To err is human, says an ancient Latin proverb. But it is human to err in the process of cognition. And knowledge is the very cause of consciousness. Regardless of what is said about humanity, the thirst for knowledge is one of the most human traits. Chronologically, it is also true. Thus, as long as humanity has existed, so have travels. The thirst for "journeys into the unknown" is truly a passion. It is no coincidence that curiosity has been humorously termed "the lust of the mind." When this passion exists, a person is no longer in control of themselves. Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Afanasy Nikitin, Amundsen, Miklouho-Maclay — who today does not know these names? And if this passion coincides with a social demand, then everything is simply magnificent. Here, both God and the devil lend a hand.
It was best in ancient times. Everything in the world was clear, everything was explainable, everything was simple, everything was human. The Greeks believed that they were aware of the underworld; they not only knew about the life of Adam but felt a direct connection to the events occurring there, to their own affairs. The seasons, the life cycles of plants, the entire palette of colors and sounds of nature echoed understandable familial relationships — son-in-law, mother, daughter. If, for example, it is late spring, then Pluto is keeping his wife Persephone at home. Her mother, Gaia, is in sorrow, which manifests as dampness. As we see, everything is very human. Although naive for us wise ones, it is quite charming.
Having stepped onto the first rung of knowledge, a person felt emptiness, cold, anxiety. And the ancient, myth-making line in the cognition of the world does not break. Even if a legend lacks a real basis, it does not leave the imagination indifferent. A legend is always a means of understanding the world, even if it is amusing.
But alongside legends and myths, a completely objective picture of the world is constructed — from step to step, from twist to twist.
The first mentions of the lands of Central Asia, including Pamir and Tian Shan, are found in the sacred book of Zoroastrians, the "Avesta" — the very one that, according to legend, Alexander the Great burned. Trade and political ties between the countries of the East and the Mediterranean were established — and the geographical horizon of the ancient world expanded. Already with Herodotus, Strabo, Ptolemy, and the Chinese Zhang Qian and Ban Gu, there are references to the mountainous character of Kyrgyzstan, to the waters of Oxus and Jaxartes — as the ancients called the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, respectively, to the Filled Lake — now Issyk-Kul, and to the population of those places. It can be considered that the beginning of the description was laid in the first millennium BC and at the beginning of our era.
In the Middle Ages, the description of the Central Asian lands became more detailed and reliable. Central Asia, becoming the arena of political events, attracted ambassadors, merchants, and travelers from various countries to the capitals of ancient Turkic states — Suya, Balasagun, Uzgen. Descriptions of ancient cities, distances, and roads between cities were no longer so rare.
A new twist in history for a long time interrupted the more detailed description of the territory of Kyrgyzstan. Fierce internecine wars among Mongolian, Dzungarian, and Mongolian rulers made the situation unstable. And in war, as in war. Here, rather, a heroic tale will be born than a geographical description. Thus, from the 13th to the 17th century, only the Lao monk Chan Chun provided a description of the mountains and changing landscapes in Northern Tian Shan, and the Central Asian historian Babur described Fergana, while Haidar described Semirechye and Lake Issyk-Kul.
In the 18th century, the situation began to change. Interest in Central Asia grew from Russia. Among the researchers of this time were Russian captain I.S. Unkovsky and Swedish prisoner officer I.G. Repat, who left behind maps of the region. French Jesuit-astronomer A. Hallerstein determined the coordinates of the mouth of the Ak-Terek River at Issyk-Kul and the city of Osh.
The first half of the 19th century is marked by the expeditions of A.L. Bubenov in 1818 and 1827, F.K. Zibberstein in 1825, and others.
From the darkness of ignorance, the outlines of new worlds and the faces of unfamiliar peoples became clearer, although in aggregate, all this was fragmented, sporadic information that did not provide a complete picture of the nature, culture, economy, population, and history of the region.
Separate attempts at systematization were made by European scholars, particularly Alexander Humboldt in 1843. In his monumental work, Humboldt, who had never been to Tian Shan and had only researched Central Asia, expressed a version about the volcanic origin of the mountains of Central Asia. This moment from the entire activity of the scholar is most often mentioned: Humboldt was mistaken. But he had not been there. Hence, he was mistaken. Moreover, in his version. Yet they say that respect for the history of one's own country begins with respect for the history of others. It may not have been worth discussing one of the scholars in such detail, especially one who simply expressed a hypothesis about the origin of the Tian Shan mountains, if it were not mentioned in almost every textbook, manual, and encyclopedia: later researchers of Central Asia disproved A. Humboldt's theory. Let us not forget: the later ones saw clearly because they stood on the shoulders of giants. Even if they were mistaken.
The picture changed completely in the second half of the nineteenth century when Kyrgyzstan was annexed to Russia. But this period deserves special discussion.
Columbus of Central Asia
Historians will confirm: no phenomenon can be considered outside the context of historical events. For Central Asia, the pivotal twist of history was the annexation of Kyrgyzstan to Russia. Not long ago, we said: voluntary, celebrating another... anniversary of Kyrgyzstan's entry into Russia. But in our time, the politically opportunistic veil is lifted, and the historical truth presents itself, however bitter and unflattering it may be.
In the recently published "Course of Russian History" by Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky — a prominent scholar of the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries — we find these lines: "The southern borders of Western Siberia have long troubled the nomadic Kyrgyz who inhabited Northern Turkestan. During the reign of Nicholas, these Kyrgyz were subdued, but this pacification brought Russia into conflict with various khanates of Turkestan — Kokand, Bukhara, and Khiva. Supported by their fellow tribesmen, the population of these khanates began to disturb the southeastern borders of Russia more intensely. During the campaigns of 1864-1865 under the command of Chernyaev and Verevkin, the Kokand Khanate was almost conquered, followed by the Bukhara Khanate. From the conquered lands, the Turkestan General Governorship was formed on the Syr Darya in 1867. Then the predatory role, which both khanates had to abandon, was assumed by the Khivans, separated from the new borders of Russia by sandy steppes. During a series of campaigns that began in 1873 under the leadership of the Tashkent governor-general Kaufman and concluded with the Beijing expedition of Skobelev in 1880-1881, Khiva was also conquered. Thus, the southeastern borders of Russia reached either powerful natural barriers or political barriers. Such barriers include: the Hindu Kush, Tian Shan, Afghanistan, British India, and China."
A social order was established. The historical era presented its tasks. These tasks required people of certain professions. Enormous natural wealth — unknown, unexplored, and unused — appeared before researchers.
There were relatively few of them — the first explorers of the region, infected with Faust's complex — the thirst to comprehend and transform. Who were they — these first ones? It is probably not even about the names, although forgetting them is unforgivable. Restless, energetic romantics, seeking difficulties and proud of them. Losing health and friends — they went again and again. It is probably to them that the aphorism belongs: a happy journey is better than a happy arrival. Each of the researchers left behind a legacy not only scientific but also an example of life, human relationships, no less important than any scientific result.
The very first was Pyotr Petrovich Semenov. Vice-Chairman of the Russian Geographical Society. Honorary member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Member of the State Council. Participant in the Petrashevsky circle, who achieved mitigation of punishment for many of its members and attracted many to research work. He headed the statistical committee — the first in Russia — later the Council. He organized the first general population census. He created schemes of economic regions of Russia, which were used by many scholars and specialists. He studied geography and geology in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France.
And, among other things, he was a participant and organizer of several geographical expeditions to the Russian plain, as well as to Tian Shan. In the first Tian Shan expedition, P.P. Semenov reached the eastern and western ends of Lake Issyk-Kul. Ten years later, in 1857, continuing his studies of Tian Shan, he penetrated to the sources of Naryn and Sary-Jaz, which originate in the glaciers of Central Tian Shan. The results of the expeditions led to the creation of the first scheme of orography — classification of relief forms, the discovery of powerful glaciation above the snow line, a collection of insects numbering in the hundreds of thousands of specimens...
Around the same time, Chokan Valikhanov conducted an expedition, serving after graduating from the Omsk Cadet Corps in the West Siberian Governorate. He undertook a series of expeditions to Central Asia and China. Posing as a Muslim merchant, he traversed the entire Tian Shan and lived in Kashgar. The materials he collected allowed him to become a leading scholar in history, ethnography, and folklore. The Kyrgyz people owe him the first recording and translation into Russian of the heroic folk epic "Manas" — the greatest monument of the culture of ancient nomads.
Twenty-two years of his life were devoted to the study of Tian Shan by Nikolai Alekseevich Severcev. Born in Voronezh, after graduating from Moscow University, he researched Central Tian Shan, Pamir, and the Kyzylkum desert. The first comprehensive geographical characteristics of the nature of Central Asia, extensive materials on flora and fauna — this is the gift of the selfless researcher to the country of the Heavenly Mountains that captivated him.
The graduate of Moscow University was also Alexey Pavlovich Fedchenko, known as a naturalist and researcher of Central Asia. For three years — from 1868 to 1871 — he explored the Alai Valley, discovered the Zaalai Range, and was the first to see its highest peak (now named after Lenin), creating a scheme of the orography of Gissaro-Alai. He engaged in anthropology and ethnography. But his main passion was ethnology and the plant world, which he collected into a huge collection... The life of the twenty-nine-year-old scientist was tragically cut short on a glacier in the Alps, where the insatiable thirst for knowledge led the researcher again.
To explore a glacier... It sounds simple to summarize. But even today, expeditions to glaciers could truly constitute the forty-first labor of Hercules. Nowadays, almost all members of the expedition are climbers. Today, expedition gear is airlifted to possible heights by helicopters. Today, there are radios providing two-way communication. Finally, today there are alcohol stoves for cooking, thermoses, lightweight down sleeping bags, protective eyewear... But what about just over a hundred years ago? Transportation, clothing, food, fuel — all posed extraordinary complexity. And if initially, expeditions moved relatively lightly — with four-legged transport loaded, then later all the gear from the backs of the horses would be transferred to their backs. Snow plains, sugar heads of mountains on the horizon, the slow march of a chain of people across the virgin snow plain, bordered by deceptively accessible peaks of the mountain range — what is this, exotic? Yes, if you listen to travelers and climbers. But it is also work that can only be guessed at — among mountain climbing enthusiasts, "terrifying" stories are not in vogue. However, some anecdote, a tall tale, a funny story — they will tell with great pleasure. People of harsh professions cherish every grain of humor.
Ivan Vasilyevich Mushketov repeatedly undertook expeditions to Central Asia — a geologist and geographer, a graduate of the St. Petersburg Mining Institute. The results of his first study of Tian Shan and the Syr Darya valley were encouraging: over two years — 1874-1875 — a number of deposits of minerals were discovered. A later three-year expedition — 1877-1880 — allowed for geological and orographic descriptions of Central Asia; the history of the Tian Shan and Pamir-Alai mountains found reflection in the monumental two-volume work "Turkestan." In 1887, Mushketov, interrupting his studies of the Caucasian glaciers and mineral springs, returned to Central Asia. In Verny — now Almaty — a powerful earthquake occurred. The scientist's duty was to investigate the causes and consequences of the catastrophe on-site, Mushketov believed.
In the center of Tian Shan, on the northern slope of the Sary-Jaz ridge, there is a valley glacier twenty kilometers long, from the edge of which the Aydyr-Tor River originates. The glacier bears Mushketov's name.
And a monument stands in Kyrgyzstan to the native of Smolensk province — Przhevalsky. A city was named after him — now again Karakol. And in his honor, a breed of horse he discovered bears his name... He lived only forty-nine years, a life filled to the brim. What if it had not been for the illness that struck him so unexpectedly?
After graduating from high school — he entered military service, then graduated from the General Staff Academy. Later, at the Warsaw military school, he was a librarian and a teacher of geography and history.
In 1867, a meeting with Semenov in St. Petersburg changed his fate. First came an expedition to the Ussuri region, then to Mongolia, China, and Tibet, lasting three years. The second Central Asian expedition — Lobnor and Dzungar — took place in 1876-1877. Almost immediately followed the first Tibetan expedition, in 1883-1885 — the second Tibetan. At the beginning of the fifth journey, Przhevalsky died. The illness struck him on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul in the city of Karakol.
To truly represent the ascetic life of Przhevalsky — it is enough to mention the distance he traveled during all his expeditions. More than thirty thousand kilometers of travel, not the easiest, as the reader understands. Is that a lot or a little? For comparison: approximately eight times on foot from Moscow to Bishkek.
The result of his life — a series of books providing a vivid picture of nature and characteristics of the relief, climate, rivers, lakes, vegetation, and wildlife. The directions of the main ridges of Central Asia were established. New ones were discovered. The boundaries of the Tibetan plateau were defined. Lake Lobiore was described. A zoological collection of 7,500 specimens, a botanical collection of about 16,000 plant specimens, and mineralogical collections were gathered. The wild camel and wild horse, Przhevalsky's horse, were discovered and described. Only the botanical collection provided botanists with 218 new species of plants and 7 new genera.
They say that for a person to justify life, they need to plant one tree, give birth to one child, and build one house. So how many lives did Przhevalsky justify with his feat?
It would be unjust not to mention, alongside travelers to "unknown lands," those who made the history and culture of the Kyrgyz people the content of their lives. Such a connoisseur of Kyrgyzstan's history was academician Vasily Vladimirovich Bartold, an Islamic scholar who translated the alphabet from Arabic to Latin, who devoted his life to collecting ancient Eastern manuscripts and created an Oriental studies library.
Vasily Vasilyevich Radlov, born Friedrich Wilhelm, during a ten-year expedition through Altai, Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia collected materials on the languages, folklore, ethnography, and archaeology of Turkic peoples. We owe him the first reading of the famous Orkhon-Yenisei inscriptions, executed in the so-called runic script, which traces back through Old Sogdian to Aramaic. He also laid the foundations for the comparative-historical study of Turkic languages.
The Genes of Wanderers
What is the commonality between tourism and travel? — the reader may ask, and they would be right. But the question is better asked differently: what distinguishes them? This makes it easier to answer. It is believed that tourism is undertaken for leisure, while an expedition is for a specific scientific purpose. That is the whole difference. True, some emphasize that one goes on an expedition for work, while a tourist hike is undertaken solely for personal pleasure and a wealth of impressions. However, reference books will tell us that the word "journey" denoted any movement across any territory or water area for the purpose of studying them, as well as (not primarily, but "also") for educational, cognitive, and other purposes. Only later did journeys with scientific purposes begin to be called expeditions, and those with purely hedonistic purposes — tourism. But it is no secret that even now, often members of tourist mountain, steppe, or forest hikes perform some scientific tasks — especially when it comes to mass material collection... Little is known, however, that the first to "protest" against the word "journey" was the well-known Przhevalsky. In any case, he was the first to call his research reconnaissance missions.
The year was 1928. In early summer, right after classes ended, mathematics teacher from one of the schools in Frunze Studentsov gathered a small group of the most resilient and curious students and took them to the mountains. How many wonderful impressions the boys brought back from this hike! Overcoming the obstacles raised by Mother Nature — overcoming themselves; friendly support on a difficult path; songs by the campfire under the purest starry sky; untouched beauty of alpine meadows and glaciers; joint studies under the guidance of an enthusiastic teacher... For many participants in that ascent to the heights of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too, it remained memorable for a lifetime. Many climbed again and again with teacher Studentsov to the Ala-Archa gorge during 1928-1929. And not only to relax in nature or out of sporting interest. The group thoroughly studied the meadow and glacier zones of the gorge, and its leader compiled a detailed description of them.
In those years, two other tourist groups made interesting ascents to two peaks near the capital of Kyrgyzstan. One of them, led by the enthusiastic teacher Soboliny, named "their" peak Pioneer Peak (its height is 4050 meters above sea level). Almost simultaneously, unaware of each other, a group led by Ozarovsky stormed the 4140-meter peak. The peak was named by its conquerors Comsomol Peak. At the same time, on the other end of Kyrgyzstan — in the west, in the Chatkal mountains — one could meet young travelers led by teacher Piotukh. And in the east, in the city of Przhevalsk, dental technician Grechishkin organized a section of the Society of Proletarian Tourism and Excursions.
Unfortunately, the research work of teacher Studentsov and his students, which represented considerable scientific and practical benefit at that time, was not in demand by professionals. But the names of Studentsov, Soboliny, Ozarovsky, Grechishkin, and Piotukh entered the history of the first organizers of tourism in Kyrgyzstan.
Of course, these enthusiasts were not the first to ascend the mighty ridges of the fairy Tian Shan. The most remote corners of it had long been visited by Kyrgyz people, captivated by the beauty of the mountains and the passion for the unknown. Searches for paths between mountain settlements and the wanderings of brave hunters were sometimes crowned with ascents to the greatest peaks and crossings over the most inaccessible passes. It is no coincidence that a legend arose among the people about the hero Arslan, who conquered the peaks of Bau-Bash-Ata in southern Kyrgyzstan. One of the first mountain crossings, of which reliable information has reached us, was the crossing of Kyrgyz nomads led by the Kyrgyz national hero Mambet in 1916 through the snow-covered passes of Tian Shan during the retreat to China of the defeated troops — participants in the uprising against tsarism.
Research in Central Tian Shan during the Soviet era began in 1929 by Ukrainian and Moscow climbers. Gradually, more expeditions came here, and our scientists systematically and comprehensively studied these regions. Outstanding climber-researchers such as Pogrebetsky, Korzhenevsky, Letavet, and others visited here repeatedly. Many sports groups from Russia and Ukraine made ascents to remarkable peaks and conquered unexplored passes. Climbing expeditions and challenging hikes by tourists coming from different parts of the Soviet Union to Tian Shan undoubtedly gave an impetus to the development of climbing and tourism in Kyrgyzstan. And while the hikes of Piotukh's or Grechishkin's groups could hardly be called organized tourism, as they were conducted rather spontaneously, two important events occurred in 1935 and 1936 that laid the foundation for mass tourism in the republic.
In the summer of 1935, the Kyrgyz regional committee of the Komsomol organized a so-called "geological hike," conducted by three rather numerous groups of youth along three routes. Many participants of those "geological" squads later became famous tourists and climbers. And on August 5, 1936, the Republican Committee for Physical Culture and Sports under the Council of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic established an initiative group of five people and sent it to the climbing school that operated in Jeti-Oguz under the leadership of Pogrebetsky. These were Oksenich, who later became the head of the tourists and climbers club, Ratsek, who later became a deserved master of sports of the USSR, Baigaziev, opera artist Chaybekov, and Tynyskhodzhayev, who was then the manager of the Council of Ministers. Having received good training at the school, they immediately returned to Bishkek and began organizing circles (as sections were then called) of tourists and climbers in secondary schools and universities, at enterprises and in sports societies.
It is worth noting that at that time, there was not much of a difference between tourism and climbing. Probably primarily because climbing had not yet completely separated from tourism and had not formed into an independent sport. Moreover, there was no network of bus lines as today, and to become a climber, one had to also be a tourist — to carry all necessary climbing gear through foothill steppes, gorges, and passes. Thus, at that time, all climbers were tourists, but almost all tourists were climbers.
In 1936, the All-Union Voluntary Society of Proletarian Tourism and Excursions, created six years earlier, was dissolved. The management of local and distant excursions, mass tourism, and climbing was entrusted to the VTsSPS, which, in turn, created the Tourist and Excursion Management. By the beginning of the summer season of 1937, the Republican Club of Tourists and Climbers was established under the Committee of Physical Culture of Kyrgyzstan, headed by Oksenich, who after the Great Patriotic War was for many years until his death the chairman of the Turkmen Republican Federation of Tourism. In 1940, a branch of the Kazakh Tourist and Excursion Management was created in Bishkek, and the House of Tourists — the first tourist base in Kyrgyzstan — was opened.
In the pre-war years, there were not as close contacts between planned and self-organized tourism as today. Independent tourists were united by special guiding sections under the councils of voluntary sports societies and committees for physical culture and sports. These sections operated in complete isolation from one another, unable to coordinate their actions.
In the difficult years of the Great Patriotic War, the main and only slogan for tourists and climbers in Kyrgyzstan became: "Everything for the front, everything for victory!" The equipment and property of climbing organizations and the House of Tourists were transferred to the fund of the Soviet Army. Instructors who had not yet been called to the front or had returned due to injuries engaged in training mountain shooters. This work reached particular scale in 1943, when it was conducted according to the method used in the pre-war years of climbing competitions: instructors brought all available equipment with them and directly on-site taught the techniques of mountain ascents to future mountain shooters of the Soviet Army.
By the beginning of 1944, only one instructor remained in Kyrgyzstan for climbing. In the mountains of Pre-Issyk-Kul, she trained more than four hundred soldiers in the techniques of mountain ascents. In August 1944, she organized the first ascent of Peak "NKI" in the Tereskey Ala-Too mountains. This was one of the few and the last assaults on the peaks of Tian Shan during the Great Patriotic War.
After the war, everything had to start almost from scratch. All tourist and climbing equipment had been used up and worn out. The only House of Tourists became a residential building. Many experienced tourists and climbers fell on the battlefields. Others, returning victorious, could not devote themselves to their beloved hobby due to serious injuries. It was necessary to train new instructors, create a material base, put in order the classification of routes, passes, and peaks, and promote tourism and climbing among youth and young people.
In the first post-war winter, on January 20, 1946, ten ski tourists led by Marechek set out from Bishkek on an eight-hundred-kilometer circular hike through the highlands. Its main goal was to promote tourism and climbing. On their difficult path, the enthusiasts had to overcome three mountain passes with an altitude of 3300 meters above sea level. At the base of the "Issyk-Ata" resort, where a new replenishment of tourism and climbing organizers gathered, they conducted classes for the instructor school. This allowed a whole series of interesting tourist and climbing events to be held that summer.
Nevertheless, the 1946 season showed that the organizers of tourism still poorly knew their republic. Therefore, the sporting summer of 1947 began with a tourist-climbing expedition to find accounting passes and peaks in all regions of Kyrgyzstan. Five brigades of instructors participated in the expedition, which from April to June explored the mountain ranges adjacent to the most populated areas in various regions of the republic, during which they made 16 first ascents. Summarizing the results of the expedition, the organizers of tourism and climbing saw how useful such targeted studies were. Since then, similar studies have become traditional, and in recent years, expeditions have become specialized, meaning directed towards resolving issues related to a specific type of tourism — hiking, speleological, water, etc.
As mentioned earlier, at that time tourism and climbing were closely intertwined, and it was difficult to draw a line between them, nor did anyone set such a task. Therefore, after conducting expeditions, the instructor's active members took on the organization of climbing competitions, mass ascents of novice climbers. Instructors arrived at a pre-agreed place with all their equipment, and future climbers arrived there as well. After classes on the techniques of mountain ascents and safety, the entire group, which sometimes consisted of several dozen people, would set out to storm the accounting peak, sometimes taking a pass along the way, which was already pure mountain tourism. The climbing competition of 1947 was quite successful. Its participants conquered 52 peaks of the first and second categories of difficulty, and 487 people met the standards for the badge "Climber of the USSR" of the first degree. During the climbing competition, nine ridges of Tian Shan were visited, and objects for mass ascents and routes for interesting tourist trips were established in all regions of Kyrgyzstan.
The following year, a noticeable growth in the sports and technical skills of Kyrgyz tourists and climbers could be noted. Marechek's group made the first ascent of Peak Tashtanbek-Tor-Bashi (4716 meters above sea level) of category 4 "b" difficulty and of East Chok-Tal (4770 meters) of category 3 "a" difficulty, while the Kenarsky group conquered the Western Alamedin Wall, 4820 meters high, of the same 3 "a" difficulty category.
A decade passed, and the number of tourists and climbers grew so much that the need arose in Kyrgyzstan to divide athletes of both categories into two separate organizations, similar to other major centers of the Soviet Union. Thus, in 1958, two federations were created — climbing and tourism. The first chairman of the tourism federation was already known, Bondarenko.
The climbing federation immediately turned into an organ for training instructors for the climbing camp "Ala-Archa," created in the same-named gorge near Bishkek back in 1951, and for its branch "Ala-Tuu" in the Karakol gorge. This was certainly a good and very necessary thing, but the field of activity of the federation turned out to be too narrow. Therefore, although Kyrgyz climbers entered the ranks of the strongest in the country, and despite their ascents to the highest peaks of the Soviet Union, including the peaks of Communism, Lenin, Victory, and Khan Tengri, the federation did not become an organ for the development of mass climbing, which one would expect in a mountainous republic.
In contrast, the picture of tourism developed quite differently. Under the auspices of the Federation of Tourism of the Kyrgyz Republic, sections were created in educational institutions and organizations, at enterprises, and even in the countryside — in collective farms and state farms. Targeted work was carried out to prepare new instructor cadres who could and wanted to work with newcomers. All this made it possible to start organizing so-called planned tourism, and already in 1959, the Kyrgyz Republican Council of Trade Unions established a tourist-excursion management. Tourist bases were organized in Bishkek, in the Shamsi gorge, and a tourist shelter on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul near the village of Toru-Aigyr, which later became the tourist base "Ulan." With the support of Kyrgyzprof, the Federation of Tourism opened a tourist club, which became a methodological center for training public instructors. It should be noted that at that time, tourism was excluded from the unified all-Union sports classification for two whole years (1961-1962), but work on the development of mass tourism was in full swing.
In the system of the Ministry of National Education of the Kyrgyz Republic, a Republican Children's Excursion and Tourist Station was also created at that time, later renamed the Central (CDETS) — now it is the Republican Station of Young Tourists. It laid the foundation for the organization of a network of stations-bases for tourist and local studies among children throughout the republic.
On July 20, 1962, amateur tourism, which had previously been developed by several organizations, passed under the jurisdiction of the trade unions. A Central Council for Tourism was created under the VTsSPS. In the same year, the Kyrgyz Tourist and Excursion Management was reorganized into the Kyrgyz Republican Council for Tourism. The number of people engaged in amateur tourism began to grow rapidly. The successful work of the Republican Council in collaboration with the tourism active is evidenced by such figures: if in 1962, 47 thousand people participated in various tourist events — both "planned" and "amateur" — in 1963, this number rose to 123 thousand, in 1965 to 327 thousand, and in 1968 to 530 thousand people.
The Council took on the reconstruction of existing and the creation of new tourist bases. One after another, tourist bases "Frunze," "Ulan," "Issyk-Kul," "Kyrchin" appeared in northern Kyrgyzstan, while "Sary-Chelek," "Arslanbob," "Osh," and its shelter "Abshir-Sai" emerged in the south. At that time, the tourist boarding house "Issyk-Kul" and the tourist base of the Central Asian Military District "Tamga" also appeared on the shores of Issyk-Kul.
In Bishkek in 1969, a branch of the joint-stock company "Intourist" and the Bureau of Youth International Tourism "Sputnik" under the Central Committee of the Komsomol of Kyrgyzstan were opened. The Kyrgyz Republican Council for Tourism became now the Council for Tourism and Excursions.
In January 1977, on a qualitatively new basis, the Federation of Tourism began to operate again in Kyrgyzstan. The Issyk-Kul and Osh regional federations also appeared, and an extensive control and rescue service was created. All previously fragmented public tourist commissions and clubs were thus united by federations, which, in turn, now operated under the relevant councils for tourism and excursions.
Tourism is popular in Kyrgyzstan. And here, one cannot fail to mention the names of those whose enthusiasm and selfless service to their beloved cause contributed to this. These include the first master of sports in tourism in Central Asia A. Bondarenko, masters of sports B. Marechek, V. Gaponenko, Levchenko, Yu. Alkov, V. Podluzhny, candidates for master of sports I. Yevtushenko, F. Gimein, V. Zhumar, S. Leschev, R. Bekmambetov, E. Aizin, E. Vdovkina, and many others. And, of course, one cannot forget those who stood at the origins — Studentsov, Soboliny, Ozarovsky, Piotukh, Grechishkin, Oksenich, Ratsek, Baigaziev, Chaybekov, Tynyskhodzhayev...
Many well-known figures contributed significantly to the formation of tourism in the republic, such as Sh. Kulov — a Chekist of Kyrgyzstan, A. Tilebaev — a diplomat, E. Aksamayev — a participant in World War II, A. Jumagulov. One of the authors of the book T. Jyrgalbekov, while being the head of the Council for Tourism of the republic from 1985 to 1993, also made efforts to develop the tourist movement. During these years, the number of tourist organizations grew from 15 to 64. Tourism was restored in the village of Ananyevo in the Issyk-Kul region, three construction brigades and three bus bases were organized, and a methodological training center was established. Joint ventures with the PRC were created.
In 1989, the State Committee of Kyrgyzstan was transformed into a single State Committee of the republic for sports and tourism. In 1981, the Ministry of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan was established, and in 1992, on its basis, the Agency for Foreign Tourism was created under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan.
Much has changed in society, and many things need to be viewed anew. The further development of tourism is impossible without attracting the forces of sociological and economic science, without new ideas and new methods of management, without broad initiatives at the local level. We will try to reflect on all this in this book, but for now, we simply need to present our republic to readers, to tell what attracts it and how it can attract numerous lovers of travel from near and far abroad.