10 Day Spring Tour (Son-Kul Riding)

Day 2- Ala-Archa and Galloping 

We start the day driving to the Ala-Archa nature reserve from the villa. Once we get there we will meet our horses and spend 2-3 hours riding. More experienced riders can spend this time galloping, while beginners will be introduced to the basics. Afterwards, we will hike higher into the nature reserve up to the broken heart rock and the waterfalls. We will finish the day at a private spa, where we will have a chefs dinner prepared for us. The spa has a sauna, swimming pool, hammam and a billiard table. It is a nice place to relax

Accommodation: Villa in Bishkek

Day 3 - Horse Riding at Chon-Kemin and Kok-Boru Game

 We will set off early at 8am  and drive to the Chon Kemin national reserve. There we will leave our belongings at a guesthouse and meet our horses and guides.

We will take a gentle stroll on horses up to the mountains and nature reserve. After we come down to the village the local shepherds will demonstrate Kyrgyz traditional horse game for us. The highlight being Kok-Boru, a game where two teams fight to score in cauldrons using a sheep carcass.

Accommodation: Chon-Kemin guest house

Day 4 Drive to Kyzart Village

We will set off early and start our drive to the Kyzart Village. We will have lunch at local house after which we will meet our horses and start riding to the Kilemche valley. It is a beautiful 4 hour journey in between which we will take a break on the half way point by the river Bazar Turuk. We arrive to the first sleeping point at a yurt where we will have dinner and sleep at 2500m in altitude.  The journey after the Kyzart village is quite remote and there will be no phone or internet connection. Parts or all of the journey can be covered in snow depending on the weather. At mountains this high and the spring time of year you may experience all four seasons. 

Accommodation: Yurt Camps Kilemche Valley

Day 5 - Horse Ride Kilemche valley -Song-Kol lake

After breakfast in a yurt we continue our journey to Song-Kul lake through pass Tuz-Ashuu (3400m) with break at the top. Afterwards we arrive lakeside to a family yurt and have a lunch  together.  After a long journey we will have time to explore the lake, enjoy the peace.  This is a chill day where we take in the beauty. In the evening we will sit around a campfire and look at the night sky, with no light pollution whatsoever. If there are no clouds, we will see the glimpse of our galaxy called the Milky Way. My undergraduate degree was in Astrophysics and Cosmology. I can tell you all about our galaxy and our place in the universe. Again on this day we will have no connection

Accommodation: Yurts near Son-Kul lake

Day 6 - Son-Kul to South shore of Issyk-Kul

After breakfast we will start making our way back to the Kyzart village. It is roughly a 4 hour ride back. We will end the Son-Kul trip with lunch and say our goodbyes to our hosts. The journey then continues to the southern shore of Issyk-Kul. We will arrive at camp Beltam. This is opportunity to take a hot shower, do your laundry and recuperate after a long trip.  

Accommodation: Barskon Guesthouse

Day 7 - Eagle Hunting, Skazka Canyon and Hike to Barskon Waterfalls

After breakfast at Beltam yurt camp, we will set off to a masterclass with Golden Eagle hunting and Taigain (Kyrgyz Hunting Dog) hunting. This will be a demonstration of the ancient Kyrgyz traditions portrayed by the local hunter from the Bokanbaevo village. Everyone will be taught to shoot from bows like the warriors of old.

Afterwards we will visit the Skazka (Fairytale) canyon. This place is magical and comparable to the surface of Mars. We will follow the road on the south shore of Issyk-Kul and drive up to the Barskon gorge where we will hike up to three beautiful waterfalls. In Barskon you can see the Soviet statue of Yuri Gagarin (first man in space), the beautiful nature of this place used to be a sanitarium for soviet cosmonauts to relax.

Accommodation: Barskon Guesthouse

Day 8 Hike to Altyn Arashan Hot Springs

We will drive to Karakol, a city at the most eastern part of the Issyk-Kul lake. We will leave the car, pack our belongings and hike up to the Altyn-Arashan valley.

The hike is beautiful with many animals on the path, beautiful forests, and pristine rivers. In the valley of Altyn-Arashan we will stay at the guest house and visit the secret wild hot springs. These are naturally formed hot-springs in a cave right next to a rapidly moving river. Formed by placing rocks into a little pool by hunters who used to bathe hundreds of years ago. This may be my favourite spot on Earth.

Accommodation: Altyn-Arashan Guesthouse

Day 9 Cholpon Ata Beach Resort

We will leave Altyn Arashan early, hike down to the city of Karakol and drive through the north shore of Issyk-Kul to the city of Cholpon-Ata.  We will visit some hiking routes on the way such as Gregorievka valley. It is a gentle journey back where we will stay beach side and enjoy one last day togerther before making our way back to Bishkek

Accommodation: Issyk-Kul Villa

Day 10

After the breakfast at the guesthouse we will drive to Bishkek and drop-off people at the airport or their hotels, we wish you a safe and wonderful flight. We hope you had a lovely holiday, and would be happy to have you back should you wish to join us again!

Price List

-  £1350 (€1550  - $1800) per person for an all included roundtrip (transport, food, stay, horses, guides, entrance fees etc).

- 5 Riding days. Galloping in Ala-Archa. 3 Day horse ride to Son-Kul. Riding in Chon-Kemin

- £350 deposit to reserve a spot on the tour. £500 needs to be paid 2 months before the trip. Rest of money should be paid before arrival. 

- Flights to and from Kyrgyzstan not included.

- If you have specific requests about the places you wish to visit or activities to you would like to engage in let me know! We will try to fit it in.