by Artem Volkov
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Naryn is a long, thin town that straddles the fast flowing Naryn River and is set between high, steep cliffs. It still houses an army base and headquarters for the customs at Torugart - and so camping on the hills overlooking the town is forbidden Naryn is known mainly as a stopping point for travellers on the way to/from Kashgar, and unfortunately many guidebooks published in the West are not very complimentary about the town. The region offers many possibilities for trekking and if you are not in a hurry to pass through on your way to China Naryn could serve as a centre to explore this unspoilt and largely unknown region of the Central Tian Shan .
The modern town of Naryn was founded in 1868 as a Russian garrison town, and much of the current town is post-war. Early settlements have been found in caves near the town of Naryn , however, and there are stories that suggest that the name itself is quite old. One picturesque Kyrgyz story tells of a herder who had sold his cattle in the Andijan region (now in Uzbekistan ) and on his return, exhausted, he settled down for the night at a place called Jailoo (= “pasture”) and turned his horse free. The horse wandered and fed at a place called Arpa (= “barley”). When the man tried to coral the horse the next day it ran away. He chased it and when he caught it he killed it and cooked its meat. He left the head behind and called the place At-Bashi (= “Horses head”). He ate the meat along his journey and called the place where he had his last meal from the carcass Naryn - which was the name of the dish he had cooked - a sort of soup with finely cut meat. If you find these places on the map you will see that they are quite far apart - the man went a long way to sell his cattle and chased the horse for quite a distance!
Another source suggests that the name comes from the Mongolian word for “sunny”, and another from the Chinese for “narrow”.
In November 1920 it was the scene of a battle between the soldiers of the revolutionary communist authorities and a band of White Russians led by two “kulaks” (rich peasants), one from Tokmak and the other from Naryn.They captured the commander of the Red Army local contingent – and killed Orozbekov, the local Party Chairman, before leaving for Tokmak and Pishkek. They were defeated ten days later in a battle at Shamshy pass, and again in another a few later back at the Dolon pass. There is a memorial to the fallen in the town.
by
Aijbek Aitbaev
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Situated about 350 km from Bishkek and 200 km from the Chinese border at a height off 2800 m . a.s.l. Naryn can be very cold, especially at nights. In fact it is known as the coldest town in Kyrgyzstan and temperatures in winter have been known to fall to -40°C . The average annual temperature is -6°C . In summertime, however, the days can be very hot and dusty.
The town has suffered considerably from the economic decline that followed independence. The government established a Free Economic Zone in 1991 to provide favourable conditions for investors as a measure to develop the economy of the region.
The population of the town of Naryn is about 45000, (and there about 260000 inhabitants in the whole of the Naryn oblast) - most of them (99.9%) are Kyrgyz. Kyrgyz is the first language of the population and it is not unusual to find people who cannot speak Russian.
The River Naryn is the longest river in Kyrgyzstan , ( 535 km in length) and is in fact a river famous from antiquity. Its ancient name is the Syr-Darya and like its northern twin, the Amu-Darya, it flowed into the Aral Sea . Nowadays, extensive cotton farming in Uzbekistan absorbs most of its waters, so that the Aral Sea is drying up. It is possible to travel from the town to the source of this once famous river. Downstream, in Kyrgyzstan , the river is used extensively for hydroelectric power generation and it flows into the giant Toktogul Reservoir that you would see if you used the main Bishkek-Osh road. The river is a potential source of friction with Uzbekistan , since Kyrgyzstan wants to retain more of the water for its own uses.
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