Paints, paintbrushes and a lot of inspiration

Bishkek.
Arrival in Bishkek, meeting at Manas airport, transfer to the hotel, accommodation, rest.

Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan and the largest city in the country. The city is located in the north of the Kyrgyz Republic, in the Chui Valley, in the foothills of the Tien Shan. There are many places here that remind us of the Soviet period of the city's history. The influence of the Soviet era is especially strong in the center, where you can see a number of striking examples of Soviet architecture: the Philharmonic, the government building, the Historical Museum, the Victory Monument. Along with them, you will see modern examples of Kyrgyz architecture in the city.

We will take a sightseeing tour of the city, see the main squares of the capital - Ala-Too Square, Old Square and Victory Square. We will walk through the oak park with an art gallery from modern young artists in the open air.
For dinner, we will go to the Supara restaurant complex, where we will see many interesting things from the life of the Kyrgyz people. We will visit a small ethnographic museum. We will listen to a folklore show.
Accommodation in a 3* hotel. Meals – dinner

Bishkek - Kadji-Sai (290 km / 5 hours)..
In the morning we will go to the southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul. On the way we will visit the historical and archaeological complex - Burana Tower.
We will also have the opportunity to walk along the Kok-Moinok gorge, famous for its canyons.

After that we will continue our way to the lake. Issyk-Kul is the second largest mountain lake after Lake Titicaca in South America, is one of the 25 largest lakes in the world and is in seventh place on the list of the deepest lakes on our planet.

The length of this lake from west to east is 178 km, from south to north - 64 km, the maximum depth is 668 m. Lake Issyk-Kul also ranks second in water transparency after Lake Baikal. The local population calls Lake Issyk-Kul "The Pearl of Kyrgyzstan". Resembling a small bead strung on a chain of mountain ranges, it really justifies this name. The "Pearl of Kyrgyzstan" is located at an altitude of 1606 m above sea level and is surrounded on both sides by ridges with the poetic names of Terskey Ala-Too (facing away from the sun) and Kungey Ala-Too (facing the sun).

In the village of Bokonbaevo, if you wish, we can visit a Berkutchi (a hunter with falcons) to learn more about this type of hunting, hold these mighty birds in your hands and take colorful photos. We will have a free evening. We will go to the shore of the lake to take amazing photos and sketches.
Accommodation at the Al-Hayat art base. This place was not chosen by chance. This is a sacred place for artists. One of the terraces offers a wonderful view of the sunset.

Kadji-Sai.
Today we will have the whole day to paint the fantastic landscapes of the southern shore of Issyk-Kul. The southern shore of Lake Issyk-Kul has a more diverse landscape and is less populated. The shore is open and you can drive up to it almost everywhere. From our hotel we can take a trip to the Skazka gorge with beautiful sculptures that look like fairy-tale characters and are made by nature from red sand.
Or we can settle down on the hotel terrace and paint the blue waters of Issyk-Kul.

Kadji-Sai - Jeti-Oguz gorge – Karakol (160 km / 3h).
This day will be full of creativity and romantic mood. In the morning we will go to the Jety-Oguz gorge. This is one of the most beautiful places in Kyrgyzstan. Here we will see the natural monument Broken Heart and Seven Bulls. We will hear legends. We will take pictures in national Kyrgyz costumes, walk to the waterfall with the poetic name "Maiden Braids".
Lunch will be organized in Kyrgyz yurts. And in the evening we will go on a sea cruise to see a stunning sunset.
Dinner and night at the hotel in Karakol.

Karakol - Cholpon-Ata (180 km / 3.5 h).
After breakfast, we will visit the Museum of Russian Life, which is lost among the Kyrgyz villages. The museum is truly unique, it contains artifacts from the time of the foundation of Russian settlements in these places. We will also visit the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Dungan mosque and the Przhevalsky Museum.
Next, we will go to the mountain gorge Grigoryevskoye. We will drive to a picturesque lake. We will walk a little. This is a meditative place, the majesty of the mountains and the tranquility of the mountain lake make you slow down a little. Sit, think, talk about the eternal. We will get out our sketches and draw. And then we will go to the resort town of Cholpon-Ata.
Accommodation and rest at the hotel.

Cholpon-Ata.
This day will be dedicated to the amazing, beautiful mountain lake Issyk-Kul. Today we will have a morning plein air right on the shore of the blue pearl of Kyrgyzstan.
And after lunch we will go on an excursion to the most ancient gallery - to the petroglyph museum, which is located on a fairly large territory in the open air. We will have a wonderful opportunity to capture in the sketching technique amazing rock paintings against the background of the southern slopes of the Kungei Ala-Too ridge, from where a magical view of the lake opens up in the rays of dawn and sunset.

Cholpon-Ata – Bishkek (270 km / 4.5 h).
The morning will be free for a full rest. And closer to lunch we will go to Bishkek - back to the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
Our path runs along the northern shore of the lake. Then through the Boom gorge to the Chui valley.
For the night we will settle in a cozy hotel Mountains of Asia and make our final exhibition of the works created during the tour. Evening by the pool with champagne.

Departure. (We advise you to take a day flight). Today the car will take you to the airport for your flight home. End of program.

If any of the participants have a desire to spend another wonderful day in Bishkek, then we offer the following program:

On this day you can visit the Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts named after Gapar Aitiev. This is the main artistic treasury of Kyrgyzstan. The art gallery later renamed the Kyrgyz State Museum of Fine Arts was opened on January 1, 1935.

The basis of the museum's collection made 72 works of Russian artists received from the State Tretyakov Gallery personally selected by the founder of the museum and the founder of Kyrgyz painting Chuikov S. A. Since the first Republican exhibition in 1934 the museum's funds have been systematically replenished with the works of Kyrgyz artists.

To date, the museum collection has about 18 thousand items in its storage. The structural division of the collection is carried out according to the types of fine arts - painting funds (about 4 thousand exhibits), graphics (about 9600), sculpture (about 1 thousand), arts and crafts (more than 3 thousand).

The museum collection of works by artists of Kyrgyzstan makes it possible to judge the development of culture, the formation of a national school; it covers all stages of the development of professional fine arts. The golden fund of the museum is the works of the classics of the Kyrgyz fine arts, artists of different generations, different artistic styles and trends.