One of the symbols of Kyrgyzstan is the legendary Issyk-Kul Lake. This huge lake, located high in the mountains, has crystal clear water. Its transparent blue surface stretches for many kilometers. Issyk-Kul replaces the sea for all inhabitants of Central Asia. Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, Uzbeks come here.
General information about Issyk-Kul lake
To find out where Lake Issyk-Kul is located, you can use the Google map, which can even determine the coordinates of the reservoir. They are 42. 26. 00 s. sh. 77.11.00 at. e. The length of Lake Issyk-Kul is 182 km, and the width reaches 58-60 km, its area is 6330 sq. km. The maximum depth of the reservoir reaches 702 meters, its height above sea level is 1608 meters.
Due to the fact that more than 50 rivers flow into the lake, and none of them come out of it, many mineral substances are concentrated in it and the water here is salty like in the sea. The salinity in ppm reaches almost 6. In winter, the lake does not freeze because of the great depth and high concentration of mineral salts, the water temperature during this period does not drop below 2-3 degrees Celsius. Only in some parts of the bays during particularly cold winters can the water be covered with a crust of ice.
A wide variety of fish are found in the reservoir. In Soviet times, several fish-breeding factories operated here, which supported the population of rare and expensive fish varieties: trout, pike perch, bream and many others. But even now fishing attracts numerous tourists to this region.
Leisure and attractions
The reservoir has a unique pristine nature. On its shores are alternating settlements and cities built in the old days, which have a rich history and culture, as well as abound with unusual sights. There are sanatoriums, children's camps, camp sites and various complexes designed for recreation and health restoration.
North coast
Issyk-Kul Lake is famous for its beauty, however, there is still a lot of interesting things in its vicinity. For example, on the northern side there is an unusual Rukh-Ordo complex (spiritual center), whose main goal is to prove that God is one. Upon entering it, 5 almost identical white chapels, museum exhibits, symbolizing the main world religions, are immediately striking:
- Islam;
- orthodoxy;
- Buddhism;
- Catholicism;
- Judaism.
In the cities known as popular resorts, Cholpon-Ata and Bosteri, located five kilometers from each other, vacationers are provided with all the conditions necessary for good rest and entertainment. For example, in the city of Boster there is a huge Ferris wheel, which allows you to easily see the entire coast of Issyk-Kul. There is also a water park and many different attractions. Cholpon-Ata is famous for its unique museums, numerous restaurants and cafes.
Not far from these cities there are mineral springs equipped with comfortable outdoor pools. Also, there are beautiful unique gorges, where tourists go in crowds every summer, where they take interesting photos, admire the surrounding landscapes and forever take with them their love for the Issyk-Kul region.
On the northern shore of the lake, the climate for recreation is more favorable, and the swimming season lasts longer than on the opposite southern coast. There are a lot of sanatoriums, as well as private boarding houses and small hotels. The beaches are sandy, sometimes there are pebbles in places, or are completely covered with clean fine sand, so relaxation and swimming in the lake are more convenient here.
In the coming season of 2017, Lake Issyk-Kul is waiting for its admirers for a summer vacation. There is no sweltering heat here, as in the Black Sea, but the lake warms up quite well - up to 24 degrees. By its unique composition, purity and transparency, water is second only to Baikal. No wonder this region is called the second Switzerland.
South coast
On the southern side, the natural landscape is richer and striking in variety, the shores are rocky and inconvenient for swimming, but the water is much cleaner and more transparent. There are fewer vacationers, mini-hotels and boarding houses. The most visited places are Tamga and Kaji-Sai. There is a military sanatorium in the village of Tamga.
Few travelers know that on the southern side of the lake there is the Kyrgyz Dead Sea - Salt Lake. So it is called because of the mineral composition of the water. The dimensions of the lake are about three hundred meters wide and five hundred meters long. The bottom is 2-3 meters deep on average. The water is saturated with trace elements.
We advise you to read about Lake Balkhash.
Plunging into the lake, vacationers experience a feeling of weightlessness, like in the Dead Sea. It is impossible to drown in such water, it literally pushes you to the surface. The properties of the water of the Salt Lake are in no way inferior to the healing water of the Dead Sea in Israel. Here you can improve your health in just a few days.
The southern side of the lake is famous for its beautiful landscapes. The most beautiful gorge is located here not only on the Issyk-Kul coast, but also in the whole of Central Asia. It is called the Fairy Valley. Wind and water have created truly amazing and unusual landscapes here, the description of which is impossible with simple human words. These are one of the most ancient mountains of Kyrgyzstan, which have been forming for thousands of years. The mountain folds are like pictures of quaint castles built of white clay. The shells found remind that there was once an ancient sea here.
The southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul is more suitable for those who know how to appreciate the beauty of pristine nature. There are almost no sandy beaches, in most cases these are small pebbles, turning into large boulders. But the southern coast is very picturesque, the very nature of Issyk-Kul has become its main attraction. Here you can take wonderful photos that will keep the memory of an amazing adventure for a long time.
Secrets and history of Issyk-Kul lake
The waters of Issyk-Kul are fraught with many unsolved mysteries. For many centuries and millennia, the surface of the lake has repeatedly subsided and then rose again. When once again Lake Issyk-Kul went out of its borders, its waters were absorbed on its way by all the cities and settlements that were located in its vicinity. So at the bottom there were many villages of ancient people. And in them, researchers find household items that belong not only to different periods of time, but also to different cultures.
Historians explain this by the fact that trade caravans passed through this place in ancient times and in the Middle Ages. Due to the fact that the Silk Road ran there, at the bottom of the lake and in its vicinity, during archaeological research, there are signs of almost all of humanity. In total, at the bottom of Issyk-Kul, there are up to a hundred local objects, large and small, that can be identified as a settlement.
Lake legend
Kyrgyzstan keeps many legends about the amazing and wonderful Issyk-Kul Lake. Here is one of them that explains the origin of the reservoir. A long time ago, in the very place where the waves of Lake Issyk-Kul are splashing, there was a huge beautiful city with magnificent palaces and numerous streets and houses where ordinary people huddled. But suddenly the earth began to emit tremors, and an earthquake of unprecedented strength began, which did not spare either people or buildings. Everything was destroyed, and the earth itself sank, and in this place a depression was formed, which was filled with water. So a deep lake appeared on the site of the city.
Several girls from this city early in the morning, shortly before the earthquake, went high into the mountains for brushwood, and only therefore survived. They began to mourn their dead relatives and friends, who were buried at the bottom of the lake. Every day they came to the shore and shed hot tears there, which flowed in streams into the Issyk-Kul Lake. There were so many of them that the water in it became as bitter and salty as the tears of girls.
