LAKE ISSYK KUL

«Pearl of the Tian Shan».

From Bishkek the lake is approached through Boom Gorge, and it is possible to cut into the mountains here to the Chon Kemin valley, birthplace of President Akaev.

Mountains ring the lake and there are several valleys worth visiting, Gregorievka and Simeonevka on the North, Barksoon on the South and numerous others around Karakol. To the North are the Kungei («Sunny») Ala-Too mountains and are criss-crossed by trekking routes including ones that connect the lake with Almaty — while to the South lie the Terksei («Shady») Ala- Too mountains. These mountain ranges protect the IssykKul hollow fromwinds bringing either extreme cold — or extreme hot — winds.

It is Kyrgyzstan«s largest Lake and at about 180 km long by 70 km wide and 668 meters deep at the deepest point, it is the world»s second largest mountain lake.

It is on the flight path for a wide variety of migratory birds.

In Kyrgyz the words mean «warm lake» — that is not because the waters are warm, although are a number of local hot springs in the area, but because the lake never freezes over. Apart from the large volume of water, this is because although 134 streams and rivers flow into the lake, none flow out — and every year about 80 centimeters of water evaporates from the lake surface, so the water is slightly salty and this lowers the freezing point where water turns to ice. (It is thought that at one time the lake did have an outflow to the River Chui).

The area relishes in some2900 hours of sunshine a year. Because of the effect of the mountain ranges North and South, it does not suffer from extreme Continental climatic conditions. Summer temperatures are usually around 25—28 degrees, but as the lake lies at an altitude of some 1606m, it can get quite chilly, especially at night. Winter temperatures can be around -5 degrees.

Due to its size it sometimes appears like an inland sea, and it has a fair number of beaches. Most of these are on the Northern shore and have long acted as a magnet for tourists. There are a large number of sanatoria, holiday camps and hotels on the Northern shore and these were very popular in Soviet times. Cosmonauts, after they returned to earth were brought to the lake to rest and recuperate and Brezhnev had a Dacha on the shores of the lake. In 1999 there was a an accident where a lorry carrying cyanide fell off a bridge and poisoned the river water and this led to a dramatic decline in the number of tourists to the region, although numbers are beginning to rise again.

The tourist season usually runs from June until September — but the peak season is from about 25th July until 25th August — and it may be difficult to find places and prices are at a premium. A number of the sanatoria, hotels, guesthouses and homestays around the lake operate all year round — although someare open only during the summer season.

The largest town on the Northern shore is Chalpon Ata. Nearby are some petroglyphs and the town has a small museum. A little offshore is the sunken village of Chengu — «red valley» — the capital of the ancient Usun State in the second century B. C. — and as the waters of the lake receded it is thought that the village will soon emerge from the depths. Referred to by early Russian explorers to the region, diving expeditions were undertaken in 1956. The divers found several baked bricks, fragments of ceramic dishes, a piece of a ceramic pipe (which suggests a high level of local civilization), bronze arrowheads, iron knives, and the bones of both people and animals. Offshore, opposite the villages of Korumdy and Temirovka and near the Grigoryevskaya harbor, archaeologists found fragments of ancient pots dating back to the Bronze Age. Unfortunately, only a few of such articles are preserved because most of them were taken by local residents and tourists as souvenirs. The knife handles are topped with large figures of horses or sheep. The horses look very realistic: with large heads, long tails, and well-developed leg muscles — typical of steppe horses. One of the most interesting finds from the bottom of Issyk-Kul is a sacrificial table of almost square shape. It has four legs shaped like a woman’s body, 22 cm high. These figures are well preserved: slant eyes, wide nose, oval chin, and a short and strong neck and scholars think these figures can suggest how ancient residents of the Issyk-Kul region looked.

Another find we a large hemispheric sacrificial pot with two horizontal handles and a relief tamga (the seal of the master) resembling a crescent with the points directed downwards. Such pots were widespread in this region in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium and more than 10 such pots have been found at Issyk-Kul — but this pot was the largest. Ut is thought that such pots were used only on holidays and special occasions. The large size of these pots testify to big feasts of ancient cattle breeders in honour of their gods.

One important Archaelogical find in the Issyk-Kul region was the «Golden Man». This is thought to belong to the Scythian period that is sometime between the 3rd and 7th centuries. The Saks culture left many burial mounds on the Kazakh steppes, and one of the most valuable mounds was discovered on the shore of Issyk-Kul, measuring some sixty meters in diameter and six meters high. It was surrounded by several false mounds to confuse potential grave robbers. The mound consisted of two burial niches — one in the center and another on the side. Despite all the subterfuge used by the ancients who constructed the mound , the central tomb was looted by thieves, and we will never know what treasures it once contained. but the tombs located 15 meters to the south off the center remained untouched, and contained the grave of the «Golden Man». The grave also contained 4,000 golden decorations, various plates and figures of animals. The most valuable vv

find were the clothes. The warrior wore a red suede jacket decorated with red plates and a high leather cap decorated with figures of birds and animals. On his side he had a dagger — both sides of the blade depicting 21 sacred animals, including a wolf, a mountain goat, an antelope, a snake, and a snow leopard. The face of the warrior was covered with black velvet — without eyes, mouth, nose and teeth. The «Golden Man» was not tall, coming up to the to shoulder height of modern man. Because the body is so small, French archaeologists have suggested that this is the body of the famous Massagete queen, Tomiris, who defeated and killed the great Persian King, Cyrus. Accoding to the Roman historian Herodotus, the battle was fierce — the two armies stood face to face, and poured a rain of arrows on each other. When there was no more arrows, they started to fight with spears and swords. Almost the entire Persian army died in the battle, and Cyrus was killed as well. Tomiris ordered his head be forced into a bag full of blood and said, «Now be sated with the blood you have always thirsted for.». It is very difficult, however, to test the skeleton since it is preserved so badly. Scholars cannot even determine the sex of the body. However, its high cap and neck decorations were symbols of clerical and religious power. So he or she was either a ruler or a priest.

At the extreme Eastern end is the town of Tiup. When the renowned Russian explorer Semmyenov («Tian Shansky») first visited the region, he found here a large barrow of smooth stones at the San Tash pass. Legend has it that it was constructed by the army of Timur. They found their way into the basin and he gave an order that every soldier was to pick up a stone from the shore of the lake and take it to the pass … when the campaign was over they would return it to the shore. Very few of the soldiers survived and so the army effectively constructed its own memorial.

Sometimes, Kyrgyzstan is known as the Switzerlamd of Central Asia — Tian Shansky wrote of Issyk Kul may have been the first to make the comparison — he wrote about lake Issyk Kul: «The dark, blue surface of Issyk-Kul is as blue as the surface of Geneva Lake, but the large size of Issyk-Kul makes it grandiose, which can not be said of Geneva Lake. The Issyk-Kul water beautifully reflects snow-covered Tien Shan peaks against the background of the dark blue, bright, cloudless Central Asian sky.»

During the Soviet period the lake was used by the Navy to test torpedoes built in Tashkent — and there are still «jokes» about the Kyrgyz Navy.

There are a large number of hotels, sanatoria, guesthouses and homestays at various points around the lake, many of which can make arrangements for services to the neighbouring mountains.. Some of the sanatoria have hydrothermal springs and offer mud baths.