The shores of Issyk Kul hold are more than 130 sacred sites, according to Aigine CRC, a Kyrgyz nonprofit that published an inventory of spiritual landmarks in the region in 2009, defining a sacred ...

BOKONBAYEVO, Kyrgyzstan (RNS) — On a crisp afternoon in November, Bakyt Choitonbaev picked his way along a narrow trail, pushing through spiky shrubs of ephedra before stopping at a small poo… ...

STORY: Issyk-Kul means "warm lake" in Kyrgyz. The name was given because the water never freezes due to the lake's depth and natural warmth of water.Local resident, Taalay Orozakunov, said he and his ...

On the shores of Lake Issyk Kul in mountainous Kyrgyzstan, a group of divers show off their haul for the day -- a boat engine, car tyres, bottles, clothes and plastic items."We would love to dive and ...

The north shore of Issyk-Kul, outside Cholpon-Ata. Credit: Catherine Putz Subscribe for ads-free reading Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan completed the work of delimiting their border in January 2023 .

STORY: Issyk-Kul means "warm lake" in Kyrgyz. The name was given because the water never freezes due to the lake's depth and natural warmth of water.Local resident, Taalay Orozakunov, said he and ...

Bakyt Choitonbaev shows where pilgrims access a spring in the Manzhyly-Ata sacred springs area near the southern shore of the Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan, in November 2023. On the shores of the 10th ...

Bakyt Choitonbaev shows where pilgrims access a spring in the Manzhyly-Ata sacred springs area near the southern shore of the Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan, in November 2023. On the shores of the 10th ...

STORY: Issyk-Kul means "warm lake" in Kyrgyz. The name was given because the water never freezes due to the lake's depth and natural warmth of water.Local resident, Taalay Orozakunov, said he and his ...

The Issyk-Kul lake in northern Kyrgyzstan, which traditionally never freezes due to the lakes depth and natural warmth of water, froze over due to extreme cold temperatures on Saturday January 14.

The Issyk-Kul lake in northern Kyrgyzstan, which traditionally never freezes due to the lake's depth and natural warmth of water, froze over due to extreme cold temperatures on Saturday (January 14).

Bakyt Choitonbaev shows where pilgrims access a spring in the Manzhyly-Ata sacred springs area near the southern shore of the Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan, in November 2023. On the shores of the 10th ...