Guided walking tour Karakol and Cholpon-Ata.

«A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature»

Henry David Thoreau.

Special excursion in settlement Kochkorka.

The river Karkara flows across the territory of Typskiy district of the Issyk-Kul region. Vasily Vasilyevich Radlov is the Russian orientalist the turcologist, the ethnographer, the archeologist and the teacher of the German origin, one of pioneers of comparative historical studying of Turkic languages and the people so treated an origin of the name of the area and river Karkara:
"The name of the area and river are that because there lives a birdie whom call a karkara. Karkara - a kind of a heron, and also some girls dress feathers of this bird on the headdresses which are called "karkara" too (1893, t.1 page 190).
The ethnographer and the researcher of folklore, traditions and customs of Kazakhs M. Krasovsky wrote year in the geographical and statistical notes about the Kazakh steppe the following: "During removements Kazakhs load on camels chests with load which top turns out similar to roofs of their houses (yurts), and these chests they call "karkara".
And as road chests and outlines of some mountains are similar, mountains also are called Karkara". (Krasovsky M., 1988, p.1, page 108 - 109). Approximately, also the ethnographer Shokan Valikhanov held such opinion. "Karkara - Kazakhs so call plumelets, the sultan on the head of two very young girls of the Kalmyks captured at the small river". (Valikhanov Ch., 1984, page).
Source of the river are called Kokzhar and after to the river the right inflow of Shakmartay originating in the southern spurs of the mountains Tiyek the river adjoins receives Karkara name. The river Kokzhar originates about the pass Kokpak located at the height of 3482 meters above sea level in Mountains Terskey Alatau.
Kyzylmoynok down the river of Karkara passes the pass frontier between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in environs. Extent of the river in Kyrgyzstan is 35 kilometers. The river Karkara flows into the river Kegen in the neighborhood of the settlement of Shyrganak (Karkara) left inflow and after that loses the name.
Throughout 18 kilometers, from the settlement of Karkara and to the neighborhood of the settlement of Shyrganak the river spreads on the dead river channel, on this site the river forms a set a meander.

Authority and photos
Alexander Petrov.