After what seemed like weeks of travel, we made it to Tamchy for rest. After a few days on the beach, we climbed back into the car and made our way toward a village called Taldy-Suu near the city of Tup, which is where one of my host family members is from. But, naturally, before we could get there, we had to stop and rest, and we chose a beautiful hot spring to stop at. I didn’t take photos of the spring, but it was crowded with Russian and Kyrgyz tourists alike, all starting in the cool pool, moving up to the warm pool, before slowly inching their sunburns fully beneath a waterfall of scalding hot water. Every so often, they’d get out and plunge into an ice bath nearby. There was a juice stand (like the ones in New York), a raptor trainer, and even a restaurant.
After getting our fill, we headed down to the beach again for more relaxation, this time in much more peace and solitude. Continue reading “Road Trip Part 4: Around Issyk-Kul”