Song-Kol
Six days from the capital to a border-zone lake, taking in the country's best-known jailoos on the way.
This is the route we would send a first-time visitor on. In six days it covers the three things Kyrgyzstan does better than anywhere else: high summer pasture with families still living on it, a road that climbs through switchbacks to a lake at 3,000 metres, and a border-zone gorge that almost nobody reaches.
The pace is deliberate. Two nights at altitude in yurts, a day in the saddle if you want it, and one long driving day to reach Kel-Suu and get back. Everything else is short hops with time to stop. You will not be rushed off a viewpoint to make a schedule.
Groups are capped at twelve, and we run this route from late May to early October. Outside those months the Kalmak-Ashuu pass is under snow and the yurt camps are down in the valleys.
Open any day to see where you sleep, how far you travel and what the day actually feels like.
Airport pickup at any hour and a rest at the hotel. Afternoon walking tour of Ala-Too square, the Osh bazaar and the old Soviet quarter, then a welcome dinner where you meet your guide and the rest of the group.
Four hours south over the Too-Ashuu pass, with the tunnel at 3,180 m and a long descent into the Suusamyr valley. We reach the village of Kyzart by mid-afternoon and stay in a family guesthouse — your last hot shower for two days.
The day most people remember. Ride or walk over the Kyzart pass onto the Kilemche summer pasture, roughly five hours with a picnic on the way. Horses and a herder come with us; the support vehicle carries your main bag to camp.
Morning at the lake, then the descent through the Kalmak-Ashuu switchbacks — the view opens all at once at the top of the pass. Afternoon drive to Naryn along the river, arriving in time for dinner at a town guesthouse.
The long one: an early start, four hours of rough track through the border zone, and the last hour on foot to the lake itself. Several hours at Kel-Suu before returning to camp on the Kurumduk plain for a night under canvas at 3,300 m.
A long but scenic drive north through the Naryn gorge and the Boom canyon, with stops at the Burana tower and for lunch on the way. Hotel by early evening, with airport transfers whenever your flight leaves.
You sleep at 3,016 m at Song-Kol and 3,300 m near Kel-Suu. Mild headaches on the first night are common; the itinerary is built to gain height gradually.
Nights drop close to freezing even in July. Bring a warm layer, a windproof jacket, and shoes you do not mind getting wet. We supply sleeping bags for the camp nights.
No mobile signal at Song-Kol or Kel-Suu. Your guide carries a satellite messenger and the Bishkek office is reachable through it at any hour.
Send us a note and we will reply within one working day with availability and the exact plan.
Other routes that cover similar ground or pair well as an extension.
Son-Kol, Kel-Suu, Issyk-Kul and Ala-Kul in one week — the most action-packed route we run, with hiking, horses and two nights in yurt camps.
From
€1,190
per person
The short version of the classic Kyrgyz trip: over the Too-Ashuu pass, two nights in yurts at Song-Kol, and back with time for an evening in Bishkek.
From
€560
per person
A proper expedition to Kel-Suu with high camps, 4x4 travel and a spare day built in for weather. Maximum eight travellers.
From
€1,290
per person