Lake Issyk-Kul

If you’re the least bit familiar with the country of Kyrgyzstan, then you most likely know a little bit about the infamous Lake Issyk-Kul. I started hearing stories back in May of the lake’s power, especially in the months of July and August when the Bishkek heat can be almost unbearable (as I am currently finding out now!).

What they don’t tell you about is the gruesome history this amazingly beautiful land contains. Stories of Cyanide poisoning and nuclear testing (?) have been brought up on many occasions. Eep!

A few weeks ago, my good friends here and I decided we should head out there before they leave me lonely in Bishkek. We stayed the night in a yurt, feasted ourselves on plov until we thought we would explode, and baked at the beach. Here is a little video of our time spent there, taking a dip in the icy waters of a former cyanide infected, nuclear tested lake. Enjoy!



An Adventure to Lake Issyk-Cold from Brooke Schoenman on Vimeo.

Posted July 19, 2008 in: Kyrgyzstan, Soviet Travel

Tags: , , ,

About Brooke

Brooke is a thrifty traveler and experience collector with a love for language learning, history and cannoli. She is the creator of the female travel focused FTU Newsletter and Her Packing List website. Other thrifty travelers can gain from her years of worldly travel experience by subscribing to the RSS feed.

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5 Responses to Lake Issyk-Kul

  1. bethster July 27, 2008 at 11:22 pm #

    hey just so you know, this video is only showing for like 5 secs. and then it shuts off. Thought you’d want to know so you can repost it ;)

    - Beth

  2. Brooke July 30, 2008 at 1:01 am #

    Finally got it reloaded. Give it another shot :-)

  3. jackie July 31, 2008 at 8:47 am #

    I love your blog… I’m about to go on an abroad program for my school and am always reading for inspiration- Ive been using http://www.travelskoot.com. it- Its a map/journal site where you can plot and leave comments on restaurants, museums, stores etc. that you visit. I thought you’d find it helpful..and you can link directly to specific maps.– Just a tip o you can remeber everything you’ve done (and show others the places that are good..or too bad to try ha) :)
    keep having fun!

  4. bethster August 3, 2008 at 5:24 am #

    Looks like you guys had a great time Brooke!

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Somewhere in Kyrgyzstan | Brooke vs. the World - December 26, 2011

    [...] When you journey outside of the major city of Bishkek, the countryside hits you almost immediately as its villages are spread out and tucked into little pockets here and there. These are some of the photos I took, both with an iPhone and with a normal camera, while on a marshrutka ride out towards Lake Issyk-Kul. [...]

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