Tuz-Köl

Tuz-Köl is a shallow salt lake a short distance inland from Issyk-Kul, small enough to walk around, with water so saline that swimmers float on the surface without swimming, which has earned it the local nickname of the Kyrgyz Dead Sea. Black mineral mud is dug from the bed and smeared on by bathers, then rinsed off in the freshwater lake nearby or under buckets at the site, and the whole business is treated as a health cure by Kyrgyz visitors as much as an amusement. Facilities are minimal: changing huts, a few stalls and a fee collector in season. The setting is bare and low, with the mountains behind and Issyk-Kul just over the rise, and the visit takes an hour or two.

The landscape

• Effortless floating - water dense enough to hold swimmers up.
• Mineral mud - black mud dug from the bed and used by bathers.
• Bare salt shore - crusted flats around a shallow lake.
• The mountain backdrop - the Terskey range beyond the basin.

When to go

June to September, when the site is staffed and the water warm enough. Outside those months there is nothing operating. Midday is hot and there is no shade at all.

What to expect

Facilities are very basic: rudimentary changing huts and limited fresh water for rinsing, so bring your own. Salt stings any cut and must be kept out of eyes. The site is scruffy and can be litter-strewn. It is a curiosity of an hour rather than a destination.

Nearby

Bokonbayevo lies west; the Issyk-Kul southern shore is just north.