An Adventure in Kyrgyzstan

“The purpose of life, after all, is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience.” Elenor Roosevelt

Kyrgyzstan has been on my list for some time. My recent birthday (that I chose to describe as my second twenty-fifth birthday), seemed like as good a reason as any to visit. I was keen to celebrate this milestone with an adventure.

Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country in Central Asia, sharing its borders with Kazakhstan to the north, Tajikistan to the southwest, Uzbekistan to the west and China to the southeast. It has a population of about 6.5 million. Kyrgzy is the primary language and is an official language along with Russian.

Brief History

Kyrgyzstan is a democratic unicameral (government with a single legislative house/chamber) republic with a long history. It is a country that has been overrun and conquered many times over the centuries, including by the Oirats (a Mongol people) in the 13th century and the Chinese Manchus in the 18th century. In 1876 the territory was occupied and formally annexed by the Russian Empire. Come 1921 it became part of the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR), an autonomous province, within the Russian Soviet Federate Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In 1936 it became a constituent republic named Kirgiziya within the USSR.

On 31 August 1991 Kyrgyzstan declares its eagerly sought full independence from the Soviet Union and acquired its present name. Askar Akayev became president and began developing the institutions of a modern democratic country – an open press, independent judiciary and freely elected parliament.

Since then there has been political unrest and instability, accusations of corruption, electoral irregularities, coups and constitutional changes. The current president, Sadyr Japarov, came to power in January 2021 following an effective social media campaign. Described by many as a nationalist and populist with authoritarian tendencies, with an interesting rise to power having previously been jailed for kidnapping. He has pledged to fight crime and corruption, but there are those who doubt this. Hopefully he will prove them wrong and also improve the dire fiscal situation currently faced by Kyrgyzstan.

The adventure begins

My trip was going to be six days of horse riding in two locations, then a few days of trekking before returning to Bishkek for a day with a few days for travel and prep in between. I flew 14 hours to Dubai and then four hours to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, arriving in the early hours of the morning on 23 July. Being northern hemisphere, I was set to have a break from winter and enjoy some warmer weather.

I love that moment when you walk out of an airport at a new location and your sensations light up – taking in the people, the scenery, taking a deep breath and sensing the aromas. I felt the gentle warmth of the air, despite the early hours. Combined with the anticipation of what lay ahead, it was an electric feeling.

I was met by Kanat, my guide for the riding section. The airport was small, but bustling with people coming and going. We hit the road for a five-hour drive to our guesthouse for the night. It wasn’t long until the city was behind us and we had a small river running next to the road and rocky mountains on each side.

Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous country, with 90% being at 1,500m or above and 70% at over 3,000m. The highest peak is Victory Peak (7,439m). It’s mostly the Tien Shan mountains which run from western China, through Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. It was photos of these mountains that attracted me to this destination. That and the fact that it is less heavily visited by tourists, something that won’t last.

Horse Riding to Song Kul

The next morning it was a drive for an hour or so to the village to start the ride. The horses were ready to go and I took what was needed for the next few days in a small bag which was put into saddle bags along with some food and water.

The saddles are more like a western saddle with a large pommel at the front and high cantle at the back. I was happy to see a thick pad on the saddle! The stirrups were closer to English style. We mounted, left the village and made our way along a dusty dirt road to the mountains.

Horses are very much part of the nomadic life, used to get around and herd livestock. Only stallions or geldings are ridden – it’s considered inappropriate to ride a mare. The traditional national sports reflect the importance of horse riding in Kyrgyz culture. Very popular is Ulak Tartysh (or Kok Boru), literally ‘Goat Snatching’. It’s a team sport that’s a cross between polo and rugby in which two teams of riders wrestle for a headless goat carcass, which they attempt to deliver across the goal line, or into the goal: a big tub or a circle marked on the ground.

There’s also Chabysh, long-distance horse racing and Jumby Atmai during which a bar of precious metal is tied to a pole by a thread and constestants attempt to break the thread by shooting at the thread. While galloping. Oodarysh is a form of wrestling on horseback and Tyin Emmei involves picking up a coin from the ground at full gallop.

A more amusing game, previously part of the wedding ritual, is Kyz Kuumai – a man chases a girl to win a kiss from her while she gallops away. If he’s not successful she may chase him and attempt to beat him with her horsewhip.

Other sports include forms of wrestling, eagle hunting and dog racing and hunting. In 2016 Kyrgyzstan hosted the first World Nomad Games, which now take place every two years, on the even year.

Things were a little more sedate on my ride. In a couple of hours we started rising up into the grassy mountains. It was beautiful. After a pitstop for lunch and to give the horses a rest we continued to make up way up to the pass that led to our destination for the day. The pass was at 3,400m from which we got a glimpse of our destination – Song Kul.

Song Kul is Kyrgyzstan’s largest freshwater lake and its second largest lake. It lies at around 3,000m, is 29km long and about 18km wide with the deepest point being 13m.

We began our descent and after a total of six hours of riding, we made our yurt camp for the night. It was in a stunning location on the shore of the lake and was at the luxury end of yurt camps. The yurts had beds in them, and there was a separate dining yurt. They even had a flushing loo. It had been warm all day, but the temperature dropped once the sun went down and I was happy to see the wood heater being fired up in the yurt.

The next day was going to be a shorter day in the saddle and later start. It was a sunny warm morning and the lake looked amazing – I couldn’t resist and went for a swim – it was heavenly and nowhere near as cold as I expected.

The ride began with a couple of hours riding up into the mountains before returning back along by the lake. After lunch we were off again and up over another pass and down to another yurt camp after another three hours of riding.

This wasn’t quite a luxurious – the sleeping yurt had thick mats on the floor which were surprisingly comfortable, particularly when cocooned in warm heavy blankets.

The next morning marked the start of another spin around the sun for me. It was pretty special to come out of the yurt, surrounded by mountains. What a great place to start my birthday!

We had a three-hour ride, slowly making our way back to the village and the end of the first section of riding.

Issyk Kul

Bokonbayevo was our next destination, about a 4-hour drive away, close to the southern shores of Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan’s largest lake.

It was a hot day so we took a detour for a welcomed swim on the way to our guesthouse for the night. Surprisingly it’s not very cold and most surprisingly, it’s salty! There are beaches around the lake, many packed with Kyrgz and holidaying Russians.

The lake is huge - nearly 180km long, 60km wide and nearly 700m deep and lies at around 1,600m. It’s the 10th largest lake in the world and second largest glacial lake. Over 100 rivers and streams flow into the lake, along with springs and snow melt, but there is no outflow. Its name aptly means ‘warm lake’ with water temperature reaching 24C in summer and 4C in winter. Despite the very cold winters it doesn’t freeze. The water is salty thanks to the springs feeding it and the lack of outflow, so evaporation leaves the mineral salts.

Deep beneath the clear waters are the remains of a 2,500-year-old advanced civilisation, discovered by archaeologists in 2007. It was a large city covering several square kilometres.

After a lovely swim we headed to the guesthouse. Sitting around a large table with the other guests after our main meal the lights were turned out and in came the host with a birthday cake and candles (thanks to Kanat) – I couldn’t believe it! They all sang happy birthday – it was so kind and marked the end of a fabulous birthday.

Riding near Issyk Kul

The next few days were going to be up in the mountains. We set off the following morning with new horses making our way to the next destination. This was going to be a treat – getting to spend the night with a shepherding family.

Kyrgyz are traditionally nomadic people. The economy is dependent on agriculture with cotton, wool, tobacco and meat being the main products. Shepherding families head to the mountains and set up their yurts for the summer along with their sheep, cows and horses. The winters are too long and cold to be able to stay there so they return to the villages at lower altitudes.

During Soviet rule Stalin ordered the confiscation of land, tools and animals to be replaced by large-scale state-owned collective farms. The state would decide on the crops and payment, with the expectation it would free poor farmers from economic servitude under the farmland owners. This collectivisation is believed to be one of the causes of famine throughout the USSR during 1932 and 1933. The post-Soviet era resulted in a land reform program, distributing land plots among the rural population.

Living in this yurt camp was a grandfather and his wife along with their grandchildren who were spending the summer holidays with them. They had two yurts – the main one was where they cooked, ate and most of the family slept. The other was more basic, without the usual carpet floor. It had a slightly raised section with sleeping mats on the left. These were to be beds for Kanat and me.

On the other side were barrels in which they were fermenting horses milk, kymyz. Fresh, and in particular fermented horse milk, is incredibly popular and available in summer when the mares have given birth.

The main yurt had a low table in the middle which had bowls of homemade jam, lollies (aka sweets), raisins and dates, bread and sugar. This was standard in all the yurts and even guesthouses. I was invited to take a seat on the floor by the table and an afternoon meal was prepared.

Traditional Kyrgyz food revolves around lamb and horse meat, as well as various dairy products, with bread being a staple with all meals.

We were given an afternoon meal of pasta and meat. Having already eaten lunch I couldn’t manage more than a few mouthfuls. Thankfully their 2-year-old grandchild had a ferocious appetite and I managed to feed him most of my food. Win-win.

Traditional foods include beschbarmak which is meat with noodles. Beschbarmak means "five fingers" in the Kyrgyz language. The name comes from the tradition that the dish is usually eaten with the hands.

There is plov which is similar to Indian pilau, made of meat, vegetables and rice. I’d enjoyed manti, another traditional food, at the camp at Song Kul. They are large dumplings made with beef or lamb, cabbage, pumpkin or potato and are good!

That night, accompanying our dinner of rice, vegetables and meat in a soup was borsok, a regional variation of a fried dough available in a number of Central Asian countries. It marks a special occasion as well as honouring ancestors. When someone dies, it is tradition to prepare borsok every Thursday for a year after their passing as well as the 40th day and the one-year anniversary.

I watched the grandmother work the dough before rolling it out like pastry and cutting it into squares. These were then friend in a kazan – a wok-like frying pan. The resulting golden nuggets were delicious eaten as they are, or with jam or cream, or both. Divine but not so good for the diet!

The next day was up over one of the passes with breathtaking views of Issyk Kul. We dismounted and led our horses down as it was pretty steep. We descended down through the tree line and after a short ride arrived at a yurt camp. This was back to a camp for tourists, however, walking into the eating yurt it looked more like a Roman feast. The low tables arranged in a ‘T’ shape were covered with plates of food.

It turned out the in-laws were visiting and its tradition to put on a generous spread for the parents-in-law as an expression of respect and hospitality. The accompanying bottle of vodka was subtly removed from the table when photos were taken… (This is a predominantly Muslim country.)

My last day of riding took us across more meadows, onto another dusty track before returning to our starting point.

Skazka Canyon

The next stop was Karakol, but on the way I got to visit Skazka Canyon, commonly known as Fairy Tale Canyon. The ‘Skazka’ means ‘fairy tale’ in Russian. The canyon is the result of thousands of years of ice, water and wind erosion creating an amazing landscape of red and orange sculptures and formations with the stunning blue Issyk Kul in the background. It was truly spectacular.

Hiking in Karakol

Karakol is the fourth largest city in Kygryzstan, sitting at the southeast corner of Issyk Kul. It’s a popular destination for trekking and that’s why I was there. The surrounding scenery is stunning and has been described as the Switzerland of the east. There are alpine lakes, glaciers, mountain pastures, passes and valleys. All the way you’re surrounded by snow-covered peaks.

There are treks for everyone – from one day jaunts to multiday journeys. I haven’t done a self-supported multiday trek since doing Duke of Edinburgh, so I chose a relatively easy trek. This was a holiday after all!

I did a three-day, two night out and back trek. The first day was about a four and a half hour hike up through Karakol valley to Karakol basecamp. It was as stunning relatively easy walk along a 4WD track running next to the river. On either side are steep mountains, thick with pine forests giving way to rocky and snow-covered peaks.

The following morning I made my way up to Sirota camp. There was no 4WD track here, but most of the way there was a clear path that started through dense forest. It got steep quick! I took it easy. The heavy pack combined with the altitude (heading up to 3,000m) and incline made it hard going. After a couple of hours or so I made it to the camp. My initial plan had been to go up to Ala-Kul, an alpine lake, but I’d tweaked my back and looking at the even steeper climb ahead decided to play it safe and make my way back down to base camp. The next day it was a trek back toward Karakol.

There were people around on the trek, but not so many that you feel like you’re on a beaten track. You can go with guides or go with friends. If you’re looking for a hiking buddy the ‘Meeting Point’ next to Duet Hostel in Karakol has a board you can put your planned trek on along with contact details on. You can also hire camping gear in Karakol.

This is definitely somewhere I want to return to for more hiking. For those interested in trekking and horse riding, every region offers something. The website Journal of Nomads is packed with information on Kyrgyzstan and treks with itineraries. Summer is the best time to go, however they are growing their skiing facilities which will attract increasing numbers of winter visitors.

Bishkek

After a night in Karakol it was a 6-hour drive to the capital, Bishkek. This city was set to pleasantly surprise me with wide tree-filled boulevards, many parks and some amazing architecture with a backdrop of snow-capped mountains. Plus there were great cafes and a chance to enjoy a well overdue decent coffee.

Bishkek was founded in 1825 to connect several stop-off points of the Silk Road, a network of routes linking China to the West used by trader for more than 1,500 years. It was originally called Pishpek but was renamed Furnze by the Russians in 1926 in honour of the Soviet military leader Mikhail Frunze. Following the collapse of the USSR and Kyrgyzstan gaining independence it was renamed Bishkek. It is home to approximately 1 million people.

I had a morning cruising around some of the main sights.

First was Ala-Too Square built in 1984 and called Lenin square until 1991. The north side is full of flower beds and fountains (top row, first on left, below). The south side is the National History Museum and a statue of Manas on horseback that replaced a statue of Lenin (which was banished to a less conspicuous spot behind the museum).

Also on the south side is a towering flagpole with a huge Kyrygz flag. Beneath the flagpole are two soldiers that change guard every hour.

The flag of Kyrgyzstan is red with a yellow sun in the centre with forty sun rays. The sun has three criss-crossing laths traversing a sphere which is a depiction of the tunduk (centre wheel in the roof of yurts). The red colour was inspired by the banner lifted by Manas, a legendary hero who helped unite all their tribes in one state. The forty rays on the sun stand for all the forty tribes which Manas united to fight the Mongols in the 9th century. The Epic of Manas is a poem written describing the story of Manas. At over 500,000 lines it is one of the world’s longest poems.

Photos: top row, left to right - Ala Too Square (north), Manas statue, National History museum, White House. Bottom row, left to right - Ferris wheel, Palace of Weddings, Victory Square, Bishkek Central Mosque.

I took a stroll around the newly renovated National History Musem. A stunning white marble building filled with fabulously curated displays of Kyrgyz culture and history. The next block is taken up by the White House , the presidential office building built in 1985. It’s an impressive marble covered building worthy of a few pics before walking through Panfilov Park. There’s a huge ferris wheel which I decided to take a spin on – which was great until I remembered I’m terrible with heights!

Next was the Palace of Weddings. An unusual building erected for weddings because the Soviet Union forbade religion and ceremonies such as weddings taking place inside religious buildings. Victory Square was a short walk away, built in 1984 to pay tribute to the heroes of WWII. In the centre are three ribs of red granite representing a yurt. Under it is an eternal flame and a statue of a woman waiting for her husband to return home from war.

My final stop was the Bishkek Central Mosque, another large, ornate beautiful building that’s worth a look. It was built in 2012 and spans over 7,500 square meters. It can hold up to 20,000 people. Islam is the dominant religion of Kyrgyzstan: 80% of the population is Muslim while 17% follow Russian Orthodoxy and 3% other religions.

That was the end of my sightseeing. The rest of this final day was spent having a look round the shops, chilling at some cafes and reflecting on what an incredible trip it had been. Everything had worked and it had been all I’d hoped and more. I cannot imagine a better way to celebrate this big birthday!!

I definitely recommend it as a country to visit, particularly if you enjoy the outdoors. There’s plenty to do and see here!

Sarah x

Details of my trip

Flights: Emirates for Sydney-Dubai and Fly Dubai for Dubai-Bishkek. If you’re flying from Europe, Turkey is most likely to be your stopover, or Dubai.

Riding: I booked with Kyrgyz Riders and Kanat, my guide, has his own agency, Song Kul Adventures. The riding is suitable for beginners. Most of the travel agencies are very flexible with itineraries and often can be changed even when there.

Accommodation: I stayed in hostels – I prefer it, particularly when travelling solo as they’re great for meeting people. Karakol – Kbh Hostel (great hostel with private rooms and dorms); Bishkek – Compass (another fabulous hostel with private rooms and dorms). Both were close to the city centres.

Currency: the som (which replaced the Russian rouble in 1993). Take US dollars and exchange locally. The best rates are at foreign exchange booths in the major towns and cities (not at the airport). Alternatively there are banks and ATMs.

Mobiles: get a SIM card at the airport. US$10 will be plenty for at least a two-week trip. The choices are Megacom, Beeline and O!. I went with Megacom and was impressed at the coverage. However, apparently O! is the best.

Insurance: World Nomads will cover activities like horse riding and higher altitude hiking without breaking the bank. They are who I usually use.

Tips for horse riding:

Take a bum bag – handy for phone/camera, sunscreen, lip salve, snacks, hand sanitiser, tissues
Walking boots are fine but if you’re going for more than a few days consider jodhpurs and half chaps – more comfortable
Take toilet paper, just in case where you’re staying doesn’t have any
Wet wipes and face wipes as it’s unlikely that they’ll be showers
It’s likely that riding helmets won’t be provided - consider taking with you if you want to ride with one