On the western shore of Lake Issyk-Kul, at the junction of the roads Bishkek — Naryn and Bishkek — Karakol, at the end of the railway line from the capital of Kyrgyzstan lies the highest mountain port city — Balakchy, which was known as Rybachye until 1989. The city owes its origin to the establishment of postal communication between Pishpek and Karakol in the second half of the last century. In 1871, a postal station named Kutemaldy was established here, consisting of two adobe huts for the rest of travelers and a yurt for the station master. Soon, a horse-breeding farm appeared near the station, and the settlement was named after its owner: Novo-Dmitrievskoe. In the 1880s, a retired soldier, M. Bachin, settled here and organized a fishing cooperative. By 1907, the settlement had ten families and was called Bachino, and later it became firmly known as Rybachye.
Such is the history. Today, Balakchy, which gained city status in 1954, serves as a transport and transshipment point. It has a port, large bus stations, an elevator, a meat processing plant, and other industrial enterprises.
An interesting fact from recent history: in the 1930s, the Czechoslovak internationalist writer Julius Fucik visited the city of Rybachye. A remnant of antiquity has also been preserved here — a Kyrgyz cemetery with patterned clay mazars. Three kilometers from the city, on the southern shore of the lake, lies the Buz-Barmak plateau, where a site of ancient humans dating back to the Mousterian era (100,000–40,000 years ago) has been found. It was during this period that Neanderthals appeared on Earth, whose hands crafted numerous stone tools found at the site.
"The Gates of the Issyk-Kul Basin" — this is how the residents of the republic refer to it. To get from the Chui Valley to Issyk-Kul, one can only pass through the Boom Gorge, surrounded by the ridges of the Terskey and Kungey Ala-Too. Boom translates from ancient Turkic as a passage through the overhanging rocks above the river. In the lowland of the gorge flows the turbulent mountain river Chu, which, as geologists claim, has changed its course from east to west. The gorge opens up to a panorama of a scorched desert — and the suddenly emerging blue of the lake seems incredible. This part of the Issyk-Kul valley is located in the west, and its nature is largely determined by the western wind Ulan, which carries precipitation further east. In the city of Balakchy, located on the leeward side, precipitation is five times less than in the east — for example, in the area of the village of Tyup. The city hosts the highest port in the republic. The city’s location and its climatic features also determine its role in the tourism system. First and foremost, it should serve as a transport and distribution hub between the northern and southern shores. Here also begins the road to Naryn — the heart of the Inner Tien Shan. Balakchy can serve this purpose year-round. In addition to transit passengers, the city can also accommodate weekend tourists in the summer.
This tourist complex in the city of Issyk-Kul should include a tourist hotel with a parking lot for cars, cultural and domestic institutions, a parking area for several trains with the necessary service complex — facilities for domestic and cultural purposes. It is necessary to equip well-maintained beaches located within optimal walking distance.
In the city, a monument has been erected to the outstanding explorer and traveler P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, and his memorial museum has been established. The monument "The Mourning Mother" is dedicated to the soldiers who died in the battles of the Great Patriotic War.
