A week with yurts and the hike from Alakol to Altyn Arashan in Kyrgyzstan

In September 2024, Helle and Peter had a week with yurts and the hike from Alakol to Altyn Arashan in Kyrgyzstan. We started the trip with a delayed flight and trouble renting a car, so our time in the country was less than we had hoped. We truly enjoyed the time we had, and want to come back.

Due to a delayed flight from Copenhagen, we missed our connecting flight in Istanbul by 15 minutes, and had to spend a Friday night in Istanbul. It was frustrating, but at least Turkish Airlines handled this very professionally.

Day 1 – delayed in Istanbul

In Istanbul, we used the time to change hotel reservations before we could get on the next flight, to arrive almost 24 hours later than planned to Bishkek. We had rented a car with Sergey from Russian Troika, and without any trouble they changed the rental period, and waited for us in the airport at 01:30. When Sergey asked for our international drivers licensens, we had a problem. We only had our Danish licenses with us, and these were not sufficient for Sergey to rent us the car, because Kyrgyz police do not accept foreign licenses. Sergey knew of a solution, namely to have a translation of our Danish licenses made by an official translation agency. But it was now 02:00 on a Sunday, and the translation agencies would not open until Monday at 09:00. Eventually we asked Sergey to drive us to Art Hotel Bishkek, where we had booked last-minute.

Day 2 – changing plans

We spend Sunday considering our options. The trip we had planned required a car. We could change our plans altogether, use public transport, and visit the places accessible this way. Or we could search for a travel agency that could arrange a tour for us in a car with driver. Both options required more time for research than we had, and they would mean that we would most likely not be able to visit the Song Kul lake.

Without a car, we stayed in Bishkek and walked through the small city centre to take in the atmosphere. The city centre is small and with a small number of sites of interest. It is a pleasant city to visit as a tourist. We felt very safe and did not attract unwanted attendance. Everyone we met was friendly and helpful. We checked in at Hotel Evropa which was conveniently located in the city centre.

Day 3 – In a rental car towards lake Issyk Kul

We decided to try our luck with the translation agencies the following Monday, and visited three agencies, but only one could translate from Danish, and it would take two days. Our plan was falling apart as the hours passed.

We contacted two car rental agencies to be certain that an international license was required, and were surprised to find out that according to both of them, tourists are allowed to drive in Kyrgyzstan with their national licenses. On Sunday we had discussed this, but had not pursued it further. If only we had.

As a solution materialised, we rushed to the nearest rental agency, Prestige car rental. They had a very small office and two cars available. We went with a Subaru Outback, and rushed out of the city. Finally on the road!

We planned a long day of driving, to reach Song Kul lake before dark. But after some hours, Helle got a fever, and was not feeling well. Song Kul is remote and at high altitude. We decided that we had to stay reasonably close to medical assistance, and also that adding altitude to the equation could worsen Helles situation.

That meant another change of plans – and we headed towards to southern shore of lake Issyk Kul, where we had read nice reviews of the Meidan Ordo yurt camp. We found the camp, but he gate was closed, and no one was in sight. We were able to force the gate open, and went in. The reception was empty, and we saw no other signs of guests. We tried to book the camp on booking.com, and got an immediate response – the owners could be there in ten minutes. Helle needed a pace to rest, so we waited some minutes before we were checked in at a cozy yurt.

We had made it to lake Issyk-Kul lake. It had been a dream for years to visit the alpine lake surrounded by green pastures and yurts. It was late September, and there were not many tourists. Autumn was coming, and the weather was unpredictable. While Helle rested, Peter walked the beach and took in the the lake and the snow-capped mountains surrounding it.

We had a slow start as Helle still had a fever in the morning, and we had to find a balance where Helle could rest, and where we could explore a little. After checking out, we drove to the nearby Skazka Canyon (Fairytale Canyon). The rock formations and colors are spectacular.

While walking around in the canyon Helle started to feel better, so we changed plans again. Our original plan was to hike three days from Karakol via lake Alakol to Altyn Arashan, and back to Karakol. We drove straight to the trailhead, and decided to see how far we could get. We could pitch the tent and return to the car the next day.

Helle felt good, and we decided to complete the hike over the next two days. We were lucky to have two days of gorgeous sunshine, and we could enjoy the spectacular view of Alakol lake from the pass above.

We have written a separate post about the hike.

Ak-Suu to Cholpon-Ata

We reached Ak-Suu at 11:00 on the third day of the hike, after walking 14 km and descending 700 meters.

We hired the first available taxi to drive us back to Karakol. It was a very old Lada and we had to push it to start. The driver didn’t speak any English and it was difficult to communicate. We had to get back to our car, which was parked 6 km into Karakol Valley. We tried to explain this to the taxi driver, but he didn’t understand why we wanted to go back into the mountains. Before getting back to our car, the taxi ran out of gasoline and the taxi driver gesticulated that he was returning to Karakol.

We were on a deserted street outside the town, far from other taxis and our car. We could see a kiosk, so we went in to ask for help. A guy was delivering goods and he offered to drive us to our car – but first he needed gasoline.

The road into the valley was rough, so 2 km from our car he gave up and for the second time we were dropped off – but now in a distance that was quickly walked.

With our car we drove to downtown Karakol and saw the wooden Orthodox Church before hitting the road to Cholpon-Ata.

We checked into Olimp Hotel and used every available surface in the room to lay or hang all our wet clothes and gear to dry it, before we had a well-deserved dinner.

At the restaurant we wanted a glass of wine for our dinner, but we were told that they did not serve alcohol. However, all other tables were filled with bottles of wine, whiskey and vodka. There was a table in the middle filled with bottles and glasses where everyone was serving themselves. The waiter kept insisting they had no such thing available. We never found an explanation.

Day 7 – Petroglyphs and Burana tower

The temperature had dropped 10°C from the previous day, so it was a cold morning.

We started the day by visiting the open air petroglyph museum northwest of Cholpon-Ata. Here we saw petroglyphs of mostly deer and other animals dating from 1500 BC to 1st century, but also Turkic bulbul grave marker stones. Fat tail sheep with the characteristic fat bump on their behind walked between the petroglyphs.

On our way back to Bishkek we had planned to stop at Konorchok Canyon, but it was pouring down, so we skipped the canyon and drove to the UNESCO site of Burana Tower.

Burana tower is a reconstructed minaret in the ancient Silk Road Town Balasagun from the 10th century. Little remains of the city, so it requires a good imagination. There was also a huge collection of the bulbul grave marker stones.

We drove back to Bishkek and had our last night in the city before flying home the next morning.

Find more stories about hiking here.