the globe says
Kyrgyzstan
Fly to Bishkek visa-free, minibus to Kochkor, then a horse or 4x4 up to the summer lake at 3,000 meters.
A working shepherd family's yurt — fermented mare's milk optional, but honor demands one try.
A high alpine lake ringed by yurts and horse herds, no fences, no power lines, eagle shadows on the grass, and nights cold enough to make the stars feel earned.
Hire a horse for a day from your host family and ride the shoreline — the kids will outride you, laughing.
June to September
Rakhmat — thank you, in Kyrgyz.
Restless Valley by Philip Shishkin — modern Kyrgyzstan's wild politics.
Tash Rabat, a 15th-century stone caravanserai in a side valley near the Chinese border.
The lake is only inhabited June to September; outside those months it is genuinely empty and frozen.