The heart of Kyrgyzstan (Cultural tour)

Arrival at Manas Airport in Bishkek. Standard check-in at hotel after 14:00.

11:00 meet your guide in the hotel lobby and start the city tour.

A sightseeing tour in Bishkek is planned. We will visit sights such as the central square Ala-Too with its monuments and Oak park.

After lunch at the local restaurant, we visit the famous market, Osh bazaar. Just as you step into the market, you plunge into the real oriental atmosphere: an interminable stream of people, and a big variety of goods and colors.

Dinner in the traditional restaurant where you can taste the national Kyrgyz cuisine.

Meals included: lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Hotel 3* (My Hotel)

Note: it is highly recommended to book an extra night at the hotel, as most flights to Bishkek arrive late at night or early in the morning.

Breakfast in the hotel.

Our journey begins with a visit of the Burana Tower, an ancient minaret in the Chuy Valley in the north part of Kyrgyzstan. The tower with funerary monuments, earthworks, remains of the castle and three mausoleums – that’s all what last out of the ancient Balasagyn town that was founded by Karakhanids at the end of the ninth century.

Lunch in the Iskra village with Dungan family, the ethnicity of Chinese Muslims who had to flee China. You taste their national cuisine.

Then departure to Issyk Kol, the largest lake in Kyrgyzstan and one of the deepest in the world. We drive you to the hotel located on the lake shore.

Free time. You can rest on the beach and swim in the lake. Dinner in the restaurant.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Hotel 4* (Kapriz Resort)

Breakfast at hotel. At 09:30 we go to the petroglyph museum. The 42 hectares of the museum are dotted with stones, tombs, balbals and various petroglyphs dated from the 2nd millennium BC until the 4th century AD.

Then we go towards the Grigoriev and Semienov gorges. Picnic or lunch in the café on the road. Grigoriev and Semienov gorges are considered as one of the most famous attractions of the Issyk Kol region. You can go for a walk, enjoy the wild nature around you and spend a nice time in this beautiful place.

After departure to Karakol, the administrative center of the Issyk-Kol region. Arrival and checkin at hotel.

You have dinner in the local restaurant and you have a rest in the hotel.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Hotel 3* (Hotel 78)

Breakfast at the hotel. Departure for sightseeing. We visit the Russian Orthodox cathedral and the Dungan mosque, designed by the Chinese between 1907 and 1910 for the local Dungan community.

After we go to the museum dedicated to Nikolai Przhevalsky, the famous 19th-century Russian explorer. After the tour in the museum, transfer to the farm in Tepke village (30 min).

Arrival to local farm Reina Kench, where we have our lunch. After lunch we visit the farm: garden, stables with breeding horses, cows, sheep and goats. You will have the lecture about the Kyrgyz Horses and their role in Kyrgyz culture while visiting the stables.

On the way back to Karakol we drive you to take the boat trip to enjoy the beauty of Issyk Kol Lake and the majesty of the snow-capped mountains of Tien Chan.

Transfer to hotel. Free time for your own discoveries.

Dinner at the restaurant.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner

Accommodation: Hotel 3* (Hotel 78)

After breakfast we leave Karakol for Jeti Oguz gorge. The red rock Broken Heart located at the entrance to the gorge creates a special romantic ambiance in the gorge. You take a walk there for an hour.

Then we go to the Barskoon gorge. The gorge is famous for its waterfalls. One of the best known is Tears of the Snow Leopard. In the middle of the gorge you find the monument for the first cosmonaut Yu. A. Gagarin.

Dinner and overnight in the family resort on the southern shore of Issyk Kul lake.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Family resort-hotel (South Beach)

After breakfast, we head towards Kochkor village and pass by the south shore of the lake. On the road we visit the Skazka canyons which translate as the “fairy tale”. Here you can find objects of surprising shapes and sizes. A real skyscraper or an animal can appear in front of you. Walking in the canyons (1-2h).

In Bokonbaevo, we meet an eagle hunter with his bird. You can appreciate the alertness and speed of the bird during the hunting. It is one of the oldest traditions of Kyrgyz nomads.

Lunch in the guesthouse or café.

Our next stop is Kyzyl Tuu village where the local family reveals the secrets of yurt production. This family is engaged in this unique art from generation to generation.

Continue to Kochkor. Dinner and overnight in the guesthouse.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Accommodation:  Guesthouse (Mira Guesthouse)

After breakfast, we take the road and continue our journey.

On our way, we have to overcome the Dolon Pass (3030 m), then we go to the old caravan stop of the Silk Road period – Tash Rabat.

On the road, we stop in the city of Naryn to have lunch in a restaurant.

We arrive at the yurt camp in Tash Rabat. Tash Rabat is a historical monument founded by monks in the 10th century. At the begging of the Silk Road period Tash Rabat lost its religious significance and the monastery served as a hotel for passing caravans.

Dinner and overnight in yurt.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Yurt camp 

Note: 2 people per yurt. Toilets, shower and sauna are outside.

After breakfast, the beautiful mountain roads lead us to Son Kul Lake.

Today, we overcome the mountain pass Moldo Ashu (3400 m). From the pass, the lake Son Kul seems very small, but descending lower and approaching the lake, it appears as a big and gorgeous lake.

Upon arrival at a camp at the lake, you get to know the hospitality of the nomads, their lifestyle, and their customs. Dinner and night in the yurts.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Yurt camp 

Note: 2 people per yurt. Toilets, shower and sauna are outside.

We return to the capital after breakfast in the yurt.

We will return to the civilization by descending from Kalmak Ashu pass of 3400 m and passing again by the Boom gorge.

Lunch in the cafe.

As we get to Bishkek we will have time to visit the local market to buy some presents, and in the evening the farewell dinner awaits us.

Meals included: breakfast, lunch, dinner

Accommodation: Hotel 3* (My Hotel)

Transfer to the airport. Departure.