15.08 to 26.08.2009, 11 days, currency rate 1 € = 60 KS (Kirghiz Som)

highlights – first Kyrgyzstan impression I can specify in two words - yurts and horses. There were a lot of them on the green treeless hills. We drove slowly in overloaded truck through this fairy landscape. In Sari-Tash we admired beautiful Pamir panorama (although a bit cloudy weather) and in the evening we pitched tent on the town edge. At morning we hitchhiked (paid) to Osh.

Osh I will be remember as a wonderful, diverse meals party (especially after Pamir diet) with plenty of cool small restaurants to choose from. We were eating a lot to caught up losses from trekking. From now my favourite dish was "laghman" (noodles with meat, thick sauce and vegetables). Pretty good was also "dalama". In Osh you can go to even interesting park on the river side, and if you are interested in the great monuments of the former empire leaders, in Osh is a huge Lenin statue.

Travelling from Osh to Bishkek I propose to do during a daylight, in order to not miss the nice views from the road. We spent only one day in Bishkek (city center is nothing special although it is nice trekking areas south of the city) and in the evening we went by minibus to the south shore of Issyk Kol Lake. In the middle of the night we got off from the vehicle near the Barksoon village and pitched our tent next to the lake. Unfortunately the next morning did not bring expected impressive views of snow-covered mountains on the other side of the water. Air transparency did not allow to see good enough this nice landscape. The area south of the lake is famous for Kirghiz nomads hunting with eagles - I recommend this attraction (we saw it in Mongolia). We arrived quite quickly to Karakol (the same name as in Tajikistan, what simply means "Black Lake"). We liked the town, on Sunday early morning you can go to the animals market, except that there is a interesting wooden orthodox church (cathedral). It is worth to stay here if you're in the area on 31 Aug, during the Independence Day may happen some interesting events at the Hippodrome. The most popular ones are hunting with eagles, lifting coins from the ground during the horse riding, chasing woman on horseback in attempt to kiss her etc. We have received a specific information about trekking in the main tourist information office, Jusup Abdrakhmanova St. no. 130. I recommend to use an Internet in the office mentioned above or in the post office (30 KS /h, 0.5 €), because other cafes charge an additional fee for exceeding the “downloading” limits (usually above 5 or 10 MB).

Time for mountains again. Kyrgyzstan offers many trekking possibilities including Pamir's Lenin Peak or Tian-Shan's Khan Tengri and Pik Pobedy base camps (for latter two you need a border permission). We decided on a shorter and lower version in Central Tian-Shan. In contrast to the Pamir it has an alpine character - the lower altitude, a lot of trees in deep valleys, steep slopes to the passes and towering peaks above. I took a photo of topographic map (no marked trails) in one of many travel agencies here, where you can also rent a camping equipment. However, we met several tourists who were not able to go on the trail, because the rentals (hostels, agencies and travel information) run out of tents. Unfortunately they didn't agree to store our excess baggage for trekking period (even for a fee). So we had to find a hostel - there wasn't problem in Yak hostel.

The most popular trekking is in the south of the Karakol town. There are four main valleys, starting from the east: Chong-Kyzyl-Suu, Svetova (Jeti-Oghuz town, red cliff canyon and Flowers Valley), Karakol and Arashan (thermal baths). You can hike through all of them (duration around 6-8 days), three of them, or as in our case just walk from one to another – we entered Karakol Valley, crossed the pass, and exited via Arashan Valley (especially we liked the turquoise Ala-Kol Lake). Agencies recommend horse riding in the valleys - a little too expensive for a small number of people, (7 €) 400 KS /person/day/horse + (18 €) 1100 KS /group/day/guide).

Day 1 - 2 h hike, 8 km

We started at the evening, as there was no reason to stay over night in the town, and begin the hike early in the next morning. So we boarded minibus no. 101 (5 KS, 15 min) and headed south, getting off on the final stop. Few hundred meters away is the entrance gate (1945 m) - foreigners pay 250 KS (4.2 €) for the entry to the park. As it turned out - there are not (yet) entrance gates in Svetov and Arashan Valleys, but there is a checkpoint at one campsite, at the end of Karakol Valley, which you have to pass if you walk from Svetova Valley to the west (or in the opposite direction). After crossing the gate in Karakol Valley hike along the jeep road, go through the village with the river on your right hand until you reach the footbridge, then cross the water on the western side. We pitched a tent after a while.

Day 2 - 6 h hike, 14 km

We continued the hike to the big meadow - here is the official campsite (2,535 m, you can probably pitch a tent for 5 $ per person). At the beginning of the valley there is a clear path turning left, crossing small stream by footbridge and climb steeply up in the forest. First place with tent pitching possibility (2955 m, small piece of "flatness") is after half an hour ascent. Here is a little reservoir created by a small river (too small to call it lake, and too big for a puddle). A few minutes further up the hill there is a wooden shed - a refuge in case of rain or wind - or you can lit a fire camp inside. However, I propose to spend the night higher, because after further two hours climbing we will reach Ala-Kol Lake (3560 m). This is a very beautiful place - definitely recommended for the camping. There are many rocks, so you can hide from the wind.

Day 3 - 5.5 h hike, 15 km

Since the morning sun was shining so beautifully, so it was hard to leave this place. However, it shouldn't be worry as the track will go along the north lake shore for two more hours. Traversing the slope sometimes we climbed up, other times we lowered the altitude, but at the end of the lake length we do the final climb on the pass (3915 m, the highest point on our route). The view from the top is unbelievable – except the turquoise lake you can admire tons of snow covered four and five thousand meters high Tian-Shan peaks. It's better to be here early at the morning, before the clouds cover the view, as it usually happens in the afternoons. After relaxing in the nature it was a time to move on from this windy place. As we looked at the other side of the pass, we immediately understood why a lady in the information office advised that it is better to hike this trail in the direction which we go, not vice versa. Here was simply very steep slope. I started to look for alternative route, but nothing I could find. There were some paths, but none of them look easy to descend. I went to the snow field, I hoped it could be soft enough that you can make steps. This plan quickly failed, because it was a frozen crust - without ice ax and crampons we had no chance. The scree remain – but I had to find some loose stones under my boots, otherwise when surface was too hard it was too easy to slipping a few hundred meters down (it didn't look like to kill yourself, but injury was possible). The first 50 meters we descended in 15 minutes, because I had to secure myself and Ewelina. But shortly scree proved to be safer and despite the steep slope we managed to push the shoe in the gravel, as in the step. From then we went easily and quickly. From the bottom I saw other, longer, but much less steep track – from the saddle you had to go several hundred meters to the east, and then begin to descend. Climbing the way up (way we went down) would required a lot of energy, especially if you carry all your equipment. Path in the direction to the Arashan Valley was already easy, but not spectacular. To the village 12 km (3.5 h) left, and there we could enjoy thermal baths. On the way we had to cross the stream on its south bank. A little bit further there is a small free campsite, but we already rushed down to rest in the warm waters. We continued along the creek and where the valley ends, two rivers meet. A few hundred meters before this river fork we crossed the smaller creek to its northern side (via a small footbridge.) From crossing the river point to the village is less then an hour away. Now we hiked to the north along Arashan River some distance away on our right hand. The Altyn Arashan village (2495 m) disappointed us - we went into a few houses and there was no one who let us go to the bath, or just group of tourists arrived (you can get here by car from the other side) and hosts got mad in the kitchen. We did not want to miss the baths (200 KS per person per entrance), so we decided to go north, pass the last house (the first house if you are coming from down) and continue towards the river on its eastern side. After a few hundred meters you will see two tiny concrete pools (max. 2 persons) in the river, which gets hot water from a metal tube. It is outside, it's for free, but we had to undress very quickly and dive in the water - unfortunately warm, not hot. After a while, when the evening came the pool become too not warm enough - now we had to dressed up very fast, pitch a tent and jump into warm down sleeping bag.

Day 4 - 3.5 h hike, 14 km

Like usual in the morning the sun was shining. Leaving Altyn Arashan we saw its beautiful landscape once again, with snow-covered 4-thousand Palatka proudly standing in the background. Descend is easy, but not very interesting - all the time we walked along the jeep track (3.5 h, 14 km). We reached a paved road (1895 m) before the Teploklyuchenka (Ak-Suu) center town , we caught a minibus no. 350A directly to Karakol (15 KS, 20 min).

Summary: we returned to Karakol town in less then 3 days (51 km). Hiking allowed us to relax mentally, but physically we were tired. After the trekking we went by bus towards the border with Kazakhstan.

Here are the route details with GPS coordinates, walking time and the actual distance between the points (not as the crow flies).

point 1	point 1 altitude	GPS - point 1	point 2	time and distance between points 1 & 2
Karakol Valley gate	1945 m	N 42° 26.575' E 078° 24.886'	Sirota camping	4 h 15'	16 km
Sirota camping	2535 m	N 42° 19.059' E 078° 28.206'	meadow	1 h 30'	3 km
meadow	2955 m	N 42° 19.506' E 078° 29.697'	Ala-Kol Lake (beginning)	2 h 15'	3 km
Ala-Kol Lake	3560 m	N 42° 19.368' E 078° 31.293'	Ala-Kol Pass	1 h 45'	3 km
Ala-Kol Pass	3915 m	N 42° 19.585' E 078° 32.717'	bridge (stream crossing)	2 h 45'	8.5 km
small wood bridge	2590 m	N 42° 21.349' E 078° 37.315'	Arashan (village end)	45'	3.5 km
Arashan (pool)	2495 m	N 42° 22.654' E 078° 36.172'	Teploklyuchenka (Ak-Suu)	3 h 15'	14 km
Teploklyuchenka (paved road)	4295 m	N 42° 28.294' E 078° 31.772'	-	-	-
			total	17 h	51 km

accommodation – we often got off from the vehicle before the town and we pitched the tent in wild or asking a house owner for permission. In this way we spent three nights, and another three ones during the trekking.

We didn't sleep in Bishkek, but we got one business card of cheap hostel - Bishkek Guest House, 190 KS /per (3.2 €), Molodaya Gvardia St. 72, apt. 26       

It's hard to find "Osh Guesthouse", but the LP gives some instructions and in conjunction with a map it works. There is just one bathroom for all hostel guests (when someone takes a shower you can't use the toilet). But shower is warm and you can find here travelmates for the further journey, which can reduce the car hiring costs. It's cheaper to organize a car by yourselves than take an offer from the hostel where the prices are too high. They have an Internet (with CD burning) and laundry service. We took a double room (320 KS /per), because the cheaper dormitory (220 KS /per, 3.7 €) was separate for men and women.       

We liked “Yak Hotel” owner (or employee) in Karakol. When we visited him the first time he agreed without a problem to storage our luggage for free (even we didn't say we stay there after our return). But we did – double room costs 300 KS /per (5 €), but we pitched the tent for only 100 KS /per. Description from the LP is a bit not correct – the fact there are two bathrooms, even a sauna, but no kitchen or ordering a food possibility.

town	hotel and address	N	accommodation	price per night	€/ per	note	comments
Osh	Osh Guest House, LP	1	double room	320 KS/ per	€5.3	6
Karakol	Yak Tours Hostel, LP, Gagarina 10	2	tent	100 KS/ per	€1.7	7
	in wild	6	tent
	hospitality	1
	in transport	1	minibus
		11			€9 (3)

transport – Kyrgyzstan is cheaper and has much more extensive public transport network compare to Tajikistan. However, beyond Bishkek you need to bargain and wait for all passengers. Travelling from Osh to Bishkek is a bit tricky. LP directs you to the marketplace, where practically you have to find a taxi, not minibus. The hostel owner gave us a completely crazy price. I recommend to find the place where cargo minibuses go to the capital. Ask for "vjeshovy rynok" in the northern part of town, a few hundred meters north of the Jayma Bazaar. Those minibuses are in three quarters of their length in a cargo style, but there are few seats behind the driver's one – there is even a place to sleep! Obviously this is much cheaper than previous versions. We booked our place with the driver a day earlier. Overall the minibuses departing in the afternoon (around 2pm) and arriving to Bishkek early in the morning. Everything is okay except a wonderful scenery, which we could admire only until sunset.

We were leaving Bishkek in the evening, the minibuses there are operating till late.

Note – Kirghiz drivers are trying to charge you extra for a luggage - do not let them do it, as there is no such practice with the locals. The only exceptions are the cargo minibuses.

From Karakol there is a bus leaving daily at 1:30 pm in direction to the border with Kazakhstan (Karkara Valley). I'm not sure for the final destination of this bus, but one of the showing name was San-Tash. The driver took us to the intersection from where 5 km to the border remained (no public transport). We met a taxi driver there but his price was too high. So we walked and arrived at the border check point at dusk, it seems that the border is open till late (maybe even 24 hours). We successfully hitchhiked after crossing the border.

day	destination	transport	price in KS	€/ per	duration	km
39	Tadjikistan border - Sari Tash	truck	85 KS/ per	€1.4	30'	45
40	Sari Tash - Osh	hitchhiking (slow truck)	200 KS/ per	€3.3	7 h	184
43	Osh - Bishkek	cargo minibus (night)	400 KS/per + 100 KS/bag	€8.3	14.5 h	717
44	Bishkek - Barskoon (lake)	minibus	250 KS	€4.2	5.5 h	326
45	Barskoon - Karakol	minibus	50 KS	€0.8	1.5 h	79
45-48	Karakol - Teploklyuchenka	walk	-	-	3 dni	51
48	Teploklyuchenka - Karakol	minibus	15 KS	€0.3	20'	10
50	Karakol - junction to border	bus	70 KS	€1.2	3.5 h	86
50	junction to border - border	walk	-	-	1 h	5
	city transport	minibus, bus	48 KS/ per	€0.8	-	-
				€20		1503

visa – I found on Internet forum an information that visa can be handled at the embassy in Berlin – just send them an envelope with your passport, the completed visa application, proof of bank transfer, a letter explaining what you need, your return addressed envelope. Of course sending documents by mail is always a risk. I read also news that the visa can be obtained at the Bishkek airport (but not on the land borders).

We applied for a visa through an agency, in our case it was probably the best option. Monthly visa costs 55 €. Unfortunately the enter and exit dates of your visa must be filled at time of application – visa is not valid from the entry day, but from the fixed dates which you applied – no good idea if you like travelling style “go with the flow”. You do not need a letter of invitation (LOI) if applying outside of Central Asia, otherwise you might be asked for this kind of document. To obtain a visa it shouldn't take longer than a week. Apparently there is no need for further mandatory registration for most of the nations.

Kyrgyzstan has embassies in most countries of the former USSR, as well as in Austria, Belgium, Germany and Iran.

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