The Tien-Shan looks like a sleeping camel, and among its humps, circled in by mountain ranges Issyk-Kul sparkles like the freckles on a young girl's face - ancient Kyrgyz folk song

Once upon a time there was an ancient city. A castle was located at the top of a hill above the city. It belonged to an old and powerful khan who was famous not only for his wealth, but for his cruelty as well.

Once he heard that a beautiful girl lived in a family of poor nomads and he decided to capture her. But she loved another boy who came to her once early in the morning, riding a wonderful white horse. The boy had given her a ring. So, when the Khan's guard came for her, she indignantly rejected his offer. Secretly, she decided to go to the mountains to look for her intended husband. And only then the girl noticed that she had lost the ring. She started weeping and decided to go back home. Armed guards captured her and brought her to the castle. She again rejected the offer to become the Khan's wife. When the Khan tried to force her to consent, she ran to the window and threw herself out of it. At the same moment, the impregnable walls of the castle came crashing down, and the castle of the old Khan crumbled into the earth, and water rushed from the newly created gorge submerging the valley.

Come to Swan Lake, a blue aquamarine lake in the silver frame of high mountains, covered with eternal snow. It's a Dream. It's a Fairy Tale. It's a Mystery.

The northeastern part of Kyrgyzstan is the most popular tourist destination in the country thanks to the mountain Lake Issyk-Kul. Lake Issyk-Kul occupies the central part of the valley surrounded by the Terskey and Kungey Ala-Too mountain ranges. It's a "sapphire" treasure of Kyrgyzstan with a unique combination of mountain, marine and steppe climates, crystal-clear water and air, and a variety of colors reverberating throughout the day.

Lake Issyk-Kul (6,236 sq. km, 18 km by 60 km) is the largest in the Tien-Shan Mountains and has a maximum depth of 668 meters. Issyk-Kul means "warm lake" in Kyrgyz; it doesn't freeze in the winter and white and black swans spend their winters here. The altitude of the lake is 1,609 meters above sea level. It is the second largest alpine lake after Lake Titicaca in South America, and the second-deepest lake on Earth. Dozens of rivers and streams flow into the lake, yet not one flows out.

Issyk-Kul is a habitat for unique and rare plants, such as wild tulips and lilies, important medicinal herbs and the Tien-Shan spruce forests. Mountain wildlife includes snow leopards, ibex and other mountain goats, Marco Polo sheep, bear, deer, wild boar, marmots, badgers, vultures and eagles, pheasants, partridges and wild turkeys. Trout and carp are caught in Issyk-Kul by a small fleet of ships.

The mystery of Lake Issyk-Kul lies within ancient settlements submerged at the bottom as a result of the lake's catastrophic transgression. Ancient relics from the bottom of this lake are proof of its close links with the inhabitants of the Steppe, ancient Ferghana and ancient Chinese empires.

The most popular tours in the Lake Issyk-Kul region, especially at the eastern end of the lake near the town of Karakol and the highest peaks of the Tien-Shan, introduce tourists to the magical beauty of mountain panoramas. Here, the sound and the fury of mountain rivers and streams rushing with cool icy water flow into the turquoise surface of mountain lakes. The lush greenery of alpine meadows framed by unconquerable boulders and snow in the middle of the summer mixes with the cacophony of incredible waterfalls and glaciers with their stunning icefalls. There are also flat areas where tourists can cross-country ski in July. Various flora and fauna and numerous mineral springs enhance the landscape.

Among the offerings on the northern shore of the lake are stone inscriptions of the Cholpon-Ata (II millenium BC) and picturesque gorges surrounding the lake. Yaks graze in the high mountain valley of Sary-Dzhaz. There is an abundance of sports and activities to be found in the region as well: helicopter flights around Peak Pobeda (7439 m) and Khan-Tengri (6995 m), yachting and steamer voyages, white-water rafting, horseback riding, and diving in search of mysterious ancient settlements submerged at the bottom of the lake. The area is also extremely rich in culture and folklore. Stay the night in a yurt, the transportable home of Kyrgyz nomads, watch Kyrgyz stunts on horseback, or take in the grandeur of the national falconry show.

Lastly, the Memorial Complex and Museum of Przhevalsky, the famous traveler and explorer of Central Asia, is found at Altyn-Arashan springs ("Golden Springs") near Karakol.