Authentic Kyrgyzstan - 14 days

Trip Description

Accomodation

Stay program

• day 1

  Bishkek, arrival and first visits

  You arrive at Manas airport in the early morning. Our local team welcomes you and takes you to our guesthouse located in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, formerly Frunze under the Soviets. You will then have the opportunity to rest before starting the city tour. At noon, you will go for lunch in a popular city restaurant before beginning the visit. You will start on foot at the city's largest market, Och bazar, where you will discover the most interesting stalls at the heart of this melting pot that is the bazaar. You will then head to the city center, passing by the Young Guard boulevard, renamed after Mahatma Gandhi, the October cinema, a charming little Soviet cinema, to arrive at Bishkek's city hall on Philharmonic Square. This square proudly displays the statues of Manas, the legendary hero of the Kyrgyz epic tale, the longest in the world, his wife Kaneikey, and his spiritual advisor Bakay. You continue exploring the city center and its many wooded parks, which make Bishkek the "Zurich of Central Asia," a green city despite the grayness of its architecture. Passing through Gorki Square, then the sports district with the statue of the colossus Kojomkul on the steps of the sports palace, opposite the central stadium and the Ministry of Sports. An alley then leads to Panfilov Park, where there is a permanent amusement park mixing classic rides and new technologies, all in the middle of an urban forest. You continue your visit, passing between the presidential palace, the White House, and the History Museum, to arrive at the former Red Square, now renamed Ala-Too Square, the city's main square, named after the mountains rising above the buildings of the Kyrgyz capital. You will visit the open-air art gallery, and the square of the Kyrgyz queen Kurmandjan Datka, the queen of Alai. You will take another alley through another wooded park, Oak Park, which houses many contemporary statues, the Red Guard memorial, and the Russian drama theater. You will finish this walk with a visit to the Opera and the large Victory Square, the World War II memorial. After this visit, you will get back in the vehicle to the guesthouse where a traditional cooking class awaits you, during which you will prepare the dinner that you will share with your host, an expatriate who has been living in Kyrgyzstan for many years.

• day 2

  Bishkek - Chong Kemin National Park

  This morning, you leave Bishkek and travel through the valley of the Chuy River, a natural demarcation line between the Kazakh steppe and the high Kyrgyz mountains, a place inhabited since Antiquity along the Silk Roads. There, you will visit the Burana minaret (11th century), surrounded by dozens of funerary statues, mausoleums, and the ancient ramparts of the former capital of the Karakhanid empire, Balasagun, destroyed by the Mongol armies of Genghis Khan in 1218. After lunch, you head towards Chong Kemin National Park and set off for a 2-3 hour walk in the Tar-Suu valley. Here you are in a mid-mountain and pasture ecosystem, essential for wild fauna and flora. The Chong Kemin park has therefore initiated many reforestation projects and, thanks to this, many species that had previously disappeared from this area are now repopulating the region! Tonight, you will have dinner and spend the night in Uzunbek's guesthouse, a passionate defender of his valley and region against poaching, who lives in this haven of peace in the middle of the valley.

• day 3

  On the way to Issyk Koul

  After breakfast, you hit the road and leave the greenery of Chong Kemin to quickly enter a dry and arid world, in the Boom Gorge, which connects the Chuy River valley to the Issyk Koul lake basin. You leave the vehicle and set off on foot to venture into a narrow adjacent gorge, called the Konorchek Canyon (3h), which at its end offers majestic landscapes, in total contrast to those seen the day before. After this beautiful walk, you arrive at the edge of Lake Issyk Koul, the Kyrgyz inland sea at 1600 m altitude, the 2nd largest mountain lake in the world after Lake Titicaca in Peru. This lake is slightly salty and does not freeze in winter. Its name, which means "hot lake" in Kyrgyz, comes from the strong geothermal activity present around the lake, where many hot springs naturally gush forth. Lake Issyk Koul has been inhabited for millennia by a juxtaposition of sedentary and nomadic peoples: Scythians, Persians, Turco-Mongols and, more recently, Russians. Lake Issyk Koul was forbidden to foreigners during the Soviet era, as it was a strategic military site; the Soviets tested submarine torpedoes there, quite something in the country furthest from any ocean in the world! Nevertheless, this did not prevent it from becoming a popular holiday destination at the time, with residents of Alma-Ata or some Siberian cities regularly coming to relax on the beach during the summer season. You have lunch at Bilim's, the lovely German teacher from the village of Tamchi, in her beautiful orchard thriving under the mild Issyk Koul climate. You arrive in the late afternoon in Karakol, at the eastern end of the lake, at 1900 m altitude, and visit the Holy Trinity Orthodox Cathedral, which was used as a school, gymnasium, and even a coal warehouse during the Soviet era. This beautiful building is also the largest wooden structure in the country, and has undeniable charm, with its blue and gold domes. You will have dinner in the city center before spending the night in a comfortable guesthouse.

• day 4

  On foot towards the pastures of Altyn Arashan

  This morning, you will visit the second iconic religious building of Karakol, the Dungan mosque, with its rather bewildering style. The Dungans, a people at the crossroads of Chinese and Arab civilizations, found refuge in Central Asia during repressions in their native Gansu, in China. They brought with them their way of life and their architectural style, which stands out in this Russian colonial town. After this visit, you will take your picnic and only a small part of your belongings to go to the Altyn Arashan pasture, where you will spend the night in a mountain refuge at an altitude of 2500 m. A beautiful hike awaits you, and for 13 kilometers, you will walk at your own pace in the footsteps of Yuri Gagarin, in a beautiful high mountain forested valley, on a dirt track at the end of which the splendid Altyn Arashan pasture is revealed, a green setting overlooked by the Palatka peak, which rises to 5020 m. Yuri Gagarin, after his return to Earth, is said to have come to rest on this alpine pasture and, like him, you can take the time to relax in the many hot springs present on site. You will have dinner and spend the night in the refuge.

• day 5

  From Altyn Arashan to Djety Oghouz, from one mountain pasture to another.

  In the morning, you descend from Altyn Arashan to the village of Ak Suu. You collect the rest of your belongings in Karakol and head towards the Djety Oguz valley, the valley of the seven bulls. The seven bulls refer to seven massive cliffs of red sedimentary rock that dominate this charming little village, where there is a sanatorium from the Soviet era, still in operation. After settling into the very beautiful guesthouse of Cholpon, the village's English teacher, you set out to discover the village and its surroundings, notably the Valley of the Onions, dotted with Tien Shan pines, this variety of pine endemic to the region. These stand tall and slender, like candles towards the surrounding snow-capped peaks, some of which reach over 5000 m.

• day 6

  Along the Issyk Koul lake, from Djety Oghouz to Kochkor.

  After breakfast, departure from Djety Oguz. You follow the southern shore of Lake Issyk Koul, which is much more arid and wild than the northern shore. Once in sight of the village of Bokonbaevo, you will meet a berkutchi, an eagle hunter. The Kyrgyz, as well as the Kazakhs and Mongols, traditionally train golden eagles to hunt foxes or wolves. These hunters were also tanners and lived from selling the skins and furs of the animals they hunted. The berkutchi will talk to you about his passion for his eagles and show you how he trains them for hunting. After this high-flying demonstration, you get back on the road and pass through the village of Kyzyl Tuu, which is notable for being the center of traditional yurt making in Kyrgyzstan. And for good reason, the willow used for making yurts grows abundantly on the banks of the river. Thus, many families in the village have been making yurts for generations. You will meet Kurmanbek and Nazira, who will teach you the tricks of the trade of traditional yurt making. You will arrive in the late afternoon in Kotchkor, where you will meet the women of the local felt-making cooperative, the material par excellence of the nomadic peoples of Central Asia. Felt is one of the first materials ever made by humans, and its manufacturing technique has remained the same for millennia. But over time, the Kyrgyz have developed unrivaled techniques in creating felt objects and combining them with other materials, notably Chinese silk and Uzbek cotton. You will then learn to distinguish Shyrdak carpets from Ala Kiyiz carpets, both of which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage. This day, marked by the discovery of traditions and crafts, will end with music, with a small folk music concert at Fatima's, in her guesthouse where you will spend the night.

• day 7

  In the heart of the Tien Shan, from Kochkor to At Bashi via Naryn.

  Today, you will gain altitude to venture into the Tien Shan by crossing the Dolon Pass, at 3030 m above sea level. The first stop is Naryn for lunch, a city on the river of the same name, which has its source at the foot of the highest peaks of the Celestial Mountains. At this stage, it is still only the embryo of the powerful Syr-Daria river, the mythical Iaxartes of the Greeks, watering the steppes of Transoxiana all the way to the Aral Sea with its twin, the Amu-Daria, and which marked the northern limit of Alexander the Great's conquests. After Naryn, you arrive in the high valley of At Bashi, stretching endlessly to the Torugart Pass and the Chinese border. This wide valley, dominated by the At Bashi mountain range, has been a natural corridor for merchant caravans traveling the Silk Road and thus also a place of meeting and exchange with the local herding populations. Today you will stop at Jakshylyk's, a farmer from the region who lives in the last village before China, in Kyzyl Tuu. You will spend the rest of the day with him and his family discovering the village, learning about the daily life of these villagers who brave the elements in the heart of a region with an extreme climate and short summers.

• day 8

  At-Bashi Valley - Tash Rabat Caravanserai

  You leave Jakshylyk early in the morning to reach the entrance of the Chirikty valley, where your walk in the footsteps of the caravans will begin. A beautiful hike awaits you, at the bottom of a grassy valley where many herds graze peacefully, in the shade of high peaks shaped by the winds. The challenge of the day is crossing a pass at 3500m altitude. However, the path is easy and the elevation gain is relatively low (+700m), which does not make the task too difficult. On the other side, you descend into the Tach Rabat valley, the "stone dwelling" in Kyrgyz, where the caravanserai of the same name is located, nestled in a hollow of the valley, sheltered from the winds. You arrive there like the caravanners of times past, on foot, and visit this 15th-century monument, supposedly built on the ruins of a Nestorian Christian monastery. The architecture of this caravanserai, the highest and one of the most isolated in the world, is nevertheless identical to that of buildings found in the plains of Anatolia and on the Persian plateau, leaving no doubt as to its function. At once an inn, restaurant, fortress, marketplace, and stable, caravanserais were the highway rest stops of the past on the Silk Roads, and that of Tach Rabat represented the last mountain stage before crossing the pass leading to China and Kashgar, at the crossroads of civilizations. You will have dinner and spend the night at Nazira's, who has set up her yurt camp a few hundred meters from the caravanserai and who, in a way, has taken up its role by providing you with food and lodging.

• day 9

  From the caravanserai of Tash Rabat to Lake Song Kul

  This morning, last moments to discover the surroundings at your own pace on foot, to immerse yourself even more in the history of this extraordinary place. Observe the herds of yaks, watch the flight of a golden eagle or a bearded vulture, climb to the top of a hill, venture into the valley leading to the caravan pass, the choice is yours. You then get back on the road and rejoin the At Bashi valley, which you left the day before. A quick stop at the site of the ruins of the ancient fortress of Koshoi-Korgon, located on a strategic military site in the middle of this valley, and you continue to the Chaar valley, where you will have lunch. In the afternoon, head towards Song Koul lake, the pearl of Kyrgyzstan, a high mountain lake located on an alpine pasture at 3000 m altitude, at the heart of the nomadic world. Every summer, this pasture is the meeting place for herders from the different adjacent valleys who have been nomadizing on these pastures for generations with yurts, family, and herds. You arrive at the yurt camp set up in the Kumdu Suu valley, where you will have dinner and spend the night.

• day 10

  Horseback riding at Song Kul

  Saddle up! After breakfast and a briefing by your guide, set off for a wild ride that will take you to the Batay Aral lagoon. The meadows of Lake Song Koul, dotted with yurts, are ideal to be explored on horseback, and the horses truly enjoy frolicking among the other herds. If there is a paradise for horses, Song Koul is certainly not far from it! You will arrive after a few hours at the yurt camp located near the Batay Aral lagoon. This place is a true oasis for migratory birds, which stop here on their way between Siberia and the shores of the Indian Ocean. Lunch under the yurt. The afternoon will be devoted to relaxation and discovering this postcard landscape. Towards the end of the afternoon, you will get hands-on during a cooking lesson where you will learn to prepare one of the traditional Kyrgyz dishes. Dinner and overnight stay under the yurt with the family.

• day 11

  At the school of the Song Kul nomads

  Be a nomad for a day in your life. Today, you will take part in all the daily tasks of a family of semi-nomadic Kyrgyz herders. It starts with waking up at dawn to take care of the herds. Gather the cows and horses for milking, shear the sheep, prepare traditional dishes, collect tiziak (dried dung used as fuel), etc. One of the highlights of the day will be making a Kyrgyz carpet using the "Ala Kiyiz" technique, a method unique to Kyrgyz nomads, recognized by UNESCO and stemming from ancestral know-how. After various songs and a good dinner, night under the yurt.

• day 12

  Song Koul - Kyzyl Oï valley

  You leave your hosts this morning and drive along the southern shore of Lake Song Koul towards the Karaketché pass, one of the 4 passes that can be taken by car from Song Koul, heading west. On the other side, the road descends along a coal mine, from where hundreds of trucks depart every day towards the markets of the capital, Bishkek. The coal from this mine is renowned for its high quality and, as it is inexpensive, it makes for an efficient and economical way to heat, leaving aside the consequences on health and the environment… Further down in the valley, you join the Koekoemeren river and the village of Kyzyl Oï. This river is a powerful tributary of the Naryn river, which has carved these valleys with steep sides and revealed the stratigraphic layers of sedimentary rocks, displaying these contrasts of red, ochre, brown, and yellow, thus offering an exceptional subject for photography enthusiasts. In Kyzyl Oï, you discover the village on foot and visit the workshop of a local craftsman who makes kamtchis, those beautiful ornamented whips used by the best horsemen according to their social rank and function. You have dinner and spend the night with a family in the village.

• day 13

  Return to Bishkek via Suusamyr

  Today is the day to return to Bishkek. You follow the course of the Koekoemeren River, heading towards the Suusamyr plateau. On the way, you pass through the village of Kojomkul, where the giant whose statue you saw in Bishkek came from. The road continues to climb and you ascend the Too Ashuu pass. You then leave the vehicle and set off for a hike across the pass, reaching an altitude of 3586 m in the Kyrgyz Ala-Too range (3586 m; elevation gain +520 m; -600 m; 4-5 h). You get back into your vehicle on the other side of the pass and descend via a winding road to the Chuy plain, before reaching Bishkek at the end of the afternoon and concluding your Kyrgyz stay with a final meal in a restaurant in the capital. You will spend the night in our guesthouse, where you stayed the first night of the trip.

• day 14

  Goodbye, Kyrgyzstan.

  Transfer to the airport and return flight home, with memories full of your mind!