After we learned how to set up a yurt and how to produce Shyrdaks, and a visit of the Bel-Tam Yurt Camp, a visit of the Fairy Tale Canyon, in Kyrgyz Kan’on Skazka, is on our agenda.
For a while, we drive in the direction of the Karakol, before we turn right into a dusty road. A barrier blocks the way, as a small amount is charged as admission fee. We follow the road for about 2 km before we arrive at a parking lot.
The mountain scenery in front of us is breathtaking. Less because of the height, but the shapes vary and the colors are bizarre.
At a yurt, we meet Karin and Jeff Carter, who came to Fairy Tale Canyon with friends. They invite us to melon and bread. During a short conversation, we learned that one of the men has transported cars from Germany 7000 km to Kyrgyzstan.
But I hurry to climb a nearby viewpoint and make a flight with the drone.
A kind of cleft or a rampart leads from this viewpoint across the terrain and ends in a bizarre pointed hill. Often one compares this formation with the Chinese wall and in a miniaturized form, a similarity is given. The hill is more reminiscent of a Harry Potter fantasy landscape.
That’s why Skazka Canyon, Fairy Tale Canyon, is the perfect name. We can hardly get enough of these grandiose shapes and colors.
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More InformationThe colors and forms are more bizarre than one can imagine. The rust-colored color comes presumably from iron ore, the yellow of sulfur. The earth has already mixed a wild cocktail here.
Our guide Dasha tells us that her parents always warned her not to take a bath in the little lake at the entry to the Fairy Tail Canyon. The lake is radioactively contaminated. Back home, I study the maps and actually discover nearby a decommissioned uranium mine from Soviet times. Presumably, the contamination comes from that.
Although I have an excellent all-around view from my viewpoint, there is a strong wind. The drone swings very much in the turbulence but keeps very well stable. Only when I want to capture the drone again, it does not arrive against the air flow. I have to fly up once more and then fly in from the other direction, to capture the drone.
Intoxicated by the visual impressions, we drive towards the sunset. This time the sky reflects the colors. Once again we stop at Issyk-Kul lake. Two Kyrgyz young men want to be filmed. We do them the favor before we return to Almaluu Yurt Camp.
Practical Information:
- The Skazka Canyon is open from May to September.
- If you want someone local to help you book your tours or stays at the south shore of Issyk-Kul lake, please contact Destination South Shore for assistance.
Please read on > Almaluu Yurt Camp to Seven Springs of Manjaly-Ata
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Disclosure: Our trip was organized in cooperation with Discover Kyrgyzstan, and made possible by the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). All opinions are our own.
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