Pearls of Kyrgyzstan: Issyk-Kul and Song-Kul Lakes 2024

• Best Season: mid June — mid September
• Duration: 8 days
• Category: combined – 6 days travel + one 2-days medium-level hiking
• Level of Difficulty: easy to medium
• Group size: any
• Transport: Jeep or Minivan (2-5 pax); Minibus (6-12 pax).
• Requirements: weatherproof warm clothes, trekking boots, hat, sleeping bag with mat (can be provided upon request), sunglasses and sunscreen

Meeting day: This day meeting with all participants over coffee. Meeting and instruction.

Day 1: This day drive to Chong-Kemin Valley. Visit the Burana Tower architectural complex (10^th-11^th century, an important point on the Great Silk Road) on the way (15 km from the main road, 1 hour). Upon arrival to Chong-Kemin have a lunch at home stay.  Accommodation in a local guesthouse. Optional: horse riding or walk around the village.

Day 2:After breakfast drive to Karakol (about 5-6 hours). On the way make a stop in Cholpon-Ata to visit an open-air petroglyph (rock painting) gallery (5km from Cholpon-Ata, heading to the mountains). Continue your way to Karakol, make another stop for lunch. Upon arrival to Karakol, visit Dungan Mosque and Russian Ortodox Church. Dinner will be at café, overnight at guest house.

Day 3: Transfer to Kyzyl Suu valley (40 km from Karakol). Trekking towards Jeti Ogyz valley via Jeti Ogyz pass – 18 km walking distance, max elevation 2800 m. Lunch on route, on the way visiting: waterfall in Kok Jayik gorge. Overnight and diner in the yurt camp

Day 4: After breakfast make a short hike to the view point of Ogyz Bashy Peak (5180 meters elevation) you will have amazing view of beautiful snowy mountain, back to the yurta, make lunch. After lunch walk down by Jeti Ogyz mountain range towards 7 Bulls rock, finishing trekking at Panoramic view point. Next our stop will be at Skazka canyons. Upon arrival to Yurt camp, dinner and B&B will be provided.

Day 5: Afternoon transfer to Jaychi yurt camp, where you will see eagle hunting show. Then continue your way to Kochkor village, have a lunch at home stay at Kochkor village, dinner and B&B will be provided.

Day 6:Transfer from Kochkor to Kyzart pass. Arrival at Kyzart pass, meet your guides team and start the tour. Within sight of the road, cross Kyzyl-Kiya jailoo, an enormous, relatively flat sea of grass. Continue over the Chaar-Archa Pass (3 061 m) into the Chaar-Archa Valley and eat a tasty lunch by the racing river, with views of holy 4400 m Baba-Ata Mountain. Sated, ford the river and follow the trail over verdant hills to Kilemche Jailoo. The name means “like a carpet,” and this swathe of grass covers whole mountain ranges, with shadings as subtle as any shyrdak (shyrdak is a Kyrgyz felt carpet). Dine and sleep in a yurt, naturally.

Day 7:After breakfast at Kilemche, spend the morning climbing to Jalgyz Karagai pass (3400 m), over the Song-Kol Mountains and into the lake’s basin. The morning climb affords wonderful views of Kilemche jailoo, and the pass itself is rocky and exciting. From the pass, Song-Kol is still distant, but as you traipse down the slopes, it gets larger and larger; the mountains on the other side get higher and higher, until finally the lake fills most of your field of view and the southern mountains tower above it. After lunch at Jaman Echki, transfer the lakeshore east to the yurt at Batai-Aral. Upon arrival meet your host family of Kyrgyz shepherds. Meals and overnight are in a yurt of shepherds.

Day 8: After breakfast transfer to Bishkek, via Kalmak-Asuu pass. Upon arrival to Bishkek, end of the tour.