» Kyrgyz Nature
Nature of Kyrgyzstan
Unique topography allows the country to be divided into the northern and southern parts. In the north of the country, there are two big valleys called the Chui-valley (the capital Bishkek located there), and the Talas-valley. You can also find the lake Issyk-Kul called "Blue Pearl of the Tien-Shan".
To the south of those big valleys there found the heart of Mountain massif named "Tien-Shan" which is translated as "Heavenly / Celestial Mountains" from Chinese. Its highest peaks of it take place in the triangle of Kyrgyzstan, China and Kazakhstan: The Peak Pobedy (Peak Victory) with an altitude of 7439 m and the Khan-Tengri with 6995 m. Peak Pobedy is also considered to be the world's most northern peak located 7000m-high mountain. Also at this high-altitude mountain area one can find the famous glacier Enylchek and the mysterious Lake of Merzbacher, that fades away once a year, but then refills completely. For many years scientists and explorers wondered whether it really exists at all - some of them marked it on their maps with descriptions; some did not - depending on season and water level. Usually exploring of this territory starts from the town of Karakol at the eastern end of Lake Issyk-Kul.
The Tien-Shan mountain range possesses a miscellaneous area and can offer all types of landscapes one could imagine: low situated valleys with forests and woods, sandy and rocky mountains, emerald and fertile high-altitude pastures and rocky and snow-topped high-altitude mountain regions, and those amazing mountain lakes. Beside the most celebrated lake Issyk-Kul, which is used mainly for beach-holidays, the regions of lake Son-Kul at 3000m altitude and Lake Sary-Chelek at about 1900 m above sea level can also be found in Kyrgyzstan. (See also List of main touristic places / Son-Kul; Sary-Chelek)
The great mountainous range is not only popular for its landscapes, it is also very popular because of its fauna: rare animals like the Marco-Polo sheep and the snow leopard still live in the area, and birds of prey like eagles, falcons and vulture are very common here, you could also watch seagulls at an altitude of 3000m and find exceptional species everywhere around the country.
In the south-west, the Tien-Shan mountainous system is into two parts. The Ferghana-valley is embedding in the middle of them. The biggest part of this lowland is situated in Uzbekistan, but the east borders also reach Kyrgyz territory. It is normally popular for its fertility and rich, juicy and fresh choice of fruits and vegetables. In this part of Kyrgyzstan the population is quite dense, and also here situated the second-biggest town of the country Osh, with population about 300.000 inhabitants.
The guests can find a peaceful atmosphere in the mountains with many fields full of sunflowers, an abundance of oriental food.
At the far south of the country one can find the Pamir mountain range bordering on Tajikistan and China. There is another high peak called Peak Lenin (7134m), which is known among mountaineers from all over the world, because of its relatively easier ascent.
In general mountainous landscape can offer a big diversity matching the taste of everyone!
