Around Issyk-Kul lake

Bishkek, Ala-Archa park. Arrival to Bishkek, meeting at the Manas airport, Transfer to hotel. This day we will have a city tour with visiting philharmonic hall with the Manas complex, main Ala-Too square with historical museum and White House, old square with oak park, government building and Lenin statue. We will also visit the victory square and eat dinner in the city center. Or just have a rest in a hotel.

Ala-Archa and Chunkurchak gorge / ~ 120 km of drive. This morning we will get acquainted with our cars and drive to the national park Ala-Archa where we will spend our time seeing a 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.

By the lunch time we will drive through the mountain to Chunkurchak valley where we will have our meal in the Ethno-restaurant Supara.

After that, we will go to the Karabulak bath complex. You will find a steam room, a pool filled with spring water, a fire, potatoes by the fire, phytobath with mountain herbs and a bath procedure.

In the evening return to the hotel, rest.

Bishkek – Cholpon-Ata / ~ 270 km of drive (4-5 hours of drive). In the morning after breakfast we will drive by the Mountainous road to Tokmok town. On the way we will visit the historical-architectural complex of Burana Tower. After that we will drive further to Cholpon-Ata – the town which is located on the shores of one of the most beautiful lakes in Kyrgyzstan – Issyk-Kul lake.

Issyk-Kul Lake is the second biggest mountain lake after Titicaca in South America; it is one of 25 biggest and 7 deepest lakes in the world. Local people call this lake the “Pearl of Kyrgyzstan”. As a small bead put on the chain of mountain ridges it definitely justifies this name. The “Pearl” is located on the height of 1609 m above the sea level and enclosed from two sides by the ranges with the poetic names Terskey-Ala-Too (turned from the sun) and Kungey-Ala-Too (turned to the sun).

Evening will be free. Overnight will be at the hotel on the shore of the lake.

Cholpon-Ata. Today we have a day full of adventure. In the morning we will move to a horse farm for a 2-hour horse ride along the lake and to the ancient petroglyphs. Next, we will have lunch at a local national cafe, and in the afternoon we will watch Kyrgyz national horse games and archery show.

The demonstration of games includes: the famous game of Kok-boru (with the carcass of a goat), kyz-kumai (game of the wedding ceremony), as well as tyyin-enmei (raising a coin from the ground at a gallop) and Er-enish (rider wrestling).

After the performance, you will be able to mount a horse yourself, try your hand at the game of kok-boru, hold the carcass of a goat, and also shoot from a real nomad bow and take colorful photos. At sunset, you will have a boat trip with a buffet on the ship.

Dinner at the hotel. Rest.

Cholpon-Ata – Karakol / ~ 180 km of drive (4 hours). Today we will try our cars at off-road. The Grigorievskoye Gorge is very picturesque, but the road to it looks like a small path, since graders do not drive here and do not break the road during the entire winter period. Our goal today is to reach the mountain lake. We will test the ability of our vehicles to drive on snowy roads. We will get to the lake and go down to the main road along the adjacent Semenovskoye gorge. As a result, we will reach the city of Karakol, where we will have lunch.

In the city itself, we will be able to visit the Przhevalsky Museum, the ancient Dungan mosque, and the wooden church of the Holy Trinity, which was built without a single nail.

Free time, rest, dinner.

Karakol – Kochkor / ~ 250 km (6-7 h) . On this day you will drive through the mountains and canyons. We will drive along the amazing rock sculptures "Seven Bulls" (Jeti-Oguz) and stop at the village of Bokonbaevo where a delicious lunch will be waiting for us.

After lunch we will continue our way which lies into the red clay canyons. Here you will be met by a berkutchi hunter. These are hunters with falcons and taigans (Kyrgyz greyhounds). He will not only tell you a lot of interesting things about this type of hunting, but also show you how these birds and dogs hunt in real life.

In the evening we will finally reach the village of Kochkor, check into a hotel and have dinner.

Kochkor - Suusamyr valley - Bishkek/ ~ 350 km (6-7 hours of drive). We will leave Kochkor village and drive to Suusamyr valley. The first layover will take place at Djumgal valley. The valley is of the same size as Suusamyr valley, but it is drier. We will stay in Kyzyl-Oi village for lunch and will enjoy the folk show.

The view of one of the most beautiful rivers in Kyrgyzstan – Kekemeren River is fascinating.

We will continue driving to Suusamyr through the mountains and valleys. Later we will drive over Tua-Ashu pass (3200 m), through the mountain tunnel and finally and get to Bishkek.

Accommodation in the hotel and farewell dinner in one of the local restaurants.

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