The drive through this part of Kyrgyzstan starts to settle something about the country that the mountains alone don't fully explain. Away from the high passes, the land is fertile and fast-watered, rivers and streams run wide and quick through valleys that are green well up the hillsides before giving way to brown scrub and, eventually, snow. It doesn't look like the Central Asia of the imagination, which tends towards steppe and desert. This part is lush in a way that catches you off guard.
Sights & Culture
Chu River Canyon Observation Point
A pull-off above the Chu River canyon with views that justify the stop completely. The canyon drops away below and the scale of it, river, rock, the green hills climbing on either side, is the kind of landscape that makes you grateful someone decided to put a viewpoint here. Don't rush it.