Naryn
Naryn is the largest region in Kyrgyzstan and rests at an average elevation of 9,300ft (2834m) above sea level.
Song-Kul
Many of the nation’s nomadic herders roam the high mountain pastures around Lake Song-Kul in the summertime. These summer pastures, jailoo in the Kyrgyz language, gracefully slope down into a beautiful sheet of shimmering water stretching toward another backdrop of softly textured mountains, with visible yurt camps dotting the jailoo across the way. At 9,985ft (3,016m), the temperature is cold enough in the summertime to require warm clothes and a constant refill of black tea.
Naryn City
Road to Tash-Rabat
It was on this street corner where I received a warm, heartfelt hug and conversation from a local man who never broke his smile. I could instantly tell through his gentle treatment towards me that he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren each day.
The days of delivering goods by camel along the Great Silk Road are long gone. Today, large cargo trucks carrying electronics, manufacturing equipment, and even the latest Chinese EV’s dominate segments of the CAREC Corridor system stretching from China to Europe.
The various routes throughout the Kyrgyz Republic experience daily fatigue. Heavy-tonnage transport passes over Soviet-era paved highways that cut through some of the world’s most extreme mountain landscapes. Luckily, over time the roads have been rehabilitated in order to accommodate safe cross-country travel and the transport of goods.
New roads also bring new places to stop and rest. Set to be completed in 2027, the At-Bashy International Trade and Logistics Center will not only ease cross-border trade with new warehouses and customs stations but also stimulate economic growth through restaurants, retail, and hotels.
These images are similar to what I have seen in the United States and make up a large part of my childhood experience. Traveling to my grandparents’ house and stopping at the massive rest stations along the way. Is this a common experience from your childhood?
Hidden within the At-Bashy Range is a caravan-saray, a roadside lodge for those traveling along the Silk Road between the X-XII centuries AD. While its location is a bit of ways from the main route, this would have been a considerable stopping point before venturing into Kashgar, China or west into the Ferghana Valley an onwards to Europe.
Travelers would have enjoyed the safety and comfort of this fortress like structure. Inside holds a cluster of square rooms with natural light peeping in from above. I can only imagine the conversations once had in these rooms. Could you stay here?
Six hour horse trek to Panda Pass (13,200ft/4000m)
Just beyond Lake Chatyr-Kol is a wall of mountains where the land border between Kyrgyzstan and China meets. In the past, ancient caravans traveling along the Silk Road network from Kashgar would travel through the Torugart Pass and further into the Uzbek Khanates of Central Asia. Today, truckers frequently use this pass to transit through the high-altitude border zone.