By air
Issyk-Kul (IKU), ~200 km west; Bishkek is six hours by road
East Asia · Kyrgyzstan
Karakol, Kyrgyzstan
The trekking town at the lake's eastern end
Getting there
Best time to visit
June to September for trekking; January to March for skiing
Don't miss
Dungan Mosque
Holy Trinity Cathedral
Jeti-Oguz
Ala-Kul lake
Altyn Arashan
Karakol animal market
Przhevalsky Museum
Things to do
Trekking to Ala-Kul lake
Horse riding in the Jeti-Oguz valley
The Sunday animal market
Skiing at Karakol ski base
A Dungan family dinner
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: Bgag · CC0
What to pack
Trekking boots, layers, a sleeping bag for yurt nights, sun protection
A quieter corner
The Dungan mosque, a wooden Chinese-style mosque built without nails by a Muslim community from China
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Karakol?
June to September for trekking; January to March for skiing. What to pack: Trekking boots, layers, a sleeping bag for yurt nights, sun protection.
How do I get to Karakol?
Fly into Issyk-Kul (IKU), ~200 km west; Bishkek is six hours by road.
What is there to do in Karakol?
Trekking to Ala-Kul lake, horse riding in the Jeti-Oguz valley, the Sunday animal market, skiing at Karakol ski base, a Dungan family dinner. A quieter find: The Dungan mosque, a wooden Chinese-style mosque built without nails by a Muslim community from China.
What should I eat in Karakol?
Ashlan-fu noodles, Dungan dishes, laghman, shashlik, honey and apples from the valleys.
About Karakol
- Mountains
Where it is
Karakol is a town at the eastern end of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, at the foot of the Terskey Ala-Too range, in the far east of the country near the border with Kazakhstan.
History
Founded as a Russian military outpost in the nineteenth century, Karakol took in Dungan Muslims fleeing China, whose wooden mosque still stands, and became the base for the Russian explorer Przhevalsky's Central Asian expeditions. It is now the starting point for treks into the valleys and lakes of the Terskey Ala-Too.
People
Kyrgyz, Russians, Dungans and Uyghurs share a small, easygoing town where trekking guides and homestay families welcome a growing number of walkers each summer.
Known for
- Treks to Ala-Kul
- The Dungan Mosque
- Jeti-Oguz red rocks
- The Sunday animal market
Did you know?
The wooden Dungan Mosque was built in the early twentieth century in Chinese style, with upturned eaves and no nails.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.