June, 2025

G Adventures had a great sale last year. Anita and I jumped at the chance to book a tour to Central Asia. It’s a region I know NOTHING about so am excited to visit and get to know their culture. Booking that far in advance also made getting a flight with Aeroplan points realistic. It sure helps keep costs down!

Bishkek

We arrived in Bishkek after more than 26 hours of travel involving 3 flights. I do enjoy Turkish Air as the food is actually really good!

I arranged an airport pickup with G, knowing we’d be exhausted. It’s really nice to be greeted with a sign with your name on it.
First impressions of Bishkek were unimpressive. The roads are great but the city seemed dull, poor and kind of run down.

We checked into the Golden Hotel, cleaned up and set off to explore. A couple hours of wandering showed a much better view of the city. It’s full of beautiful, treed parks with lots of roses, fountains and flower beds. We happened upon the changing of the guard ceremony at Ala-Too Square and Victory Square. Finally, exhaustion took over. We spent the rest of the day planning what to do over the next few days and drinking tea. We tried hard NOT to fall asleep. The best thing for jet lag is to get into the rhythm of the new time zone as quickly as possible. By 8 pm we were sound asleep

Day 2.

Our hotel provided an amazing breakfast that kept us going all day.
The walking tour we booked with Alex was pricey. However, it was well worth it. We saw and learned many things we wouldn’t have on our own. He showed us buildings and statues and explained the history, how the Kyrgyz changed their nomadic behaviour along with some great stories. Murals and wall art meant nothing without his explanations. Alex walks fast so the active pace kept us happy too. Find him here:
https://www.viator.com/tours/Bishkek/From-Kyrgyz-History-to-Contemporary-Street-ART-of-Bishkek-City/d50202-418483P8

We’ve only been here 2 days but have been greeted warmly by several locals. No, we don’t blend in. (hehe) One woman thanked us for coming. Tourism is pretty new to Kyrgyzstan and locals see the benefits.

Ala Archa National Park

Day 3; We hired a driver to take us to Ala Archa National Park. He spoke no English and we no Russian or Kyrgyz so sign language sufficed. Google translate wasn’t much help. He dropped us off at the gate and there’s a shuttle that takes you further into the park. This must be fairly new as none of my research showed this. So, if I were to do it again I’d figure out public transit. It’s much cheaper.

Ala Archa is beautiful. The trails are not nearly as well marked as they say unless perhaps you can read Russian? They use the Cyrillic alphabet too so it’s hard to even guess. We managed to walk about 10 km and see a nice chunk of it anyway.

Day 4. We checked out of the Golden and into the Grand Hotel, the starting location for our G Adventures tour. We spent a few hours wandering around the Osh market. It’s HUGE! We were told not to take pictures so there’s no evidence. It’s a VERY busy market where you can buy anything.

Day 5; Our group of 16 people led by Lilia set off early. After a walking tour of the city seeing the few sites we missed on our own, plus learning more about sites we’d seen, we headed for Burana tower. The minaret is all that’s remaining of a once impressive town. The structure was built with baked bricks. Apparently the other structures weren’t and they “melted”.

Chon Kemin

Our journey continued into the mountains. The first stop was lunch in a village with a Dungan family. She prepared an amazing spread and shared a bit about her family’s customs. Many Dungan Chinese immigrated to Kyrgyzstan to escape persecution.

Being curious tourists, we spent a great deal of time marveling over sheep with really big butts. Apparently it’s a fat lump and quite the delicacy. One shepherd was on a donkey, herding his sheep and playing on his cell phone. He looked at us, probably thinking “have these weirdos never seen sheep before?”
After a few scenery photo stops, we arrived at our destination; the Jekshen guesthouse in Chon Kemin

.Thursday, June 5

Issyk Kul

We had an amazing breakfast. Then, we walked down the road and up into the hills for a lovely view of the area. Sometimes a horse would block the path. I tried staring them down but they’re bigger than me so I walked around.

The pass into Song Kul was still closed so our yurt stay was changed to Issyk Kul (Lake). After checking we put on swim suits and walked to the lake. Some of us braved the cold, refreshing water and were invigorated.
Dinner at the yurt camp was again wholesome and delicious with plenty of veggies. We’re not going hungry at ALL this trip!
Yurts are heated with wood stoves when it’s cold but not this time of year. Though it got down to 8-10 degrees, we were snug in the cozy beds covered with very heavy quilts. Thankfully the dogs stopped barking eventually and we all slept well.
Friday; We piled in the vans and drove to a hike nearby. I got maybe a third of the way up and turned around. I could feel the altitude headache starting already so decided to walk along the based. That was lovely too. The others enjoyed a wonderful panoramic view.
Lunch was back at the yurt camp before setting off again.

Fairytale canyon (Skazka canyon) is a MUST see if you’re in the area. The colourful rock formations are gorgeous and definitely unique.

Tamga

We carried on to spend tonight at a Guest house in Tamga. The house has a lovely garden and dinner was served in a glassed in room.

Saturday. Our first stop was at the Ak-Orgo workshop centre where. The man who started it has passed but his son and daughter in law have taken over. They’re doing a great job of making sure the old skills are improved upon and passed on. They showed us how they use wool to make various crafts out of felt. Yurt building was next. The structure is made of willow and the covering is felt. One piece they put on was made in 1967!

Next stop was broken heart rock. There’s a sad legend that goes along with that.

Next we drove to Jetty Oguz then on a dirt road to find a picnic spot. We wondered if this spot was worth the drive as it was pretty rough. You can see by the pictures it was worth it. The grassy slopes were covered in wild flowers. Cows grazed randomly and many families dotted the roads, enjoying a peaceful Saturday by the river.

Back to the village we climbed the hill for a better view of the 7 bulls. On top was a nice cafe with good coffee and ice cream. Lots of locals were enjoying it. One asked if she could take a picture with me. Ok, kind of weird but if it makes you happy. lol

Karakul

Back on the road we carried on to Karakul where we visited the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church. It’s unique in that it’s built of walnut wood.
The mosque was strange. It looked more like a Buddhist temple and the minaret looked like shack

After settling into our hotel we went to a Weiger restaurant for dinner. The Weiger Chinese were another group who settled in Kyrgyzstan after escaping Chinese persecution. We were pretty much finished when they lit up a disco ball and started loud music. People got up to dance. So. Some of us joined them. A young girl asked where we were from and told us it was her grandmother’s 76th birthday. The birthday girl danced in the middle and we surrounded her, joining the family. Great fun!

Next we crossed the border into Kazakhstan. That is an adventure described in the next post.

Kazakhstan