Arslanbob is the largest walnut forest in the whole world situated in the kyrgisthan near to the Uzbekisthan border in the Bazar kargon district of the Jalal abad region . This walnut forest is spread over 60000 acres of land and there is some trees which are over 1000 years old . This area is covered with lots of mountains and the average height of the village is between 1500 – 2000 meter . Babash ata is one of the famous mountain in this area .
In this village you can see mountain , river , waterfall and lots of nature . Here the village is very fresh and people are simple and welcoming . I stayed in CBT guest house and inside the guest house complex they grow different vegetables . I can see the walnut tree also inside their home .
In the whole village there is only one market and all the fruits , vegetables and , grocessory were found there . There was only one Tandoor bakery shop which makes bread . This shops sells different seasonal fruits and vegetables .
There was just one bank and one ATM in this village and it opened for the restricted time period , It was situated just in the middle of the Arslanbob village and just in the opposite to the Mashrutka stand . Here i just changed some US Doller . The Bank is situated opposite to the Masrutka stand .
exchange rate was little low than the big cities , but you have to understand that it is a remote village . This facility is available here , as some foreign tourist come here to see the largest walnut forest of the world .
How to reach arslanbob village ?
Arslanbob is situated in between the capital Bishkek and second biggest city osh . It is situated 581 km from the capital Bishkek(which is near to the Kazakisthan border ) and 201 km from osh . From both the side no Mashrutka is going to the arslanbob village . rather you have to get down in Bazar Kargon or jalal abad bus stop and from there you will get mashrutka toward Arslanbob . In this route in every 3o minutes there is a bus . From Bazar kargon to arslanbob it is just 52 km and it takes less than two hours .
As the journey from Bishkek to arslanbob is huge so i decided to rest in Toktogul . This is a small village in between the bishkek and bazar kargon . It is 272 km from the Bishkek city and cost 400 kyrgis som . There were some hotels which are very expensive and some are budget but very unhygenic . There is not much option to see in this place rather than the natural beauty .
It was my worst hotel in my life . The toilet was so smelly and and full of flees that It was like when you leave after finishing your work . I say the bathroom is relatively ok . Bed sheets are not changed for long days . I used my own bed sheet to just a good have a good sleep and I used my own air pillow . I just stayed there for one night .But it was very economical maybe 4 times less than another hotel . Actually there is not much option in this village .
But I must say the weather and enviournment was totally unspoiled . There was a water stream from the mountain . It was so clean that you feel you can drink it . In the night the whole sky was full of stars . Normally no tourist come here . There was nothing to visit rather than the village .
In the next day morning around 6:30 I traveled from here to Bazar kargon through a mashrutka though a mashrutka going toward osh . For those mashrutka they will charge full fare , if you are going the half way or full . It charged me 600 som though I drop almost in the half .In kyrgisthan if you are starting the journey from the starting point you have to book it from the bus station . After buying the ticket I board the Mashrutka and reached Bazar Karon around in the afternoon . From there you will get another mashrutka going for the arsalanbob village , this will cost you 100 kyrgiz som . I reached there around 1 pm .
There is no train in Kyrgisthan in this route . No bus runs in this route so only option is the private car or Mashrutka .
Osh International airport is the nearby airport for the Arslanbob village .
arslanbob walnut forest
Walnut forest is the biggest attraction in this area . You have to hike 4 km to reach to the walnut forest . The road is mountanious . sometimes it climbs and sometimes it down . Before the protected forest the road is good and the cold water stream blows beside the road . There is a brigde in the middle of the way . From here you can have the beautiful view of the mountain river .
Though the distance is not enough but as it is mouuntanious road you I need atleast 1hour and 30 minutes to reach there . The area is totally calm . You can only heard the sound of the bird and wind . Rather than in the walnut forest there is some big bushes and some unknown flowers . Both side of the road there is fencing and full of walnut trees . In the road you can find some brown walnut and some green walnut hanging from the branches of the tree . This green walnut are of no use . first it should be dried then we will get the desired result .
In this area you can find lots of bees . Sometimes this bees will disturb you . In this calm enviournment I rested almost 1 hour in the shade of walnut trees . Suddenly I heard the sound of a donkey (in very unpleasent manner )and little after I see the lady is riding a donkey with her baby son and the little young girl is following them . In this part of the village people still use donkey as their primary mode of transport . The little boy look at me for a long time . Maybe He first time visited a indian man .
On the both side of the donkey there is big bags . Where they carry the elements . This donkey are small but the carrying capacity is high and it can climb in the mountanious road . Just after sometime they made such a sound that it feels like that it is going to die .
Here it was a very amuzing thing that a small donkey is carrying a load of two people .
Around 2 pm I came back to my hosts house and buy some food from the Market . Polao is available around the central asia . For most of the country it is their National Dish . Some people use beef , chicken , lamb , goat and horse(specially in Kazakisthan and Kyrgisthan ) meat with the rice . I eat Horse polao in Kazakisthan .
This area is very near to Uzbekisthan so uzbek culture is prominent in this area . Specially in Arslanbob 50 percent or more people are uzbek and rest are kyrgiz and other ethinic people . Uzbek people loves tandoor naan and are very hospitable . In the next day morning suddenly my host gives me full break fast without charging me a single som . In the breakfast there was tandoor naan , honey , soup , salad , kymac , different nuts , walnut from the local forest . He said they are actually from andijaan province of Uzbekisthan and lived for more than 100 years .
Whenever you meet some uzbek people they always give you a salam . For myself this is the best country in central asia for tourists both in terms of the people’s behaviour and places to see and the History . In the next day i leave Arslanbob and go for the Osh .
Summary :
Arslanbob is a vilage in the kyrgisthan mainly famous for the Walnut forest . It is the biggest walnut forest in the Whole World . Some people said that there is a religious connection with this walnut forest . This forest is spread almost 60000 acres and some of the walnut forest is 1000 or more years old . You can see some small waterfall or trekk in the mountain baba ash . It might not take more than 2 nights to explore Arslanbob.