Excursion to Barskoon Gorge.

"We were all struck by his simplicity, inherent in truly great people,"

Kaly Orozbakov. Chairman of the Tamga collective farm in the Issyk-Kul region

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Trip to Barskoon Gorge from Karakol.

A bas-relief on a stone, a monument to Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin is located at an altitude of 2324 meters above sea level, is located on left bank of Barskoon River, in middle part of eponymous gorge, on northern slope of Terskey Ala-Too ridge, in Jety-Oguz district of Issyk-Kul region. 
The monument measures 6 x 4.5 x 12 meters and is shaped like a flying spaceship. On the front side there is a sculptural portrait of Yuri Gagarin in a helmet. The entire rock is tinted to look like a bronze alloy. At the bottom of the monument is a metal plaque with the inscription "Yuri Gagarin.
The monument was restored with the support of the Moscow Government." Yuri Gagarin visited Kyrgyzstan only once, in August 1964. His visit included a trip to the Tamga sanatorium, the Barskoon gorge and the Przhevalsky Museum. During his visit, Yuri Gagarin participated in various events, including a meeting with local residents and the regional leadership.
As it turned out, Y. Gagarin attended a congress of young cotton growers held in Tashkent. After the official part was completed, the command of the Turkestan Military District invited Yuri Alekseevich to spend a few days resting in the district sanatorium in the village of Tamga.
A military plane delivered him from Tashkent directly to Tamga, bypassing the town of Frunze. The airfield with an unpaved surface was located in the eastern part of the village of Tamga. After the meeting at the airfield, the motorcade with the first cosmonaut headed to the military sanatorium.
Yuri Alekseevich spent very little time in the sanatorium, on the advice of those accompanying him, he was offered to visit the Barskoon gorge, which is 27 kilometers from the sanatorium, there is beautiful nature and you can take a walk to the waterfalls.
The preparations were short. They decided to have lunch in the gorge and made a short stop, laid out a tablecloth right on the grass. While the food was being prepared, Gagarin separated from the large group and walked alone along the left bank of the Barskoon River among the majestic Shrenk firs.
His attention was drawn to a huge stone lying on the bank of the river, Yuri Alekseevich walked around the stone, ran his hand over it. This was the trip to the Barskoon gorge according to the stories of the people accompanying him. The bas-relief with the image of Yu.A. Gagarin appeared only in 1989 - 1990.
The initiator and executor of the work on creating the bas-relief of Yuri Gagarin on the western part of the stone was a former military man who worked as a designer at the Tamga sanatorium - Valentin Dmitrievich Barskov. The helmet and profile of Yuri Gagarin were carved on the stone.
Over time, the monument was severely damaged by weather conditions and partially destroyed, so that the profile of the first cosmonaut became barely discernible. It is interesting that on the eve of Gagarin's visit to the republic, the comedy film "Cosmonaut Street" by the Kyrgyzfilm studio was released.
The film, with a subtle and witty plot, told about Kyrgyz boys who dreamed of becoming astronauts. It became a real box office hit and reflected the passion of society captivated by space flights. In those days, when Yuri Gagarin was visiting Kyrgyzstan, Salizhan Sharipov was born in the city of Uzgen - the future pilot-cosmonaut, Hero of the Russian Federation and Kyrgyzstan.
In 1998, he went on his first flight on the Endeavour shuttle, during which he docked with the Mir orbital complex. Salizhan Sharipov's second expedition took place on the Soyuz TMA-5, where he was the ship commander and flight engineer at the International Space Station, performing two spacewalks.
Geographic coordinates of stone monument to Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin: N42°00'34 E77°36'53

Authority:
Alexander Petrov.
https://www.ritmeurasia.ru/news--2024-03-10--kak-jurij-gagarin-sozdal-kosmicheskij-fenomen-kirgizii-72003

Photos by: 
https://foto.kg/galereya/1104-barskoon-vozvedenie-monumenta-v-chest-yuriya-gagarina.html
Alexander Petrov.