Kyrgyzstan Issyk Kul Tours

Ringed by snow-capped Tien Shan peaks, Issyk-Kul is one of the world's largest mountain lakes - and it never freezes. Its shores mix sandy beaches and hot springs with red-rock canyons, petroglyphs and summer yurt camps where you can ride horses and try kumis.

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Karakol, on Issyk-Kul's eastern shore, works as the main base for exploring the lake beyond its beaches, with a wooden Russian Orthodox church and a small mosque built without nails standing a few blocks apart.

Karakol as a Base

The town's Przhevalsky Museum covers the Russian explorer buried nearby on the lakeshore, and Karakol's Sunday animal market draws traders from surrounding villages. In winter, a modest ski resort above town gives the lake a second season beyond summer swimming.

Jeti-Oguz and the Red Rock Canyons

West of Karakol, the Jeti-Oguz, or Seven Bulls, formation is a run of eroded red sandstone ridges above a river valley, a common half-day stop for travelers touring the southern shore. Horse treks from nearby villages continue further into the valley toward high pastures.