Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: Almaty, Charyn Canyon and Issyk-Kul

1. Day 1: Arrive in Almaty

   Almaty International Airport to your hotel in central Almaty

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Almaty
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Almaty International Airport (ALA), about 20 km north-east of the centre, and a driver meets you in the arrivals hall. Plan to land by about 4 pm to reach the evening briefing; the latest arrival time is confirmed with your final itinerary. Almaty was Kazakhstan's capital until 1997 and is still its largest city: a grid of tree-lined streets running uphill towards the snow peaks of the Trans-Ili Alatau, which on a clear evening look close enough to touch. If you arrive early, walk the shady pedestrian stretch of Panfilov Street or sit in one of the cafes around it. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing on the trip: the border crossing, what to pack for the mountain nights and the yurt, and how the days are paced. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Kazakh and Central Asian dishes at a local restaurant.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Almaty International Airport (ALA)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

2. Day 2: Almaty: the cathedral, the bazaar and Kok-Tobe

   Central Almaty, then Kok-Tobe hill

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Almaty
   Day 2 details

   We start on foot after breakfast in Panfilov Park, named for the 28 Panfilov Guardsmen of the Second World War, where the yellow Ascension Cathedral was finished in 1907, built of wood and one of the few buildings to come through the 1911 earthquake. In the same park the Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments holds dombras, kobyzes and drums, and the staff often play a few. A short walk on brings us to the Green Bazaar, at its busiest in the morning: dried fruit and nuts, horse sausage, mountains of apples (the wild apple is thought to have come from these hills) and stalls of kurt, the dried salty yogurt balls you will see all trip. Lunch is a sit-down meal near the bazaar. The afternoon is free, for a rest, the State Museum of Arts or a coffee. In the late afternoon we ride the cable car up Kok-Tobe hill for the view over the city as the light falls on the mountains.

   Included

   • Panfilov Park and the Ascension Cathedral with your guide
   • Museum of Kazakh Folk Musical Instruments
   • The Green Bazaar
   • Sit-down lunch in Almaty
   • Kok-Tobe cable car and hilltop in the late afternoon

   Optional experiences

   • Medeu and the Shymbulak cable car in the free afternoon, priced at booking

   Free time: Afternoon free in Almaty

   Activity: About 4 km on foot in the morning on flat city streets.

   

3. Day 3: Charyn Canyon and into the mountains at Saty

   Almaty to Charyn Canyon, then Saty village and Kaindy Lake

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Saty
   Day 3 details

   We leave Almaty at 8 am and drive about three hours east across the steppe to Charyn Canyon, cut by the Charyn River through layers of red and ochre rock. This is a long road day, about four and a half hours on the road plus the 4x4 to Kaindy, about 40 minutes each way, so the canyon sits in the middle of it as a proper break, not a photo stop. From the rim of the Valley of Castles we walk down a gravel path between towers of sandstone to the river, about 3 km each way on a gentle grade, and stop for a sit-down lunch near the water. On summer weekends the canyon fills with day-trippers from Almaty; we schedule this day on a weekday where the dates allow. In the afternoon we drive south into the foothills to Saty, a village at the gate of the Kolsay Lakes National Park, where we stay one night in a guesthouse. In the late afternoon local 4x4s take us up a rough track to Kaindy Lake, formed when the 1911 earthquake dammed a gorge and drowned a spruce forest; the grey trunks still stand in the turquoise water. Dinner is home cooking at the guesthouse.

   Included

   • Charyn Canyon: the Valley of Castles walk down to the Charyn River with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch near the canyon
   • Kaindy Lake by local 4x4, with the walk down to the sunken forest
   • Dinner at the guesthouse in Saty
   • Charyn and Kolsay Lakes national park fees
   • The border-zone permit for Kolsay and Kaindy, arranged by us before you travel

   Easier option: Stay on the rim at Charyn for the viewpoints instead of walking down, and skip the Kaindy track for a quiet evening at the guesthouse.

   More active option: At Kaindy, walk the path around part of the lake shore for views back over the drowned trees.

   Activity: About 6 km on foot at Charyn, plus about 1 km down to Kaindy Lake and back up. The Kaindy 4x4 track is bumpy, about 40 minutes each way. Kolsay and Kaindy lie in a zone near the Chinese border where foreigners have usually needed a permit; we arrange it with your passport details before you travel. Charyn is hot at midday in July and August; bring a hat and water.

   

4. Day 4: Kolsai Lake early, then across the border to Karakol

   Saty to Lower Kolsai Lake, then Kegen, the Karkara border and Karakol

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Karakol
   Day 4 details

   We are at Lower Kolsai Lake, about 12 km from Saty, by about 8:30, an hour or more before the day visitors from Almaty arrive. The lake lies at about 1,800 m in a steep valley of Tian Shan spruce, and in the still morning air the water is a deep blue-green. Walk the shore path with your guide for an hour or so, or sit with a coffee by the water. Mid-morning we set out east over the open plateau to Kegen and the Karkara valley, where we cross into Kyrgyzstan. This is the trip's longest day: about 230 km and four and a half hours on the road, plus one to two hours at the border, so six or more hours in all from Kolsai to Karakol. We break it with a sit-down lunch in Kegen and the crossing itself. Our Kazakh driver takes us to the Kazakh post, we cross on foot with our bags, and our Kyrgyz driver meets us on the other side. Clocks go forward an hour. The road then follows the Tüp valley down to the eastern end of Issyk-Kul and on to Karakol, where we arrive in the early evening for two nights.

   Included

   • Morning walk at Lower Kolsai Lake with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch in Kegen
   • Your guide handles the border paperwork at Karkara and carries the group list
   • A new vehicle and driver for Kyrgyzstan from the border

   More active option: Walk the first part of the forest trail above the lake towards the Upper Kolsai Lake, for about an hour, before turning back.

   Free time: Evening free in Karakol

   Activity: About 2 to 3 km on the lake shore. The border-zone permit for Kolsai is arranged by us before the trip. Border times vary; keep snacks and water in your day bag.

   

5. Day 5: Jeti-Oguz valley and Dungan Karakol

   Karakol to the Jeti-Oguz valley and back, then Karakol town

   • Drive about 1.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Karakol
   Day 5 details

   After breakfast we drive about 40 minutes west to the Jeti-Oguz valley, named for its seven bulls, a wall of red sandstone cliffs above the river. Close by is the split rock called the Broken Heart, and every family here has a legend for it. We walk up the valley past summer yurts and grazing horses into the Kok-Jaiyk meadow, the valley of flowers, under spruce slopes and with snow peaks at its head. Lunch is in the valley. We are back in Karakol by mid-afternoon, so the rest of the afternoon is free. Late in the day we walk the old town of single-storey Russian houses with carved window frames to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, built of wood in 1895, and the Dungan Mosque, finished in 1910 without metal nails by Dungan craftsmen in the style of a Chinese temple. In the evening a Dungan family welcomes us to dinner at home, with ashlyamfu, the cold noodle dish Karakol is known for, among a long run of small dishes.

   Included

   • Jeti-Oguz valley walk with your guide: the Seven Bulls, the Broken Heart and the Kok-Jaiyk meadow
   • Lunch in the Jeti-Oguz valley
   • Karakol walk: the Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Dungan Mosque
   • Dinner with a Dungan family in Karakol

   Optional experiences

   • The Przhevalsky museum and memorial on the lakeshore near Karakol, in the free afternoon

   Easier option: Stay on the lower valley path by the Seven Bulls and wait with tea at a yurt cafe while the others walk up the meadow.

   More active option: Climb the slope above the valley to the viewpoint over the Seven Bulls and the Broken Heart, about an hour extra.

   Free time: Afternoon free in Karakol

   Activity: About 5 to 7 km on foot on grassy valley tracks at about 2,000 m, with some gentle climbs.

6. Day 6: Along the south shore to Skazka

   Karakol along the south shore of Issyk-Kul to Skazka Canyon, then a yurt camp near Bokonbaeva

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Bokonbaeva
   Day 6 details

   A slower start in Karakol, then we follow the south shore of Issyk-Kul west. The lake is about 180 km long and lies at about 1,600 m between two ranges of the Tian Shan, and the south shore is the quieter side, with small villages, apricot orchards and few resorts. Lunch is a sit-down stop in a lakeside village on the way. We reach Skazka, the fairy-tale canyon, in the late afternoon, when the low sun brings out the reds, yellows and purples of its eroded clay ridges and the heat has gone. Walk the paths between the formations with your guide, then climb a ridge for the view over the lake. It is a short drive on to our camp on the shore near Bokonbaeva, where we stay two nights. Tonight is the yurt night. The camp we book must have felt yurts with proper beds and bedding, heating for cool evenings and hot showers on site; dinner is at the camp as the light goes off the mountains on the far shore.

   Included

   • Drive along the south shore of Issyk-Kul with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Skazka Canyon in the late afternoon
   • A night in a yurt at the south shore camp
   • Dinner at camp

   More active option: Before Skazka, a detour up the Barskoon gorge to its waterfall, about an extra hour of driving and a 30 minute walk.

   Activity: About 2 to 3 km of walking on sandy paths and short steep slopes at Skazka.

   

7. Day 7: Eagle hunters, yurt makers and a lake afternoon

   Bokonbaeva and Kyzyl-Tuu on the south shore

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Bokonbaeva
   Day 7 details

   This is a slow day by the lake. In the morning a local eagle hunter, a berkutchi, shows us how golden eagles are raised and trained to hunt from horseback, a craft that families around Bokonbaeva still keep. Then we drive a short way west to Kyzyl-Tuu, a village of yurt makers, where a craftsman shows how the wooden frame, the felt and the woven bands are made, and how a yurt goes up in under an hour; you can help raise one. Lunch is with a family in the village. The afternoon is free at the camp: swim from the shore (in July and August the water is cool but swimmable), walk the beach or sit in the shade. Tonight you sleep in a room with its own bathroom, which we require of the camp we book, so the yurt night is a night by choice and not the whole stay. Dinner is at the camp.

   Included

   • Eagle hunting demonstration near Bokonbaeva
   • Yurt-making workshop in Kyzyl-Tuu
   • Lunch with a family in Kyzyl-Tuu
   • Dinner at camp

   Optional experiences

   • Horse riding from the camp, priced at booking

   More active option: A guided late-afternoon walk into the hills behind the camp for the view across the lake.

   Free time: Afternoon free by the lake

   Activity: Short walks only today.

8. Day 8: Burana Tower and on to Bishkek

   Bokonbaeva to Balykchy, the Boom gorge and Burana Tower, then Bishkek

   • Drive about 4.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Bishkek
   Day 8 details

   We leave the lake after breakfast and drive to its western end at Balykchy, then down the Boom gorge of the Chu River into the Chuy valley. This is a long day, about 270 km and four and a half hours of driving, so it is broken with a sit-down lunch near Tokmok and a long stop at Burana Tower. The tower is an 11th-century minaret, the stump of a once taller tower, standing alone in fields near the site of Balasagun, a Karakhanid capital; it is part of the Silk Roads UNESCO World Heritage listing. Around it lie earthworks, a small museum and a field of balbals, carved stone grave markers with faces, brought from across the region. Climb the tower's narrow inner stair if you like, for the view over the valley to the mountains. We reach Bishkek in the late afternoon for two nights, and the evening is free.

   Included

   • Drive through the Boom gorge with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch near Tokmok
   • Burana Tower, the balbal field and the site museum

   Free time: Evening free in Bishkek

   Activity: The stair inside Burana Tower is dark, steep and narrow; skip it if you prefer and enjoy the view from the ground.

9. Day 9: Bishkek: Ala-Too Square and Osh Bazaar

   Central Bishkek on foot, then Osh Bazaar

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Bishkek
   Day 9 details

   Bishkek is a green, low-rise city laid out on a Soviet grid, with mountains at the end of most streets. We walk from Ala-Too Square, where the guard changes at the flagpole, past the Manas monument to the State History Museum and the Lenin statue behind it, then through Oak Park with its open-air sculptures. After a sit-down lunch we visit Osh Bazaar, the city's best-known market, for felt, spices, dried fruit and kalpaks, the tall white felt hats men still wear. The afternoon is free: rest at the hotel, find a cafe on Erkindik Boulevard or join the walk in Ala Archa National Park. In the evening we sit down together for a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

   Included

   • Bishkek walk with your guide: Ala-Too Square, the Manas monument, the State History Museum and Oak Park
   • Sit-down lunch in Bishkek
   • Osh Bazaar
   • Farewell dinner

   More active option: An afternoon in Ala Archa National Park, about 40 km south of the city, with a two-hour walk up the gorge with your guide (about 1.5 hours of extra driving).

   Free time: Afternoon free in Bishkek

   Activity: About 4 km on foot in the city.

10. Day 10: Depart from Bishkek

    Bishkek to Manas International Airport

    • Drive about 45 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 10 details

    The trip ends after breakfast. A driver takes you to Manas International Airport (FRU), about 30 km and 40 minutes north of the city; many flights from Bishkek leave at night or in the early morning, and the transfer is timed to your flight. If your flight is late in the day, the morning is yours: the Frunze House-Museum, a last walk in Panfilov Park or Erkindik Boulevard, or a coffee in one of the city's cafes. If you want more of Kyrgyzstan, ask us about Song-Kol, a high mountain lake at about 3,000 m with shepherds' yurts, as a two-day extension from Bishkek in June to September. Your guide says goodbye at breakfast or sees you to the airport.

    Included

    • Drop-off at Manas International Airport (FRU)

    Optional experiences

    • Song-Kol extension: two days and one yurt night at about 3,000 m, from Bishkek, June to September, priced at booking

    Activity: Hotel checkout is usually at noon; book a flight leaving after about 2 pm to enjoy a free morning, or any time for an early transfer.

Wildlife and weather: June to September is the season: warm, mostly dry days, with Almaty and Charyn often above 30 C in July and August and cool nights at Saty, Karakol and the lake. Mountain weather changes fast, so carry a rain layer. The lakeside yurt camps and the mountain walks work only in the summer months, so the trip does not run from October to May.

• Almaty2 nights
• Saty1 night
• Karakol2 nights
• Bokonbaeva2 nights
• Bishkek2 nights