This is the oldest and the second largest city in a country. There is a saying that Osh is older than Rome. Some legends will tell you that King Solomon founded the town whilst other people will try to persuade you that it was Alexander the Great. Even if these claims are not true, the Kyrgyz people celebrated the 3000^th anniversary years of the city in October 2000. Osh occupied an important position in trading routes of the Great Silk Road. During your stay you will have a chance to visit Sulaiman Mountain, which is considered to be one of the holiest places in Central Asia. People believe that it is a little Mecca because Mohammed is supposed to have prayed there once and probably the name Sulaiman comes from "Solomon". Osh market will give you an impression of the specific culture of old central Asian markets - where people used to gather, not only for trade, but also for communicating with each other.

The spectacular Osh-Bishkek highway that we are going to take to the Suusamur valley is the only main road connecting Russia with south of Central Asia going through the Tian-Shan and Pamir mountain ranges down to Tajikistan and Afghanistan. On the way we will be passing one of the most beautiful reservoirs in Central Asia, Toktogul, that funnels the gorgeous Naryn River into a hydroelectric station, the Chichkan gorge with its heavily forests, and crossing a mountain pass 3184 m high, mostly wild and quiet places.

A Russian traveler who traveled this road in 1930, when it was only a pack trail with a suspension bridge across the Naryn River, wrote: "It was such a horrible experience that on my way back I braved a roundabout route across snow - bound passes rather than face this bridge again". Today, 700 kilometers of the road have been reconstructed.

One of the travelers at the beginning of 20^th century wrote about Suusamyr:
"It is night. Pressing closely around a yurt, sheep are deep in slumber, breathing evenly… The moon glides across the sky stumbling over clouds, and the peaks of the mountains, resembling enormous blocks of blue marble, are illuminated by mysterious inner light. Slowly the darkness is pushed back as, morning light rises from behind the rim of the mountains… morning in the meadows, in Suusamyr"

We will start an unforgettable journey from the Suusamyr valley to Son-Kul taking the road that most travelers don't choose, passing through very changeable scenery: rocky mountains; fast rushing rivers; green meadows ascending slowly to the plateau of Son Kul.

Son Kul is a remote mountain lake (3000 m) situated on a treeless, high mountain plateau where shepherds bring the livestock in the summertime. It is a perfect place for being alone with the nature and easygoing shepherds' families.

After Son Kul we will take the road that will finally bring us to the Tourugart pass (the border with China). The road that was used by camel caravans in the times when the great Silk Road served as a main link between East and West. We will stop overnight near the Tash Rabat caravanserai that served as shelter for travelers and merchants who used to travel along the Silk Road routes.