Karakol

Karakol is the easternmost city of Kyrgyzstan by Lake Issyk Kul. A rare mixture of its historic legacy and contemporary features evolving in Karakol, positions the city as one of the most prospective tourist destinations in Kyrgyzstan.

Karakol is a very Siberian Kyrgyz city. It was founded in 1869 by the Cossacks of West Siberia as a fort of the Russian Empire on the line of border with the Chinese domains. Many scenes of the “Great Game”- a geopolitical endeavor between the Russian and the British Empires - were staged here. The city evolved as a home for the Dunghans, Uyghurs, and Uzbeks from Kashi, the Kyrgyz, who abandoned their pastures after the lure of city life, and the migrants from European Russia. Two neighboring wooden temples - a Dunghan Chinese pagoda style mosque and a Russian Siberian log church - have co-existed here since foundation times.

Today, Karakol is a city of 50,000 inhabitants and a center of Issyk Kul Oblast. Most tourists visiting Karakol, see the city as the last oasis of civilization on their way to the Inylchek glacier (68 km = 42.26 mi.), for ascents to Khan Tengri (6,995 m = 22,949 ft) and Pobedy peaks (7,439 m = 24,407 ft), Mramornaya Stena (6,281 m = 20,607 ft) and other summits of the eastern Tien-Shan. Among the tourist attractions offered by the city are: - Bugu (”Siberian deer”) bazaar named after a local Kyrgyz tribe; - Local museum exposing items of interest bought up from the lake's bottom; Museum of Mr. Nikolay Przhevalsky - explorer of Asia, active participant of the Russian Royal Geographic Society, who died here of typhoid while in preparation for yet another expedition to the sources of the Yellow River. Honoring the explorer, Karakol had the name of Przhevalsk in 1889 - 1921 and in 1939 - 1992.

To us, Karakol is most interesting by its surrounding slopes. It is one of the best places for skiing and snowboarding in Central Asia.

Oleg Lukichev,
Ski instructor