Arslanbob village

Arslanbob (written also Arstanpap or Arslanbap) is a wide village in the mountain, north of the city of Jalal Abad. Mainly populated by people of Uzbek ethnicity, the village count about 15'000 inhabitants. Most of the population are Uzbek, and less than 5% is Kyrgyz, Russian, Tatar, Tajik, Chechen etc… The village is situated at an altitude of 1350 metres up to 1800 metres.

Kyrgyzstan's first known export to Europe was the Arslanbob walnut. Nuts forest are legendary because there are certainly originel forest of nuts, and maybe Alexander the Great bring back these nuts to Greece. Two waterfalls are located in the area which attract tourists, expats and pilgrims, skiers and other whole year round.

Arslanbob is named after an 11th-century figure, Arslanbob-Ata (alternate: Arstanbap-Ata). He may have been of Arab descent as in that language, Arslan translates to "lion" and bab to "gate", while in Turkic languages, ata means "father of". ergo "father of the lion gate". 'Bob', used as a suffix, is a traditional practice used in the Arslanbob which denotes "a traveler and explorer.

Muslims consider picturesque forest gardens sacred. According to legend, in ancient times there was an extremely hardworking man called Arstanbap who served the prophet Muhammad. Pilgrims come from far away to see the mausoleum of Arsantbap. And those who visit the forest bring with them a bit of paradise. 

The walnut forest is within the 60,000 hectares (150,000 acres) forest situated between the Fergana and Chatkal Mountains. The walnut forest is located at altitudes varying between 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) and 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level on the Fergana range's south-facing slopes. At 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres), the Arslanbob woodland is the largest walnut grove on Earth.

Behind the village of Arslanbob are the Babash-Ata Mountains. There are two waterfalls nearby. One measures 80 metres (260 ft) high and has a slippery scree slope; it is situated in a cliff face north of the village. Another, to the east, is 23 metres (75 ft) in height and has two prayer caves, one of which is known as the Cave of the 40 Angels.

NGO "Forest relics" is our lodging provider. In Summer or in Winter, they organise sports and cultural events :

In May : Bike Challenge of Arslanbob