Naryn

This area includes the city of Naryn — a transport and distribution tourist center — and its surroundings.

Naryn is classified as a small town in the republic. It is mainly built up with small buildings. There are several vocational educational institutions and a drama theater here. Industrial enterprises specialize in the production of building materials and the processing of local raw materials. Naryn originated as a military fortification built on the site of a settlement located on the trade route to Kashgar. It was granted city status only in 1927.

On the ridge of the mountain range that rises above the surroundings of the city, the astonishingly shaped Ala-Myshik mountain stands out against the sky. The name translates into Russian quite unexpectedly: Spotted Cat. This is probably not only due to the configuration of the mountain but also because it is covered with greenish-gray patches of Tien Shan firs and is made up of a variety of rocks, the number of which is countless.

Do you know where the Kyrgyz clan "bugu," which translates to "deer," originates from? This is also connected to the Ala-Myshik mountain.

...Once, an ancient hunter stumbled upon the "Ala-Myshik" cave, located among the slopes of this mountain facing the valley, and saw there an animal with magnificent horns. Yes, the hunter thought it was an animal. He took it for a mountain goat and killed it. Pulling the victim into the light, the hunter discovered that it was not a goat at all, but a man with deer horns. The sister of the deer-man, who rushed to the noise, became grief-stricken, and the hunter had no choice but to take the woman-deer as his wife. This is how the Kyrgyz clan "bugu" originated.

This is one of the countless and most incredible legends associated with the Ala-Myshik mountain. It is not surprising: the mountain is so remarkable, and the "Ala-Myshik" cave, consisting of several halls connected in a unique enfilade about forty-five meters long, is so enchanting. The cave is adorned with whimsical fragments of stalactites and stalagmites of various colors.

To the south of the city of Naryn, the Kalmak-Debe burial mounds have been preserved — witnesses of history from the 2nd to 7th centuries. Thirty kilometers north of the city is the site of ancient humans from the Lower Paleolithic era, On-Archa. And fifteen kilometers east of the city lies the stunningly beautiful recreation area for the people of Naryn — Salkyn-Tuu (Cool Place).