A Day Trip to Burana Tower

Burana Tower is a large minaret in the Chuy Valley, which lies very close to the city of Tokmok. Built in the 11th century, Burana is one of the last remaining pieces of the ancient city of Balasagun, which was established at the end of the 9th century. Legend says Burana was constructed to protect the local king who was told his newly-born daughter would die once she reached the age of eighteen. To protect her, he had a tower built where his daughter could live alone, only allowing a servant to bring her food. The daughter grew up and became a beautiful young lady. At the age of eighteen, a poisonous spider hiding in her food bit the girl and she died.

How to get there:

From Bishkek take the marshrutka from Western Bus Station bound for Tokmok. You will see the sign for Tokmok on the window in front of the van, the drivers will also yell out “Tokmok!”

The ride is about 1 hour and costs 55 soms.

Once you arrive in Tokmok, take a taxi to Burana for the rest of the way (10 minutes). Ask him to wait for you. This should cost you no more than 300 soms. 1 hour is enough time here.

The entry fee is 60 soms and the museum entry fee is 40 soms. I skipped the museum after a previous tourist said it wasn’t worth it.

Walk up to the top of the tower, but be careful, it’s very narrow and dark.

The tower is nice, but if you’ve been to Uzbekistan, then this will be nothing special, especially if you’ve seen the minarets in Bukhara.

Burana is currently 25 meters high, but was once actually 43 meters before a series of earthquakes damaged it. Still beautiful nonetheless.

Next to the minaret are a number of balbals, which are gravestones used by the Turks when they roamed through Central Asia centuries ago. Pretty neat, but creepy at the same time!

After days of trekking, it was nice to see a change of scenery and see some history. Burana is definitely worth the journey if you have some time to spare in Bishkek. Great half day journey, enjoy!