Larry Memmott's Blog

Ata Beit is the memorial and collective grave of victims of Stalin’s repression in the 1930s. More recently, it has also become the burying place of those who died in the April, 2010 revolution. It’s an impressive memorial, if not very well maintained, and a quick and easy half-day trip from Bishkek. It can also be visited as a side trip off of a drive up Ala Archa Canyon, up Alamedin Canyon, or as a leg of the loop route between those two canyons.

The simplest way to get from Bishkek to Ata Beit is up the road to Ala Archa. Counting from the corner of Masalieva Absamata Prospect and Prospect Mira (the corner on which the U.S. Embassy sits), at 5.5 miles you reach a major intersection, with an arch over the road to Ala Archa. Rather than continuing on up the road, turn left. You will pass by Chon Tash on the outskirts of the village, and then turn right at 7.5 miles to head up towards the mountains. A mile or so up this road, you make a sharp left before entering the village of Tash-Dobo. About a half-mile up this road you will see the Ata Beit sign and turn right up the hill to the monument. Attached is a .gdb file you can you can use in your GPS or with Google Earth to orient yourself.

And, by the way, when the poppies are in bloom the area around the memorial is a good place to see them.