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Photo-essay: old cars in Kyrgyzstan

Last updated on February 17, 2016 by Claire / this article contains affiliate links (Info)

The roads of Kyrgyzstan are full of old cars and trucks, especially Lada. Here is a collection of shots I took as we were wandering around.

Photo essay - old cars in Kyrgyzstan

Navigate back to the complete Kyrgyzstan Travel Guide


Why a post dedicated to cars in Kyrgyzstan?

I am really not fascinated by cars. I am actually quite happy to live now in Paris and not own a car! And this is normally not the first thing I look a when traveling. But in Kyrgyzstan, I did. We all did. 

Here are a few things that impressed / suprised me​ about their cars in Kyrgyzstan:

  • ​There is a mixture of steering wheels on left and right side!
  • These old cars are still able to climb to mountain pass as high as 3500 meter! And often they are heavily loaded
  • For the bumpy road, they prefer taking old cars because they are higher. However we saw many cars stopped by the side due to engine problems...
  • There are a lot of abandonned cars on the streets (although not in Bishkek). And they often give you in the directions to turn at the abandonned cars... well not such a useful features to find your way 🙂

Lada

Lada is a way of life there... see my little collection:

old lada car in Kyrgyzstan
old lada car in Kyrgyzstan 2
old lada car in Kyrgyzstan 3
old lada car in Kyrgyzstan 4
old lada car in Kyrgyzstan 5
old lada car in Kyrgyzstan 6

4WD

Although all types of car were used to get off road, we spotted a few interesting ones

old 4WD car in Kyrgyzstan 1

Particularly in the village of Arslanbob:

old 4WD car in Kyrgyzstan 2

This man was really proud of his car and showed us the engine!

old 4WD car in Kyrgyzstan 3
old 4WD car in Kyrgyzstan 4
old 4WD car in Kyrgyzstan 5

Old Russian Truck

To get to the isolated valley of Altyn Arashan, there is a crazy track. We went there via an old russian 4WD truck. Very impressive!

old russian 4WD truck in Kyrgyzstan 1
old russian 4WD truck in Kyrgyzstan 2

Busses

In those mountains kids are often spread geographycally. So a bus takes them to school. The first one we found in the viallge of Arkit. We asked and it is still in use every school day.

old bus in Kyrgyzstan 1

We crossed path with a few more on the road. Considering what they had to climb I was really amazed that they were still functionning!

old bus in Kyrgyzstan 2
old bus in Kyrgyzstan 3

Being curious...

We found this truck that looked abandonned on the side of the highway. The writing says eggs, milk, cheese etc but inside we found rocks!!!

truck in Kyrgyzstan

In the town of Kazerman lost in the middle of Kyrgyzstan, we even got toursity at a petrol station photographing the old pump. The locals might have thought we were crazy...

Petrol station in Kyrgyzstan

Out of order

Example of an old car that does not wrok anymore but is still kept...

OUt of roder car in Kyrgyzstan

Want to see more of Kyrgyzstan's beauty?

Discover more planning information, things to do and places to see in my online Kyrgyzstan Travel Guide.

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FOOD IN KYRGYZSTAN

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Hi! I’m Claire

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I am the Travel Planning Geek behind the ZigZag Travel Guides. My goal is to provide you with clear and practical information to help you plan unforgettable trips! Read more

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