Locals pack picnics and head 20km up the huge Barskoön Valley to the Barskoön Waterfall, where kymys is sold from summertime yurts near a defaced inscription by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. It’s possible to climb 1½ hours up to closer views of the falls. Shared taxis run from Barskoön sanatorium to the falls along the well-maintained road that leads to the Kumtor gold mine.
