Kyzyl-Oi is quite different from the other mountain villages in Kyrgyzstan. It existed even before the Great Socialist Revolution, and has therefore kept its distinct Central Asian character with its reddish clay houses. Kyzyl-Oi is located in a narrow gorge on the riverside of the powerful Kokomeren River some 40km south of Suusamyr on the road to Kochkor Village and Son-Kol Lake (both in Naryn region), and about 200km from Bishkek. The elevation is 1,800 metres asl; here, a valley opens up somewhat to form a hollow ringed by the high red-coloured mountains, which gave the place its name. Kyzyl means ‘red’ in Kyrgyz.
