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We are staying at homestays again and we got divided up into three, after dinner we were serenaded with local music by our gracious hosts, beautiful music and skillful playing. I bought a quilt carpet at the felt factory we went to , the lady demonstrated how to make the felt rugs as well and she made one whose design is the likeness of Gisele our truck. We had a quick lunch afterwards and then shopped for dinner cooking, we drove not far and we reached our camp site on the shores of Issyk Kol, it's a big lake and we will camp on different areas of it as we got around in a loop til we hit Bishkek in a couple days. Our campsite was gorgeous, i cooked the adobo but not really successful.It rained during the night but was dry when we woke up, the scenery is stunning, mountain peaks in the distance covered with clouds, some went for a swim in the lake, but since I have cooking duties i wasn't able to. We went our way into Karakol that afternoon, and checked in at the Hotel Amir, there is a University in the town and lots
of students walk about, i also noticed lots of Russians. We did another shopping for our next camping then off we went.
KARAKOL:
(Каракол = black arm in Kyrgyz) is a city of about 75,000, located at 42.49 N, 78.39 E near the eastern tip of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan and about 150 km from the Kyrgyz-Chinese border. It is the administrative capital of Ysyk-Kol Oblasty (province).
The town itself contains few things of of interest for a visitor, such as a very pretty wooden mosque built by Chinese artisans for the local Dungans between 1907 and 1910 entirely without metal nails and a similarly appealing wooden Russian Orthodox church, the Holy Trinity Cathedral, completed in 1895, used as a club during Soviet times, but now being restored and in use again. The Regional Museum, following some sponsorship from the nearby Canadian gold mining concern, has exhibits on the Issyk-Kul petroglyphs, Scythian bronze artifacts, and a short history of the geology and mineral exploitation in the region. There also is a small section of Russian colonial "gingerbread" style residential buildings. The town is, however, a good starting point for excellent hiking, trekking and skiing in the Tian
Shan. Przhevalsky's grave, a memorial park and a small museum dedicated to his and other Russian explorations in Central Asia are about 5 km from Karakol at Pristan Przhevalsky, overlooking an inlet of Lake Issyk-Kul where the former Soviet torpedo testing facilities were located.
KOCHKOR:
is a Kyrgyz town located northwest of the major city Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan. It is located along the major Bishkek-Osh route, approximately 3 miles from the Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan border. During the Soviet-era, the town was known for its rich oil wells.
The town itself maintains a high level of contrasting polarity. The center of the town, by the bazaar and municipal buildings, highlights a late Soviet-era style of structural design and color. Large concrete structures painted in bright colors outline central avenues and plazas. Soviet propaganda is still framed high on old billboards and posters. "Oil is the strength of the people," reads one of the central banners. However, much of Kochkor-Ata is rural. East of the central plaza past the Soviet-era concrete housing complexes, lie the mainstay of the Kochkor-Ata population. Small shacks and houses lined closely to each other, stepped along the foothills of the local mountain range, house many
of the local inhabitants. Animal husbandry and small-trade provide many of these villagers with a means of income.
The town boasts a relatively new clothing bazaar, predominantly built by funds from Kyrgyz ex-president, Askar Akayev, alongside an older established bazaar.
The bazaar is the center of commerce, in the small town. It is one of the local stops along the Bishkek-Osh route, and thusly maintains a daily flow of inter-and-intra related trade and small commerce. The avto-vaksal, or bus/taxi station, is also located in the western end of the bazaar. The local mashrutka, public transport van, runs from the Kochkor-Ata avto-vaksal to other towns along the route, most notably: Massi, Bazar-Korgon, and Jalal-Abad.
One of the larger oil fields in Kochkor-Ata has been bought out by Chinese business and interests.
The town has four middle schools: one Russian school, one Kyrgyz boarding school, and two other regular Kyrgyz schools. The town is also host of a fairly new football stadium, built by funds of a prominent Kyrgyz oil company, KNG, in the town. A hospital complex has been established adjacent to the Kyrgyz boarding school.
ISSYK KOL:
(also Ysyk Köl, Issyk-kol) is
an endorheic lake in the northern Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan. Although it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, it never freezes, hence its name, which means "warm lake" in the Kyrgyz language.
Lake Issyk Kul has a length of 182 km, a width of up to 60 km, and covers an area of 6,236 km². This makes it the second largest mountain lake in the world behind Lake Titicaca. Located at an altitude of 1,606 m, it reaches 668 m in depth. About 118 rivers and streams flow into the lake - the largest are Djyrgalan and Tyup. It is fed by springs, including many hot springs, and snow melt-off, and it has no current outlet. Its southern shore is dominated by the ruggedly beautiful Tian Shan mountain range. The lake is slightly saline and its level drops by approximately 5 cm per year.
FACTS:
Coordinates 42°30′N 77°30′ECoordinates: 42°30′N 77°30′E
Lake type Endorheic
Mountain lake
Monomitic
Primary sources glaciers
Ču River
Primary outflows Evaporation
Catchment area 15,844 km²
Basin countries Kyrgyzstan
Max length 182 km
Max width 60 km
Surface area 6,236 km²
Average depth 270 m
Max depth 668 m
Water volume 1,738 km³
Shore length1 688 km
Surface elevation 1,606 m
Settlements Cholpon-Ata
During the Soviet era, the lake became a popular vacation resort, with numerous sanatoria, boarding houses and vacation homes along its northern shore, many concentrated in and around the town of Cholpon-Ata. These fell on hard times after the break-up of the USSR, but now hotel complexes are being refurbished and simple private bed-and-breakfast pensions are being established for a new generation of health and leisure visitors.
The city of Karakol (formerly Przhevalsk, after the Russian explorer Przhevalsky who died there) is the administrative seat of Issyk-Kul oblast or province. It is located near the eastern tip of the lake and is a good base for excursions into the surrounding area. Its small old core contains an impressive wooden mosque, built without metal nails by the Uighur people, and a wooden Orthodox church that was used as a stable during Soviet times.
Lake Issyk Kul was a stopover on the Silk Road, a land route for travelers from the Far East to Europe. Many historians believe that the lake was the point of origin for the Black Death that plagued Europe and Asia during the early
and mid-14th century. The lake's status as a byway for travelers allowed the plague to spread across these continents via medieval merchants who unknowingly carried infested vermin along with them. A 14th century Armenian monastery was found on the northeastern shores of the lake by retracing the steps of a medieval map used by Venetian merchants on the Silk Road.
INFO TAKEN FROM WIKIPEDIA
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