From the South to the North of the country

Arrival to Bishkek. Our representative will meet you at the Manas airport, transfer to the hotel. Bishkek is the capital of Kyrgyzstan and the biggest city in the country. Its population is about 1 million people. This morning we will have an excursion to the national park of Ala-Archa where we will spend our time enjoying great Kyrgyz nature. The park is located in 40 km from Bishkek on the slopes of Kyrgyz Ala-Too.

Ala-Archa is translated from Kyrgyz language as “motley juniper”. The gorge got its name due to a great amount of juniper covering its slopes. As different kinds of juniper have different colors and the gorge seems to be very colorful. Here in the gorge we will hike to a beautiful waterfall, have picnic and then drive back to Bishkek.

Bishkek has many places for you to see. Today we will visit the Arts museum, Opera and Ballet Theater, National Philharmonic, Government building, Victory monument and Manas monument. The interesting fact is that Bishkek is the only town in Central Asia that still has the monument of Vladimir Lenin on the central square. Bishkek remembers its history and will definitely tell it to everybody who wants to visit this small but cozy capital. Bishkek is famous for its green parks in the city center, keeping all citizens and guests under the shadow and coolness even on the hottest summer day. Dinner and overnight in the hotel. (B/Lunch boxes /D)

Tokmok town and Shamsi gorge (130 km, 2,5 h). In the morning after the breakfast we will drive to the Shamsi gorge. On the way we will drive to the historical-architectural complex of Burana Tower. Excursion to the museum and the tower Burana (XI c.). Visit the remaining foundations of once majestic mausoleums (XI - XII centuries) - tombs of the powerful rulers of the city. Visit the open-air museum where you can see the life evidence of numerous representatives of various doctrines, cultures, religions and lifestyles collected from the whole Chu valley.

In the Shamsi gorge, horses will await us, on the backs of which we will make a 2-hour ride. After the ride we will have a picnic in nature. We will have some free time to go for a ride or go fishing in a mountain stream.

We will have dinner in the evening and overnight in the guest house in Tokmok town.

Tokmok – Bokonbaevo (160 km, 2,5 h). In the morning after the breakfast we will be transferred to the southern shore of Issyk-Kul lake to the village of Bokonbaevo.

On the way, we will have the opportunity to raft down the river on real rafts in the Boom gorge. Rafting takes about 2 hours (children are allowed from 8 years). After that we will continue our way to the lake. Issyk-Kul is the second largest mountain lake after Lake Titicaca in South America, is among the 25 largest lakes in the world and is in seventh place on the list of the deepest lakes on our planet.

In the village of Bokonbaevo, if you have a desire, we will be able to watch the falconry with you. We will have an evening free. We will go with you to the shore of the lake to take colorful photos and maybe to swim. Dinner and overnight in the yurt camp.

Bokonbaevo - Tamga (50 km, 45 min). After breakfast, we will ride horses to the jailoo (pasture) to watch the real horse games, which are organized by the locals at every holiday. After that, we will visit with you a workshop for the manufacture of felt products, and see how people manually make felt carpets for their hearth - a yurt, built without a single nail. Lunch in the village.

Next, we will be transferred by car to the village of Tamga. We will enjoy the view of Terskey-Ala-Too ridge. We will see the amazing change of landscapes like in kaleidoscope. The place we will visit today is the Fairy Tale gorge. The whole originality of the place is the frozen in bizarre forms colorful rocks, like after the eruption. Solid clusters made of limestone and sandstone are bulging from the colorful soil and the place looks like the ruins of ancient castles. The most surprising is that the architect and sculptor of the place is the nature that used only water, sun and wind as instruments. Besides the fancy castles and fairy figures there the structures can also be considered as many-domed churches, and crenellated walls with loopholes; so for example - Sandy fence, which is very much like a «Chinese wall», stretching for several kilometers along the southern shore of Lake Issyk- Kul.

Next, we will continue driving to the village of Tamga, where we will stay overnight. Dinner, overnight at the guest house.

Tamga - Kochkorka (150 km, 2 h). Today we are moving to the village of Kochkorka. This place is interesting because there is a family that manufactures various felt products. Upon arrival in the village we will have a hearty lunch, after which you can visit the souvenir shop and buy a souvenir. Here you can participate in a master class on making felt toys, which you can then take with you, present to relatives or friends, or hang on the Christmas tree for the new year. Dinner and night at the guest house.

Kochkorka – Son-Kul (140 km, 2 h). After breakfast we will be transferred to Son-Kul Lake located on the height of 3016 m above the sea level. This is the best place for shepherds-nomads. If you have ever heard a beautiful legend about the most beautiful lake in the center of Tian-Shan mountains most possible this was the lake Son-Kul.

By some sources its name is translated as “the last lake” and it’s not without reason as this is the second biggest lake on the territory of Kyrgyzstan after Issyk-Kul lake. And the name can be treated as an “alpine lake”. As the lake is located on an alpine meadow and surrounded by mountain ridges it has its own microclimate. All the valley is covered with green alpine fields (Kyrgyz people name them “jailoo”). That’s why this place was very popular among the shepherds and nomads in all times which is proven by the stone inscriptions and ancient shrines found on the shores of the lake. Shepherds-nomads bring their cattle to the lake in the summer and live here in yurts with their families. We will get to Son-Kul lake by noon. Free time and overnight in yurts.

Son-Kul – Chychkan gorge (320 km, 5 h). This will be a long drive through the plain mountainous regions of Kyrgyzstan. The mountains are everywhere from the left and from the right and the houses and yurts of shepherds are located miles from each other. We will drive over Kara-Keche pass (3364 m) and first get to Kyzyl-Oi village where we may have lunch in the house of locals.

We will enjoy the view of one of the most beautiful rivers in Kyrgyzstan - river Kekemeren continuing going to Suusamyr and soon will dive to the main Kyrgyz road going from Bishkek to Osh and come into the green wide valley (steppe). The mountains surrounding it gave the valley so much space that for a moment one may forget being in the harsh mountain country. Here you may see many nomads who brought their yurts for the summer time. Going through the picturesque Susamyr valley, we will finally get to Chychkan gorge where we will stay in one of the cozy guest houses.

Chichkan gorge - Arslanbob (320 km, 4,5 h).Today we will go to an amazing mountain range called Arslanbob. It has a large wild forest. The Arslanbob woodland is the largest walnut grove on earth. Kyrgyzstan's first known export to Europe was the Arslanbob walnut. Two waterfalls are located in the area which attract tourists, pilgrims and other visitors during the spring and summer months. We will have a little trek to the first waterfall which is about 25 m and the hike will take us about half an hour. After that we will walk to a panorama place from where you will be able to see the whole gorge. It is a great view and here we will have a little free time to enjoy the nature and make some pictures. In the evening we will see the folk show with Kyrgyz national instruments. Overnight in the house of locals.

Arslanbob - Osh (210 km, 3 h). Today in the morning we will have another hike now to the second, big waterfall in Arslanbob which has the height of 80 m. This walk will take us about 2 hours and we will come back for lunch just in time to see the folk show with the national Kyrgyz instruments. After lunch we will continue our way to the southern capital of Kyrgyzstan – Osh. Osh is the second biggest town of Kyrgyzstan after Bishkek with the population about 250 thousand people. It was one of the religious Muslim centers in Central Asia. It is known by its ancient mosques in the center of the town and also by Suleiman-Too (Sulaiman-Takhty, The throne of Solomon), which is one of the places of pilgrimage of central Asian Muslims. Overnight in a hotel.

Departure . This day the car will take you to the airport for your home flight.