Mountains, water and sand… Issyk-Kul Lake is one of the most beautiful and interesting places created by the nature. No matter how you imagine Issyk-Kul, once having seen it, you will be delighted. The picture of the shore itself takes one’s breath away. I am looking into the distance. Immense surface of the uncommonly clean blue lake spreads in front of me. Behind it, as if in the mist, huge mountain giants are being lost, which surround the lake from every quarter, and their snow peaks look as if hovering in the air.

A little bit from the history

The Great Silk Road. Throughout the whole history of humankind it did not have equal in terms of economic and cultural significance. This Road contributed Order, Commonwealth and Peace to the general chaos of middle Ages. Since the second half of the VII century along the Silk Road route nearby Issyk-Kul began an active construction of settlements. Right up to Chyngyzhan’s horde’s arrival in Central Asia (beginning of XIII century) the towns nearby Issyk-Kul were developing and growing rich. Appearance of conquerors’ detachments on the shore compelled the rich inhabitants to hide the collected wealth under the lands and water. In such a way hoards emerged. After devastating raids of Mongolians, the towns along the path of the Silk Road were disappearing, and this process turned out to be irreversible. Chroniclers of the Timur’s trips (end of the XIV century) no longer mentioned the existence of significant towns near Issyk-Kul. The ultimate destruction of the medieval settlements on the shore was terminated by the lake. By the XVI century it has completely inundated all the towns. Hydrographic and archeological researches have shown that in the XI-XIV centuries the water level in the lake was 6 – 6.5 meters lower than the current one. Today more than ten ancient and medieval settlements, locate under the water, are known to Kyrgyz archeologists. A multitude of historical and cultural sakso-usun values from the period of the 1^st millennium B.C. such as ceramics, crocks and bronze caldrons, various metallic wares and from the early middle Ages – hyms, caldrons, dishware of the mongolo-timurian times, blue ceramics and coins were found.

Diving fans and archeologists from all over the world are invited to Issyk-Kul; here they could spend a good time and take a rest.

Legends

Since olden times Issyk-Kul was considered to be enchanted. Until the appearance of the Russian settlers in this region in the XIX century, virtually nobody swam or fished here. Apart from the legendary motif about dragons, traditional for in the mountains forsaken reservoirs, two other ones are observed – a motif of the sunken towns and motif of the gold. Therefore, Issyk-Kul is attractive for romantics and treasure hunters as before.

According to one of the legends, emergence of this magnificent lake is linked to a beautiful young girl, who gave her life for her beloved one.

“In the olden times an ancient town existed. There was a castle on the top of the steep mountains above the town. It belonged to an old and mighty khan, who was known not only for his wealth, but more so for his brutality. No day passed without having any victims of his whims. Despite being old, the khan was voluptuous, but he knew neither love nor affection. Once rumors reached him that there is a young girl of magic beauty in one poor nomad’s family, and he decided to take possession of her. This girl lived in a small ayi (village), which was sheltered at the foot of the mountain, on the shore of the brook. Many good fellows (djigits) fell on the field of battle for the beautiful girl, but for all proposals to marry she answered that she loved another man. Nobody was able to find out, whom the girl loved; moreover, she did not know herself. She only remembered that one early morning, when the sun has lightened up the mountain peaks, a handsome djigit (man) on the white horse appeared in front of her, grasped her and they went up high together. She remembered how they rushed along with the speed of whirlwind in the unattainable height; how he armed and kisses her, and how taking  his ring off and putting  it on her finger when leaving, he said, “I will come back soon. Never take this ring off; as long as you have it, you won’t know any misfortune.” And now, when khan’s envoys came to her with wealthy gifts and proposed her to marry the khan, she indignantly repelled the gifts, exclaiming, “I love another man, and will not become anyone’s wife, but my sweetheart’s!” Having said that, the girl unnoticeably took off to the mountains, hoping to meet the marvelous rider again and seek for his help. And suddenly only now the girl has noticed that the ring has disappeared from her finger; she began to cry and decided to come back home. Before she reached the house, the armed riders surrounded her, grasping and rapidly vanishing in the dark ravine. Once she was released and the band was taken off her eyes, she found herself in the miracle magnificence. Only then she realized that she was in the khan’s captivity and decided that she would rather die than becoming his wife. The khan created an ambiance of luxury around her, but no presents could impress the young girl.

Finally, the khan decided to use force for achieving his aim, instead of presents, which were vain. He came to her again, promising everything for her love, even freedom.

“I love another man, was the usual answer.

The Khan rushed to beat the girl, but she was right next to the open window, over the yawning abyss. “No, khan, I wouldn’t be yours,” and loudly screaming, threw herself out of the window. At that same moment, impregnable walls shivered, granite arches fell down, the somber castle of the old khan collapsed, and water gushed from all the ravines; the ruins of the khan’s castle were already hidden under the water, but the water was kept gushing until the big valley was flooded.”

In such a way this miraculous lake Issyk-Kul has emerged.

Let’s justly appreciate!

Issyk-Kul is one of the largest mountainous lakes of the world. Here are some statistical facts about it: the level of water is located 1609 meters higher than the ocean level. The highest length is 702 meters, width – 58 kilometers. Mirror’s square is 6332 square kilometers. The greatest depth is 702 meters. If you would like to detour around Issyk-Kul, you would have to outdo around 1000 kilometers! A white twenty-centimeter disk, thrown into the water is seen in the depth of 15-20 meters, and water samples, taken 1 kilometer away from the shore, do not deposit at all. All that indicates the high transparency and purity of Issyk-Kul water, and that, obviously, explains the unusual blueness of the lake, which has inspired a lot of artists.

Vicinities of the lake are immensely diverse and picturesque. First of all, Karakol town on the eastern coast is the last destination of the famous traveler, Nikolay Przhevalsky. Incidentally, the town was named after him for a long time. Threshold of Central Tien Shan there is the Chon-Ashu pass, from which the boundless view opens up to the Khan Tengri peak and Pobeda (Victory) peak, picturesque ravines: Djeti-Oguz, Barskoon, Grigorievskoe, Semenovskoe and others. A walk to the mountains and acquaintance with the way of life of Kyrgyz shepherds will be very entertaining and wholesome, just as everything new.

The water in the lake is brackish. Yes, this is true, the way it tastes and looks in terms of its color…, but some people assert that its taste reminds Narzan. The composition of salts, dissolved in the water, is close to the composition of Caucasian mineral waters. It has salt of sodium, potassium, magnesium, silicon, chlorine, iron and a number of microelements.

Moreover, according to the latest facts, in the waters of Issyk-Kul a radioactive gas, radon, is dissolved in the small amounts. All that makes the water very healthy for swimmers. The lake does not freeze in winter. Therefore when translated into Russian, it means – the warm lake.

Mild maritime climate, luxuriant vegetation of coastal mountains, clean ionized air, healing properties of the water, abundance of the sun, and most importantly – the golden beaches, outgoing many beaches of the world, over decades irrepressibly attract to the shores of the “Pearl of Tien Shan.” This has favored the emergence and development of recreational and sanatorium treatment industry. Nowadays all that is working exclusively on the commercial basis, which allows choosing resorts with the most diverse service and prices. In recent years the number of boarding houses has significantly increased, and consequently, the service level has risen. The health-resort zone in the northern coast is more developed, where most resorts are concentrated. The tourist industry in the southern coast is actively developing. The best time for having a vacation near the water is starting from June until the end of September. And not only near water, but also on the water – on the sailing yachts, rowing boats and windsurfing. In such places of the shore and from the piers one can fish for ide and marinka. Thanks to the combination of mountain and maritime climates there is no harassing and oppressive heat. Inclement weather does not last long. Average monthly temperature in summer is around 24 degrees Celsius, and in January it barely exceeds minus three. In summer the water on the shallow waters and in bays warms up till 25-30 degrees. Since there is a big amount of resorts every vacationer can find affordable housing. The prices for housing for one day (24 hours) vary from 10 to 150 US dollars (certainly, everything depends on the living conditions). One can have an unusual for tourists and painfully familiar to Bishkek people lunch of Asian food, would costs 3-5 US dollars.

So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the paradise corner of Kyrgyzstan!