Postcard from Bishkek

Most of the visitors to Naryn are simply in Transit, as it sits on the main road road from Bishkek and the Chinese border crossing at Torugart.  Arriving in the evening, and then leaving the next morning to continue on their journey along the Great Silk Road. I often think that’s a pity because for […]

  To most people a Fez is a hat worn by the Turks of the Ottoman empire.  It comprised of red felt wrapped around a cylindrical or truncated cone, topped with a black tassel.  It is thought that the hat is named after the Moroccan town which had a monopoly on its manufacture, although it […]

I am back from Naryn.  Yes, it was a flying visit – it often is. It’s a five hour journey each way, and we usually start work as soon as we arrive and continue until late into the evening.  Tatiana, (my accountant from Bishkek) and Asya, (the accountant from Naryn), work on the monthly accounts […]

I’m off to Naryn for my regular monthly visit to the guesthouse. The main road from Bishkek to Naryn offers a wide variety of landscapes, and although I know the route well, travelling it about 150 times, (at least once a month over the last twelve and a half years), I never tire of the […]

Being a tour operator, I am apparently supposed to know the country like the back of my hand.  Unfortunately, that is not exactly true. I have been to quite a few places around Kyrgyzstan, but there are still vast stretches of the country I have yet to visit.  I have various plans for trips – […]

The Celestial Mountains Guesthouse was established in 1997 to offer a haven on the road to China but serves as a “home away from home” for those visiting Naryn on Business or wanting to explore the neighbouring Central Tien Shan. Our small and friendly staff aims to make every guest feel welcome, comfortable, “at home”.

Naryn, where we have a small guesthouse, is a long, thin town in the center of the country that straddles the fast flowing Naryn River and is set between high, steep cliffs.