KG
Osh
Ancient Silk Road city around a sacred mountain
Ancient Silk Road city around a sacred mountain
A craggy sacred mountain rising straight out of the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site and pilgrimage place for over a millennium. Trails lead past shrines and caves to summit viewpoints over Osh.
💡 Climb in the cool of early morning; a small museum is built into the rock near the base.
One of Central Asia’s oldest and largest markets, stretching for over a kilometre along the river. Traders have gathered here for two thousand years, selling everything from knives and hats to spices and silk.
💡 Go in the morning and simply wander; the scale and colour are the attraction.
Carved dramatically into the flank of the sacred mountain, this museum displays archaeological finds and ethnographic exhibits inside a cave gallery, a striking setting as memorable as the collection.
💡 Combine it with the climb up the mountain; the entrance is partway up.
A handsome 18th-century mosque near the bazaar, its blue-tiled facade and minaret reflecting Osh’s deep Islamic and Silk Road heritage in the mainly Uzbek old town.
💡 Dress modestly and visit outside prayer times to admire the tilework.
Around the bazaar and beneath the mountain spread the mudbrick lanes of Osh’s largely Uzbek old town, with teahouses, bakeries turning out fresh non bread and a slower, southern rhythm.
💡 Pause at a chaikhana for tea and fresh bread straight from the tandoor.
Southern Kyrgyz food leans Uzbek and rich: plov, samsa baked in tandoors, lagman and shashlik, with mountains of fresh non bread and melons in season. The bazaar and old-town chaikhanas are the best places to eat.
Climb Sulaiman-Too at dawn, visit the cave museum, then explore the vast Jayma Bazaar.
Wander the Uzbek old town, mosques and teahouses, and sample plov and fresh non bread.
Climb early before the heat; the summit views over Osh are the reward.
Osh is the northern start of the legendary Pamir Highway into Tajikistan.
The south is more conservative; dress modestly, especially around religious sites.
Carry som; cards work in some hotels but the bazaar is cash only.
The capital Bishkek, the trekking hub of Karakol, the high lake of Song-Kol, ancient Osh and the alpine Ala-Archa park — the best of Kyrgyzstan.