Location

The workshop will be held in Cholpon-Ata on the north shore of Issyk-Kul, a vast endorheic lake, so bring your swimsuit!  Issyk-Kul (“warm lake” in Kyrgyz) is the second-largest saline lake (after the Caspian Sea) but its salinity is just 0.06% or just 15% as salty as seawater. Iyssk-Kul is Asia’s third deepest lake at 668 m and Asia’s third largest lake by surface area at 6,236 km2, ranked after Lake Baikal and the Caspian Sea on both measures.

Average temperature in Cholpon-Ata in September is 10.2 °C (min=7.2 °C, max=12.7 °C). Average total precipitation in the month of September is 160 mm. Elevation of Cholpon-Ata is 1,633 m.

The som (KGS) is the unit of currency in the Kyrgyz Republic: USD $1 ~ KGS 87.5 and EUR €1 ~ KGS 94.2. Banknotes in circulation include denominations of 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, and 5000 KGS. Coins include denominations of 1, 3, 5, and 10 KGS. Note that the 1000 KGS bill is about USD$11 and the 5000 KGS bill is about $57. Consult https://www.xe.com  for current exchange rate and recent exchange history.