Day 3: Karakol, Kyrgyzstan - Snow, Mountains, and a Huge Lake

(Unfortunately, we only have very slow internet in the hostel, more pictures will follow later!)

After our two days in Bishkek, today we continued our journey to Karakol.

For this, we went to the bus station in Bishkek in the morning. From there, private drivers and some minibusses depart several times a day. For about €3.50 per person, we got a seat in a relatively modern minibus.

After about 20 minutes of waiting, the bus was completely full (a total of 14 passengers and one driver) and we started our tour to Karakol.

During the 5-hour drive, which mostly followed the northern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, we caught glimpses of the spectacular and especially huge mountain lake and the surrounding mountain landscape. The view was truly impressive, and one thing we definitely knew: Fortunately, we came to Kyrgyzstan in January! Because it is definitely worth bundling up for this view!

Along the road we were driving on, we often saw settlements of houses. It really seems that people came here earlier and each one secured a piece of land on the lakeshore to build their cottage there. However, since then, not much renovation has taken place... The houses are all kept very simple and built from basic materials.

When we arrived in Karakol, it felt like 14 taxi drivers were fighting to carry our backpacks from the bus to their trunk and drive us to the hostel. In winter, there are not many tourists here, although Karakol does offer a ski resort, it hardly has any opportunities for an après-ski party.

After a tour of the city, we met up with Ibraim in the evening. He is 21, lives in Karakol, and works in a travel agency here. We contacted him yesterday through the Couchsurfing app (an app for travelers, where locals offer their couch for accommodation) and asked for help with organization.

He told us some interesting things about Karakol and Kyrgyzstan and gave us helpful tips for our trip in this region.

In the meantime, three more backpackers from England and the USA have arrived at our hostel, who are traveling together. So now we have three like-minded people with whom we will definitely do something together!