Kyrgyzstan - Hiking, horses and wild camping

Time spent: 2 weeks (2023)

Population: 7.2 million

Currency: Kyrgyzstan Som (SOM)

Itinerary: Bishkek, Issyk Kul Lake, Jailoo Kyzyl Suu, Jukku Valley, Jukku Lake, Jukku Pass, Arabel Syrt, Skazka Canyon

Highlights: If you want to get away from the crowds, travel the historical Silk Road and spend some time in the wilderness then Kyrgyzstan is the place for you.

The itinerary, travel, accommodation and food for this trip was all organised by Much Better Adventures and we booked onto a public tour with 8 other travellers having seen it advertised on their website. Theoretically you could organise this trip yourself and save some money, but you would need a company to transport your luggage, or you’d have to carry everything (including camping gear) yourself. After the trip, I was asked to write a short review of my time in Kyrgyzstan by Much Better Adventures based on some of the photos I submitted a few weeks later.

We flew to Bishkek and spent our first day walking the streets of this once communist country, wandering around garden parks and old USSR plazas, gazing at the large stone statues of former war heroes. Ala Too Square and the surrounding area has parks and museums in a similar layout to other ex-communist-capital-cities, all in easy walking distance including the spectacular State History Museum building (£1.50 entry fee). The Osh Bazaar (a 40-minute walk from the square) is a lively market full of spices, produce and Chalap, a Kyrgyz fermented drink made with sour milk and salt which is not the greatest things I've ever tasted. We wandered the stalls and meat markets until we’d seen enough produce for the day and then headed to our accommodation for the night. 

We set off on our adventure in the minibus having met our fellow travellers and two Kyrgyz guides and we headed for Dungan Mosque, a delightfully pretty bright-blue-building with interesting artwork on the solar system in the entrance hall. A short hike through the Konorchek Canyon with its bright orange sandstone rocks stretching up to the clear blue sky was next before bedding down at a guesthouse on the eastern shore of Issyk Kul Lake, the second largest mountain lake in the world (behind lake Titicaca, Peru / Bolivia).  The next day involved a visit to the Orthodox church in Karakol before heading to the Jety Oguz valley where our trek began. For any winter adventurers, Karakol is also a ski resort in the colder months.

The first hiking day was a scenic 18km walk through the Jety Oguz valley with vibrant the orange rockface including the famous 7 Bulls formation culminating in an overnight stay in a yurt. Semi-nomadic farmers (so called as they spend half the year in the mountains and the other half at lower altitude) build yurts the Kyrgyz way (a technique we learned about later in the trip) and put us up for the night after an incredible family feast including drinking and a sing-a-long. The camp was built on a river and a home-made sauna had been erected for our stay which turned out to be the last chance for a proper wash for 5 days. The second day brought with it a stunning hike (22km) across the Jailoo Kyzyl Suu and through the Jukkuchak Valley, starting with an easy walk along the river once followed by numerous empires travelling the silk road over the centuries. Wild horses roam this breathtaking scenery. The tops of the Tian Shan range regularly peak above 7000m and you can see the snow-capped mountains as you walk through the valley alongside the river in stunning detail. The day ends with the first wild camping spot next to the river we followed all day. No sauna this time though…

The final big hiking day saw us scale to the top of the Jukku Pass (12km, 4000m) where the gorgeous Arabel Syrt plateau is visible from your hastily erected tent. Camping at 3700m is cold but this was the last night of our wild camping and the hike to the top had been totally worth it. At this point in the trip, the weather was very changeable (as with all mountain regions) and the altitude did have some affect on breathing (anything above 2500m starts to cause altitude sickness) so beware of the difficulty of this trip, especially at the end. However, the 5 days of hiking and 4 nights of wild camping was an incredible experience which ended with a bus trip down the mountain and a shower at a guesthouse, followed by a traditional Kyrgyz sauna massage where basically you get hit with a large tree branch while sweating out every drop of liquid your body has ever held. Glorious. 

The final day was possibly our favourite. It started with an early morning swim in Issyk Kul Lake which had quite honestly the best swimming view I’ve ever experienced. You could see the snow-covered tops of the Tian Shan mountains some 2000m up, the bright orange sandstone rock and the gleaming blue of the lake and sky shimmering in the distance whilst bobbing around in 20°C water. We then hiked the fairytale Skazka Canyon where legend has it, a sleeping Dragon was laid to rest, and you can see why with the long, jagged, scale-like rock formations in amongst the wind-swept sandstone outcrops. Afterwards, we met Aitbek and his family of Berkutchy (Kyrgyz Eagle hunters) and saw (first-hand) how they used Golden Eagles to hunt prey in an incredible display of control. We even got to hold one (Eagle, not Aitbek). After a quick archery match dressed in traditional Kyrgyz outfits, we went to see how the traditional Kyrgyz yurt builders build their yurts in a small village before heading back to Bishkek on the bus. A day of delightful and interesting Kyrgyz cultural activities, all tied together with a short video made by Joanna Lumley (weirdly) from 2019 on her Silk Road documentary.