Karakol
Hike the hour or two up from the village of Jolgolot (a suburb of Karakol) to take in stunning views of the city and Issyk-Köl to the north and the…
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Karakol
A shady grid of tree-lined streets, Karakol (Каракол) has limited sights but lots of activities, and is a good base from which to access some of Central Asia's best skiing and most gloriously accessible alpine trekking. The town offers clear-day backdrops of snowy peaks contrasted against the old blue shutters and whitewashed walls of some remnant antique colonial-period houses. These recall the town's Russian-era heyday: founded in 1869 as a support town for the then-new garrison of Teploklyuchenka (Ak-Suu), it housed many merchants, officers and explorers, most famously Nikolai Przhevalsky (in whose honor Karakol was renamed Przhevalsk between 1939 and 1991).
Attractions
Must-see attractions
Karakol
Early on Sunday mornings one of Kyrgyzstan's biggest animal markets takes place around 2km north of central Karakol. Typical of such markets, you'll…
Karakol
The main attraction of the shrine-like Przhevalsky memorial garden is a small, well-presented museum dedicated to Nikolai Przhevalsky, the Russian…
Karakol
Set peacefully amid trees, this hefty wooden structure is topped with green-roofed towers and almost-golden onion domes. The 1872 stone original was…
Karakol
Occupying an archetypal 1887 Russian house, this museum has a few Scythian bronze artefacts, local tools and musical instruments. Taxidermists' victims…
Karakol
In addition to the standard monument of Victory on a plinth, memorialising the end of WWII, Karakol's Victory Park also includes an interesting monument…
Karakol
Developed under the initiative of the Destination Karakol public association, this area of nicely maintained land alongside the Karakol River has benches,…
Karakol
A tip-tilted triple roof, carved-layered eaves and wooden exterior pillars give this colourful 1910 mosque the look of a Chinese Buddhist temple…
Guidebooks
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