The best time to relax in Issyk-Kul. Issyk-kul lake in kyrgyzstan
It's hot in Bishkek, and shade doesn't always help. The only way out is to go to Issyk-Kul and get away from the bustle of the city on the beach. However, on the way to the dream, a financial issue may arise, since many citizens of our country cannot afford separate boarding houses and sanatoriums. Editorial Kaktus I decided to figure out what to choose to be comfortable and inexpensive. Please note prices are valid for 2017.
Guest house "Persona"
The guest house is located on the north coast, in the center of Cholpon-Ata. To the beach 10 minutes walk. The beach of the boarding house "Altyn Balalyk" is small, sandy. "Persona" offers standard and junior suite rooms.
Prices for accommodation per person per day with three meals a day:
Standard number. Two beds in one room. Kitchen, shower, toilet, refrigerator - shared by four rooms.
Junior suite - three beds, refrigerator, satellite TV, private bathroom and shower with hot water.
Hotel "Natalia"
Situated on south coast Issyk-Kul, in the village of Kaji-Sai. On the territory there is a playground, billiards, bar, table tennis and free Wi-Fi. For everyone, there is the possibility of excursions. The village beach is located 500 meters from the boarding house, that is, 7 minutes at a leisurely pace.
Standard rooms- 1,500 soms.
Junior suites- 1,700 soms.
Greenville Guest House
Centrally located resort area Cholpon-Ata, a three-minute walk from the city beach (100 meters) and the beach of the medical sanatorium "Blue Issyk-Kul". It has a spacious fenced area with dense greenery, a shady yard, a garden with apricot, walnut, cherry trees and many recreation areas equipped with hammocks, benches and trestle beds. In the territory guest house there is Wi-Fi, satellite TV, hot water. Ironing of personal belongings and laundry (for a fee), a cafe and three meals a day are provided. There is a free guarded car park.
Prices for accommodation with three meals a day per person:
Junior suite - 1,550 soms.
Cottage for a large family - 1,350 soms (subject to accommodation of at least five people).
Private mini-boarding house
Located between Cholpon-Ata and with. Bosteri (Farm). City beach. All rooms are doubles, but if necessary, you can add one more bed. Vacationers can either eat in the dining room or cook on their own. For them, a summer kitchen with everything you need is provided.
junior suite - 1,050 soms.
standard - 850 soms.
Guest house "Caravan"
Located in the village of Tamchy on the northern shore of the lake. The guest yard is decorated in ethnic style of wood and stone. On the territory there is a large playground, Wi-Fi, a radon pool. To the city beach 5 minutes walk. Children under 5 years old stay free of charge without providing a separate bed.
Accommodation with three meals a day per person per day:
Standard - 800 soms.
Junior suite - 900 soms.
Suite - 1,000 soms.
Everest Hotel
The hotel is located in the village of Bosteri, just behind the fair. New building. The beach of Orbita is a 10-minute walk away. Near boarding houses "Orbita" and "Tolkun".
Accommodation with three meals a day for one person per day costs 1,100 soms.
Guest house "Insan"
0709026238
The guest house is located in the village of Tamchy, a 5-minute walk from the lake. The beach is small and quiet. Each room has an individual bathroom with shower, sleeping beds, bedside table, wardrobe, refrigerator and TV.
In the courtyard there is a kitchen with a dining room for those who want to cook for themselves, as well as gazebos for those who want to sit with the company.
Accommodation with three meals a day for one person per day - 1,200 soms.
Guest house in Cholpon-Ata
This guest house is located in Cholpon-Ata and provides 3- and 4-bed rooms. Toilet and shower on site. There is a parking lot for 3-4 cars, an equipped kitchen with a dining room where you can cook your own food, free high-speed Wi-Fi, a trestle bed and a barbecue area.
You need to walk 20 minutes to the city beach.
Accommodation with three meals a day per person per day - 800 soms.
Guest house "Altyn Mezgil"
The guest house is located opposite the boarding house "Aurora". There is a large playground, secure parking and a cafe with home cooking. Beach of the boarding house "Aurora", entrance 50 soms per adult, children free of charge.
Standard rooms with a refrigerator, TV, wardrobe, table, chairs and a bathroom. 2-, 3-, 4-seater - 1,500 soms (with breakfast and dinner, as many people prefer to dine on the beach).
Comfort room (bedroom, living room, bathroom). There is a refrigerator, TV, coffee table, armchairs, wardrobe, sliding sofas. Suitable for large families with children. Payment is made for a room with a one-time meal - 3,500 soms.
Guest House
Located in Cholpon-Ata. City beach. Here all the rooms are standard. Meals are not provided. Guests can cook their own meals in the equipped kitchen or eat in the numerous cafes near the guest house. On the territory there is a large fruit garden, two shared showers and two toilets, as well as Wi-Fi.
Accommodation per person - 400 soms.
Guest house "Delfin-Murok"
It is located on the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, with. Bosteri, on the territory of the boarding house "Murok". Before private beach- 10 minutes. The 2- and 3-bed rooms have everything you need for a comfortable stay, including a bathroom. Children under 6 years old can stay here free of charge without a bed.
There is a system of discounts if you rest for more than five days.
Guest house "Kolibri"
It is located in the village of Baktuu-Dolonotu, the district of the Central Center "Caprice". Provided free parking. There is a landscaped and fenced area. For vacationers trestle bed, cauldron, barbecue, playground. The beach of the children's health camp, free of charge. You can also go to the beach of the Kapriz CO, but the entrance is paid. Five minutes walk to the lake shore. There are 2- and 3-bed rooms. Each has a refrigerator, TV, private bathroom and shower with hot water, satellite TV, Wi-Fi.
The cost of rooms with meals is 1,500 soms.
"Guest house in Issyk-Kul"
It is located on the northern coast, 30 km from Cholpon-Ata. 400 meters from the beach in the village of Grigorievka-Pristan. A territory of 24 acres fenced with a three-meter fence, closed parking for cars, there is a dining room for 20 people. Forestry is 100 meters from the boarding house. On the territory of 8 rooms of 24 sq. m, with private facilities in each room. There is hot, cold water, shower.
Each room is furnished with a wardrobe, one and a half and a double bed. It's quiet family place. Groups of more than six people are not recommended to come here.
Price per night with three meals a day per person:
Guest house "Meerim-Murok"
The guest house is located in the village of Bosteri, 10 minutes from sandy beach boarding house "Kyrgyz seaside" Large and ennobled area with a cafe.
Accommodation with three meals a day per person:
But they can make a discount on accommodation if there are "windows" between clients.
Guest house "Visiting like at home"
Located in the village of Baktuu-Dolonotu, near Cholpon-Ata, opposite the Lenta supermarket. Ten minutes to the free beach of the boarding house "Bereke", nearby are the boarding houses "Columbus" and "Caprice".
2-, 3-, 4-bed rooms. Each room has satellite TV, bathroom and shower with hot water. On the territory for lovers of oriental flavor there is a yurt and a trestle bed, as well as a barbecue and a barbecue. There is also a canteen with complex meals. Closed parking for 10 cars.
Accommodation with three meals a day per person - 1,400 soms.
After the disastrous summer season of 2010, the Kyrgyz Issyk-Kul is again set to receive tourists. Due to the peculiarities of the climate and the temperature of the water in the lake, the season for our neighbors begins only now. Voxpopuli visited the northern coast of Issyk-Kul to find out how things are now
You can now get to Issy-Kul by plane. Regular flights from Almaty to Issyk-Kul last time were under the Soviet Union, then there were attempts by Air Astana to let charter flights, but things did not go well, and Kazakhstanis mostly traveled to the Kyrgyz lake by bus or car. This year, the Kazakh tour operator Kompas, together with the Kyrgyz partners, decided to try to open a flight through the Skat airline.
Fly to Issyk-Kul for about an hour. The An-24 aircraft is designed for 48 seats. Flights will operate every Thursday and Monday until the end of August. Round-trip airfare - 33,000 tenge ($225)
Issyk-Kul Airport is located in the village of Tamchy, 60 km from Cholpon-Ata.
Last season was a failure for Issyk-Kul for last years. Political events in the country have hit all sectors of the economy, but tourism has suffered the most. "Last year, we sent only 100 tourists to Issyk-Kul," admits Kompas spokesman Bakhtiyar Iskhakov, "although we usually sent 4,000"
This year, Issyk-Kul hopes for an influx of tourists. True, having suffered heavy losses last year, he is going to recapture everything this year. Prices this season are 2 times higher compared to last year
However, lovers inexpensive vacation may not worry. If there is no money to stay in a hotel or boarding house, local residents will come to the rescue
Aunt Katya has been renting her house in Cholpon-Ata for tourists for 12 years. She can offer them both simple rooms and suites.
This is how a simple number for three places looks like. 200 soms (650 tenge) per person per day without food. At the height of the season, the price can rise to 300 soms (950 tenge)
Simple rooms are distinguished by the fact that the shower and toilet are shared by all.
Suite is more expensive - from 400 soms (1300 tenge). They usually have a TV and DVD...
It also has its own bathroom and shower.
Almost all locals try to rent rooms, seducing the tourist in all sorts of ways.
Usually the owners themselves cook. In this case, the cost of living with meals is tripled. But even so, it turns out cheaper than if you eat at local cafes. The average bill there per person is about 300 soms (950 tenge)
For those who like to relax in comfort, Issyk-Kul can offer a number of convenient and comfortable hotels and boarding houses. Last year's crisis hit them the hardest. If this year a standard room on the basis of breakfast costs $90, then in the past it was given for $50 with three meals a day
Now a room for 4 at the Kapriz Recreation Center costs from $190
But more often, Kazakhstani tourists prefer to rent a whole cottage. It's better to come big company so it's cheaper
Almaty group of friends came here for 6 days, paying 50 thousand tenge for accommodation with breakfast for each
According to the local tour operator, holidays in Issyk-Kul, in principle, cannot be cheap. The season here lasts only two months - July and August. Therefore, hotels and local residents need to recoup all costs at any cost.
In addition, the weather also often brings unpleasant surprises. It was raining this weekend and there were almost no tourists on the beach
On such days, Begay and Gulmira return home empty-handed. The fish they sell has to be thrown away. Shelf life is only one day.
Askhat and Olga, family members, came to Issyk-Kul for the first time and have never taken a swim in the two days of their stay - it's too cold
The ferris wheel, which has always stood on the city beach, was replaced with a new one last year. But there is no particular excitement on it yet either. Fare 150 soms (500 tenge)
A new roller coaster has also been built nearby. They are also idle due to lack of people.
However, the very next day the sun covered Issyk-Kul and the beach immediately became crowded
Friends Tatyana, Anya, Sveta, Karina and Lyudmila came to Issyk-Kul with children from Siberia. It took two days to get to Kyrgyzstan by train, but overall we were satisfied with the rest. "Even taking into account the cost of travel, food and accommodation, it still comes out cheaper than going on vacation with us in Russia," the girls say
Elnara and Aida from Bishkek. The girls complained that it became significantly more expensive in Issyk-Kul than last year
But the Kyrgyz can be calm: Kazakhstanis will continue to travel to Issyk-Kul while domestic resorts are in such a deplorable state.
In the village of Bosteri, neighboring from Cholpon-Ata, there is the sanatorium "Golden Sands", which was once beloved by Almaty residents. Locals jokingly call it "The meeting place cannot be changed." It is believed that here you will definitely meet acquaintances from whom you can ask for a loan after you spend all your money on Issyk-Kul
From July 1, the price for such a room here is $12. Before that, you could enter for $6.
Yerlan Yanabaev came to Golden Sands with a girl. For three days of rest they paid 28 thousand tenge along with bus fare
In contrast to the democratic "Golden Sands" is the Kazakhstani hotel "Ak-maral", which belongs to the Kazakh company "Kaztransgaz"
Rooms in it are considered among the most expensive on the coast. Standart room costs 125 dollars
A presidential suite from $600
Issyk-Kul is amazing Mountain Lake with salt water price Kyrgyzstan | The climate in this resort is maritime, so very often people choose this place as an alternative to overseas trips to the sea. Especially now, when not everyone can afford to go abroad. Prices for Issyk-Kul are quite acceptable, this is due to the fact that the standard of living of the population in Kyrgyzstan is not high. But this does not affect the quality of the services provided, the service is at a high level. That is why vacationers love to spend their holidays here. Since the lake does not freeze even in winter, the resort is considered year-round.
Many boarding houses provide their services throughout the year. For example, average temperature in January - from -2 ° C to -6 ° C. Usually during this period people go to enjoy the beauty of the mountains, breathe sea air and replenish your vital energy reserves. Also, almost all year-round boarding houses provide medical services. Therefore, tourists have a unique opportunity to improve their health at an affordable price, because in winter holidays are cheaper than in summer.
But still, it is also present, in hot weather there are much more people here, because the main advantage summer holiday- this is swimming, because of which families with children most often go on vacation. Therefore, if vacationers want to combine a beach holiday with treatment, then it is better to choose summer time of the year.
Summer season in Issyk-Kul
Summer is the time when the lake is not overcrowded, the flow of tourists increases dramatically compared to other times of the year. After all, it is in summer that vacationers can enjoy not only the majesty of the mountains, the beauty of the lake and a high level of service, but also swimming in the salty sea water, which Issyk-Kul is so famous for. The swimming season here begins in early June and ends in mid-September. The water temperature, of course, is not very high even in the hottest weather, about +18 - +22°C, but still tourists love to swim in this lake. In order to have time to book a room in a certain hotel you have chosen, you should think about your vacation in advance. After all, since there are always a lot of people who want to relax in Issyk-Kul, there may simply not be places in the hotel you need. As for prices, they rise with the onset of summer.
Most often, all hotels have one price from May to June, and from July to August, the cost of living increases by about $ 10 per day per person, and in September, when it comes the Velvet season, falls again. Thus, tourists have the opportunity to choose the most suitable time of the year for the price and weather characteristics.
Issyk-Kul - the pearl of the Tien Shan - is an alpine lake with crystal clear salt water. Issyk Kul has an area of 6236 sq km, a length of 180 km, a width of 60 km. Length coastline about 690 km. The lake is located in the mountains at an altitude of 1609 m. Around the lake there are completely different and extraordinary beauty mountains. Visible even in the heat Mountain peaks with eternal snows.
Lake Issyk-Kul is located in Kyrgyzstan and means "hot lake" in Kyrgyz. It is called hot because it does not freeze in winter. There are a lot of hot springs and warm springs around Issyk-Kul (they call them here), it seems that they do not allow the lake to freeze in winter. And the depth of the lake also does not allow it to freeze. A large body of water slowly changes its temperature. Lake Issyk-Kul is one of the deepest alpine lakes in the world. Its depth is written either 708 or 702 m. Its depth varies. And it's not even the search for the most deep depression. Rivers bring water from springs and eternal snows. Approximately 80 rivers flow into Issyk-Kul. And not a single river flows out of Issyk-Kul, and nevertheless, the lake sometimes becomes shallow, and sometimes, on the contrary, the water level rises. The reasons for this phenomenon have not yet been fully explored. The composition of water has the same structure as sea water but not as salty. You can even drink it. And gargle. The water is clean and transparent. There is even an opinion that Issyk-Kul is connected to the world ocean. But it is located in the center of a huge continent!
The depth of the lake does not allow it to warm up much. Water warms up no higher than 19 degrees per season. The water of Issyk Kul cannot be called warm, but it is very pleasant to swim in the lake, the water is refreshing and invigorating, you don’t want to get out of the water. beach season at Issyk Kul very short. June to September. In June at Issyk Kul I would not advise you to go, the water is cold, it often rains, the evenings are also very cold, local vegetables and fruits have not yet ripened, and they are extraordinarily good, tasty and surprisingly cheap there. In season, including June, there are a lot of imported fruits and they are not surprisingly expensive. But in June, vacation prices are certainly much cheaper than in July and August.
Best time to visit Issyk-Kul July and August. Several times I went to Issyk Kul in early September. This is a risky time for a beach holiday, it can be cold. But God has mercy on me. I was very pleased with those trips. The water is relatively warm, vegetables and fruits are in abundance! Discounts up to 80% on luxury hotels. Evenings are cool, but this is an integral part of Issyk-Kul. Keep in mind, you are not going to the sea, but to alpine lake. Warm clothes are needed there even in the hottest season.
I have been to Issyk-Kul many times, different time. As a child in pioneer camps, as a student, later, with my children, and more recently.
Rest on Issyk-Kul can be arranged for every taste and budget - there are a lot of hotels (boarding houses) on Issyk Kul, large and small, old from Soviet times and sucking new, simple and chic ... There are year-round resorts, with very good treatment, with winter garden, decent service, chic territory, with swimming pools. In Soviet times, Issyk-Kul was an all-Union health resort.
Issyk-Kul beach in the bay.
Alley in the sanatorium "Kyrgyz seaside"
Winter garden in the sanatorium "Kyrgyz seaside"
Very cozy cottage.
Roses in Issyk-Kul are unusually good, fresh and fragrant. They are grown all over the place and well looked after. This photo was taken in September, at the end of the season.
On the territory of the hotel in Issyk-Kul. Huge rose bushes with huge roses. September.
A lake near Issyk-Kul.
You can also stay in the private sector. In the private sector, there are also different boarding houses, for different wallets. There are boarding houses with pools with warm healing water, the water for the pool does not need to be heated, it comes hot from springs. Some boarding houses have a hot radon shower, also from sources. There is a very simple accommodation in the private sector, but also very nice, and very cheap. There you will be prepared for the time you specify, whatever you want. The menu is provided. There are many dishes from oriental cuisine - manti, pilaf, lagman, you can order fish, and of course, borscht and milk porridge, stuffed peppers ... They cook deliciously, the portions are large. Amenities in cheap boarding houses are often in the yard. And a shower, and a washbasin, and a toilet. Marching, in general, conditions.
Everywhere on the coast there are a lot of all kinds of cafes. The food is tasty and inexpensive. Prices change all the time, so I don't list them. Although, if it is very interesting, I can even post the menu of one of the cafes with prices. I have a photo. For Russians, everything seems very cheap. Another currency, another standard of living.
On the beach at Issyk-Kul. locals they carry dried fish and hot corn.
Camel model. You can take a photo with him. On top or near. There are catamarans on the shore - they are very popular. It's nice to swim on them and swim there. Or just ride on the water surface, look at the fish.
Peddlers constantly walk along the beach. I call them that. They sell dried fish, fruits, ice cream, homemade cheesecakes, fried fish, drinks, Indian stones, jewelry, etc. Everything is cheap. Many boarding houses on the coast have cafes, bars and even restaurants. Restaurants are located mainly in boarding houses. The more expensive the boarding house, the steeper the territory and everything else. All hotels are on the first line. Almost all hotels have their own beach.
There is a lot of fish in Issyk-Kul. Trout, mirror carp, whitefish, the famous Issyk-Kul chebachok are found there. By the way, at the time when I was a child, there were a lot of chebak in the lake, and after a storm it was washed ashore in huge quantities. The locals collected and dried it, then sold it very cheaply, we, being children, constantly bought them. This is a very tasty fish. Then the Spanish trout was launched into Issyk-Kul, then the Sevan trout, the trout grew to a huge size, and ate almost all the chebachki. They say that such a large trout is nowhere else in the world. Issyk-Kul phenomenon (unverified fact) 🙂 This is a very tasty fish (repeatedly verified fact) 🙂 . And dried whitefish is also very good.
Fried trout with fried vegetables. Mmm how delicious! By the way, this is not a big trout.
Cafe in Issyk-Kul. It's in national style. The Kirghiz had no chairs in their yurts. You can lie down, you can sit on the pillows or leaning on the pillow. Out of habit, it is very inconvenient to eat like that. But there are tables with chairs and armchairs nearby. Everything is solved!
Not all cafes in Issyk-Kul look like this. The design of the cafe is the most diverse. There are very original and exquisite, both in the national Kyrgyz and in the international style.
If you come to Issyk-Kul, you will be stunned by its beauty. You will be ready to see the beauty, but with your own eyes - you will still gasp. This is a huge lake. Its color is constantly changing. The territories of all hotels and boarding houses are very well-groomed, there are gorgeous shady coniferous, birch, poplar alleys. Poplars in Issyk-Kul are pyramidal. Cypress type in shape. A lot of flowers. Since the lake is alpine, it is always cool in the evenings. Sometimes it's even cold. The specifics of the area. Mountains! But for those who live in hot places, this does not seem terrible. You can relax from the heat in the evening, and maybe even freeze if you don’t have warm clothes. 🙂
Issyk-Kul beach. All beaches in Issyk-Kul are sandy. The sand is not very fine. And mountains are visible everywhere. Both on the beach and on the lake. Very colorful and beautiful.
View from the window at sunset on Issyk-Kul.
There are many in Issyk-Kul interesting excursions. About interesting places, which are near Issyk-Kul and you can read about excursions. Subscribe to site news! 🙂
ISSYK-KUL, beach holidays. August 2008.
Lake Issyk-Kul(“hot lake”) is located in Kyrgyzstan, in a basin surrounded by the Kungei Teskey Ala-Too ranges. The ridges protect the Issyk-Kul basin from the penetration of cold air from the north and hot hot air from the deserts of Central Asia. Thanks to this, the lake does not freeze in winter and there are neither severe frosts nor sweltering heat on its coast.
Lake Issyk-Kul is located at an altitude of 1609 m above sea level. The water in the lake is slightly salty. The length of the lake is 178 km. Its width varies from 30 to 68 km, the maximum depth is 668 m. Due to its size and brackish water, the lake is perceived more like a sea.
The climate in the Issyk-Kul basin is close to the sea, so the main thing is the combination of surprisingly fresh, tasty air, beautiful view mountains and swimming in magnificent water.
The swimming season starts from mid-June and ends in September. But the most guaranteed season for swimming is July, the first half of August. The water temperature at this time is + 22 + 25.
It should be noted that the weather on the lake is unstable and can change several times a day. Sunny weather is replaced by cloudy weather, it can suddenly rain and also suddenly stop. Daytime temperature + 25, in the sun up to +35. By evening, the temperature can drop to + 15.
Based own experience and observations, I propose the basic concepts of recreation in Issyk-Kul.
1. Beach (pensioner)
This type of recreation provides for calm, measured walks combined with air and sea baths, passive tanning on the beach, eating fruits, reading books, philosophical conversations and reflections on eternity against the backdrop of mountains.
2. Wellness (separately or as a kind of pensioner)
Everything is the same as in the first paragraph, but a certain diet is added. Large consumption of the sour milk drink Tang (it differs in taste from what is sold in Moscow), a fruit diet (great sweet and cheap watermelons, melons and apricots), restriction in meat and the exclusion of alcohol.
Such a diet, combined with the unique Issyk-Kul air and water, will allow you to relax and improve your health.
3. Holidays with small children.
It is with the little ones, since they don’t need any special entertainment, especially since there are very few entertainments on the coast.
4. Rest of the day off or rest in a big campaign.
Here the main principle will be "it doesn't matter where, it matters with whom". Most often, wealthy citizens from Alma-Ata come to Issyk-Kul on weekends.
5. Horse tour combined with walking tours.
Below will be described the experience of a beach holiday in a large mixed company.
As already mentioned, Lake Issyk-Kul is located in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia. Russian language has a status official language so there is no communication problem. Visa is not required.
It takes about 4 hours to fly from Moscow to Bishkek. Tickets cost us 16,800 rubles. round trip for 1 person. Not cheap, and this is not the most expensive fare, unfortunately for the Kyrgyz Airlines.
Departure from Domodedovo on schedule. The plane is not very comfortable, there is no great comfort during the flight, but in the 10th row there are places “for long legs”. Time difference with Bishkek is 2 hours. Upon arrival in Kyrgyzstan, there were no problems with either the border guards or customs officers.
The monetary unit in Kyrgyzstan is the som. $ 1 = 33-34 soms. Accordingly, for 1 rub. give, somewhere 1.4 - 1.5 soms. You can take with you both dollars and rubles. At the Airport, the course is 33, to Issyk-Kul 33.5 - 34.
From the Airport to Bishkek 27 km, and from Bishkek to Issyk-Kul 250 km. Depending on the location of the holiday destination, the transfer can take from 3.5 to 5 hours. The road to Issyk-Kul is disgusting, so the speed of movement will depend on the skill of the driver.
There are quite a lot of opportunities for living in Issyk-Kul. There are low-budget options for living in rented apartments, boarding houses of the "Soviet type", as well as modern hotels and boarding houses corresponding to international categories 3 * - 4 *. Below we list some of the most famous and respectable holiday destinations.
"Karven Issyk-Kul", "Karven 4 seasons"), "Rainbow", "Issyk-Kul Aurora", "Okhotny Dvor", "Cholpon_Ata (state residence No. 2) - the resting place of the President of Kyrgyzstan Bakiyev K. and a number of others.
The cost of living in these and other hotels ranges from $50 to $500 per room with breakfast or 3 meals a day.
From Moscow, tourists are sent to Issyk-Kul mainly by the travel agency "Bely Parokhod" (744-66-91, Pryanishnikov St., 23). We used the services of this company only in the purchase of air tickets. Our relatives from Almaty with whom we rested in Issyk-Kul.
We settled in the Okhotny Dvor club hotel, which is located in the village of Korumdo. It is 20 km from the village of Basteri and 25 km from the city of Cholpon-Ata, places of concentration of bazaars and the main tourist activity.
Since we lived in the same hotel, it is not possible to make any generalizations about others. However, it is possible to give brief description this hotel. The territory is small, but very well planned, cozy and green, it is a pine and birch park divided into alleys that go from the main entrance to the beach. Here is the place of residence of squirrels and a separate climatic zone.
Accommodation in wooden cottages. Good number for two (about 35 m2) with all amenities and breakfast cost us $110 per day. To the beach from 2 to 5 minutes walking distance. The beach is sandy, sunbeds, umbrellas and towels are free. In the water, somewhere at a distance of 10 meters from the shore, there is viscous mud, which is obtained from the combination of silt with black soil. It has medicinal properties. In clear weather, you can see the tops of the mountains on the opposite coast, which is located at a distance of 60 km.
In general, everything connected with nature is great.
Breakfast is a buffet, good. There were problems with food for lunch and dinner. For dinner, food had to be ordered at lunch, and the order was not fully guaranteed. Lunch cost us an average of $12 per person, dinner $25 per person without alcohol. The food is good, but without culinary discoveries and vivid impressions. They ate lamb kebab, trout, pilaf, soups, bishbarmak and a number of other dishes related more to Kazakh, rather than Kyrgyz cuisine.
The rooms are cleaned and towels are changed only when you ask the administration about it. If you do not say anything, then no one will enter the room for a week. Interestingly, what about foreigners who do not speak Russian? I will not describe all the shortcomings in detail, in principle there are not too many of them, but I note that the service suffers mainly.
In addition to the above, there is a Russian bathhouse and a good spa with excellent and inexpensive massage on the territory of the hotel.
The hotel is a reservation. Going beyond its territory is not interesting. There really is nowhere to go. In the evening, there is also nowhere to put yourself, so when choosing such a vacation, you need to choose the right concept so that there are no disappointments.
From fruits, sweet watermelons (3-4 rubles kg in Moscow, 13 rubles kg in Auchan, 20 rubles kg in the market) and melons (12-15 rubles kg., in Moscow 60 rubles kg) are sold at the bazaar, as well as a special variety of apricots. It makes delicious dried apricots. From the specialty, you must definitely buy honey and drink fermented milk tan in the morning. You just have to remember that all products can be bought either in industrial packaging, or such as honey in disposable packaging. In the bazaar, many products are sold without regard to sanitary norms and rules. Buns with cream filling are stored without a refrigerator, sometimes next to vegetables. Samsa lies in a thirty-degree heat in a greasy box. Most fermented milk drinks, as well as honey, are bottled in recycled plastic bottles. Usually such containers are collected in garbage containers.
Main excursions.
Semenovskoe gorge, Grigorievskoe gorge, Jeti-Oguz, dead lake, boat trips.
We spent two full days on the tour. One day we went to Jeti-Oguz (“Seven bulls”). This is a valley with red rocks, the outlines of which resemble seven bulls. Further along the route is a cliff in the form of a heart and a hill that must be overcome in order to reach the waterfall. Near the waterfall, everyone is photographed and with a clear conscience they go back. You can climb the mountain on foot (of course, you need to wear sports shoes) or for some money on a horse. Horseback riding is the main attraction that the Kyrgyz provide everywhere. On the way back, you will visit a very interesting museum Przhevalsky located in Karagol. The downside of this tour is its price (about 1500 soms per person - about $45 for a bad car and 2000 soms = $ 60 for a good car), terrible road, distance (about 200 km one way) and travel time 3 - 3.5 hours one way. It must be added that in addition to cameras, you need to take water with you and that it will not be possible to eat in a civilized way during the day. Of course, there are many yurts in the valley that offer a variety of food, but the conditions in which it is prepared and the utensils from which food should be eaten raises many questions. We personally did not eat, so as not to have stomach problems later.