Silk Road - 26 May 2009 - Outdoor Museum in Kyrgyzstan

Our next stop was at an “outdoor” museum. Some of the petroglyphs at the site go back to the second millennium BCE. Some of the symbols represent the worship of the sun which preceded Islam. One petroglyph in particular was unusual in that it was unusually large. It included pictures of a mountain goat, a hunting scene and solar symbols. In addition, our guide showed us a plant that naturally produces ephedrine. There was a black stone which included a man on a horse. Location of petroglyph
Location of Petroglyph
Largest of the Petroglyphs
Description
Graves from the Sak-Usum Period
Actual Graves
Plant which naturally produces ephedrine
Another Petroglyph - a man riding a horse
View of Lake Issachul from outdoor museum site

The hotel for tonight and tomorrow is the Aurora Spa, which was named for the ship that was involved in the Communist Revolution. In the days of the Soviet Union it was the favorite spa of high level Communist officials. It is sadly out of date. It is an improvement over the guest house in that it has bathrooms in the room. Of the two beds in the room, only one has linens on it. The linens don’t fully cover the mattress. The rooms are cold.

I packed the felt items that I purchased in my suitcase and had trouble closing it, but I haven’t opened the expanding zipper yet.