Life in the Regions: An Italian Tourist Burst into Tears Seeing a Master’s Yurt from Issyk-Kul: What’s Special About It?

Turmush — 34-year-old resident of the village of Kytai in Jeti-Oguz district, Kylichbek uulu Emilbek, is engaged in carpentry.

In an interview with a Turmush correspondent, he said that in 2013 he graduated from Karakol University named after Kasym Tynystanov with a degree in energy engineering.

‘I’ve been doing carpentry since childhood. Unfortunately, my father passed away early, and I had to take on all the household responsibilities, so I had to master many skills.

The idea to build a yurt came while reading the Kyrgyz translation of the Quran. It said: ‘Why don’t you pay attention to the world around you? We created trees and all the diversity of nature for you.’ After that, I started looking at the environment more closely. That’s how I began to better understand nature. First, I made a small park, and then the idea to build a natural yurt came up. I consulted with my mother — she supported and helped me.

For making the yurt, I didn’t buy any materials from the local market. All the wood is handmade, plastered inside and out, insulated, with straw laid on the floor. It’s a year’s worth of work. The top is made of reeds, the yurt’s diameter is 7 meters.

Speaking of features: in winter, it’s very warm and requires little fuel. Sleep in it is especially sound — you wake up refreshed. The yurt is entirely made from natural materials, without chemicals. People who see it are amazed.

Recently, two tourists from Italy came here — one of them even teared up and said: ‘I bought a ticket to Kyrgyzstan for this, for these emotions’.

I think I’ll call it ‘Yurt of the 19th Century’ to show simplicity. It reflects the life of our ancestors from that time.

Besides this, I do any work available. In the evenings, I deliver food.

My plans for the future are to contribute to the development of Kyrgyzstan. I want to develop ethno-tourism. I dream of building a special ethno-city. Tourism is developing on Issyk-Kul, but I want to connect all 7 regions with tourism. For example, build an ethno-city in Batken or Jalal-Abad region. Then a tourist flying to Issyk-Kul can go to Bishkek, then to Jalal-Abad, then to Batken. Along the way, they will spend money on hotels, food, transport — this will revive the economy and benefit the country greatly. I want to create a project infused with the Kyrgyz spirit. We have a rich history, and it’s important to preserve it,’ he said.

Emilbek has one child.