Kyrgyzstan 6 – Skazka – A Place Worthy of Its Name

This unique canyon was created by wind and water. For thousands of years, their erosive forces united to shape a variety of figures and forms from red, yellow, orange and brown clay.

I have mentioned several times in my previous posts that we have met at least one little boy almost everywhere in Kyrgyzstan. However, there was not a single one at this place, although it was right here – in the middle of this beautiful and wild nature – that I could very well imagine him running between these extraordinary rocks – just like in Chinghiz Aitmatov’s novel The White Ship. The boy would hide in mysterious nooks, jump over bushes and rocks. He would know all the rocks and stones – bad and good, wise and stupid, hunchbacked, reddish, yellow ones…

I am sure the boy would give names to the stones, for some looked like a huge lion’s paw, talking heads, and even a whole group of dwarves with tall, pointed caps and long beards was here. However, the whole area was undoubtedly dominated by a “castle” with towers and battlements. Certainly, that is why the locals started to call this place Skazka (= fairy-tale in Russian).

From several points, we could enjoy a view of the deep blue surface of the largest lake Issyk-Kul, which the locals call the “Kyrgyz Sea”. Above its northern shore, the peaks of four thousand meters tall giants disappeared into a gentle haze. It was from here that the boy could observe the lake and look for the white ship that he had been waiting for so much in Aitmatov’s book…

So the boy was not here, but we found other inhabitants of this special place…

Beautiful green islands of clustered plants contrasted with the orange-brown rocks. I was most attracted to the ephedra bushes, which looked like small green brooms with red berries.

The soft fluff of needlegrass fluttered quietly in the blow of the afternoon breeze and, although the surroundings seemed more like a desert in color and parched earth, many other different flowers grew here that I could not even identify.

There is a small entrance fee, the trails are 5 km long. As we were returning to the car, a group of young Kyrgyz guys arrived here, behaving – well, just like little boys – with flip-flops on their feet, climbing atop the highest rocks and taking selfies in the most dangerous places.

If you ever go to Kyrgyzstan and plan a trip to Lake Issyk-Kul, be sure to stop at this fairy-tale place (125 km from the capital). You may be lucky enough to see a little boy jumping out from behind an orange rock…

Text: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri
Fotos: © Copyright Ingrid, Katarína and Janette, Travelpotpourri

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