Archive: July, 2010
The 1968 British entry for the Eurovision Song Contest was “Congratulations” sung by Harry Roger Webb, or Cliff Richard as he is better known. A popular song, it surprised everyone by being beaten into second place by the Spanish entry.
The closing moments of the 1966 World Cup final, between England and West Germany, gave us one of the most famous and memorable sporting quotations of all time: “They think it’s all over … It is now!”.
The Suusamyr valley is a high steppe plateau – 2200 meters a.s.l. – that although only some 160 kilometres from Bishkek is also one of the more remote and rarely visited regions of Kyrgyzstan. Although it is on the other side of the massive Kyrgyz Range from Bishkek and the Chui valley, it is part [...]
The Kekemeren River runs through a striking narrow valley South from Suusamyr plain, past the village of Aral (in Naryn oblast – 1400 m. a.s.l.), until eventually it flows into the Naryn River. 108 kilometers long, the river is popular for white-water rafting, at first the river is relatively calm, but gradually, more and more [...]
A wide range of fossil fuels are found in Kyrgyzstan – coal, peat, gas and oil.
Everyone seems to have their favourite places in Kyrgyzstan … and this is also true when it comes to the valleys of the Kyrgyz Krebet. Everyone seems to have their own preferences. Ala Archa is, perhaps, top of the list for most people – with its alpine landscapes and variety of trekking routes. For some [...]
The Ala Archa National Park contains several places of interest. Perhaps the most poignant is to be found on the path which leads to the right of the gate of the base camp. After climbing up a fairly steep slope the path leads though a wooded area where there is a cemetery with nine graves and memorials to [...]
One of the places in Kyrgyzstan which is on almost everyone’s “must see” list is the Ala Archa National Park. One of the main reasons for this is that it is features in almost every guidebook about the country as an area of outstanding natural beauty … within easy reach of the Bishkek city center.
The Kyrgyz range of the Tian Shan (or Celestial) Mountains has several valleys that cut into or through it. The most famous are Kaindi, Too Ashu, Sokuluk (with the village of Tash Bulak), Ala Archa, Alamedin, Issyk Ata, Kegeti, and Shamsy. Each with their own characters and attractions. Many of the valleys have associated with [...]
The brothers Alantay and Taylak were leaders of the Sayak tribe of Kyrgyz, which settled in the Naryn river valley in the region of Ak Talaa. They are renowned for the resistance which they put up to a number of occupying forces. Their first campaign, in 1820, was against a Chinese (Tzin) unit, which had [...]
