Tong

Ancient nomad dome burials.

Ancient nomad dome burials. At the nearby Konur-Olon, a mosque regularly attracts tourists.

Tibetan stone inscriptions of the 15-17th century CE, and cave drawings of 1 BCE. Checkout the path leading to the petroglyphs: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/610293285

Hero epics of Er Tabylyd describing Kyrgyz people stories of the 15th-17th century.

About 50,000 waterfowls stay here during winter. Great for photo hunting and birding.

A picturesque, red and white colored canyon cutting its way through the hilles between the highway and Issyk Kul. It is possible to hike down the canyon to the lake directly from Ak Say village at the highway, there are some trails. 10 km from the highway to the lake.

This is apparently the touristy one of all the salt lakes in this region, often called Dead Sea of Kyrgyzstan. It is comparable to the Dead Sea—one can float on the surface due to the high salinity. The lake was opened as a tourist destination in 2001. The water is so salty that one can read a newspaper while floating on the surface. The water contains about 132 grams of salt per liter. This lake is also popular as a “medical tour”. Mud is superheated deep beneath the earth’s surface. Many locals believe that it has healing properties. If you walk across the dune, you can wash off the salt in Issyk Kul lake. The naming is inconsistent and sometimes it is named Кара-Куль aka Kara Kul, which however is the same name as the one below right next to the highway.

Another salt lake just before the touristy one along the same road. The situation on which one the saltiest is unclear. Eiter way, they are close to each other. So, you can check out both or just skip the one that is charged for.