Kyrgyzstan: Yurts, Horses, and Hot Springs
Eagle hunting demonstration
General tips
Tour or DIY?
After crunching some numbers and hitting logistical roadblocks, we decided the tour group was the best option for us. It was similarly priced to renting a car and staying in guest houses. We found that the positives of traveling with a group outweighed the positives of traveling by ourselves. After traveling and planning our own trips for over a year, having someone else handle the logistics of a trip was the icing on the cake.
The biggest hurdle and push towards touring with a group was that we could not find an available automatic rental car. UAZ Buhanka had the best offering for offroad vehicles we found but only supplies manual cars. One day we’ll learn how to drive a manual car but starting on the rocky roads of Kyrgyzstan didn’t seem like the best place to try.
The other big consideration for us was the cost of horseback riding. We reached out to a handful of tour guides for 1-2 day horse treks but we found it to be more cost effective to do a horse trek as part of a large tour. For horse only treks, we were getting $300-$500 quotes for a 1 night, 2 day trip for 2 people.
If you’re on a budget, renting a car, camping, and cooking your own meals will be the most cost effective way to travel around the country.
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Beshbarmak - the national dish, boiled horse meat or mutton on flat noodles. If you stay at guest houses where meals are included, you’ll likely have the opportunity to try horse.
Boorsok - deep fried dough balls, you’ll find them at most tables at guest houses waiting to be smothered in jelly. I think about the jelly filled goblets often.
Lagman - hand-pulled noodles with lamb or beef and veggies.
Ashlyan-Fu - cold, spicy-sour Dungan noodle soup.
Chuchpara - tiny delicious dumplings filled with meat, floating in a delicious broth topped with fresh dill.
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Yandex Go
Yandex Maps
Google Translate - have Russian and Kyrgyz downloaded
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You will want to wash your clothing after horseback riding. Most hotels and homestays offer laundry per weight or per load.
Our tour guide explained there has been a strong movement away from every day usage of Russian language in Kyrgyzstan. While schools continue to teach both, we heard more Kyrgyz than Russian.
Cash is still king but we found more places accept credit cards in Bishkek.
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The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chinghiz Aitmatov. Chinghiz is a Kyrgyz author (visit his monument in Bishkek) but the book is set on the steppes of Kazakhstan. Beautiful novel about a Kazakh man reflecting on his life while the world around him is rapidly changing.
Our itinerary
10 days, 9 nights
Day 1: Arrive in Bishkek
Day 2: Drive to Kyzyl-Oi - Tour start
Day 3: Horse-back to Song-Kol Lake
Day 4: Drive to Ysyk-Kol Lake
Day 5: Drive to Karakol
Day 6: Hike to Altyn-Arashan Gorge
Day 7: Drive to Chong-Kemin National Park
Day 8: Return to Bishkek - Tour end
Day 9: Bishkek
Day 10: Bishkek > Tashkent
Note: we stayed in Bishkek for 2 nights after the tour to recover and work on some trip admin. We recommend a night before the tour to settle in but you don’t need time after to explore Bishkek.
Bishkek
3 NIGHTS · MAY 17, 24-26, 2026
How to get to Bishkek from Almaty
You can take a bus to Bishkek but we heard (and then saw) how long it takes for a bus and for cars to cross the border. We opted to call a Yandex Go to the Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan border and then walked across border control. Crossing the border on foot took around 15 minutes.
From Almaty, in the Yandex Go app, select City to City and request a ride to Korday Kazakh Border Station. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
We selected a shared ride to bring down cost, total trip cost was around $20 USD total.
Note: call the car around an hour before you want to leave because it takes some time to gather riders.
After we crossed into Bishkek, we called a Yandex Go to the hotel. Drivers will be waiting to hound you at the border but none of them matched the price we saw on Yandex Go. Hold firm and wait for your car.
Where to stay in Bishkek
Otel’ Orto Asia - We stayed here before heading out on our tour. Breakfast was decent and the location felt a bit more residential. Good hotel but skip it if you want to be near the main tourist area. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
Bishkek Centrum Hotel - Large room and close to the central area but space felt a bit dated. Location was great and we had no issues with the hotel. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
Hotel “Evropa” - We didn’t personally stay here but our friends did and they were raving about this breakfast buffet. Location is also great.
Google Maps / Yandex Maps
What to do in Bishkek
Nuts for sale in Osh Bazaar
If you’re coming from Almaty or any city in Uzbekistan, Bishkek may not personally wow you. Big government buildings loom over the city but seeing families and groups of friends enjoying the city made for a nice low-key walk. Part of the Kyrgyz Riders tour includes a walk around Bishkek that took around 3-4 hours. In this tour we saw the Osh Bazaar, walked around Panfilov Park, Ala-Too square, by the State History Museum and other government buildings.
The tour didn’t walk by the Imam Serahsi Central Mosque (Google Maps / Yandex Maps) but we recommend a stop by to admire the beautiful architecture.
We didn’t get a chance to go inside the State History Museum so someone please go here for us and tell us if it’s worth it. We love a history museum and this one had pretty good reviews but was unfortunately closed the day we were there. Don’t make our mistake: the museum is closed on Mondays. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
Where to eat in Bishkek
Samsa for sale
Booblik - Our kyrgyz tour guide recommended and this didn’t disappoint. A variety of international cuisines very well made. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
ANT’s - This was our first dinner after our tour ended so as New Yorkers… we opted for pizza and pasta. Tasty Italian food after a week of only eating Kyrgyz dishes. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
NAVAT - if you saw our Kazakhstan recs, you won’t be surprised to see this here. If you haven’t, NAVAT is a local chain with an extensive menu. They nailed every dish we tried. The restaurant locations are ubiquitous so find the closest one near you. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
Capito Coffee Bakery & Pizza - if you’re on the road for a while, you’ll find yourself really missing a good sandwich. Capito hit the spot with their paninis and a delicious dessert to wrap up a solid lunch. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
Pinta Pub - local draft beers and a variety of meats at your disposal. Felt like a go to spot for many locals and family gatherings. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
The No Name Bar - also recommended by our Kyrgyz tour guide but we didn’t make it here. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
Brewster - solid craft beer bar, closes early but we enjoyed a nice drink here after dinner at ANT’s. Google Maps / Yandex Maps
Kyrgyz Riders Tour
6 nights, 7 days
Review of Kyrgyz Riders - Elena Taber’s Tour 6 nights/7 days
Altyn-Arashan valley
Pros
We had an excellent group dynamic and a fun tour guide who always kept us on our toes. We weren’t too worried about the group dynamic beforehand. Anyone who is open to horseback riding, staying in yurts with no heat and back to back hiking will likely have similar interests or easygoing personalities to make any trip or adventure enjoyable.
We saw and ate way more than we would have if we had done this trip ourselves. Meals are included in the total cost and while we often got to pick our own entrees, our tour guide would always order additional local items for us to try. You don’t have much of a choice at guest houses but we found there was a large variety in dishes and flavors. Every guest house had a table of snacks laid out, a big bowl filled with Boorsok and goblets of jelly waiting to be dipped. The meals almost always had a different soup starter followed by a main dish of noodles, protein, or both. Kyrgyzstan holds strong as our favorite food destination in Central Asia.
If you’re having issues with your horse, the horsemen are so friendly and helpful. They’re watching everyone and will stop to fix any issues they see (that you may not if you’re not experienced!)
Kyrgyz Riders was very responsive on WhatsApp, they were quick to send me PDFs with cost and hotel information for multiple tour options. I found them to be very accommodating, transparent and easy to work with.
Cons
It’s a lot of driving. There were a few days where it felt like we did nothing but eat and drive.
Horse experience helps a lot - the few of us who had very little to no horse experience did okay, but struggled the most out of the group. These horses want to gallop and if you’re not into that but the rest of your crew is, it’s hard to stop the horse from following the crowd. We had no horse experience and we were able to do it with the right mindset and attitude. If you get easily stressed out or flustered and have no horse experience, this may not be the trip for you.
While we drove by Ysyk-Kol lake, we never actually stopped to check the lake out. I’m not sure if it’s because there is so much development happening around the lake or if there isn’t a place to go and see but I was bummed we didn’t get to stop and enjoy the view for a little. We did a lot of sightseeing around the lake but never actually at the lake.
Some of the gang at Fairy-Tale Canyon
Sam in his ak-kalpak (hat) holding an eagle
Highlights from our Kyrgyzstan Tour
The view of the yurts at Song-Kol after riding our horses through mud in pouring, freezing rain for a few hours.
Trekking the Altyn-Arashan Gorge by day and soaking in the hot springs at night.
Stopping at the Kojomkul Museum (Koshum Kol), dedicated to local strongman Kaba uulu Kojomkul. His descendants are still running the museum showcasing his feats of strength and his contributions to his community as mayor. Try on his clothes and hat and marvel at the giant rocks he picked up!
Kemin Guesthouse was a dream. We had a late start coming from Altyn-Arashan (blame the rain) but got to Kemin just in time for a gorgeous sunset in the valley. Food was Michelin-starred quality in taste, plating and courses. The friendliest puppy also greeted us for dinner and breakfast.
Exploring Fairy-Tale Canyon and shooting our music video for Instagram.
The apple cake after lunch at famous Soviet-era mountaineer Lyubov Danichkina’s Tamga guest house
Learning we’re excellent archers while waiting for an epic eagle hunting demonstration. The young male eagle ran away so we watched father and son try and get the eagle to come back down from the mountain. Meanwhile, a huge female eagle got the job done in minutes while young male eagle was hiding out.
A different soup starter for almost every meal. I found a new love of dill.
The friends we made along the way!!
