Petroglyps and horseback riding in Cholpon-Ata by Lake Issyk Kul
Summary
The north shore of Lake Issyk-Kol is the main tourist destination for most Russian and Central Asian tourists coming to Kyrgyzstan with its beach scene, water sports and booming bars. But, unless you’re from the nearby region where coastal beaches are at a premium, I doubt that will really appeal to you – most likely it will just come across as a tacky resort
That being said, if you’re travelling from Bishkek to Karakol (for the hiking in the nearby Ak-Suu mountain region), its still worth stopping off at Cholpon-Ata for the horse-ride around the lake and up to the 3500 year old petroglyps on the glacial boulders just north of town. Don’t stay much longer though
highlights
#1 Taking in the stunning mountain scenery that surrounds the picturesque Lake Issyk-Kol
#2 Visiting the 3500 year old petroglyps on the glacial boulders just to the north of north of Cholpon-Ata
#3 Horse-riding along the shores of the beautiful Lake Issyk-Kol
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Beautiful Lake Experiences
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone