EXOTIC ESCAPES

Capital of Kyrgyzstan

A city with mountains at the end of the road, and a different gorge every day.

5 Days / 4 NightsBishkek, Ala-Archa, Chunkurchak, Kegeti

FROM$1,086per person

The trip

A city with mountains at the end of the road, and a different gorge every day.

Bishkek is a city you can leave in the morning and be back in by dinner. The mountains start where the streets stop, so this trip keeps one hotel for four nights and drives out to somewhere different each day: Ala-Archa, sixty-five kilometres south, where the walk is yours to take or skip; Chon-Kurchak, with a bridge slung between two mountains and horses to ride at the ethno-complex there; and Kegeti, two hours east, where the road runs out at a waterfall. The city holds its own, too. Lunch at Supara, honey and dried fruit at Osh Bazaar, dinner at a teahouse, and trout at a fish farm on the way home from the park.

A bridge suspended between two mountains, with the gorge open underneath it. The walk along the peaks is short, and that is the whole point of it.

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, Osh Bazaar and a teahouse dinner
Your guide meets you at the airport with a sign, and it is sixty kilometres into the city. You check in early and rest until lunch, then leave for the centre at one o'clock. Lunch is at Supara, an ethnic restaurant, with a first telling from the guide. Afterwards, Osh Bazaar for local honey and dried fruit, and dinner at a teahouse.
02
DESTINATION
Ala-Archa, and trout on the way back
Sixty-five kilometres south to Ala-Archa National Park, stopping at a market on the way to buy things for a picnic. The walk in the park runs one to two hours and is optional. Lunch is on the way back at a fish farm, where the trout is local. A show of handmade jewellery, with the history behind the ornaments, is also optional. Then free time at the hotel.
03
DESTINATION
The bridge between two mountains
Out to the Chon-Kurchak gorge, with mountain panoramas most of the way. The Sky Bridge is optional: a bridge suspended between two mountains, and a short walk along the peaks. So are the cable car above the gorge and the zipline. Lunch is at the Supara ethno-complex, where the horseback riding is included, along with photo zones and an introduction to Kyrgyz traditions.
04
DESTINATION
Kegeti waterfall and the Burana Tower
Two hours east to Kegeti Gorge, then a walk to the Kegeti waterfall and time for photographs. The Burana Tower, a Karakhanid structure from somewhere between the ninth and eleventh centuries, is optional. Lunch is at the Hawaii recreation centre: swans and fish to feed, a mini-zoo, grounds to walk. Issyk-Ata and its hot springs are optional before the drive back.
05
DESTINATION
Breakfast, and the road to the airport
Breakfast at the hotel, timed to your flight: early, or unhurried, depending on when you leave. Then the transfer out to the airport, the same sixty kilometres you drove on the first afternoon, taken in the other direction. Nothing else is scheduled, and the tour ends there.