As if he flew to Mars: Photographer visited Kyrgyzstan and showed why it’s worth going there

Views outside the capital are simply delightful.

Choosing where to go on vacation is always a difficult decision. Some want to lie on the beach and soak up the sun, while others demand new experiences and active recreation.

A UFA1.RU photographer visited Kyrgyzstan during his vacation and assessed what there is to see there. It turned out there is a lot — and recreation for every taste.

## About the city

First of all, it’s worth strolling through Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. It’s a comfortable city for walking, with many cafes and restaurants. Russian cards, of course, don’t work, so it’s better to have cash. Fortunately, exchange points are on every corner, and the rate is almost one-to-one with the ruble — one Kyrgyz som equals 86 Russian kopecks.

People here mostly speak Russian, even among themselves. All signs are also duplicated in Russian. But no matter how much you want, you can’t call the capital of Kyrgyzstan a tourist mecca. It’s just too… ordinary. No offense to the locals. And if you go further from the center, there are plenty of private buildings and the atmosphere is like Russia in the 90s.

The city is comfortable but ordinary.

Monument to Manas, the main hero of the Kyrgyz epic.

Typical Bishkek stops — clearly Soviet heritage.

And this, by the way, is one of the train stations.

Public transport is also not the city’s strongest point; it’s not very convenient to use. First, local traffic jams are something else. In the rain or evening rush hour, the entire center of Bishkek stands still and it’s easier to walk. And if you go somewhere outside the capital, it’s very difficult to get back in, especially from the side of Kant city. The road there is broken, plus very dense traffic. Second, buses crowd at stops in numbers from 5 to 8. And they’re not exactly empty.

How many buses did we count?

Traffic jams, traffic jams again.

Chinese buses, familiar to the Russian tourist.

## About the real beauty

So what is there to see in Kyrgyzstan then? Nature, definitely. It’s incredibly beautiful. Here you can satisfy almost all tourist wishes. For beach relaxation — welcome to Lake Issyk-Kul. It’s really huge and quite suitable as a sea. Plus, there are all the usual beach entertainments.

In addition, the country is full of mountain lakes, peaks, and canyons. And all this is not far from Bishkek, so you can literally go to different locations every day.

The landscapes here are, of course, stunning.

Mountains covered with snow everywhere.

Canyons like in cowboy and Indian movies.

One-day tours here are much more affordable than those in Russia. For example, a whole day of walking through the canyons cost the photographer only 1,300 rubles. And the canyons are definitely worth seeing. It’s like being on another planet without leaving Earth.

You can wander in these tunnels for hours.

And from above they look like a stone city.

Why not a postcard?

Berries in the desert also happen, but you shouldn’t eat them.

Almost Martian landscapes.

## About money

A trip to Kyrgyzstan is quite budget-friendly. The hotel cost me 3,176 rubles for two days. Quite decent, by the way, with two beds, toilet and shower in the room. Not luxury, but clean — I wasn’t going to sit in the hotel, so it suited me more than enough. The average check in a restaurant is about a thousand rubles, breakfast averages 500 rubles. Prices in stores are practically the same as ours, if converted to Russian rubles.

The most expensive expense item is tickets. If flying from Moscow, direct flights start from 15 thousand rubles, with a transfer — from 12 thousand. But what’s nice is that to enter the country you don’t need a visa or even a foreign passport: a Russian document is quite enough.