The most beautiful parts of KyrgyzstanNaryn, Kochkor and At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan

If you like mountain road trips, visit Naryn.

ACCELS Kyrgyzstan has to be one of the best assignments for a Program Recruiter. I love Osh but the road trips to the Naryn region was the favorite part of my recruiting trips. You get to see many different types of mountains even after 30 minutes. Naryn is a beautiful town surrounded by mountains. At-Bashy and the Tien Shan Mountains are amazing.

This will be a long scrolling page. I took a lot of photos on these two trips.

Road trip to Naryn

On the way to Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
On the way we met this Kyrgyz man who allowed us to take a picture of him on his horse.
On the way to Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
I forgot what we talked to this guy about. We wanted pictures of the Muslim cemetary then he walked by. On this trip I was escorting an American teacher so we made a lot of photo stops.
On the way to Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Some foothills with patches of snow. Winter was here already.
On the way to Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
So many different types of hills and mountains.
On the way to Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
First time I saw Kyrgyz kids riding a donkey with a full load.
On the way to Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Not a volcano but looks like one.

Kochkor

Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan.
We wanted to stop over in Kochkor since Erika, one of the participants who was accepted into Accels, came from Kochkor. We just did not have the time on each trip sadly.

Dolon Pass

Dolon Pass, Kyrgyzstan.
Here is our faithful driver, Vlodya. He took us around most of northern Kyrgyzstan. He also had to be the father figure in Issyk Kul taking care of both Aelita and I. I really miss him since we never said goodbye. He got into an accident a couples days before I left Kyrgyzstan so he could not take me to the airport.
Dolon Pass, Kyrgyzstan.
These cute Kyrgyz kids posed for us on Dolon Pass.
Dolon Pass, Kyrgyzstan.
It was cold up here.
Dolon Pass, Kyrgyzstan.
Here is Vlodya, the American teacher I was escorting and I together on Dolon Pass.

Naryn

Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Here comes a lot of photos of Naryn. As you will see, Naryn is located in between the Naryn Too. The Naryn River runs right through the town. At the time, Naryn was quite poor. We stayed at the Celestial Mountain Inn which was really the only place we could find a place to eat at.
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.

Naryn Mosque

Naryn Mosque - Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
We stopped by the Naryn Mosque. Several Kyrgyz boys offered to be my tour guides. They took me up in the minaret where I got a good view of Naryn.
Naryn Mosque - Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
My tour guides.
Naryn Mosque - Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn Mosque - Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Views of Naryn from the minaret.
Naryn Mosque - Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn Mosque - Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn Mosque - Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
Naryn River, Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
This is the famous Naryn River which eventually becames a confluence of the Syr Darya in Uzbekistan.
Naryn River, Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
A bridge over the Naryn River.

At-Bashy

Naryn Too on the way to At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan.
This is the Naryn Too on the way to At-Bashy.
President Akayev - At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan.
This was famous at the time. This sign is of President Akayev, then president of Kyrgyzstan.
At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan.
At-Bashy with the Tien Shan Mountains in the background. This was so beautiful. I wish I had a digital camera then. It would be amazing of what photos I would have had then.
At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan.
More Tien Shan Mountains.
At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan.
At-Bashy was an amazing town. The students we met were amazing as well. Peace Corps did a great job in this town.
At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan.
At-Bashy, Kyrgyzstan.
Final shot of the Tien Shan Mountains. I wanted to go to Kashgar which was near to where we were at. Unfortunately we had no time. We needed to head back to Naryn for an overnight and then back to Bishkek.

Reflection

As you can tell by the photos, this was my favorite part of my job in Kyrgyzstan. Lots of memories. Lots of photos. This was the longest section to edit for the Kyrgyzstan component of this website.