Photos courtesy Lagmanbek: petroglyphs at Cholpon Ata
 Also near Cholpon Ata | Another reason to come see Kyrgyzstan is the history: specifically the ancient writing on rocks — petroglyphs. There are two prize parks for petroglyphs, Cholpon Ata and Saimalu Tash.
Cholpon Ata is an easy day's drive from Bishkek, but if time is what you wish to save, the petroglyphs are 15 minutes on foot from the airfield at Cholpon Ata. Land at Bishkek, and we can have you there in less than 2 hours! |
| Saimalu Tash, however, is another kettle of fish. Over 10,000 petroglyphs dated between 2,000 and 3,000 B.C., located at an altitude of over 10,000 feet. Discovered in the 20th century, only Russian jeeps can get you close on a long, arduous journey on the ground. Most take two days to get there, followed by a horse trek into a steep valley. Even a helicopter can't get you into the valley, but instead of two days on the road we can get you there in two hours! You still need the horses to get in and out of the park, but you won't need the long trek in the Russian jeep. |  Statues at Cholpon Ata.  More petroglyphs at Cholpon Ata On the ground, seeing all this in a day isn't possible. With Golden Rule Airlines you could fly to Saimalu Tash in the morning, to Cholpon Ata in the afternoon, and be back in Bishkek at a posh hotel for dinner that night.
| You can fly to Bishkek from Istanbul via Turkish Air, from London via British Air, and from Moscow via Aeroflot. Bishkek's airport code is FRU, from the old name of the city, Frunze. Contact us via e-mail or call (996 312) 214 924 or (996 312) 600 242. |
More here about the petroglyphs at Cholpon Ata.
