In the Issykul area of Kyrgyzstan there are many many beautiful canyons; Skazka Canyon
Grigorevskoye Canyon, etc. One of the lesser known but still interesting to visit is the Kydymadjar Gorge, much smaller than any of the other rock formations we visited.
We visited this one en route to Skazka Canyon
stopping for about half an hour off the main road to explore it
So while we were in the Issykul area we took a trip to the salt lake, famed for healing mud and dead sea like floating possibilities, we hired a car and driver to take us there.
After a full day of walking around in the heat and climbing over rocks in the Skazka Canyon, this was a welcome relief, well we thought it would be if our drivers car had not developed a puncture on the way to the salt lake!
Thankfully he managed to “phone a friend” who brought another tyre out for him, and after spending an hour in the shade of the nearby trees, we were back on our way to the Lake. As you can see from the first image it was a long and dry ,dusty road to the lake.
Salt Lake (also Dead Lake, Tuz-Köl, Kara-Köl) is a small lake on the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, notable for its high concentration of salt in the water, as well as healing mud on the banks and bottom of the lake.
The shore of the lake is covered with curative clay of different colors, as well as with sharp crystals of salt, which are formed from the drying out of water. The size of the lake is very small: the length of the coastline is 1.5 km, and the depth is 11m.
Despite its very small size, because of its salinity, it does not freeze even in winter.
Paradoxically, but very popular now, this lake was almost unknown until the 2000s, and more or less only started being visited by tourists in 2010.
During my two month visit to Kyrgyzstan, a good amount of my time was spent in the beautiful Lake Issi Kul area.
Moving along the south coast of Issyk-Kul lake from Karakol town, before you reach the small village named Kadji-Sai, you have an opportunity to get into the most beautiful mountain landscapes.
The canyon was named because of its bizarre rocky landscape, which for many years has been transformed by erosion into amazing sculptures and formations.
Some formations look like The Great Wall of China and you can also find other formations that look like snakes, dragons, sleeping giants and even whole castles. From the canyon you can see a majestic panorama of Lake Issyk-Kul and snow caped mountains.
During my two month visit to Kyrgyzstan, a good amount of my time was spent in the beautiful Lake Issi Kul area.
Moving along the south coast of Issyk-Kul lake from Karakol town, before you reach the small village named Kadji-Sai, you have an opportunity to get into the most beautiful mountain landscapes.
The canyon was named because of its bizarre rocky landscape, which for many years has been transformed by erosion into amazing sculptures and formations. Some formations look like The Great Wall of China and you can also find other formations that look like snakes, dragons, sleeping giants and even whole castles. From the canyon you can see a majestic panorama of Lake Issyk-Kul and snow caped mountains.
Dedicated to my dear Photographer Compatriot; Natalia Arentseva!
This would make a great place for a photo shoot!
You can see Natalia’s work here ; https://www.facebook.com/photographynataliaarantseva/
Bishkek stretched Limos, Why? I hear you ask? well Bishkek is a popular place for the Kyrgz people to get married and no where is more popular than the Wedding Palace.
A restored Soviet throwback (1987) which now serves as a very kich registry office, no religion here! Primarily because of the soviet ban on religious ceremonies. Instead they agreed to a multi faith building.
A cross between a church, a castle and a Temple on the outside its brutal architectural lines belie the interior “fairytale palace” sadly on the day we visited it was closed as October is the popular month for weddings!
On wedding weekends, (rented) luxury vehicles abound: decorated stretch limos and Mercedes lead the honking wedding convoys.
During the quiet season(when we were there) we were able to walk round and see some of the stretched limos waiting for their bookings, a bit like a Limo car park. Again there are some others besides the Hummers/ Lexus/GMC/ etc that are to be seen, there is even reports of a fairytale carriage style car(which, sadly we did not see).
Bishkek is an eclectic mix of cars many from the Soviet era, and they certainly like restoring and cutting and shunting some of the modern ones.
In 2015 I had a wonderful trip to Myanmar(just after the sanctions had been lifted). The flip side was we flew via Beijing .
The plus side was we had a 15hr stop over in Beijing on the way home, what does one do for 15hrs in Beijing? one asks, well we went and visited the amazing Temple of Heaven!
Much colder in March/April than Myanmar we found the 13 degrees a touch chilly, not withstanding the fact that most of our clothes were for a warmer climate.
That didn’t stop us, and donned with socks and sandals (to keep our poor feet warm) we had, what I can only describe as the best stopover of any flight ever!
Of course it’s not only popular with foreign tourists, but many Chinese tourists, and my images reflect not only the numbers but their pastimes.
For example, the Temple was established by Emperor Yongle of the Ming Dynasty, the annual Worship of Heaven ceremony by the emperor took place here. The ceremony was subject to special regulations for its preparation, place, time, procedures, music and dance. So during the walk to the entrance you saw people playing traditional instruments and in the surrounding park area (which is vast and apparently bigger than the forbidden city), there were groups of people , formation dancing, and one young girl I caught ribbon dancing, along with people playing games and fully participating in the cultural experience.
I think it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I had, hope you enjoy it too, you will not be disappointed!
In 2015 I had the pleasure of stopping (well convalescing) in Kodai Kanal, I had got quite ill and need to get somewhere cool and calm, the nearest hill station was Kodai.
After a couple of days I could see why this was such a popular place with the British, beautifully cool and wonderfully Landscaped I took advantage of my four day stop in Kodai and this slide show is a taster of what you can see there.
Often referred to as the ‘Princess of Hill stations’, Kodai is one of the popular places to visit in summer . It is situated at an altitude of about 7000 feet (2133 m) on the southern tip of upper Palani hills. It has several scenic natural attractions which are enjoyed by its visitors and make it a popular romantic destination. Coaker’s Walk, Silver Cascade and Kodai Lake are among the must include places in your visit.
The earliest residents of Kodaikanal were the Palaiyar tribal people. Modern Kodaikanal was established by American Christian missionaries and British bureaucrats in 1845, as a refuge from the high temperatures and tropical diseases of the plains. In the 20th century a few elite Indians started relocating to this enchanting hill station and it started becoming popular among nature lovers.
Kodaikanal is not extensively commercialized like Ooty and it offers a pleasant experience to tourists with relatively less crowd.
