Kochkor - the charm of local fauna and variegated flavor of customs
Kochkor is a Kyrgyz city, located near the Son-Kul Lake. Visit Kochkor, which from the earliest times was considered a convenient transshipment point on the Great Silk Road going to Chinese Kashgar city through Torugart pass.
Most people used to simply pass through Kochkor (or Kochkorka, as it used to be known in Russian), on their way to, or from, Torugart and the Chinese border. Nowadays, more people are stopping and spending some time in the region.
One reason for this is probably the development of the “Shepherd’s Life” project – a local initiative inspired by the Swiss development program “Helvetas”. A network of shepherd’s families offers home-stays and can organize transport, and other services (horse riding, trekking, guides, talks and demonstrations of local crafts, concerts of traditional Kyrgyz music …) in the region.
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Home-stays and Farm-stays are popular all over the world – and for those who are willing to spend the time getting acquainted with the host families and their way of life – it can be a most rewarding experience (as well as offering the shepherds and farmers a way to supplement their income).
The program has been very successful – it has been featured in travel books; it has it’s own web site; it has extended, not only to other parts of the Naryn region – but has been copied in other parts of Kyrgyzstan as well.
