Ala-Archa Nature Park

Listen first. Under every other sound here there is a low, steady roar. It is the Ala-Archa River, grey-white with glacial silt, running over boulders the size of small cars. The air is cooler than it was in the city. It carries a sharp, resinous smell, a little like pine and a little like pepper. That smell comes from the junipers on the slopes around you. They are the trees that give this valley its name.

In Kyrgyz, the juniper is called archa. The word ala means mottled or many-coloured. So Ala-Archa is usually translated as the colourful juniper. Stand still for a moment and look at the hillsides. The dark green of the junipers sits in patches against pale scree, red-brown rock and the brighter green of grass. The name describes exactly what you can see from the river bank.

You are in the Kyrgyz Ala-Too, one of the front ranges of the Tian Shan. Tian Shan means Celestial Mountains, and it is one of the great mountain systems of Central Asia. It runs for hundreds of kilometres across Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and western China. Bishkek, the capital, lies only about an hour's drive north of here. That closeness surprises many visitors. Few capital cities have a glaciated gorge this close to their suburbs.

The valley was protected as a national park in 1976, during the Soviet period. Before that, and still today, it was a place for herders, hunters and climbers. The Soviet Union trained many of its mountaineers in ranges like this one. An alpine camp grew up near the head of the road. Generations of climbers began their careers here, learning ice and rock skills on the peaks above. Today the camp area is still the starting point for most walks.

Look up the valley, toward the south. On a clear day you will see white summits above the green. The highest peak of this whole range rises at the head of the park. It carries the name of Pyotr Semyonov-Tian-Shansky. He was a Russian geographer who explored these mountains in the nineteenth century. The tsar later added Tian-Shansky to his surname to honour that work. A mountain named after a man, who was in turn named after mountains — it is a neat circle.

Now look at the junipers more closely. Many of them grow low and twisted, bent by wind and heavy snow. Their bark peels in long, fibrous strips. Junipers grow very slowly in cold, high places like this. A tree that looks modest in size may be far older than you expect. On the steeper slopes, some cling to rock with almost no visible soil at all.

Juniper matters in Kyrgyz life beyond this park. Across Central Asia, people burn dried juniper and let the fragrant smoke drift through a home or a yurt. It is a traditional way to cleanse a space and to wish for good health. If you visit a Kyrgyz household, you may smell this same smoke indoors. Please leave the trees here untouched, though. Inside the park, they are protected.

The river beside you starts as ice. Glaciers sit in the high cirques at the top of the valley. A cirque is a bowl carved into a mountainside by moving ice. The best known glacier here is the Ak-Sai, which means white stream. In summer, meltwater pours down from it. This is why the river runs strongest in the afternoon, after a day of sun on the ice.

Most visitors choose one of two classic walks. The gentler one follows the main valley floor beside the river, through meadows and juniper groves. The harder one climbs steeply to the Ak-Sai waterfall. A longer, tougher route continues up to the Ratsek hut, a simple mountaineers' shelter below the glacier. That climb gains a lot of height quickly. Walk slowly, drink water, and turn back if you feel dizzy or breathless.

Keep your eyes open for animals. Marmots often stand upright beside their burrows in the higher meadows, then vanish with a sharp whistle. Birds of prey circle above the ridges. The park is also home to mountain goats called ibex, though they usually stay high on the cliffs. Snow leopards live in the Tian Shan, but they are rarely seen by anyone. If you spot one, you are among the very luckiest walkers here.

The weather in this valley changes fast. A warm, blue morning can turn into cold rain or hail by early afternoon. Clouds often build over the peaks after midday. Even in summer, snow can fall higher up. Locals who come here every weekend carry a warm layer and a rain jacket, whatever the forecast says. It is a good habit to copy.

On weekends, the park fills with families from Bishkek. You will see picnics on blankets near the river and groups grilling meat over small fires. Older visitors sit on rocks and talk while children throw stones into the water. For many people in the capital, this valley is simply the nearest place to breathe clean air. On a weekday morning, by contrast, you may have long stretches of trail almost to yourself.

Before you leave, find a flat rock near the water and sit for a minute. Feel the cold air that flows down the valley from the ice. Watch how the light moves across the slopes as clouds pass, turning the junipers from green to almost black. Take one more breath of that resin smell. When you walk back toward the road, notice how the river's roar follows you, and then slowly fades behind you.