Images from Kyrgyzstan — a country that is every photographer’s delight!
Originally posted on medium.com
For a small landlocked country in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan is surprisingly visually rich and beautiful. Its tall snow-covered mountains reach to the sky, standing majestically amidst undulating landscapes. Its hills are home to gently wavering grasslands inhabited by semi-nomadic shepherds. These grasslands are dotted with yurts, the mobile homes of shepherds where a traveller encounters the generous hospitality of every proud Kyrgyz. Graceful Central Asian horses canter in these heavenly gardens, adding a sense of spiritual upliftment to the entire landscape.
Surreal images of Kyrgyzstan
Join me on a photography tour to Kyrgyzstan. It’s an enthralling experience with incredible photography opportunities!
For a visitor with a camera, every corner of Kyrgyzstan is an extravagantly picturesque affair. Here is a collection of every reason that makes Kyrgyzstan a photographer’s delight.
Kyrgyzstan: The amazing game of Kok Boru — superb action on horseback
A game of Kok Boru in progress in the grasslands of Kyrgyzstan
Kok Boru is a Central Asian game akin to polo, played with a sheep carcass instead of a ball. It’s a score when a team drops the carcass into a basket located in the opponent’s court. It’s played with certain degree of aggression as riders chase each other trying to grab the precious cargo, which makes a first-time visitor alarmed by what seems like a potentially dangerous enterprise. But the players are superbly adept on horseback, know what they are doing and respect the rules of the game. The action packed game, often played in mountainous location is a treat for your camera!
Kyrgyzstan: Eagle Hunters and their powerful eagles with huge wingspan
An eagle hunter with his eagle in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan
Prevalent in parts of Kyrgyzstan is the practice of using eagles to hunt small game. Employing Golden Eagles with massive wingspans and strong talons, these falconers hunt small game, such as foxes. The eagle is rewarded with the meat after a successful hunt, while the falconer keeps the fur. These eagles are usually taken away just-born from the nests and trained by the hunters, because of which they often form an intimate bond with each other.
Spectacular Landscapes
Beautiful landscapes of Tien Shan mountains, Kyrgyzstan
Nearly all of Kyrgyzstan is mountainous, with Pamirs dominating the southern landscape and Tien Shan ranges occupying the north. Several of these mountains are covered with snow for the entire year, with some of the peaks raising higher than 7,000m. In the valleys are gushing rivers and streams originating from the glaciers, which often end up in beautiful azure lakes. Higher regions are home to dramatic gorges with superb landscapes, while the lower regions host gently undulating grasslands.
Semi-nomadic lifestyle in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, and life in the yurts
A yurt in the grasslands
At the beginning of every summer, a large number of Kyrgyz people leave their villages and head towards the mountains with their herd of sheep and horses. The summer pastures, which are spread across the lower mountains, are now full of lush grass that sustains a large population of domestic animals. The shepherds pitch their yurts and live there until the first snow of the winter signals the end of green grass in the slopes.
Beautiful blue lakes in the mountains
A brilliant emerald lake in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan
If a landscape is full of snow-peaks and glaciers, it is no wonder that you will see deep blue lakes in the valleys formed by them. Some of these lakes are so large that you can barely see the mountains in the faraway shore. Even when they all effuse the colour of the planet, each one is unique in its own way. Issyk Kul lake is known for its relatively warm waters and the beaches. Song Kul Valley is home to a large population of shepherds. Kol-Suu is trapped in a spectacular large. Ala-Kul is known for the difficulty in reaching it and the snowy mountains around it. The list goes on.
Graceful Central Asian Horses of Kyrgyzstan
A Central Asian horse grazing on the banks of Song Kul Lake
Watching the graceful Central Asia Horses trotting in the mountains is a spiritual experience. These tall elegant beasts serve as the primary means of transportation in the highlands.
Shepherds in the highlands
A Central Asian horse grazing on the banks of Song Kul Lake
In the grasslands, you will often see small white dots gathered together, usually standing still and occasionally moving together slowly. Look carefully and you will notice that they are sheep enjoying the fresh grass to their heart’s content. Once in a while, a herder on horseback appears and moves them from place to place. Up above, a blue sky with small clumps of clouds moves the shadows into and away from the herds. It feels like a piece of heaven descended on the slopes.
Friendly and hospitable people of Kyrgyzstan
A lady in her colourful yurt
Walk into a yurt and you will see women busy at work milking the horses, churning out cream from cow’s milk or cooking lunch in the kitchen-yurt. But they are never too busy to to say hello, and sometimes even invite you inside for a bowl of kumuz (mare’s milk, fermented) or a cup of hot tea. Insides of the yurt are very colourful as any Central Asia home tends to be.
Long drives on country roads
Country roads of Kyrgyzstan
As soon as you leave the towns and the highways to hit the mountains, you will be blessed with beautiful country roads. More often than not, you are driving all alone in the gently undulating landscapes. Occasional villages, streams flowing across, soft grass in the wind, herd of sheep and Central Asian horses appear and disappear along the way. It’s a soothing sensation being on these roads. It’s a time when you will feel that there is no better place to be!
As a photography enthusiast, you will find each of these places to be incredibly beautiful and reverberating with positive energy. Kyrgyzstan is the kind of place, which, once you enter, you do not ever feel like leaving!
Join me on a photography tour to Kyrgyzstan. It’s an enthralling experience with incredible photography opportunities!