The Ultimate 7-Day Northern Kyrgyzstan Road Trip Itinerary
Max here. If you’ve been following our Central Asian adventures, you’ll know that my mum and I had just visited Kazakhstan’s weird capital Astana, and the far more interesting city of Almaty. But we weren’t done yet. It was time to head to our next ‘Stan: Kyrgyzstan.
The goal for Kyrgyzstan? A 5-day road trip around Northern Kyrgyzstan’s lakes, with a few days in the nation’s capital, Bishkek.
How We Got There: Almaty to Bishkek
Now, the journey from Almaty to Kyrgyzstan is actually rather easy. It involved us paying £25 each for a private Yandex Go taxi for the 4-hour drive from Almaty straight to the border.
Sloth Confession: There is a much cheaper public bus for around £5, but sometimes, paying a little extra for a private, air-conditioned taxi is just the smart, faff-free choice (especially when travelling with your mother!)
The Sloth‑Approved 5‑Day Itinerary
Day 1: Crossing Borders & Sloth-ing in Bishkek
Day 2: Burana Tower, Fresh Trout & Lake Issyk-Kul
Day 3: Mountain Hawks, Exploding Coolant & Karakol Yurts
Day 4: The Impossible Ala-Kul Drive & Red Canyons
Day 5: The Magic of Song-Kul Lake (and a 4 AM Wake-Up Call)
Day 6: Gravity, Bishkek Traffic & Returning the Truck
Day 7: Osh Bazaar, Al Archa National Park & Departure
Sloth Suggested Itinerary: Day 1
I guess the first thing we did on the Kyrgyz leg was actually get into the country!
Our Yandex dropped us off at the Korday border crossing, which is the closest and most convenient land border to the capital, Bishkek.
I’ve had some horrible land border experiences in my time (Tajik/Uzbek comes to mind), but this one was super smooth. Kyrgyzstan is visa-free for most nationalities these days, and within minutes we had our passports stamped – we had made it. 🙂
Arriving in Bishkek & Dealing with Taxis:
Once we stepped foot into Kyrgyzstan, the usual border hustle began. You will be swarmed by local taxi drivers quoting ridiculous prices.
Sloth Tip: Do not listen to the taxi drivers at the border! Just stand your ground, ignore the hassle, and wait for your Yandex (or Bolt) to arrive on the app. We ordered one, paid the standard, fixed local rate, and enjoyed a peaceful 30-minute ride into Bishkek.
Our Sloth Stay: The Bugu Hotel For our base in the capital, we checked into the fantastic Bugu Hotel. Costing around £50 a night (which is roughly $63 USD), we found this to be brilliant value for money. It’s clean,modern, and well located. Mum particularly loved the quirky interior; our room featured an exposed brick wall with a bear painted right onto it!!
After the long travel day, all we really wanted to do was get some food and go to sleep. Thankfully, there was a great Korean place just across the road!
The Surprising Secret of Central Asia: Korean Food .
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Max, isn’t it bad form to eat Korean food when you’re trying to immerse yourself in Central Asia?
Normally, I’d agree. But here’s the truth: Korean food is actually incredibly popular and deeply authentic in Kyrgyzstan, and there’s a big historical reason for it.
During the 1930s, under Joseph Stalin’s rule, around 170,000 ethnic Koreans living in the Russian Far East (known today as the Koryo-saram) were forcibly deported to Central Asia, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Stalin was paranoid they might act as Japanese spies. So, eating vast quantities of delicious Korean BBQ in Bishkek isn’t just a comfort meal, it’s actually a taste of Central Asian history!
With our bellies full of Korean food, we called it an early night. We needed to rest up and prepare ourselves for the real adventure ahead….
Suggested Sloth Itinerary: Day 2
Our second day in Kyrgyzstan was all about moving from the city to the real reason we came here: nature. Today’s plan was pretty simple… pick up our 4×4 truck and reach the northern shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, specifically the bustling town of Cholpon-Ata.
The Logistics: Gearing Up
We started the morning with a solid breakfast at the Bugu Hotel (included in the stay, which is always a win). After fueling up, we grabbed a Yandex to our rental agency, Rent a Car 4×4 in Kyrgyzstan Bishkek.
We met the boss, gave the truck a thorough once-over, and handed over a stack of USD ($360 for 5 days). Once the paperwork was settled, we hit a nearby supermarket to stock up on the essentials: water, snacks, and “emergency supplies” in case the local cuisine decided to test our stomachs ;). We then hit the road.
The Trout Adventure
About 30 mins into our drive north of Bishkek, the road began to wind into the mountains. This is where the landscape starts to show off. We also picked up our first hitchhiker, a common theme on our Kyrgyzstan adventure it turns out!
Our first stop for the day was a fascinating trout restaurant named Forel’ on Google Maps. In Kyrgyzstan, trout is a big deal, and this place took “farm-to-table” to a literal extreme:
The Catch: They fished our trout directly from the river while we watched.
The Preparation: In a move that was both fascinating and slightly grim, the fish were dispatched in a bathtub before being cleaned and prepped.
The Result: It was some of the best fish I’ve ever tasted.
We paid roughly £20 for 2kg of trout. The value for money in this part of the world continues to baffle me.
A Piece of Home: The Village of Rotfront
As we continued our drive, we detoured through a village called Rotfront. Now, I am half German and was traveling with my German mother, and Rotfront (originally known as Bergtal) is one of the last remaining German Mennonite villages in Kyrgyzstan.
Founded in the late 19th century, it’s a bizarre place where you can still see traditional German-style houses with neat fences and gardens. While many ethnic Germans moved back to Germany after the fall of the Soviet Union, a small community remains, keeping the language and heritage alive in the middle of the Central Asian steppe.
Soon after Rotfront, we came across one of Kyrgyzstan’s only man-made tourist attractions, the Burana Tower. Interesting place, makes for a cool photo, but honestly our highlight was off-roading into the tower area without realising, before being told off for driving in. Turns out there is a car park and a locked gate, but we forge our own path here 😉
Destination: Cholpon-Ata
Finally, we pulled into Cholpon-Ata. If you visit in the summer, be prepared: this place is absolute chaos.
As it turns out, Lake Issyk-Kul serves as the regional “sea” for all the landlocked stans, meaning it is the premier holiday destination for everyone from Almaty to Tashkent!
We checked into our home for the night, the wonderful Maison Hotel, which was right by the beach! Turns out there was some sort of fun fair happening, so we went to join in on the festivities…
Cholpon-Ata is probably most famous for its Soviet Ferris Wheel, so of course we rode that (although mum found the height and the creaking metal more than a little terrifying!). I also popped into the really quite cold lake (even though it was July), whilst mum bought some ice-cream that she found delicious.
For dinner, we stayed in our hotel (restaurants seemed hard to find??). Not complaining though… the hotel food was banging. I finished the day with a bowl of Lagman (hand-pulled noodles with meat and vegetables) (my favorite Central Asian dish by a long shot), whilst Mum had a tasty salad.
With the sound of the lake in the background and a successful first day of driving under our belts, it was an early “goodnight” for Day 2 – for mum at least. I ended up drinking Kyrgyz vodka with the bar man and chatting about stuff for a few hours, which was great fun. 🙂
Suggested Sloth Itinerary: Day 3
If Day 2 was a gentle introduction to the Kyrgyz countryside, Day 3 was a proper adventure. This day had everything: spectacular views, an unexpected winged passenger, a mechanical near-disaster, and an ex-policeman saving us!
Alpine Nostalgia and a Proper Breakfast
After a great night’s sleep, I woke up early (despite the vodka), threw my trunks and a towel on, and went down to the lake for a quick, bracingly cold morning swim (this helped the vodka).
The weather was absolutely glorious, which was a relief after yesterday’s rain. Because the sky was completely clear, I could finally see the snow-capped mountains framing the opposite side of the lake. The view made me smile; it looked exactly like my old home in Konstanz, Germany, looking out across the water toward the Alps.
After a cold dip, we headed downstairs to enjoy a seriously good breakfast buffet at the hotel (mum was a big fan of this). Then, it was time to pack up the truck and hit the road.
Today we set out to reach a yurt camp just outside the town of Karakol, tracking down the “real” Kyrgyzstan along the way … think sweeping pastures, dramatic mountain passes, and semi-nomadic life.
The Gorge and Our Most Unusual Hitchhiker
To find those postcard-perfect pastures, we turned off toward our first checkpoint: Chon-Ak-Suu Gorge. Getting there meant surviving some of the world’s worst potholed roads, but luckily, our 4×4 truck proved to be an absolute beast.
As we neared the turn-off for the gorge, we drove past a father and his son standing by the roadside. The son, who was about 14, was holding a 1-year-old hawk on his arm. We drove past them, but after about 30 seconds of mum and I frantically debating whether turning around was a sensible idea, curiosity won. We spun the truck around and pulled up.
Using Google Translate, we figured out the father was looking for someone to take his son up the mountain. As it turned out, the teenager was heading up to a local waterfall where tourists pay to take photos with the bird.
Before we knew it, there were four of us in the truck: myself, my mum, a 14-year-old Kyrgyz lad, and a live hawk sitting comfortably in the cabin. It remains one of my absolute favorite travel stories. When we reached his destination at the waterfall, he kindly let us hold his bird, we gave him some money to support him, said our goodbyes, and continued climbing further up the mountain road.
The Coolant Catastrophe
Just as we were riding high on our brilliant luck, reality hit. The truck’s oil light suddenly flashed on. I pulled over on the mountain loop to top it up.
Everything was fine until mum, with the absolute best intentions, thought it would be a great idea to check the coolant level. Unfortunately, she opened the cap while the engine was still piping hot.
Boom. Coolant sprayed absolutely everywhere, leaving us with a dangerously empty reservoir and an engine that was bound to overheat on the steep incline. We scraped together what minimal leftover coolant we had laying in the boot, dumped it back in, and spent the next hour meticulously “babying” the truck around the beautiful mountain loop, praying we wouldn’t blow the engine before reaching the main road.
Saved by the Law
Once we made it back down to civilization, we parked for 30 minutes to let the engine cool down completely. We desperately needed to find a shop selling coolant, but on this rural stretch of highway, it proved incredibly difficult.
Eventually, we pulled into a small roadside stop owned by a local ex-policeman. Seeing our dilemma, he offered to help. In a move that was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid, I hopped into his private car, and we drove 30 minutes to a tucked-away local mechanic he knew. We bought the coolant, raced back to our truck, and then the magic happened.
To clear the air bubbles out of the line, the ex-rozzer literally re-aired the cooling system using his mouth on the hose – what a hero.
Our First Yurt Experience: Karakol Valley
With the truck fully operational again, we made our way to the stunning Karakol Yurt Village, nestled beautifully in the emerald-green Karakol Valley.
This was our first-ever night in a traditional yurt, and it did not disappoint. The camp is run by an amazing, incredibly welcoming family. We set up our things, sat down to a delicious home-cooked dinner with them, and spent the night chatting and drinking (more) local vodka (this stuff was homemade and extremely high octane lol).
It was a long, exhausting, and completely unpredictable day, but it was the perfect way to experience the true spirit of Kyrgyzstan. 🙂
Suggested Sloth Itinerary: Day 4
Day 4 of our roadtrip kicked off in the best way possible. After a proper, solid night of sleep under the thick felt blankets of our yurt in the Karakol Valley, we woke up completely refreshed. We sat down with our host family for a fab breakfast whilst mapping out the plan for the day.
Our ultimate end goal for tonight was the small village of Barskoon, located about halfway along the southern shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. Since Barskoon was only a direct two-hour drive away, we looked at the map, saw the famous alpine lake of Ala-Kul sitting high above us in the mountains, looked back at our beast of a Nissan truck, and thought: Hell yeah, let’s see how close we can get.
This nearly proved to be a catastrophic mistake.
The Road to Ala-Kul: Trucks vs. Terrain
To give you some context, Lake Ala-Kul is a stunning, turquoise alpine lake sitting at an altitude of nearly 3,560m. Most travelers reach it by embarking on a grueling, multi-day trek. The only other option is to shell out an insane amount of cash ($100+ per person) to hire a specialised, high-clearance Soviet-era military truck to battle up the boulder-strewn tracks.
Now, being a massive petrolhead, I know exactly what modern 4×4 trucks are capable of. But I definitely underestimated the raw, unforgiving nature of Kyrgyz mountains. For the first few miles, everything went perfectly. We even met a German couple attempting the same route, albeit in a much wimpier Toyota RAV-4, and they managed to follow our lead just fine.
Then, we hit the real test: a sketchy, rotting wooden bridge crossing a roaring glacial river. The bridge had a handful of warning signs that, looking back, were definitely there for a reason. The German couple took one look at it, wisely threw in the towel, and turned around.
But my mother and I? Completely unphased. We powered the Nissan straight over the creaking wood and kept climbing.
What followed was an incredibly beautiful drive through dense pine forests and alpine meadows that looked better than Switzerland. However, this track was nowhere near EU-compliant. After about an hour of violently battling the car up a brutal, boulder-filled off-road section, my mechanical sympathy kicked in.
So, despite the golden traveler rule of “don’t be gentle, it’s a rental,” we decided enough was enough, parked the truck, and decided to walk.
We didn’t make it to the lake on foot, as it turns out, it would have taken over a day from where we parked! But the scenery alone was completely jaw-dropping and worth every single bump. Navigating the truck back down was a tense affair; minus a few loud, cringe-inducing underbody scrapes against the mountain rocks, we made it back to the main tarmac entirely unscathed. We completely failed to see the lake, but we were still buzzing that we gave it a proper go.
Uighur Noodles and Yurt T-Shirts
With roughly half the day left, we drove back into the town of Karakol to hunt down some lunch. We were on a mission to find a local delicacy: Ashlan-Fu, a famous, traditionally vegetarian noodle soup that originates from the Dungan people (Chinese Muslims who fled to Central Asia in the 19th century).
We managed to sniff out a tiny, hidden spot with absolutely zero tourists and only locals. The owners were over the moon to see us, and the food was spectacular. To top off a great afternoon, we tracked down a branch of our absolute favorite Kyrgyz coffee chain (Giraffe) for a brilliant iced coffee (breaking all of my anti-food poisoning rules but alas), and I bought an awesome t-shirt with a yurt printed on it.
From Switzerland to Arizona: Jeti-Oguz
Around 15:00, we hit the highway toward Barskoon. Our first major pitstop was Jeti-Oguz, and honestly, it blew our minds.
I read somewhere that Kyrgyzstan is a geographical chameleon, and I love this phrase. One minute you feel like you are standing in the Swiss Alps, the next you are in Mongolia, then you’re looking at a landscape that resembles the moon, and suddenly you roll into Jeti-Oguz and you’re in the middle of Arizona.
Jeti-Oguz is famous for its striking, deep-red sedimentary rock formations. The most iconic is the “Seven Bulls,” a wall of red cliffs guarding the valley. We took some time to hike up for a view, checked out the surrounding lush national park, and then finished the final stretch of the drive to Barskoon.
Our 5-Star Hidden Gem: Guesthouse Asel Malaev
We pulled into Barskoon and checked into our accommodation for the night: Guesthouse Аsel Малаев 73 (this place has a flawless 5-star rating on Google).
This homestay was everything we love about travel. In their garden, they have a beautiful traditional yurt, but it’s built on a solid, clean, hard surface, meaning you get the full authentic experience with absolutely zero bugs crawling over your mum at night.
But the highlight was easily the family; we sat down at a communal table and ate a delicious home-cooked dinner together, adults, kids, and us. Afterward, I ended up playing a highly competitive game of chess against their youngest son. It was the ultimate, heartwarming end to an incredibly long and adventurous day.
Suggested Sloth Itinerary Day 5
After a fantastic night of sleep in our private, bug-free yurt at the homestay in Barskoon, we packed up our gear and sat down for one last amazing breakfast with the family. Sadly, there was no time for a chess rematch with their youngest son this morning: we had a serious journey ahead of us.
Our destination for the day was one of the most legendary, postcard-perfect spots in all of Kyrgyzstan: the glorious alpine lake of Song-Kul.
The 6-Hour Bumpy Highway
The sat-nav predicted roughly a six-hour drive, which in Kyrgyzstan translates to a classic, deeply bumpy off-road endurance test.
We turned up the tunes, hugged the rugged southern shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, and made good progress. Two things made the long drive absolutely brilliant:
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The Roadside Fruit: We stopped a few times to buy fresh, local apricots from roadside stalls. The fruit in Kyrgyzstan is absolutely insane; so sweet, incredibly cheap, and perfect road-trip fuel.
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More Hitchhikers: Keeping up with local tradition, we picked up a few more hitchhikers along the way, exchanging smiles and Google Translate pleasantries 🙂
Eventually, our phone signals completely died, and the terrain turned vertical. The Nissan truck had to dig deep as we tackled a stunning, hairpin-heavy mountain pass climbing all the way up to 3,500m. Watching the fuel gauge drop by half a tank on the steep incline definitely brought out some nerves for getting home tomorrow, but the moment we crested the pass, every ounce of anxiety vanished.
Words honestly cannot describe the sheer scale of Song-Kul. It’s a large, glassy mirror of water sitting in a high-altitude bowl, surrounded by endless rolling green ridges dotted with hundreds of wild horses. It feels completely untouched by the modern world.
The Quintessential Kyrgyz Moment (Plan B)
We navigated our way along the lake’s edge to find our pre-booked yurt camp, which turned out to be an absolute paradise right on the water’s edge.
Now, there was one major box we hadn’t ticked yet in Kyrgyzstan: riding horses. Because my mother keeps horses back home, our original grand plan was to do a rugged, 3-day horse trek up to Song-Kul. However, just a month before our flight, mum had to have her appendix removed. A multi-day trek was completely out of the question, so we pivot-planned and took the 4×4 instead, which, given the freezing mountain weather, might have been a blessing in disguise!
Determined to get her equestrian fix, we hired a couple of horses from the camp managers for a £5 for an hour and went out for a gentle hack along the lakeshore. Riding next to the water with the mountains reflecting on the surface was the ultimate, quintessential Kyrgyzstan moment.
The Perfect Night (and a 4 AM Wake-Up Call)
We settled into our lakeside yurt and gathered with a group of really cool travelers for yet another, delicious communal dinner. As the sun dipped below the ridges, an amazing sunset greeted us. All was rather well indeed.
But the real show started after dark. At 3,000m above sea level with absolutely zero light pollution, Song-Kul offers probably the greatest star-gazing I have ever seen in my life.
We crawled into our thick felt blankets for a delightful, peaceful night of sleep… until 04:00 AM.
Suddenly, the dead silence of the alpine valley was shattered by our truck’s blaring horn. Our car alarm was going off, successfully waking up the entirety of Song-Kul lake. To make matters infinitely worse, as mum was frantically fumbling with the keys in the pitch black, she discovered a hidden feature: if you accidentally double-tap the right button on these specific Nissan key fobs, it engages a remote-start mechanism that loudly fires up the V6 engine from outside the vehicle.
So, not only did we blast an alarm at the entire camp, we then proceeded to rev a V6 engine into the crisp morning air. Nice one, Nissan. Good morning, Song-Kul!
Sloth Suggested Itinerary Day 5
After successfully waking up the entire valley at 04:00, the first order of business was the apology tour. We sheepishly made our way to the dining yurt, apologizing to all the other bleary-eyed travelers over a traditional Kyrgyz breakfast of fresh lepeshka (round bread), homemade jams, and endless pots of black tea.
Thankfully, travelers in this part of the world are a forgiving bunch, and after a few cups of tea, we were all laughing about it.
The Descent: Gravity
We packed up the truck, said our goodbyes to the stunning shores of Song-Kul, and hit the road.
If you remember yesterday’s section, you’ll know we arrived at the lake with roughly half a tank of fuel after that brutal 3,500m climb. Naturally, I had a bit of lingering anxiety about whether we had enough fuel to make it back to civilization. But here is the beautiful thing about physics: what goes up, must come down.
The descent was infinitely easier than the climb. We essentially let gravity do the hard work, babying the brakes as we wound our way back down the mountain pass. The drive back to the capital is long, but like everywhere in Kyrgyzstan, it is ridiculously, effortlessly beautiful. You just sit back and watch the landscape slowly shift from rugged alpine tundra back to dusty, sprawling valleys.
Surviving Bishkek Traffic
Eventually, the serene mountains faded into the rearview mirror, and we hit the outskirts of Bishkek.
This is where the real extreme sport of the day began. If you think the off-road mountain passes are wild, wait until you experience central Bishkek traffic during rush hour. It is a completely chaotic, free-for-all mashup of aggressive lane-changing, blaring horns, and zero apparent road rules.
I have to give a massive shoutout to my mum here. She has the patience of an absolute saint. She took the wheel and wrestled our mud-caked Nissan truck through the gridlock with the icy calm of a seasoned pro.
The Rental Return (Shh…)
Our main mission for the day was simple: get the truck washed and hand the keys back to the rental agency.
We pulled into a local car wash, got the exterior sparkling clean to wash away the evidence of our adventures, and headed to the drop-off point.
Now, we pride ourselves on being honest people. But when the rental guy did his walk-around inspection, we decided to employ the classic “smile and wave” tactic.
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Did we mention the time we completely exploded the coolant system on a steep mountain pass? No. * Did we bring up the horrific metallic scraping noises we made while attempting an impossible off-road boulder trail near Ala-Kul? Absolutely not.
He checked the tires, nodded at the clean exterior, and handed us our full cash deposit back. Result!
An Uninspiring (But Necessary) Dinner
With the truck successfully returned and our deposit safe, we realized just how exhausted we were.
We wandered out into Bishkek and found a lowkey restaurant for dinner. I’d love to tell you it was a hidden culinary gem, but honestly? It wasn’t memorable enough to write down the name…
We then checked back into our beloved Bugu Hotel for 2 more nights
Sloth Suggested Itinerary - Day 7
Waking up after a fantastic, uninterrupted night’s sleep back at our Bishkek basecamp, the Bugu Hotel, hit us with that classic bittersweet end-of-trip feeling.
We dragged ourselves out of bed, fueled up on our final complimentary hotel breakfast, and mapped out our last day. The plan? Pack in absolutely everything we could in Bishkek and the surrounding mountains before catching our flight to Istanbul the next morning.
Osh Bazaar
My mum and I love a good market. We grabbed a Yandex and headed straight into the chaotic, sprawling maze of Osh Bazaar, Bishkek’s main market.
You can buy literally anything you could ever need here, from fresh produce and spices to literal bicycles. We went in with a very specific, slightly bizarre shopping list and came out with:
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Millet: We had some incredible millet porridge back in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and were determined to recreate it at home.
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Horse Saddle Mats: A crucial purchase for mum’s horses back in the UK!
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A Wooden Chess Board: I bought a locally made chess board for my dad. Sitting there in the vibrant, dusty streets of Bishkek, surrounded by the atmosphere of the Silk Road, it looked like an exotic, majestic piece of craftsmanship. Fast forward to setting it up on our dining table back in England… and it is honestly one of the ugliest things I have ever seen…!
The Ultimate Budget Hack: Al Archa National Park
With our bizarre haul of goods dropped back at the hotel, we made our way to the railway station for our afternoon adventure: Al Archa National Park.
Located just 40km south of Bishkek, this alpine gorge is an absolute must-do. However, when I was researching the logistics, I was horrified. Almost all the Western/English-speaking tour companies were quoting upwards of $80+ per person for a half-day trip.
Sloth Solution: After some deep digging, I found a local, Russian-speaking tour company called Kettik. They offered the exact same transport and guided tour for under $10 each.
We booked with them, and it was a great success. Not only did we save a large amount of cash, but both of our local guides actually spoke perfect English anyway!
The national park itself was stunningly beautiful. Towering Tian Shan spruce trees, roaring glacial rivers, and dramatic peaks; it felt like the “proper” wild Kyrgyzstan we had fallen in love with all over again. The walk up to the main viewpoint wasn’t too challenging, making it a perfectly accessible hike. And, as a bonus that brought a huge smile to my British face, we even spotted a wild red squirrel darting through the trees!
The Last Supper: Faiza Restaurant
Back in the capital, exhausted but happy, it was time for our final dinner. We wanted something authentic, local, and affordable, so we headed to Faiza Restaurant.
This place was right up my street. It was packed with locals (always the best sign), and we ordered vast quantities of our absolute favorites: sizzling shashlik skewers and, of course, my beloved Lagman noodles. Sitting there, stuffing our faces with incredible food for just a few pounds, was the perfect way to close out our Central Asian adventure.
We headed back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep before our painfully early Yandex taxi to the airport the next morning. Next stop: Istanbul!
So, Is Kyrgyzstan Worth Visiting?
After a week of driving 4x4s up sketchy mountain passes, exploding our coolant, eating bathtub trout, and sleeping in bug-free yurts… what is the final verdict on Northern Kyrgyzstan?
Absolutely, unequivocally yes. Kyrgyzstan is one of the most raw, breathtaking, and beautifully unpredictable countries I have ever visited. It is geographically mind-blowing: offering Swiss Alps, red Arizona canyons, and barren moonscapes all within a single day’s drive.
Who is this trip for? It is for the adventurous soul. It’s for budget-conscious travelers, backpackers, and anyone who prefers an unscripted road trip over a manicured resort. You need a bit of patience (especially when driving!), but the payoff is immense.
The Budget: The value for money here is insane. From £5 horse rentals to £10 national park tours, your money goes incredibly far, provided you avoid the overpriced Western tour traps.
Kyrgyzstan, thank you! You were wild, bumpy, and utterly magnificent.
Straight into my top 3 countries on earth…
Thank you for reading our Kyrgyzstan itinerary. We had the best time ever on this trip, and i hope some of you readers are able to do this for yourselves.
Sloths of Love, Team Sloth <3
