Hi,

I want to share my travel experiences from Kyrgyzstan (10 days in August) Bishkek-Karakol- Yeti Oguz- Naryn-Tash Rabat- Kochkor- Kol-Ukok- Bishkek.

General comments:

-          Use Yandex app for taxis

-          Use cash

-          Change cash in the city but airport is kind of OK too (airport rate 90 Som/EUR, city rate 93 Som/ EUR.

-          Minibuses go everywhere in random hours, shared taxis are the same. Just go to hubs, and try to find something going in your direction. Do not rely on schedules from online blogs.

• Trails are not marked, using an offline map is essential. I used AllTrails pro for offline maps and Mapy.cz. I used Mapy to draw new trails on the phone, a feature that is badly missing from AllTrails. Some trails deviate from the ones shown on these apps, so you need some creativity on finding the path, but usually you can figure it out.

Bishkek airport, arrival 5 am:

-          “Official” taxi stands not open. Minibus to city leaves at random times. Negotiated taxi to city around 1000 Som.

Karakol:

-          Ugly city, not worth to stay there, we went up to Yeti Oguz, which is a poor village, but has some OK hikes with red rocks. The Sanatorium is in ruins, would not recommend (dirty, run down pools). 1000 Som taxi to Yeti Oguz.

Naryn:

-          7 am bus from Yeti Oguz to Bishkek, get off at Yeti central (100 Som) transfer to other bus going to Karakol (40 Som), take bus to Kochkor 450 Som, transfer where you can to bus to Naryn (When the bus stops for a break, look and ask around for buses headed to Naryn, otherwise just go to Kochkor and do the same) 400 Som to Narnyn with transfer.

-          Cute city, ok food, good place to stay and relax.

-          Very nice hike to Ak-Tash mountain.

Tash Rabat:

-          nice yurts (clean, spacious, warm and real beds (slept in sleeping bags on the bed() and food booked through CBC, 8000 for driver to go from Naryn, stay one night and return to Naryn. Yurt with dinner and breakfast was about 6000/ 2 person.

-          Fantastic hike to Panda Pass.

-          Watch out with the yaks, we got mixed up in the middle of a 300 large heard, and we got charged twice by one (the rest were peaceful). We raised our hands high and shouted, which stopped the attack. I would say we got lucky, it was a scary experience.

Kochkor:

-          400 Som from Bus station with shared taxi.

-          Small village, not much to do, went there for our hike to Kol-Ukok. Guesthouses can help with getting a Taxi to the beginning of the trail.

Kol-Ukok

-        Guesthouses can help with getting a Taxi to the beginning of the trail. (600 Som per taxi)

-            Do not book with CBT Eco in Kochkor, the yurts are pretty bad. We got confused with the name (we thought its CBT Kochkor), the Yurts and food with CBT Kochkor looked much nicer. The two offices are close to each other, and CBT Eco has more aggressive advertising “I.e. big sign saying Infor point”. The costs are similar though, 4300 / 2 person incl dinner and breakfast, we paid 4600 for a private yurt (but again the yurts weren’t in good condition, the food wasn’t good, and the mattresses were on the floor.

-          First part to the lake is a so-so hike, following a road with no traffic.

-          Hike up to the second lake, it is like Patagonia, beautiful, wild and deserted. Breathtaking, really recommend.

Bishkek:

-          Surprisingly nice city, good food options, nice bars, good massage (I went to Tamga Massage) and the history museum is super.