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… ...

In the far north-eastern corner of Kyrgyzstan lies Karakol, the nation’s fourth-largest city. Founded some 150 years ago, it ...

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 ...

Lake Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan. As a nod to Kyrgyz culture, Asman (Asman means "sky" in Kyrgyz) would be laid out in the shape of a komuz, a traditional Kyrgyz musical instrument.

BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, April 7. A feasibility study is being developed in Kyrgyzstan for the construction of a circular railway around Issyk-Kul Lake, said Dastan Usubakunov, Deputy Director of the ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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).