An Itinerary – Two Weeks in Kyrgyzstan

Two-week Holiday in Kyrgyzstan, go? Alright, luckily Kyrgyzstan can be done many different ways and for varying lengths of time, unlike neighboring Tajikistan. But here is a suggested route:

• Day 1: Fly into Bishkek, overnight there
• Day 2: Stay in Bishkek and hike Ala-Archa
• Day 3: Travel to Kyzart
• Day 4 – 6: Horseback riding and yurt stays in Song Kul
• Day 7: Travel to Cholpon-Ata and relax on the beach
• Day 8: Travel to Karakol late after beach chill time
• Day 9- 11: Hiking around Karakol area: Bridge 1-2 hike or 7 bulls
• Day 12: Travel to Naryn (Contact CBT ahead of time for Kel Suu trip)
• Day 13: Travel to Kel Suu, overnight in Yurt
• Day 14: Travel back to Naryn, pre-schedule taxi to Kazarman
• Day 15: Kazarman to Osh
• Day 16: Fly home from Osh

More or less a two-week trip which can be adjusted accordingly depending on interests. This will get you a taste of nomadic culture at Song-Kul, the beautiful Karakol hikes, and the less traveled buy highly recommended Kel Suu lake. It also gets you to Osh using the more scenic and less annoying Kazarman route. Admittedly, Kazarman has nothing itself as it is a small mining town but the drive from Kazarman to Osh is amazing and it breaks the journey up into more manageable chunks rather than doing the fifteen hour marathon from Bishkek.

The Kel-Suu bit requires some planning ahead of time. You’ll need to pre-arrange with a tour agency or CBT, just swing by their office in Bishkek or Karakol. It requires a special permit (you’ll send a photo of passport so the operator can handle it) and the taxi to Kazarman is only once per day and requires a one day heads up. Heading back the other way toward Bishkek is easier.

Less time? It is easy to start and end in Bishkek and cut everything off after Karakol. Just head back the way you came and skip the beach time in Cholpon-Ata for a one-weeker.

Costs will be around $700 USD total without flights in and out of the country. Cheaper if you bring a tent and don’t need hostels/guesthouses. Horse and guide around Song Kul would be the biggest single expense but of course varying on your degree of Nomadic interest, you can just get dropped off by a taxi and picked up the next day. Cheaper and quicker.

Take a look at the Kyrgyzstan country rating for more. Here.