Walking vacations in Kyrgyzstan

When confronted with the rugged lay of the land, it’s easy to see why hiking is one of the best ways to see Kyrgyzstan. Driving will get you from A to B eventually, but rural roads are often potholed from the harsh winters and either take the long route around seemingly impenetrable mountains – or make a death-defying zigzag over them.

With walking boots and an excellent local guide, however, the mountains of Kyrgyzstan are far from impassable.

Thousands of kilometres of footpaths have existed for as long as people have been living in this land – for more than 200,000 years, and long before Kyrgyzstan as a nation was a twinkle in the eye. After all, until the 9th century or so, most people moved their settlements and livestock with the seasons, creating paths as they went. Stories of the nomadic tribes, Silk Road traders and armies who have walked here are around every bend – and a great guide will share them with gusto.

Small group walking vacations in Kyrgyzstan usually have a group size of just 6-16 people, making it much easier to stay in small, locally run accommodation. Hikers will be welcomed warmly into a guest house in Bishkek and snooze in a homestay in Chon-Kemin National Park. In Karakol, you’ll be invited into a Dungan household to share stories over a homecooked meal.

A real highlight is staying at a yurt camp on the shores of Issyk-Kul Lake. Most visitors stay for the day, but settling in for longer gives you the chance to get into the rhythm of sunrise swims, meals in the shared dining room and stargazing under some of the clearest skies on the planet. As well as being a great stay, visits to yurt camps help preserve the demand for yurts themselves – and of the skills of the people who make them. These camps are extraordinarily low impact too; once dismantled, it’s almost like the camp was never there.

Homestays and camping aren’t just unforgettable experiences – at every step, they ensure that your money remains in the communities you visit.

Hiking between the surreal Mars-red mountains of Djety-Oguz Gorge, you’ll get the chance to meet people who hunt with eagles. In Kochkor, you’ll learn how craftswomen painstakingly make felt rugs by hand, weaving in images of the steppe – shepherds, goat horns and yurts. (The challenge is deciding how to roll one into your suitcase.) And you can have a go at making the Uighur staple of hand-pulled laghman noodles with a family in Karakol.

The whole way along, you’ll be in the great company of a driver, trek leader and local guide who will tie together the storied histories of Kyrgyzstan. They’ll also show which paths to stick to, keeping both you and the fragile mountain slopes safe and sound.

City walking tour Silk Road origins Markets and monuments While not exactly a hike, you can certainly up your step count while wandering around Bishkek. The capital of Kyrgyzstan started life as a single clay fortress in 1825, built by the Khanate of Kokand to keep an eye on Silk Road caravan routes and extract tolls from Kyrgyz tribes passing through. It was flattened by Russian troops just over 30 years later – before being rebuilt and growing into the sprawling city you can explore today.

Stroll leafy boulevards to Ala-Too Square, an ominously orderly Brutalist piazza that was the stage of the anti-government Tulip Revolution in 2005. Lenin’s statue once loomed in the middle, swapped for Manas – the hero of the national epic poem – after Kyrgyzstan gained independence. Osh Bazaar is another highlight, where you can pick up baked snacks, dried fruit and nuts for the walks ahead. There are also flea markets to scour and sculptures to peruse in Oak Park.

Vast mountain lake Beaches and resort towns Petroglyph museum At 182km long and 60km wide, Issyk-Kul is the second largest mountain lake in the world. Issyk-Kul means “warm lake” in Kyrgyz; its sits at 1,600m high and yet, thanks to the high salt content, never freezes over. This relatively toasty microclimate has tempted people to its beach-lined shores for millennia. Head to Cholpon-Ata, an old Soviet resort town that’s still a popular summer escape. As well as parasols and piers, there’s a rock art museum piled high with over 5,000 stone petroglyphs from the 7th century BC. Trails wind up into the mountains behind for views over the blue lake far below.

Trekking vacations warm up with some of the walks above, before delving further east, looping up into the higher reaches of the mountains. Highlights include Chon Kyzyl-Suu Gorge, where the bright white yurts of nomadic families dot the green, river-threaded pastures.

These are intermediate and challenging hikes that you can take on with the help of porters. Traveling with a responsible travel company will ensure that they have full workers’ rights and a fair wage that isn’t siphoned off by a company from out of town. The big climbs are always rewarded too – usually with wild camping in beautiful canyons or a stay in a Silk Road-style caravanserai inn, all wrapped up in sweeping mountain panoramas.