Trips

Thurs., 9/20 - Lake Issyk-Kul to Cholpon-Ata

We left Bishkek at 8:30 and headed east for the long drive to Lake Issyk-Kul. On the way out of town we passed a new, large mosque. It will hold 65,000 people and the President of Turkey, Erdogan, came to officially open it.

Our first stop of the day was at the site of Burana Tower, a burial place for rulers of the Kara-Khanid Khanate from the 11th c. At that time (8 to 13th c.), 80,000 people may have lived at the site which was an important crossroads of the Silk Road. There was a mosque and a palace and a library. Half of the minaret and watch tower still stand and were refurbished in 1925. The small museum has water pipes, parts of columns, coins, and a few relics found at the site (no photos).

Entrance to the Burana Tower site
Burana Tower	Burana Tower detail
We walked out to the field of Balbal containing stone statues from the 6th to10th c. They were placed at the residence of a dead person and were carved sort of in the resemblance of the person. If the man or woman died of natural causes they hold a cup in their right hand meaning they had a full life. The left hand holds a symbol of their profession.
Mounds of dirt cover areas that once were buildings.
The countryside	Out in the field below the mounds, there were some millstones, olive oil press stones, pieces of columns, and stones with petroglyph carvings.
Columns in the field	Column
Millstones	Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs	We drove a short distance to an open field to watch some Turkic horseback games. A dozen village locals demonstrated four of these games on their small, agile, strong mountain horses.
Entrance of the riders	The first riders galloped and tried to pick up a pice of cloth laying on the ground by leaning out of the saddle. (Originally the trick was to pick up a coin and keep it for payment.)
Two horsemen wrestle until one puts a hand or foot on the ground.	The third game demonstrated was was Buzkashi (it has many other names), or horse polo, Kyrgyzstan-style. Teams of four or five riders attempt to pick up a 60 to 70 pound headless dead goat from the ground and ride with it to drop it into a “pot” or goal which was a four-foot high round structure maybe ten-feet in diameter. The opponents blocked each other or rode to protect a teammate. It is a rough sport. At the end of a 60-minute “game” the goat would be roasted and eaten (and very much tenderized!) The same horse is ridden for the entire contest so the animals are very sturdy.
Milling around trying to get in position for one rider to grab the goat and make a run for it.	I got it!
Racing for the goal	The goal is in sight
When the goat is dropped (often), the milling around starts all over again	Tug of war
Tug of war on the run	Looks like a firm grip on the goat
A very dusty game!	The fourth event was a horse race across the field. After the demonstrations, the horsemen came up to our seats to answer questions and three of us were invited to sit in their saddles as they were walked to cool down. I was surprised I was able to step right up into the saddle. The horses are not very tall.
Lunch was at the house of a retired history teacher. There are no restaurants in the village. We had vegetables and noodles and ground beef and tea and bread and honey on fried noodles for dessert.
	Our luncheon hosts
After lunch we drove for 3 1/2 more hours through the Kyrgyz Mountains to Lake Issyk-Kul. The lake, formed in a tectonic crack, is brackish, and 20 by 40 miles huge. No fish were natural to the lake so the Soviets tried to stock it with 30 different species. Three species survived - black spotted trout, carp, and sardines. In 1991 with no one to control fishing, the lake was overfished so now fishing is not allowed (from 2012 to 2021) so they can regenerate.
Hungry bee	We went through Tokmok several times
Street scene	Notice the Russian-style balcony on the second floor
Sign for the Nomad Games	Kyrgyzstan hosted the third World Nomad Games September 2 to 11 in this area and in Issyk-Kul.
Cemetery	Land - from the bus
Mosque	Cute kid
	We stopped briefly at the archeological/history museum in Cholpon-Ata - interesting but no photos allowed. The finds were mostly from around the lake. The room of ancient instruments was interesting because all the ones that were played for us at our Welcome dinner were on display. The last stop of the day was at an “open air museum” to look at petroglyphs. It was just a field of boulders until we got inside and started to see carvings in some of the rocks. There were about 3,000 carvings, mostly of goats with long horns curved over their backs and hunters with bows and arrows. It is estimated that they were drawn by shepherds here as early as 1500 BCE.
	About a dollar and a half
Live goats on the rocks
We finally arrived at our hotel. A refurbished four-story Soviet block apartment building at a resort for the communist workers. It is sparse and with no elevator. No Kleenex, only a partial roll of crepe paper-like TP, no clock, and an electric kettle without any coffee or tea bags or cups! Oh, and the toilet seat comes right off - it is just placed on top of the bowl! Dinner was a poor buffet at the hotel. They do not provide water. Marge bought a large beer for $2 but a small cup of coffee was going to cost me $3, so I declined.

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