Larry Memmott's Blog

This is perhaps the closest and easiest way to see the high Ala Too Mountains up close from Bishkek. The full loop is about 55 miles long and makes a nice daytrip. The fields of wildflowers are gorgeous, in season. The loop trip can be easily combined with a stop off at Ata Beit, the […]

Sary Chelek lives up to its billing as one of the gems of Kyrgyz natural beauty (a pretty tall order). A large alpine lake set in a deep mountain bowl and surrounded by pines, Sary Chelek reminds me of the rugged beauty of the mountain lakes high in the American Rockies (specifically, since they were […]

Millennial Walnut Tree Arslanbob is a wonderful little village north of Jalalabad. Surrounded by ancient walnut forests, and with a particularly hospitable population, it is a great place to just relax. Arslanbob lies some 30 miles off the main Bishkek-Jalalabad road. The road is good, and it’s a pleasant drive through the countryside. Attached you […]

One of the easiest places to go from Bishkek to get away from it all is Alamedin. And though it is a nice trip any time of year, there are reasons why it is an especially good place to go in the winter. Alamedin Canyon has many advantages. Only about 40 minutes from downtown Bishkek, […]

The Adigene Valley Loop Trail is one of the closest hikes to Bishkek, and yet is an opportunity to get away from it all.  I’m sure it gets traffic on a summer Sunday afternoon, yet the three times I have been up there I haven’t seen a soul.  It runs through woods and meadows, and […]

The hike to Kel-Tor Lake is one of the most rewarding, but strenuous, of the short hikes near Bishkek.  At only about three miles each way, the hike is not long, but the climb of close to 3,000 feet makes up for it – and makes some steep stretches of the trail at least as […]

This weekend’s camping trip is to Kel-Tor Lake, or perhaps Kok-Moinok Lake.  Not sure, since it’s a complete Google-Earth-based explore.

I got a few hours free on the weekend to hike up to the climber’s cemetery in Ala Archa National Park. The cemetery was established in Soviet times for fallen climbers (most often, literally fallen climbers). It is hidden away in a grove of larch trees — well enough hidden that I missed it the […]