TOKMOK

Tokmok is a small town about 60 kilometers east of the capital, Bishkek. The name means «hammer» in Kyrgyz. It is the commercial center of the Chui valley.

Tokmok was the site of one of the forts established by the Khokand khanate to protect trade routes and was the regional centre for the local administration when the Russians arrived. In 1878, a series of floods occurred and the milary engineers persuaded the bureaucrats to move the administrative centre to nearby Pishpek (another of the Khkand forts) and a major building programme turned a sleepy fort settlement into what is now a bustling capital city.

The town, itself is quite small, … there is a small museum with a variety of exhibits which include some of the architectural finds from the region, and the town boasts a MIG fighter plane mounted as a memorial. For those with time to spare, however, it provides a base for exploring the surrounding countryside.

Travelling from Bishkek, there are two roads — one through the villages and the «new road»built in the 1960s which actually by-passes the town. Travelling along the old road, you come first to Kant. It is often thought that the town was named after the famous philosopher — especially as there used to be a large contingent of German nationals living in the area — but in fact the name refelctsthe large sugar processing located in the town (Kant is the Kyrgyz word for Sugar).

Shortly after Kant you come to the village of Krasnaya Rechka (Red River). About 2 km outside the village, in the fieldstothe left thereare someirregualr mounds and eroded clay walls. This is allthat remainsof the ancient Silk Road town of Nevkat, (orNew City), which flourished for about 600 years between the sixth and twelth centuries. Archaeologists have found the remainsof a Buddhist temple, a fortress, a palace, Buddhist and Nestorian cemeteries and it is still possible to find thousand year old pottery shards here.

A couple of kilometers short of Tokmak, to the right of the main road, are the remains of another large ancient city — Ak Beshim — and here, too, archaeologists have unearthed a Buddhist temple and a Nestorian church. Ak Beshim is mentioned in medieval texts as a large flourishing city and it served at one time as the capital of the Western Turkic State.

Just over the border in Kazakhstan are the Chumysh Petroglyphs — mostly small, hand sized, carvings — but nowadays you need a Kazakh visa to go and see them.

To the south, some 15 kilometers, lies the Burana Tower … we have a separate page especially about this ancient monument.

Also to the South are the Kegetiand Samshy valleys. These valleys are less well-known amongst foreign tourists but offermay possibilities for trekking, horseriding and other activities. There are Community Based Tourism (CBT) projects operating in both valleys — accommodation can be provided in local homestays or yurts, and locals can act as guides.