Top Tourist Places to Visit in Kyrgyzstan, Asia

Top Tourist Places to Visit in Kyrgyzstan, Asia

The country of Kyrgyzstan is one of the centrally located countries in the Asian Continent and was once a part of the Soviet bloc countries before its independence in late 1991. Kyrgyzstan is now officially known as Kyrgyz Republic. Kyrgyzstan is located approximately around 40^o North Latitude and around 80^o East Longitude with mountainous terrain surrounded by China to the East and South East, Kazakhstan to the North, Uzbekistan to the West and Tajikistan to the South West.

Kyrgyzstan is approximately around 200,000 Sq. Km in area divided in to 8 provinces and each province is further divided into number of districts that are governed by the designated government authorities and locally elected officials. The City of Bishkek, which is also a province is the capital of Kyrgyzstan, is located to the North of Kyrgyzstan, and the city of Osh, which is the second largest city is also a province, is located to the South of Kyrgyzstan. The other 6 provinces of Kyrgyzstan are Batken, Chuy, Jalal-Abad, Naryn, Talas, Issyk-Kul.

History of Kyrgyzstan:

Kyrgyzstan was part of the territory of USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) which became independent along with other 14 countries in 1991 after the break of the Russian Confederate and is now known as Kyrgyz Republic.

Kyrgyzstan is basically an ethnic country with various clans united that are spread across various regions of Central Asia. The very flag of the Kyrgyzstan is symbolic of this union of clans representing 40 sun rays or the clans to fight the Uyghurs who are the dominant rulers of Central Asia.

Kyrgyzstan was located along the Silk Route was an important break point for the traders traveling from the Far East Countries to the European countries along the Silk Route with the Lake of Issyk-Kul, providing much succor to the tired travelers.

Food and Culture in Kyrgyzstan:

Kyrgyzstan being a mountainous region the food crops that are grown is generally wheat and vegetables, fruits and the rearing of livestock are actively undertaken. The foods that are consumed are mainly the wheat and wheat products, potatoes, sugar beets and meat of the reared animals and dairy products. Some of the food items of Kyrgyzstan are Beshbarmak, Shashlik, shorpa, Plov or Paloo etc.

Kyrgyzstan has the add mixture of various cultures, due to its ethnic populations of Turkic, Russian, Dungans and various tibes from various regions across the Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan follows the nomadic culture with Islam being the majority religion followed by Christianity and Buddhism.

The languages of Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Russian are widely spoken as local languages and also along with English as the second most spoken languages in Kyrgyzstan.

Shopping and Things to do in Kyrgyzstan:

Kyrgyzstan’s currency unit is som that is divided into 100 tiyin with denominations of notes ranging from som 1,5,10,20,50,100,200,500 and 1000 som that is exchanged for the post 2001 US dollars. The ATMs in Kyrgyzstan dispenses both US dollar and the local currency som as some of the higher priced goods are purchased with US dollars and some hospitality industries charge in euros.

Kyrgyzstan is a good bet for the shoppers as it was once a famous stop point of the traders along the Silk Route; one can shop for ethnic products in their markets for the various woolen products and various dairy products and can relish the food stuffs of the livestock that are reared in the country side.

Once in Kyrgyzstan one get the help of local tourist guides and get choose from list of activities to do in Kyrgyzstan such as having a trek or riding a horse along the Alay Valley in the Pamir Alay range like the nomadic and spending the starry nights in yurt – a nomadic tent made of animal skin sipping mare milk in the Central Tian Shan country side. One can also visit the second largest mountain lake Issyk-Kul and also watch the local game of Kok boru.

Tourist Attractions in Kyrgyzstan:

Kyrgyzstan is a mountains country with craggy mountains that are rising nearly to 7000 mts. and deep valleys with crystal clear waters flowing in rivers and shored in lakes. Some of the tourist attractions in Kyrgyzstan are:

ake Issyk – Kul: One of the placid lakes and is the second highest Mountain lake lay along the Silk Route. Where tourists indulge in windsailing, paragliding and diving.

Altyn Arashan: Known for its scenic beauty and the lake Ala-Kul are located here and are famous with the trekkers.

Alay Valley: Horse riders and trekkers paradise.
Tian Shan Mountains: It contains range of snow covered mountains with peaks towering over 7000 meters bordering the country of China in the East where skiing and trekking is conducted. Ala Archa National Park is located here.

Tash Rabat: Very old 600 year old stone structure is located near to Naryn province.

Connectivity to Kyrgyzstan:

Kyrgyzstan can be reached by road from the other Common Wealth Independent States and from Almaty in Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan is reached by train from Moscow which is around 3700 Km and the journey takes around 3 days. Kyrgyzstan can be reached by plane from various cities by flight from London, Istanbul, and Moscow etc. with airport located at Manas in Kyrgyzstan capital city of Bishek.

Hotel Accommodation in Kyrgyzstan:

There are various budgeted hotels in Kyrgyzstan for the tourists which are mainly in the city of Bishkek.