Kyzyl-Oy
- Not to be confused with village in Osh Province.
Kyzyl-Oy is a village in Jumgal District, in the Bishkek and the Northwest region of Kyrgyzstan, a hands reach away from the Naryn Region.
Understand
[edit]Kyzyl-Oy's main focus seem to be foreign tourists due to its convenient and picturesque location between the hills. Weirdly enough, there is a traffic light in the middle of town, although there is not much traffic and waiting to cross the street seems highly strange in this place.
- 1 CBT office.
Get in
[edit]By road
[edit]About 25 km by road from the Bishkek-Toktogul highway, shortly after coming down south from the Tör-Ashuu pass. Hitching a ride is straight forward.
There is also a direct gravel road from Toktogul, with however no regular public transport.
On foot
[edit]You can also hike across the hills from the Ytch-Chymchyk (Үч-Чымчык) village near Suusamyr (Суусамыр), which lies a few km from the highway along the above mentioned road. Trail see below.
Get around
[edit]The village can be walked from one to the other end within 10 min.
See
[edit]Many come here for the orange mountains surrounding the village.
Do
[edit]- Hike into the mountain valley west of the village and stay in one of the many yurts there. The CBT has comprehensive information.
- Ytch-Chymchyk - Kyzyl-Oy (on foot). A 30 km easy to medium hiking trail across the mountain range surrounding Kyzyl-Oy. Marvellous during sunset when you look down northwest into the valley with the Bishkek-Osh highway. highwDownload: GPX, KML.
Buy
[edit]The village has a least two supermarkets.
Eat
[edit]Most guesthouses also cater for their guests.
Drink
[edit]Sleep
[edit]The CBT has an extensive list of local guesthouses (some including yurt) available. Also, OpenStreetMap lists many establishments. Prices are touristy and increased, but you can get often 20-30% discount if you ask, especially in low season. Average prices: 500-800 som per person.
Go next
[edit]- Talas – A far off town with the popular Manar Ordo pilgrimage complex nearby.
- Toktogul – A nice and picturesque water reservoir and convenient hub/stop between Bishkek and Osh. A 4WD can bring you down southwest from Kyzyl-Oy—you might be lucky hitch-hiking this route.
- Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve – One of the highlights of Kyrgyzstan with a beautiful lake, excellent hiking, diverse flora and fauna, picturesque mountains and much more. On the way between Toktogul and Jalal-Abad.
- Song Kul and Kochkor – Hitch a ride towards Kyzart Pass, Kyzart and Aral for the eastern regions of Kyrgyzstan. See also Naryn Region#Get around.