Expedition Manual
Kyrgyzstan The Silk Road
19 June - 28 June, 2019
2
Useful Phrases
Hi! Salam! How are you? Kandai? Fine! Jakshy! Ok! Makul! Thank you! Rakhmat! I love you! Men seni suyom! My name is... Menin atym... What is your name? Senin atyng kim? Good bye! Salamatta kalyngyz! Bon Appetite! Tamagyngyz tattu bolsun! Wow! (surprise) Ayeeeee! Fast! Bat! Tez! Wait! Tokto! Yes Ooba No Jok Aunt Eje Uncle Baike Please Suranych Thanks Rakhmat Let’s go! Kettik!
1
Bishkek Day 1: 19-06-2019
0 km
Plaza Hotel Osh Bazaar : Bishkek’s most central bazaar where one can buy food products, almost any common household good, clothes, souvenirs, musical instruments and even Kyrgyz national clothes. It has a vibrant atmosphere and is a great place to experience the culture of the country. Ala Too Square : Ala-Too Square, is the central plaza in Bishkek and one of the city’s major landmarks. Ala-Too in Kyrgyz means “great mountain”, symbolizing the mountainous terrain and nature of the country. State Museum of Fine Arts : Collections of Kyrgyz embroidery and felt rugs, a splendid variety of paintings, and rotating exhibitions of local and international touring works all make a visit here worthwhile.
2
start: Bishkek end: Cholpon Ata Start Bishkek
End Tokmok
Day 2: 20-06-2019 Distance Kilometre 75.2
Tokmok
Chon Kemin
120
Chon Kemin
Cholpon Ata
85.6
Cholpon Ata
Kapriz Resort
6.5
Total
1
287.3
Kapriz Resort
287 km
Burana Tower: One of Kyrgyzstan’s best known archaeological sites. Burana is also home to a museum of important archaeological pieces that tell the history of the Silk Road and Kyrgyzstan’s place on it. It is all that’s left of the city of Balasagun, which was the capital of the Karakhanid Empire in the 9th century. Horse Games: Horse Games, are possibly the most famous of all traditional Central Asian sports and is more commonly known as buzkashi, origin - Afghan. Issyk Kul: An endorheic lake in the northern Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh deepest lake in the world, the tenth largest lake in the world by volume, and the second largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea. Issyk-Kul means “warm lake” in the Kyrgyz language; although it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, it never freezes.
start: Cholpon Ata end: KarakolDay Day 3: 21-06-2019
142 km
Hotel Green Yard
Start
End
Distance Kilometre
Cholpon Ata
Semenov Gorge
41
Semenov Gorge
Oital
38
Oital
Karakol
63.1
Total
142.1
Petroglyphs : One of the main sights in Cholpon-Ata is the open-air museum of petroglyphs, located just outside the city center. The 42 hectares of the museum are dotted with stone circles, tombs, balbals, and a variety of petroglyphs. These petroglyphs date from the 2nd millennium BCE up to the 4th century AD. Dungan mosque: This stunning mosque is an architectural wonder that uses no nails whatsoever. A tip-tilted triple roof,carved-layered eaves and wooden exterior pillars give this colourful 1910 mosque the look of a Chinese Buddhist temple. Remarkably it survived the early Bolshevik era, which saw the town’s other eight mosques destroyed.
2
start: Karakol end: Karakol
Day 4: 22-06-2019 START Karakol
END Ak-Bulun
DISTANCE Kilometre
Enilcheck
98
Enilcheck
Karakol
138
1
276 km
40
Ak-Bulun
Total
Hotel Green Yard
276
Karkara Valley : Enjoy the views of high mountains covered with glaciers. You will drive along striking rivers and great passes.The beautiful, broad valley of the Karkara River is an age-old summer pasture for herds from both sides of what’s now the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border. Enelchek : The Enelcheck Glacier is considered to be one of the largest glaciers in Kyrgyzstan and also the fastest. The South Enilchek Glacier ranks as the sixth longest non-polar glacier in the world and is the largest and fastest moving glacier in Kyrgyzstan.
start: Karakol end: Tamga
Day 5: 23-06-2019
120.5 km
Homestay
Jeti Oguz : 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 isn’t especially big, but it looks particularly striking in late spring when the rock’s rosy colours contrast with the surrounding green fields and hills. Baraskoon Valley : Etched in history, Baraskoon Valley is a rich glacial valley which was an important trading port on the ancient Silk Road. The valley is now famous for its lush green pastures, making it home to Kyrgyz Nomads, as well as a great picnic spot for city folk from Bishkek. We will have a picnic lunch here.
START
END
DISTANCE Kilometre
Karakol
Jeti Oguz
42
Jeti Oguz
Barskoon Gorge
67.5
Barskoon Gorge
Tamga
11
Total
120.5
2
start: Tamga end: Naryn Day 6: 24-06-2019
START
END
DISTANCE Kilometre
Tamga
Bokonbayevo
50
Bokonbayevo
Kochkor
118
Kochkor
Kichi Naryn Gorge 119
Kichi Naryn Gorge Naryn Total 1
287
Kahn Tengri Guest
287 km
Kyrgyz Eagle Hunting : There are only a handful of expert hunters left to this day who are determined to keep this ancient practice alive. While falcons and hawks are used in many parts of the world, Kyrgyz consider these birds right for ametuers. They train the Golden Eagle, calling it the bird of God, preferring to hunt with them as they find them more intelligent, powerful and lethal. Jalpak Bel : A high altitude pass, situated at an altitude of 3,300 Meters. This will be one of the highest points of our journey through the TanShien Mountains.
start: Naryn end: Naryn
Day 7: 25-06-2019 Kahn Tengri Guest House
228 km
Tash Rabat : With a dramatic mountainous backdrop, the Tash Rabat Caravanserai in Kyrgyzstan stands out in the middle of nowhere. It’s a true Silk Road relic! Tash Rabat is what is known as a ‘caravanserai’, the name given to a sort of roadside inn where travellers could stop for the night or a few days to rest. They catered for both, humans and animals, that were travelling along the Silk Road and, while having accommodation and food facilities, often provided some opportunities for trade and religious rituals. What makes Tash Rabat slightly mysterious is that its layout is unusual for this kind of caravanserai. What’s left is a single structure that looks like a blend between a castle and a temple. Built of hefty stone, it stands out against the mountainous backdrop and vast nothingness. In total there are 31 rooms. The walls are 1 m thick. There are also underground prison cells formerly used to incarcerate thieves in ancient times.
START
END
DISTANCE Kilometre
Naryn
Tash Rabat
114
Tash Rabat
Naryn
114
Total
228
2
start: Naryn end: Song Kul Day 8: 26-06-2019
Traditional Nomadic Yurts
START
END
DISTANCE Kilometre
Naryn
Kara Unkur
52.5
Kara Unkur
Song Kul
85.9
TOTAL
1
138.4
138.4 km
Yurts : A traditional yurt is a portable, round tent covered with skins or felt and used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes of Central Asia. The structure comprises an angled assembly or latticework of pieces of wood or bamboo for walls, a door frame, ribs (poles, rafters), and a wheel (crown, compression ring) possibly steam-bent. The roof structure is often self-supporting, but large yurts may have interior posts supporting the crown. Tonight, we will stay in traditional nomadic yurts. Song Kul : Song Kul is a high alpine lake, and the second largest lake in Kyrgyzstan. It is surrounded by high mountain pastures called jailoos, where Kyrgyz herdsmen graze their livestock during the summer months (June to August), living a semi-nomadic life in yurt camps.with a vast, expansive park that together offer hundreds of activities!
start: Song Kul end: BishkekDay Day 9: 27-06-2019
296 km
Plaza Hotel START
END
DISTANCE Kilometre
Song Kul
Kochkor
88
Kochkor
Tokmok
132
Tokmok
Bishkek
76
Total
296
2
FOOD & DRINK IN BISHKEK Supara Ethno Complex
Chaikana Navak
Kyrgyz International
Teahouse
Shashlyk No 1
Pur Pur
Grill
Georgian
Vinoteka
Kulikovskii
European
Bakery
Area
Varenichnaya Korchama
Afghani
Ukrainian
Lapsha Po Landzhouski
Arzu
Chinese Islamic
Central Asian
NOTES
NOTES
EMERGENCY CONTACT INFOMATION
Ambulance: 103
Police: 102
Fire Brigade: 101
Medical Service: 151
Sergey: +996 555 99 37 33 Indian Embassy: +996 312 979 256 2
© Terraquest Expeditions 2019 © The Silk Road by Terraquest www.terraquest.in Bharat: +91.9810168680 Abhey: +91.9811811816
1