A winter in Kyrgyzstan like no other
You will discover the losted shepherds of the Tien Shan range. Yak's farmers are living in difficult conditions but they will open their warm house and yurts, and you will enjoy the Kyrgyz hospitality. After an short hike south of Bishkek, we reach Chong Kemin National Park, before going up to frozen Song Kul lake and enjoy a night in the unique winter yurt camp of the lake.
This tour will be adapted depending on your preferred activity and snow conditions. This program has been designed for lovers of snowshoeing or ski touring accompanied by horses.
A real winter adventure in Kyrgyzstan
An active experience on skis, on snowshoes or on horses for those who want to discover the winter Kyrgyz nomadic life
7 Days • Winter tours • Kyrgyzstan
1 people: $2,085
2 people: $1,235
3 people: $950
4 people: $807
5 people: $722
6 people: $665
7 people: $624
8 people: $594
9 people: $554
10 people: $504
Program
Skitouring or snowshoeing in Chunkurchak, and overnight in Chong Kemin
Today you will enjoy the pittoresque road linking the high plateau of Chunkurchak where you can enjoy an half-day hiking with snowshoes or ski-touring. In the end of the afternoon, you will drive to the National Parc of Chong Kemin. Overnight and dinner in a local family house.
Backcountry skiing or snowshoeing in the Chong Kemin National Park
Today you will be able to feel like a Kyrgyz Nomad because you will have a horse that you can ride to higher grounds. You will be able to ski different slopes and get many runs in today. But you can also choose to snowshoe on forest road. Lunch will be had in the mountains with the horseman and your guide. After a full day of horseback riding and touring you will head back to your guesthouse and share dinner with the shepherds family that you are being hosted by.
Road from Chong Kemin to Kilemche
This morning, you leave the National Parc of Chong Kemin, and you take the road by the Boom canyon, a dry and cold place in winter, but colorful. After a low pass, the road goes down to the Orto Tokoy reservoir and the small city of Kochkor. Then the road leave the civilisation and accross the Kyzart pass, and you will have lunch in a shepherd's house in the village of Kyzart. In the afternoon, you will snowshoeing or skiing or horsebackriding into the gorge of Kilemche, a short walk of 6-7 km. Arriving in the high part of the gorge, installation in a shepherd's house.
Heading to Song Kul lake
This morning, we take the path to reach the shores of Lake Song Kul. On skis, snowshoes or on horseback, and depending on the snow conditions, you will choose your favorite activity to reach the immense plateau of Lake Song Kul. All morning, we climb to the Tuz Ashuu pass by road, then from the pass, we descend to the shores of the lake, which we follow to reach our winter camp in yurts.
A winter day on the frozen Song Kul's lake
Depending on your wishes, you can enjoy snowshoeing, ski-touring, hiking, horseback riding, snowtubbing or just enjoying this losted yurt camp surrounding by snow.
Skiing in the morning, then drive to Bishkek
In the morning, you horseride till the pass of Tuz Ashuu, then you will enjoy 6 km downhill skiing till the Kilemche river where your driver will be waiting for you. Drive to Bishkek. Dinner in the town. Installation in our guesthouse.
Transfer from Bishkek to Manas International Airport.
Depending on your flight time, your guide will join you to the airport and help you check in for your flight. If your flight is later in the day your guide will show you more places in Bishkek before your flight.We hope you enjoyed your trip to Kyrgyzstan and we hope you come back again to explore other counties in Central Asia with us.
Dear Nomad's Land - especially Alex Johnson. You have helped us during preparation of our trip, arranging border zone permits, transportation to mountains, advise in arranging maps and also being a contact person in case of emergency. We had arranged most stuff over internet beforehand. It was generally very helpful and I would recommend to our friends Nomad's Land for tracking in Kyrgistan. And there is so much to see in that country yet. It would be great to visit Kyrgistan again. Thank you.
We spent this summer three weeks with family (parents and adult children) in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, with a trip to the city of Kashgar in Sinkiang (China) .Nomads' Land organized all the Kyrgyzstan and China part as well as the trips to Uzbekistan. You can work with them with your eyes closed: impeccable organization, enthusiastic and passionate guide (also speaking perfectly French), good choice of accommodation and activities. Very pleasant preparation with Fabien, who is attentive and has concocted a trip to us. All for good value for money. Allow at least 10 days for Kyrgyzstan to really enjoy it. The change of scenery is total and the way of life is authentic. Expect "average" comfort but the superb landscapes and the amazing welcome of the Kyrgyz people will give you unforgettable memories. To fully enjoy it, nothing like walking: you will go on beautiful hikes: Altyn Arashan, Song Kul, Lenin peak ... They are all doable but still require good condition, especially that of Lenin peak (base camp to camp 1), which is quite long and demanding (allow 10-12 hours round trip), but it is the most impressive. To reach the south of Kyrgyzstan, you have the choice between a few hundred km of tiring tracks or to make a detour through China and the city of Kashgar. The road is excellent and the city itself is worth the effort (with the added bonus of "Western-style" comfort which feels good). However, it was necessary to endure two days of painful police checks between Kashgar and the border, with an occupying army (Han Chinese, from the east) omnipresent. So it's up to you to decide (knowing that this "detour" is quite expensive considering the short season and the few tourists). After Kyrgyzstan, we visited the cities of the Silk Road in Uzbekistan: Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. Impressive and superb monuments, a very rich history, few tourists and a very pleasant atmosphere. The historic centers are not very extensive and can easily be visited on foot. Do not forget Khiva: it is the smallest of the three but the atmosphere is peaceful and timeless, you sometimes have the impression of going back 100 years. This trip was really exceptional, thank you again to Fabien, Murat and the whole team.
On your way
Chong Kemin National Park KG
This park encompasses the entire Chong Kemin Valley. There are many trails still virgin or almost. Several passes between Issyk Kul Lake or Kitchi Kemin Valley.
The total area is 126,514 hectares. Here in the park the river Chon Kemin flows. More than 780 species of plants grow and rare mammals such as snow leopard, brown bear, maral, Eurasian lynx, golden eagle, himalayan griffon vulture (Gyps himalayensis), bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), saker falcon and sablefly are found.
CBT Chong Kemin KG
Nomad's Land with CBT Chong Kemin offer an amazing trek routes to the Issyk Kul lake. Janybek is the coordinator of the association based in the village of Karol Doeboe
Orto-Tokoy water reservoir KG
The Orto-Tokoy reservoir is the first reservoir built in Kyrgyzstan. Construction began in 1941 and ended in 1960. It is located on the Chu River, behind the village of Kochkor. Its length is about 18 km, its volume is over 470 million cubic meters, and its maximum depth is 47 meters.
The main purpose of the reservoir is to regulate the water level of the Chuy River in order to irrigate for agricultural land in Chui Oblast and southern Kazakhstan.
Kochkor KG
Kochkor is a town of shepherds located in Naryn oblast 200 km from Bishkek. It is located at 1800m. alt. The city has 17,000 residents. Most of them are shepherds or farmers. With the Kyrgyz hospitality, tourism is an increasingly important for economy. It is a starting point to reach the sights as Lake Song Kul, Sarala-Saz pastures, Lake Koelykoek, the salt mine Chong Tuz, and also the crossroads between Issyk Kul lake and City Naryn. Places for visiting: the women cooperative "Kochkor Kutu" which develops Kyrgyz crafts. Opportunity to see a demonstration of the production of livestock market mouton. The cattle market held each Saturday is always a colorful and lively event,don't miss it.
Kilemche Jailoo KG
Kilemche valley is situated in Jumgal region, at an altitude up to 3240 m., where some nomads families stay even in farms during the winter. It does not have steeps rapids, so it is more like a mountain valley and river flowing quietly and steadily. Kilemche jailoo has amazing beauty of meadows, where it grows a lot of herbs and flowers to delight the eye, like arnica, edelweiss and gentian. Mostly shepherds of the Kyzart village, are covering the Kilemche valley by their yurts and cattle. For some nomads is a 2 steps transhumance before to pass the summer at the Song Kul lake.
In winter, to get there is an epic adventure, with Nomad's Land you can enjoy horseback riding, shnow-shoeing, ski-touring or just hiking. The snow makes an beautiful contrast with red south side mountain of Kyzart Toer. The life there is hard, and mostly yaks will pass the winter there. To make your trip more adventurous, you can enjoy a night under yurt at the Song Kul's lake.
Song Kul lake KG
The scenary Song Kul (or Song Kul) lake is the main pasture of nomads. Hundreds yurts are built during summer. The beautiful lake large of about 25-35 km is a natural reserve. Many species of birds are stopping during their long migration. Some tombs from Sakh times and petroglyphs are most ancient traces of live. Different trekking or horseback riding roads are joining the place.
