Lake Issyk-Kul

Lake Issyk-Kul, cradled among the snow-capped Tian Shan mountains, is the jewel of Kyrgyzstan and one of the great lakes of the world, the second-largest alpine lake after Titicaca. Remarkably, despite its altitude and the surrounding peaks, its saline waters rarely freeze, which gave it its name, hot lake. Its northern shore is lined with beaches and Soviet-era and modern resorts, popular for summer swimming, while the wilder southern shore offers hot springs, ancient petroglyphs, canyons and the gateways to spectacular mountain treks.

History

The lake was a stopover on the Silk Road, and the Chinese monk Xuanzang described it in the 7th century in his Great Tang Records on the Western Regions; Manchu and Mongol records call it Temurtu-Nor, the Iron Lake. It is also linked to the Black Death: in 2022 researchers analysing DNA from people buried in two cemeteries near the lake found the plague there in 1338 or 1339, about eight years before it swept across Eurasia along the trade routes. The water stands some 8 metres higher than in medieval times, and divers have found drowned settlements in the shallows, among them Toru-Aygyr on the north-west shore, founded in the 13th century and sunk by earthquakes in the 15th (Wikipedia, Issyk-Kul).

The landscape

• The lakeshore beaches - the northern resorts and swimming.
• The mountain backdrop - the snow-capped Tian Shan around the lake.
• The petroglyphs - the ancient rock carvings at Cholpon-Ata.
• The southern canyons - the Skazka fairytale canyon and hot springs.

When to go

June to September, the warm summer season, for swimming, beaches and access to the surrounding mountains and treks; the lake is a popular Central Asian summer holiday spot, busiest in July and August. The shoulder months are quieter, and the mountain scenery is spectacular year-round.

Before you go

The developed northern shore, with its Soviet-era and newer resorts, can feel dated, crowded and unremarkable in peak summer, so the wilder, more scenic southern shore, with its canyons, springs and trek trailheads, rewards those seeking nature over beach resorts. The lake is vast, so distances are long. Its extraordinary setting among snow peaks and its gateway role to the mountains, though, make it a Kyrgyz highlight.

Nearby

The Jeti-Oguz and Skazka canyons and the trekking hub of Karakol are close.

Key facts