If you love nature, crave adventure, and want to travel on a budget, KYRGYZSTAN is the place to go! The trip cost me less than 200 USD.
I spent 5 days traveling in Kyrgyzstan with one destination in mind, the famous Ala-Kul Lake. If you have a limited time frame, like I did, then this is the best itinerary for you.
- DAY 1: Transfer from the airport to Bishkek and Bishkek to Karakol. Stay in Karakol for the night.
- DAY 2 : Depart on horseback from the horse base through the Kok-Tyz (“blue field”) pasture and up through the Altyn Arashan valley. Time on horseback about 4-5 hours. Camping in a yurt and enjoy bathing in a natural Hot Springs.
- DAY 3: Hike to the Ala Kol Lake, riding up the Keldike valley until the bottom of the pass and crossing Ala Kol pass (3850 meters) on feet. Return to the Hot Springs for an overnight stay in your yurt. Total time for the day hike 9-10 hours.
- DAY 4: Return to the horse base down through Altyn Arashan valley. Time on horseback or walking 4 hours. Stay in Karakol for the night.
- Day 5: Karakol – to Bishkek – to the airport
That is the basic breakdown of the trip and here are all the juicy details:
From the airport grab the 380 bus right outside for 50 soms, a little less than 1 USD. This bus will take you to Bishkek where you can easily transfer to another bus that will take you to Karakol. I’m not sure what number the bus to karakol was but you can’t miss the bus driver screaming Karakol, as he stands outside his bus trying to fill it up. That bus will cost you 7 USD. Now sit back and relax because you will be stuck in that small van for the next 6-7 hours with a quick break in between to grab snacks.
In Karakol I stayed at Tunduk guest house, which was literally perfect! It is a small house with three rooms and a shared bathroom but trust me it’s lovely ! And a steal for only 10 USD a night for two people 🙂 I checked in around 2 pm and walked around the town. There are many shops to buy trekking gear and places to grab fresh food for your next two days of traveling. Your tour will only include breakfast and dinner, and honestly the food wasn’t great so I highly recommend you grab as much food from Karakol as possible. They served us plain rice for dinner every night, and soup every morning. I was definitely not happy with the food selection. They will have fresh breads for sale, meat pies, fruits and veggies and lots of stuff in the Karakol markets so just stock up.
With that being said if you just want to trek this route then you probably don’t need a guide. There are many places to stay and you can even tent and do it all on your own for dirt cheap, meaning way less than 200 USD. You don’t even have to plan it in advance. I noticed most backpackers were just showing up to the guesthouses and yurts asking if they had availability for the night. The yurts cost less than 10 USD a night to stay in. It is not too busy and you will find a place to stay for sure. The place we stayed was never full.
On the other hand, if you want a horse trekking experience then you do need to get a guide and rent the horses. I personally love trekking so I trekked while Anas rented a horse and it actually worked out well 🙂 We stayed at the same pace. However I truly recommend hiking it. The first day on horse is really rocky and not the most pleasant ride. But hiking it was incredible!
If you choose to use a guide hook up with Karakol destinations to sort out this travel tell them you would like a trekking experience from Altyn Arashan valley to Ala-Kul lake. We chose the express 3 day package. If you choose this option do keep in mind that to actually get to Ala-Kul lake you will have to trek at least one hour up a very steep dangerous mountain pass, but you will get the most amazing views of your life!
So on your second day you head out from Karakol to the beginning of your trek. If you aren’t using a guide, grab a taxi to the beginning of the Altyn Arashan valley trek (they know where it starts and the taxi’s cost less than 2 USD). Horse trekking and hiking takes the same amount of time, you will trek about 4-5 hours to get to your yurt base. The sights are amazing and you will literally be immersed in nature as you walk along Altyn Arashan valley. It truly is beautiful. When you reach the yurt base you can soak in their natural hot spring. This will get your muscles rested for the insane hike you have the following day.
Third day you are waking up early for a 9-10 hour trekking adventure. This day was one of the best days of my life, however it did start pretty rough. The weather was awful with a cocktail of rain, freezing cold temperatures, and fog. Our guide suggested that we don’t go to Ala-Kul due to the weather conditions, however I refused to let that even be an option. I came all this way and there was no way I was going to turn around. He said we would get sick and the fog would block our views. This happened to my father and I in Norway at pulpit rock, and I remember the disappointment I had when reaching the top— I didn’t get to see anything 🙁
I sat for 30 minutes debating what was the best thing to do, and decided this was my chance and I’m not going to lose it. We headed out and poor Anas really got the brunt of it. Hiking in cold and rainy conditions is not as bad as horse trekking in them. I stayed warm by constantly moving. But after two hours I noticed Anas was freezing cold, his hands were turning purplish and his body was shivering. He was stagnant on that horse enduring those conditions and I knew if we continued he would end up with pneumonia. He needed to go back, and I told the guide to take him back and I would keep going. The guide was fine with it. Honestly you do not need a guide to trek this, the paths are very well defined. But Anas refused, he said if I’m doing it he’s doing it. I thought about going back for Anas sake, but I really dreamed of seeing Ala-kul for so long and I just couldn’t bring myself to turn around (myself selfishness exposed). I gave Anas everything I had to keep warm as we continued cold and soaked. Thankfully after another two hours the sky cleared and we had the most beautiful sunny day to continue our journey and view the lake in clear weather. ALL I CAN SAY IS WE WERE REALLY REALLY REALLY LUCKY, and I thank god for that!
We arrived at the bottom of the Ala-Kul pass, and when I say you will be beat and tired once you arrive… yea I’m not kidding. This is tough and if you are not in great shape you are gonna be dying, and if you are in great shape you are going to be dying. Anas horse trekked the whole way and only needed to get up that one hour steep hill at the end, and it was still super tough for him. So keep that in mind if you are planning to come. You must get up that last part by foot and it is not easy in any sense, but if you take your time, and take it step by step with many breaks you can get up… and I promise IT IS WORTH IT!!!!
I started up the mountain at a faster rate than Anas. I was too excited to see the top. I would walk a bit then sit, tell myself words of encouragement so that I wouldn’t give up. “You can do this”, “Only a bit further”, “You came all this way… almost there.” Every time you think you are closer, another path shows up over the horizon. Be prepared with some good affirmations on hand, you’re gonna need them. I looked behind and saw Anas was not coming, he was sitting at the bottom. So I kept going and finally reached the top, wow just wow. It is truly a sight to see.
I took a few photos and sat there for a minute taking it all in. I’m in Kyrgyzstan, I took a torturous bus ride, I hiked an insane amount of miles, and I just climbed up this mountain on my hands and feet crawling… all just to see this. Deep breathe… actually pretty shallow breathe due to the altitude. Take it all in.
I started to descend and about 10 minutes down to my surprise there was Anas.
I turned back around, and this time we both climbed to the top together. The look on his face was priceless. In the beginning of this day he wanted to kill me and turn around, now he was thanking me for pushing him, thanking me for this adventure, and as we sat there we admired our accomplishment together. These are the moments I live for.
But the day wasn’t over, we still had to descend and hike all the way back.
For some reason I wasn’t bothered by it at all. I was living off my endorphins from the climb and views, and I enjoyed every step home. Also on the way back we got to view the hike in sunlight which was a completely different experience. We passed mountains filled with sheep, cows, and all shades of green. I have to say this really was one of the best days of my life.
We got back to our yurt camp, soaked in the hot spring, and passed out cold.
The next day we hiked back 5 hours to Karakol, and stayed at the same guesthouse (Tunduk). We were supposed to walk around a bit considering it was our last day in Karakol, however the idea of walking was just not enticing at this point. We were beat. I was on the hunt to try some actual Kyrg food, but it was EID (islamic holiday) and everything was closed. If you know me and follow my travels you know I’m not a huge foodie. But I was disappointed that I didn’t get to even try one authentic dish in Kyrgyzstan.
One way I keep my costs down during my travels is by not going out to eat, and trying to scavenger food from markets. However I did notice in Kyrgyzstan the prices in the restaurants were amazing. Every dish was under 2 USD. So if you have the chance to eat out definitely do so. You can enjoy trying many dishes without breaking your wallet. We survived mostly off of fresh breads that were baked with meats, cheese, and potatoes. The markets had fruits and vegetables, and for Anas lays potato chips :). The breads cost around 50 cents each.
The last day we hopped back on that bus. To get to the bus station it was about a 30 minute walk. We could have taken a cab for 1 USD, but again when I say I’m cheap on my travels I’m not lying. We walked to save that dollar! It also happened to be a beautiful morning walk with the sun rising over Karakol while everyone was still fast asleep. We got to watch the dogs wake up early and scour the street for food before the hustle and bustle of the day began. The bus driver played Russian disco music for the 7 hour drive to Bishkek. After we got to Bishkek I had a very hard time finding the bus to the airport. No one seemed to want to help us, which was really disappointing we had such a great trip and I was sad to leave with a sour taste in my mouth. We ended up paying a taxi to Bishkek airport, which I felt really pissed off about. The bus to the airport was 1 USD each and I paid 6 USD for the taxi. As we got into the taxi we saw the bus to the airport drive past us. OMG!! I was frustrated but defeated oh well I can’t win them all 🙂 .
We paid about 130 USD for the tour with the horses, breakfast and dinner, guide, and yurt stay for three days. I had taken out 200 USD to pay for the tour, the two day guesthouse stay in Karakol and for miscellaneous food, buses, and what not…. I got to the airport and still had money left over. I ended up buying a few souvenirs with the extra money, because I truly couldn’t find another way to spend it.
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