EXOTIC ESCAPES

Along the Ancient Trails of the Nomads

Two nights in a yurt village, horses in the Chon-Kemin valley, and a Karakhanid minaret on the way back.

6 Days / 5 NightsBishkek, Ala-Archa, Chon-Kemin

FROM$1,420per person

The trip

Two nights in a yurt village, horses in the Chon-Kemin valley, and a Karakhanid minaret on the way back.

Kyrgyzstan at an unhurried pace: breakfast at eleven, and no day that starts before you do. You open in Bishkek with lunch at Supara and the honey and dried fruit stalls of Osh Bazaar, then head out at noon to walk in the Ala-Archa gorge, whose name means variegated juniper in Turkic. The middle of the trip moves 150 km east to Chon-Kemin, where you stay two nights in the yurt village of Alakush, ride out around the national park, and give one whole day to doing very little: a walk, the river, a picnic. On the way back to the capital there is the Burana Tower, a minaret raised between the ninth and eleventh centuries under the Karakhanids, and a last lunch before the flight home.

Breakfast at eleven, every day. The trip is built around a valley, two nights in a yurt village, and a Karakhanid minaret.

Day by day

Every day, already considered.

Prayer, dining, and where you rest, planned into each day, so you are never caught out.

01
DESTINATION
Arrival, and the stalls of Osh Bazaar
The guide meets you at the airport with a sign and a smile, and it is 35 km into the city. Early check-in, then rest until lunch while you adjust. At one o'clock you go into the centre for lunch at Supara, the ethnic restaurant, with a short introduction from your guide. A jewellery show is optional. Then Osh Bazaar for local honey and dried fruit.
02
DESTINATION
Variegated juniper, and a trout farm
Late breakfast at eleven, and out at noon to Ala-Archa National Park, 60 km from the city. Ala-Archa means variegated juniper in Turkic, and it names the river and the gorge as well as the park. You walk for an hour or two, feeding the birds and squirrels by hand if you want to. Lunch on the way back at a trout farm, then Bishkek Park, Dordoi Plaza and TSUM, and dinner.
03
DESTINATION
East to the yurt village
Breakfast at eleven, then 150 km and two hours east to Chon-Kemin. You stop at a market for picnic snacks, and again at Appamdyn Kattamasy for traditional layered flatbreads with sour cream and milk tea. Check in at the yurt village of Alakush, then ride out on horseback around the Chon-Kemin national park. Dinner back at the yurts, and the evening is yours.
04
DESTINATION
A day by the river
Nothing is scheduled. Late breakfast, then a walk around the area, time resting by the river, and a small picnic. Lunch, free time through the afternoon, dinner at the yurt village. This is the day the trip is built around: one full day in Chon-Kemin with nowhere else to be and no distance to cover.
05
DESTINATION
The Burana Tower, and back west
Late breakfast, then the two-hour, 150 km drive back to the capital. On the way you can stop at the Burana Tower, a minaret built between the ninth and eleventh centuries under the Karakhanids. Lunch at the Hawaii recreation centre, which keeps its own zoo, where you can feed the swans and the fish. Then the hotel, rest, and time to pack.
06
DESTINATION
Thirty-five kilometres to the airport
The last morning is short: breakfast at the hotel, then the 35 km transfer out to the airport and the end of the tour. The English-speaking driver-guide who met you in the arrival hall on day one, sign and smile, is the one who sees you off at the end of it.