Farrell we absolutely had to stop in there and visit before we went back to the guesthouse. Having recently purchased another Soviet-era film camera, I was in the mood to look for more and smitten at the thought of finding …
Karakol animal market
Okay sure, let’s wake up at 6am and go to the animal market. We (Farrell, me, Win strapped to my chest, and Cami, the only other person out of our 18-person group who wanted to go with us) walked 10 minutes to get to the main road. We’ll catch a cab, that shouldn’t be too …
exploring Karakol
Some photos from our walk around Karakol. Jamilya’s B&B is the guesthouse we stayed in, and it was perfectly adequate and large enough for our whole group. A bit cold, but that’s an ongoing complaint for all of Kyrgyzstan in the winter. Why have a door to your establishment when you can have a ferocious …
taking Win to Karakol
Karakol is another one of those places that strikes me as being “must-see” in Kyrgyzstan. It’s one of the bigger and fairly well-known sites, especially by those who have experienced a Kyrgyzstan winter. Why? Because although Karakol doesn’t seem like much in the warmer months (maybe some good hiking? I’m a terrible tour guide), but …