There are currently two problems with this part of Kyrgyzstan

We were on the south shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. It's a pretty enough lake, with lots of accessible beaches. Historically, it's been the only major source of summer tourism in Kyrgyzstan. But even then, tourism in Kyrgyzstan has been nothing to speak of. The current government is trying to change that.

And we don't blame them... of course tourism around the world has a lot of economic benefits. But improving the infrastructure comes at its own cost... at least temporarily.

We did two separate viewpoint hikes

We woke up to a beautiful day on the shore of Issyk-Kul Lake. The others decided to go for a morning swim, but the water temperature was far too chilly for me!

Issyk-Kul is a saline lake... so it is salt water, but not as salty as ocean water. And because of the salt and depth, it never freezes in winter, despite the cold that Kyrgyzstan experiences.

Beautiful drive down to Issyk-Kul Lake

We left Naryn and headed down to Issyk-Kul Lake. There was no choice but to take the main highway part of the way, but then we had a choice... stick to the main highway, or take a little traveled path through the mountains.

I bet you can guess what we chose!

Well that didn't go according to plan... stuck in a snowstorm?

High up in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, there is a gorgeous glacial lake surrounded by steep cliffs. It's become a bit of a tourist attraction despite the remote location about 20 kms from the China border.

It's early in the season still, so we had decided to drive up there and do the hike to the pretty lake.

The road to Köl-Suu... 20 kms from the China border!

We left our beautiful campsite beside the river in Naryn, and drove into town to pick up a few more groceries and top up the fuel tanks. 

We had a 150 km (93 mile) drive one way to get to Köl-Suu on some pretty rough roads, so it was going to be an all day event just to get there.

Will we run out of gas?

Another beautiful day for our drive from Song Kul Lake to the small city of Naryn. 

The only problem might be the lack of a gas station along the way!

Kok Boru... the national sport of Kyrgyzstan

In order to get to our campsite, we had already driven 9 kms along a road that leads to Song-Kol Lake, a high alpine lake that lies at an altitude of 3,016 meters (9,900').

We hadn't planned on going to the lake at this time, so if we did, I wasn't sure we had enough fuel to get to the next fuel station afterwards!

We've got a lot we want to see over the next two weeks!

We woke up Sunday morning at our beautiful spot by the river. Had some breakfast and got going on the hike fairly early because we knew this is a busy canyon and it was a Sunday and we wanted to beat the crowds.

Lots of places to explore!

Next stop for us was Konorchek Canyon. Unfortunately there was nowhere to overnight so it was just a stop along the way, but that's okay because we ended up with another great overnight spot anyhow!

But the canyon itself was a really worthwhile stop.

A fun evening celebrating a Kyrgyz birthday!

Our friends Bjorn and Freya from Belgium arrived here in Kyrgyzstan at 8:45am Friday morning. They picked up a SIM card at the airport so we could communicate, and then took possession of their 4x4 SUV with rooftop tent. Once they were all set, they sent a note so that we knew they were on their way to meet us.

Back to the big city of Bishkek

Our friends Bjorn and Freya arrive at Bishkek Airport on Friday morning, so we decided to return to the same guest house that we had stayed at when we first arrived. That way, we could do some more laundry, have showers, and start off fresh with them. 

They are renting a 4x4 SUV type vehicle with a rooftop tent, and we are going to travel together for the next two weeks.

There are some crazy drivers in Kyrgyzstan!

There are a lot of mountain passes in such a small country. For clarity, Kyrgyzstan is slightly smaller than the state of Idaho. And it has over a100 mountain passes. Some are tracks accessible only by 4x4 and seasonal, others are used by all vehicles and are year round.

On Tuesday, we came back through the first mountain pass we had done when we arrived here.

What was included, and what did we have to buy?

I promised you a look at what supplies were included with our Kyrgyzstan campervan rental, and what we had to buy in order to make the experience better for our style of travel.

Of course we need to keep in mind that most people who rent a van like this only have it for a week or possibly two.  

Amazing hoodoo rock formations!

Monday morning, we left the guest house and headed back down to the main highway where we had a stop to make. On the way up, we had seen some very cool looking rock formations across the river, but there were no signs and we could only see a track on the opposite side to get there.

Kyrgyzstan's beautiful Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve

We had breakfast at the guest house, and then set off on a 25 km (15 mile) drive further north into the mountains. Our destination was the Sary-Chelek Nature Reserve, a UNESCO world heritage destination.

If this were anywhere in Canada or the U.S., it would be packed with tourists just like famous Lake Louise is in Canada.