Best time to visit Kyrgyzstan

Siberian winds bring freezing temperatures and snow from November to February, with ferocious cold in the mountains. The average winter minimum is –24ºC. Throughout the country springtime buds appear in April and May, though nights can still be below freezing. Mid-May to mid-June is pleasant, though many mountain passes will still be snowed in. From [...]

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The Central Tian Shan

This highest and mightiest part of the Tian Shan system – the name means Celestial Mountains in Chinese – is at the eastern end of Kyrgyzstan, along its borders with China and the very southeast tip of Kazakhstan. It’s an immense knot of ranges, with dozens of summits over 5000m, culminating in Pik Pobedy (Victory [...]

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Pik Lenin & Achik Tash

Trekking possibilities in the Alay Valley are legion, but serious trekkers head for Pik Lenin (now officially called Koh-i-Garmo). The peak is known as one of the most accessible 7000-ers in the world. It is the highest summit of the Pamir Alay and lies right on the Kyrgyz–Tajik border. The snow-covered ridges and slopes are [...]

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Lake Song-Köl

Alpine lake Song-Köl (Son-Kul), at 3016m, is one of the loveliest spots in central Kyrgyzstan. All around it are lush pastures favoured by herders from the Kochkor Valley and beyond, who spend June to August here with their animals. Visitors are welcome, and this is a sublime place to camp and watch the sun come [...]

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Lake Issyk-Köl & the Central Tian Shan

Lake Issyk-Köl (also Ysyk-Köl) is basically a huge dent, filled with water, between the Küngey (Sunny) Alatau to the north and the Terskey (Dark) Alatau to the south, which together form the northern arm of the Tian Shan. The name means ‘warm lake’. A combination of extreme depth, thermal activity and mild salinity ensures the [...]

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Kochkor village

The little alpine, tree-lined, town of Kochkor (Kochkorka in Russian) is the kind of place where everyone seems to know everyone else. People and vehicles congregate around the roadside bazaar on Orozbakova. One side of the road has colourful vegetable stalls, the other side a clothes market. Taxi drivers whisper their destinations as you stroll [...]

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Kazarman town

Kazarman is the kind of town that begs to be bypassed. Even the main road (Kadykulov) from Naryn to Jalal-Abad sweeps by on the southern outskirts of town. However it’s not all bad; raw, untamed Kazarman’s redemption lies in the nearby petroglyphs of Sailmaluu Tash. The town exists to serve the open-cast Makhmal gold mine [...]

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Karkara Valley

The beautiful, broad valley of the Karkara River, 200km east of Almaty, is an age-old summer pasture for herds from both sides of what’s now the Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan border. The river forms the border for some 40km before heading north to join the Kegen River, beyond which it becomes the Charyn. From Kegen, 250km by road [...]

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Karakol in Kyrgyzstan

Karakol is a peaceful, low-rise town with backstreets full of Russian gingerbread cottages, shaded by rows of huge white poplars. Around the town are apple orchards, for which the area is famous. This is the administrative centre of Issyk-Köl province, and the best base for exploring the lakeshore, the Terskey Alatau and the central Tian [...]

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Kadji-sai

Surrounded by low, wind-and-water–carved canyons, Kadji-Sai makes for a convenient midway point between Bishkek and Karakol. In 1947 Kadji-Sai became somewhat of a ‘Soviet secret’ when uranium was mined here by Soviet Russia; at that time the town had no official name but was simply referred to as Frunze (after the capital) 10. The uranium, [...]

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