2008 Mongolia China Kyrgyzystan Kazahkstan
Thursday Aug.28, 2008  Issyk-Kul Lake to Bishkek
Day 15 Submitted by ELLIE O BRIEN   ellie257@msn.com

After a lovely breakfast of crepes, fruit and two kinds of egg casseroles, we departed Ohopmyddor (hunters’ Lodge) at Issyk-Kul Lake, a beautiful, peaceful resort owned by Kazak investors.  The lake was so HUGE that it was impossible to see another side, except for the snow-covered mountains in the far distance that appeared  to be hanging in mid-air.As we drove out of the small lakeside community we passed homes decorated with Russian-style wooden, colorful window and house trim.  Throughout the village, apples and other fruits and vegetables grew abundantly. We stopped at the Issyk-Kul Historical State Museum, a site strewn with many stones dumped there by a glacier millions of years ago.  The Sak-Usun tribes (5^th c. BC to6^th c. AD) had carved petroglyphs upon these stones and used the area as their holy place to worship.  It was a beautiful location at the foot of the mountains with a magnificent view of the lake.  Carvings depicted the snow lion, reindeer, mountain goats, snow leopard, men riding camels, caravans, bows and arrows, and the eternal sun/energy sign. After lunch in a very “modern” restaurant in Takmak City, the home of our guide, Nazar, we visited the Burana Tower ruin, one of the oldest of its kind built in the 11^th c.  There we also saw “balbals,” totem-like tombstone markers, and many rocks with petroglyphs.From here we continued to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan.

My impression of this day’s visits were varied.  I questioned the authenticity of some of  the “balbals” which appeared too modern, i.e. design and clothing.  The drive to Bishkek (the word for a wooden tool used to make hummus) showed  remains of the Russian influence on homes, public buildings and the infrastructure of the city.  An item of interest to me were the rows of street trees, almost all poplars, and all of which were painted white on the bottom 2-3 feet.  And, wherever you looked, from any place in the city, there was always a view of the magnificent mountains.   

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