Hiking to the Ak-Sai waterfall

One-day excursion. Our tour will start from Bishkek. The best departure time is 8-9 a.m. Recommended to take a snack with us, or we will include ready-made lunch boxes in the tour package, manager to be warned about in advance. We will drive 40 kilometers to a place called Lower Ala-Archa (alpine camp) at an altitude of 2,100 meters, leave our vehicle in the parking lot, check gear again and hike to the Ak-Sai Gorge with a good mood, inhaling the fresh crystal-clear air.

Depending on the time of the year, it is either completely dry or covered with snow with ice parts, so it is important to choose the right shoes for the season. The trail passes through the forest of Tien Shan firs with “interspersed” juniper, dog rose, honeysuckle, sea buckthorn, barberry, and currant. You can also find 50 types of medicinal herbs: golden root, St. John's wort, thyme, Issyk-Kul root, yarrow and others.

You can make photo-stops on the way, as the views are incredible. You can see the tops of Corona, Boks, Ratsek peaks; Ak-Sai glacier. We will walk by the Broken Heart rock, which has a characteristic shape, and will emerge on the small plateau of Tepshi. Here you can take a break, drink water. Then, we move on, gaining altitude. We have to descend to the Shyrkarytma River in the side gorge of the same name and cross over its fast waters. In summer, the water level rises significantly by dinner, so it is important to make the crossing as early as possible, and on the way back, exercise maximum caution.

After the ascent from the river, the path becomes flat and leads to the site where tourists and climbers usually rest before further ascent. From this site we will move to the left and will climb steeply up to the foot of the waterfall, which height is 20 meters. At this point you need to be careful and cautious. But here we are on the spot! Waterfall’s streams rush from rocky ledges, giving a life-giving coolness on particularly hot days. You can even bath in it, although the water temperature is no more than 10 degrees in the hottest day. Some daredevils are capable to do that. We will have a picnic, admiring breathtaking views of the gorge, at an altitude of 2,700 meters. After the picnic we will descend and return to Bishkek with wonderful impressions and emotions.

In case of bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances, the time spent on the route can be reduced.