If you drive eighty kilometers along the northern shore of the lake from the city of Balakchy, you will reach the resort capital — the city of Cholpon-Ata. The town itself is small and quite deserted in winter, but in summer it can accommodate a huge number of vacationers.
Cholpon-Ata is the center of the resort area, the name of which translates as Father of the Rising Star. Yudakhin noted that the word "ata" often denotes the sanctity of a place, similar to the term mazar. For the Kyrgyz people, known for their veneration of ancestors, such an interpretation of the word is not surprising.
The city center offers vacationers a wide variety of cultural and household services. The local history museum is always waiting for visitors, as well as the House-Museum of the classic of Kazakh Soviet literature Mukhtar Auezov (1897—1961). An open-air museum is being created, for which many exhibits have already been collected. The Turkic "babas" are testimonies of the culture of the ancient tribes that lived on the shores of Issyk-Kul.
In the city and its surroundings, there are many health resorts for adults and children. The recreation house "Ala-Tuu" and the sanatorium "Blue Issyk-Kul," which has almost six hundred service personnel alone, are known throughout the Soviet Union. The largest children's health resort in Central Asia is the "Cholpon-Ata" sanatorium, which is also referred to as the Kyrgyz "Artek."
The city of "Cholpon-Ata" is famous for its horse breeding farm, where a new breed of Kyrgyz horses has been developed. Tourists and vacationers can enjoy the impressive spectacle of equestrian competitions, including national types of horseback sports. Another attraction of the city is the ichthyological station.
The entire route from the city to the village of Bosteri is lined with neat rows of poplars and other trees. This is the famous Rappoport Alley, named after its creator — the director of the horse breeding farm. In his time, each employee of the horse breeding farm was obliged not only to plant a tree but also to care for it, and people took this task on with great enthusiasm, putting their hearts into it.
The main attraction of the city of Cholpon-Ata is the Rukh-Ordo Memorial Complex.
In addition to the city, the tourist zone includes the village of Dolinka and two gorges: Chon-Koy-Suu (12 kilometers) and Cholpon-Ata (fourteen kilometers). In the vicinity, there are the ruins of a medieval settlement, and not far from the shore, through the crystal-clear waters of Issyk-Kul, one can see the remains of cities from the 12th to the 16th centuries.
The "Boz-Teri" Zone (from boz jer — land without lush vegetation), in reality, now contradicts its name: the fruits of human activity have made this once unappealing place quite picturesque and cozy.
The "Chon-Ak-Suu" Zone — large white water — is how the area adjacent to the gorge of the same name and located at the mouth of the river of the same name is most often described. However, the Turkic ak—means not only white but also "flowing, rapidly advancing." The behavior of the river confirms both versions: it is both swift and white — with transparent waters and white foams at the boulders blocking its path.
The "Korumdu" Zone — piled with large stones — features sheer cliffs so close to the shoreline that it truly seems as if the lake has been blocked. A figurative curse, uttered in the heat of the moment against a disobedient sheep: korum bolgur!—may you be buried!
The "Chet-Baysoorun" Zone — named after the largest gorge in this area near the village of Ananyevo. Chet — edge, Baysoorun — steep cliffs, among which the river flows.
Starting from Cholpon-Ata, the character of the coastal landscape changes dramatically. The inhospitable landscapes of semi-deserts give way to lush greenery. The approaching mountains and the distance from the western part completely alter the microclimate of this stretch of shore.
In these zones, mountain-sea tourist complexes are located, oriented towards year-round operation. Vacationers by the water in winter can be organized to be taken to ski resorts. Conversely, in the summer, when the ski trails are inactive, vacationers from the ski resorts can relax by the water, alongside enjoying the mountains. This mutual supplementation will significantly increase the profitability of tourist enterprises. Another initiative that will also allow for year-round relaxation by the water is the construction of winter swimming pools with heated Issyk-Kul water. A variety of leisure activities will also attract vacationers: discos, bars, video salons, gyms. Mountain bases should consider that in the summer, alongside trekking, horseback tourism or mountaineering should become the main activities.
Both water and mountain recreation can and should be complemented by educational programs. Tourists may be attracted by the exploration of the sunken city of Chigu, once founded by a powerful Saka tribe. The ruins of the fortress at the entrance to the Chet-Boysoorun gorge may also pique interest. For enthusiasts engaged in searching for and deciphering rock drawings, there is much to see in the Issyk-Kul basin. Let them try to unravel the mystery of why all the petroglyphs found to date, carved on cliffs and rocks, face south, toward the sun. Why are there practically no solitary rock carvings, and even those counted in dozens are rare, while the number of petroglyphs found in one place often ranges from dozens to hundreds or even thousands of figures. There is a certain romance in these flat, seemingly sprawling processions of people and animals across the stone, single figures, even executed from the perspective of a modern person in a primitive style of "little hands, little feet, cucumber...". After all, much of what scientists know here is built on conjecture. It is not surprising that someone has described the deciphering of rock drawings as "the world of intellectual adventures." Travelers will also encounter ancient monumental sculptures — stone figures made of granite in the form of sculptural representations of humans or stylized steles — monuments to real people who have passed away: khan, batyr, sage.
To expand the program of educational tourism, the reconstruction of the hippodrome in Cholpon-Ata is needed, which could offer tourists a totalizator, equestrian competitions, and a hall for national games and performances.
The development of tourism on the southern shore requires much greater organization than on the northern shore. What does the future of tourist services look like? We will take the same principle of orientation towards year-round operation as a basis, focusing on creating interconnected tourist complexes that allow for an expansion of the range of tourist services offered.
