The pilgrim road
Join the riders and families converging on Iyık Janyl for Irad's patronal feast on 24 August. This trip gets you there two days early, through the feast, and home again.
The blessing of the herds, Iyık Janyl.
Book your bed in Iyık Janyl months ahead: the Pilgrimage Hostel and the guesthouses below Cathedral Hill fill early. Pack modest clothes and a headscarf (women cover their heads in church), and bring cash. More on the feast itself.
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21 August: Talas
Arrive in Talas. Spend the evening in the Old City, and if you're lucky you'll see riders already setting off south.
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22 August: Over the Ala-Bel
Take the 06:30 bus from Talas Central Bus Station over the Ala-Bel pass and down the Naryn gorge, about 6 hours 50 minutes. Buses are full in feast week, so get to the bus station early. You pay the driver.
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23 August: The eve
Watch the pilgrims arrive. Riders from the cities and the tribal regions come in along the Naryn and up the Cathedral Hill road, and many bring their horses and sheep. Visit the Irad Palace of Art before the crowds, and climb Diz-i Safid for the view of the camps.
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24 August: The Feast of St. Janyl
The liturgy in the Church of St. Janyl, the blessing of the herds on the esplanade, blessed bread, processions and the at chabysh races. The Palace of Art is free all day. Every Janyl in town is celebrating her name day, so expect to be invited to eat.
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25 August: Old Iyık Janyl
A quieter day among the ruins of Old Iyık Janyl, the walled medieval Christian town on the west bank, with its basilica and its gravestones carved in Syriac and Old Turkic. Have tea along Khunuk Creek.
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26 August: Home
Take Iradiya's flight from Tash-Kömür to Talas, or the bus back over the mountains.