Nomads Life in Kel-Suu Lake

Arrival Bishkek - Ala-Archa National Park

You arrive at the Manas International Airport, Bishkek city, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic. After a half an hour ride we reach our booked hotel for check-in. You have a needed rest after a long flight journey, and we will start our first activity later. Our main highlight for this day is to enjoy by hiking and wandering around in the AlaArcha National Park, a paradise location to see how Kyrgyzstan’s nature can be so unique and miraculous. It is crucial to receive energy from nature after an exhausting air trip from another country. Today you have a dinner reception in one of the fanciest dining places in Bishkek, where we can officially say “Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!” Accommodation: 3-star hotel or similar Meals: B (for night check-ins), D

 Bishkek - Burana - Chon Kemin

After breakfast, we hit the road to Burana Tower, the ancient minaret and watchtower from the Karakhanids period. It is a great place to get introduced to the history of Kyrgyz before and after Islam's religion had been spread here. There will be an open-air museum of Balbals, the ancient pre-Islamic gravestones for Kyrgyz warriors killed in battle. Then we move forward and have a stop for lunch in a genuine local place called “My Mother’s tea and Bread”. This place is favored by locals where you can try several dishes from our national cuisine, especially a hot tea with milk and thin tasty bread “Kattama” with fresh butter to dip in. After enjoying meals, we head towards Chon-Kemin National park. Our cozy comfortable guest-house is located in front the mountains and forest. After check-in, we all go hiking to nearby Panorama Point to have a broad view of this amazing valley. Before dinner, we have the “Borsook show”, a cooking class by Kyrgyz ladies, where we all make and eat books, a tiny bread, and a must-have food item on every Kyrgyz table. We finish our second day at 1530m altitude sipping local beer and wine while tuning our souls with the surrounding nature.

Accommodation: Family-owned brand guest house

Meals: B, D

Chon Kemin - Issyk Kul lake - Karakol

This day will be dedicated to the Jewell of Kyrgyz nature - the legendary Issyk-Kul Lake, one of the biggest, deepest, and incredibly astonishing lakes on the globe. From Chon-Kemin we reach a sand beach in Cholpon-Ata city to swim and sunbathe. After, we have lunch at a great local popular spot. Then on our buses, we drive through Grigoriev and Semenov gorges to get a full grasp of Kyrgyzstan’s grasslands, pastures, forests, and rivers. At the end, we arrive in Karakol city to see its 19th-century orthodox church, a monumental Dunganese mosque, and local women’s craft gift shop. We finish our adventurous day with a gourmet-loving dinner at one of the best local dining places.

Accommodation:

Family-owned hotel or similar Meals: B, D

Karakol - Jeti Oguz - Skazka - Bokonbai

We leave wonderful Karakol and quickly get to Jeti-Oguz valley to gaze at its fabulous panorama full of red rocks, high peaks of Tien-Shian, and fir forests. We spend a while there and then we drive forward through the southern shore of the lake. Let’s have another swimming time with a lunch picnic on the sand beach. Afternoon we eventually reach the iconic Skazka canyons for a hike and walking around the rainbow-colored rocks. You will never forget exploring this place! After this, we drive a bit and arrive at Bokonbai village for our Surprise. At the end of the day, we go check in at the nicest guest house. Dinner will be supplemented with another Surprise, the second one of this day.

Accommodation: Family-owned brand guest house

Meals: B, L (picnic)D 

Karakol - Kochkor - Son Kol lake

Our adventure is going on! We keep on driving to the west and our first stop will be at the Red-Emblem village, the residents of which make their living by making and selling nomadic yurts to the domestic market and abroad. We visit the family of a local master, with whom we all participate in building an original nomadic yurt activity. Believe us, it will be great fun and joy! Our next destination will be Kochkor village to have lunch in a cozy pizza place run by a few female entrepreneurs. Then we finally drive to Son-Kol Lake via one of the most iconic mountain roads hitting 3447m. One of the nicest yurt camps will be awaiting us with its delicious hot meals and heated yurts at 3030m altitude.

Accommodation: Family-owned yurt camp

Meals: B, L, D

Son Kol - Waterfall - Naryn

Today we can spend more of our morning day for Son-Kol by horse riding on the plateau, leisurely lying at the yurt camp, or walking on the shore. We get on our buses and drive to a different mountain pass, after which we have another light but pleasant hike to a loud massive waterfall in the gorge. The rest of the day will be spent near Naryn city to try local activities like felt making, cheese balls making, and cooking pilav.

Accommodation: Family-owned hotel or similar

Meals: B,L,D

Naryn - Kel Suu

Here we go! Today we start a journey to the biggest highlight of our trip - Kel Suu Lake. This lake is massive and has become a truly iconic destination for all real adventure seekers. We will have a long ride towards the Kyrgyz-Chinese state border. In the middle of a drive, we have to show the border permits and passports to the Kyrgyz military control and then after 2 hours, we reach our wonderful yurt camp based in front of the mighty glacier-capped mountains, providing a jaw-dropping effect on us. It is one of the most remote regions of Kyrgyzstan.

Accommodation: Family-owned yurt camp or similar

Meals: B, L (picnic/snacks), D 

Kel Suu

We wake up at the Kok-Kyia Valley and have a pleasant breakfast in the general dining hall or yurt. Today the entire day will be given to exploring this vast highland and the most unbelievable lake in Kyrgyzstan, Kel-Suu, stretching close to the state border of China, has remarkable a blue-greenish color of the water. From our yurt camp, we all begin hiking for 2 hours towards the lake, which lies at 3540m above sea level. On the way, we will be amazed by the beauty of glaciers, high rocks, and cute yaks grazing nearby. We have our picnic at the lake and all of us might hire a boat from locals to go further on the water between tremendously high mountains. Afternoon we all return to our accommodation place to grab dinner and share our happy emotions.

Accommodation: Family-owned yurt camp or similar

Meals: B, L (picnic/snacks), D

Kel Suu - Bishkek

Sadly but necessarily we need to drive back to Bishkek to get a rest before leaving Kyrgyzstan. The whole daytime we will spend on the bus riding towards our capital. Lunch and dinner will be a flexible option and independent.

Accommodation: 4-star hotel or similar

Meals: B,L,D

Bishkek - City Tour

Good morning, dear friends! Finally, we have an easy though super exciting city tour day! Bishkek is an excellent city for walking and seeing a lot of Soviet-time-built monumental buildings, statues, and sculptures. We will cover the Ala-Too main square, White House, Victory Square, Oak Park, open-air Art Gallery, and the Orient Osh grand bazaar, where you can do your overall shopping for Kyrgyzstan-made products. Once we are all set, we invite you to another fancy restaurant to conclude your Nomadic Kyrgyzstan adventure, share feedback, and give a lot of hugs to each other while having a quite exclusive dinner. At the end, with heavy suitcases, enriched souls, and minds, we arrive at the Manas Airport to catch up with your flights back home…

Meals: B, L, D