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Kazakhstan

Rainbow in central Kazakhstan

Almaty

The cathedral in Panfilov Park.
My favourite kebabery.
At the Staut Beer House.
Almaty, a city of international gatherings.
A new housing development.
The new financial district.
Wedding party in Panfilov Park

Kyrgyzstan

Karakol and Altyn Arashan

The tomb of some local saint on the road along the south shore of Lake Issyk-Köl.
A yurt raising.
The old Russian church in Karakol.
The entrance of Karakol’s Russian church.
The road towards the mountains.
A flock of sheep driven along the mountain path.
Portrait with a sheep background.
The river flowing down the mountainside.
The first glimpse of snow-covered peaks.
The village of Altyn Arashan.
One of the baths at the hot springs.
Houses alongside the river.
The little wooden bridge across the river.
Looking from the alpine village up to even higher peaks.
Certificate of the mineral content at the hot springs.
Alpine forest.

Karakol is a lovely town on the eastern shore of Lake Issyk-Köl, evidently inhabited mainly by ethnic Russians. I only spent one full day there, as I had in mind to hike in the surrounding Tian Shan mountains. Just four hours up a dusty path near Karakol, one reaches a lovely village called Altyn Arashan (Golden Springs), where the handful of inhabitants manage some wonderful hot springs.

My hiking partners and I were fortunate that these hot springs are only accessible on foot, horseback or 4x4, as they remain little visited and consequently very cheap. For a mere 2€ I could spend all day in one of the baths. No doubt further development will bring more tourism here, and I expect Altyn Arashan to change immensely in coming years.

Because I wanted to see local colour and save a few euro, I foolishly chose to sleep in a yurt instead of in one of the guesthouses for climbers. It was unheated, temperatures dropped to near-freezing that night, and all I had was a thin summer sleeping bag. I was quite miserable, but the beautiful views once the fog lifted in the morning returned an idyllic atmosphere to Altyn Arashan.

Bishkek

Bishkek statue.
Soviet-era cinema and café.
Statue of Liberty.
Statue of Liberty square.
Flowers along Chuy Prospekt.
Opera house.