Karakol is the largest town on the eastern end of Lake Issyk-Kul, a place of about seventy thousand people at the foot of the Terskey Ala-Too range, and it is full of surprises. It was founded as a Russian garrison in the 1860s, and it has kept a good deal of its nineteenth-century character, with low wooden houses, painted shutters and tree-lined streets. The Holy Trinity Cathedral, a wooden Orthodox church with bright blue domes, was rebuilt in the 1990s after being used as a gymnasium in the Soviet years.
Even more unusual is the Dungan Mosque, built in 1910 by Chinese craftsmen for the Dungans, Chinese-speaking Muslims who fled to Central Asia in the nineteenth century. It looks like a Buddhist pagoda, with sweeping eaves, carved wood and bright paint, and it is said to have been built without a single nail. The Dungans also brought their food, and Karakol is one of the best places in Central Asia to eat it. Ashlan-fu, a cold, spicy noodle dish with jelly-like starch and vinegar, is a local speciality, served at stalls near the market.
Karakol is the starting point for the high mountains. A road leads up the Karakol Valley to an alpine base for trekking, and in winter the nearby ski resort draws visitors. The Russian explorer Nikolai Przhevalsky, who set out from here on expeditions across Central Asia, died in Karakol in 1888 and is buried nearby, and a museum commemorates him.
For riders, Karakol is a comfortable base. There are plenty of guesthouses, cafes and shops, petrol is easy to find, and mechanics can sort out problems. The roads around the lake are mostly paved, though sections can be broken, with potholes and loose gravel, and livestock often wander across. Wind can blow strongly along the shore in the afternoon.
In the evening, the old town takes on a gentle, rural atmosphere, with smoke from stoves, the call to prayer and the sound of a distant radio. It is an agreeable place to spend a night or two before heading into the mountains.