Travel Guide Naryn

Founded in 1868, Naryn was originally a garrison town, just another garrison town, where the soldiers had to endure, at an altitude of 2,800 metres, bitter cold in winter and the heat of a furnace in summer. Nothing has changed since then: temperatures in Naryn drop sharply to -40°C in winter (when the river is completely frozen and crossed on foot) and over 30°C in summer, a period made all the more unpleasant by the fact that a strong wind frequently raises particularly irritating clouds of dust. At 350 km from Bishkek, Naryn is today mainly a stopover for discovering Song Kul and the Tash Rabat caravanserai, or for those who, on their way to China, plan to cross the border at the Torugart Pass, 200 km further south. The city stretches along a single street (obviously named "Lenin") along the Naryn River and is of little tourist interest. A few carved wooden facades dating from the colonial era, a museum and a statue of Lenin are the only meagre riches of Naryn.