Naryn Region

Naryn Region is a region and administrative district in Kyrgyzstan.

Cities

• 1 Naryn – A city right up in the Tian Shan, near Lake Song Kul, the gateway to the entire southeastern region, its ruins, mountains, and high alpine lakes.
• 2 Ak Kul (village) – A remote and cosy village, with a good dozen inhabitants, right next to the lake of the same name, picturesque in between the surrounding and impressive mountain peaks. The ruins of the former mental institution and lead mine can still be admired here, as well as the old Soviet-style wooden sheds of the people. A great hub for hikes into the surrounding mountain ranges.
• 3 At-Bashy
• 4 Baetov - Ak-Talaa District
• 5 Chaek (Чаек) – A town along the main road from east to west in the region with several sights.
• 6 Kochkor – A town with a park containing various Soviet structures, and a local animal bazaar, as well as an entry of point for Song Kul and launch pad for treks up into the Tian Shan Mountains.
• 7 Kazarman

Other destinations

• 1 Lake Song Kul – A beautiful yet rather inaccessible alpine lake; trips there are only feasible during summer months.
• 2 Lake Chatyr Kul – A scenic alpine lake with a high level of biodiversity.
• 3 Lake Kol'ukok – A picturesque mountain lake 20 km from Kochkor.
• 4 Lake Köl-Suu Lake (Көлсуу) – A breathtaking lake framed by sheer walls in a very remote section of Kyrgyzstan. Requires a special border permit due to its proximity to the border with China. About 4 hours of rough driving requiring a 4x4 vehicle, to the south of Naryn. Tours available.

• 5 Jamgal Valley – A remote valley in the center but almost cut off from the rest of the country with a still lively population and vast agriculture.
• 6 Eki-Naryn Valley (Eki Bala) – Where two tributaries merge to form the Naryn River: a picturesque canyon where you can go horseback riding or stay at Akel's Yurt Camp. Probably have to arrange it through the CBT Naryn office.

Understand

Naryn Region is the largest, poorest, most remote but also most typically Kyrgyz region. Boasting so many superlatives it has beautiful mountains, alpine pastures and the picturesque Son-Kul Lake which attracts large herds of sheep and horses with their herders and their yurts in summer, since the region is dominated by animal herding.

Get in

Kochkor is served by frequent marshrutkas from Bishkek and Balykchy.

To get to Naryn, you might have to rely on shared taxis.

From the west there are virtually no regular connections, but starting in the Suusamyr Valley (in the Northwest) the road towards Kochkor allows travel by car, taxi and thumb into the region.

Get around

To get around, you might have to rely on your own car or shared taxis. But frequent traffic in form of trucks exists between Kochkor, Naryn and the 1 Torugart Pass , which allows for easy hitchhiking.

East to west

Kochkor–Suusamyr

A convenient way to travel through this region (or between the Northwest and the Issyk Kul and the Tian Shan region in the east) is the road between Kochkor and 2 Suusamyr (Valley). It seems to be very easy to hitch-hike on this road along inside the impressive Jumgal Valley, because there is a huge number of trucks using it. Truck drivers do not even want money for a ride, and up to four or five people can fit inside a truck.

Along this road are 3 Kyzyl-Oy, 4 Aral, 5 Kuyruchuk, and 6 Kyzart Pass. The latter two you can get to all the way from Song Kul within in one day.

Behind the city of Kochkor there is a crossroad, with the road splinting into two, one leading towards Kyzart Pass and the other towards Naryn. This crossroad is an excellent place to catch a ride.

Naryn–Jalal-Abad

See Jalal-Abad#Get in.

See

• 1 Tash Rabat (use Naryn as a hub). An ancient caravanserai on the Silk Road, close to Torugart Pass to China. One of the top destinations of Kyrgyzstan but a little remote.
  As of 2018 both local taxi drivers and CBT quote a price of 2,000 soms for a return trip, including the driver waiting. The drive to Tash Rabat takes 2 hr. It's also possible to sleep there at a handful of yurt camps in the summer season, which is highly recommended if you plan on going hiking the following day. The 2018 price list by CBT charges the following: B&B 600 som per person per night, horse rental 800 som per horse per day, a guide 1,600 som per day, lunch or dinner 400 som per meal. It might be possible to negotiate a lower price with locals when not booking through CBT. (updated Mar 2019)
• 2 Baizak Baatyr Mausoleum (8 km east of Chaek along the highway). Dedicated to Baizak Baatyr, who apparently convinced, others say tricked, the then existing China into moving its border from this region far far east to where it is today. (updated Jan 2020)
• 3 Jumgal Regional History Museum, Matiev 108, Chaek, ☏ +996 700616021. Weekdays 09:00-18:00. 100 som. (updated Jan 2020)
• 4 Forest swastika (Tash-Bashat). The mirror-image fir tree swastika is about 200 m across. Myths and legends abound about how and when the swastika came to be planted in Soviet territory. The entrance of the road leads to the forest 500 m farther. Taxi drivers pretend that this is a bad road in order to charge extra fees, but the gravel road is flat and nice. (updated Sep 2017)
• 5 Pik Dankova. A 5,982 m (19,626 ft) high mountain peak which allows furthest view on the Earth. At 483 km (300 mi), Kunlun Mountains are visible and at 538 km (334 mi) a mountain peak Hindu Tagh.  
• 6 Saimaluu Tash. Prehistoric rock art from 3000 BC to 2000 BC at the top of a mountain by Neolithic and Bronze Age peoples. This would really probably take a guide to see. (updated Aug 2020)