Highlights of Kyrgyzstan

Your guide will pick you up at Manas International Airport and accompany you to the capital city of Kyrgyzstan, just a 30-minute drive from the airport. This entire day is dedicated to a guided tour of Bishkek. It includes visiting Pobeda Square (Victory Square), Duboviy Park (Oak Park), Central Ala-Too Square, the National Arts Museum, National Philharmonic, and many others places of interest. But no tour of Bishkek is complete without visiting our Asian Bazaar! We will show it to you today and you will be able to take a lot of dynamic photos of bustling local life. This bazaar is a noisy and colorful tapestry of fabrics, produce, and people selling and buying goods. You will spend the night in a hotel.

Your guide will pick you up at 8 am and you will be transferred to Issyk Kul Lake, surrounded by the celestial mountains. It’s the second largest alpine lake in the world (1608 m. above sea level). The lake is called "the pearl of Central Asia". Due to the salty water, Lake Issyk Kul possesses curative qualities. On route to the lake you will visit Burana Tower (an 11th century minaret) and an open air museum of Balbals (stone warriors). Your night is in a hotel.

In the morning, you will also visit ancient stone inscriptions (dating back to 800 B.C.). These petroglyphs were made more than 2000 years ago by shamans. Also you will visit local ethnography museum. After lunch time in Cholpon Ata you will start you drive to beautiful Grigorievskoe gorge! This area is part of the national park. Here you will be able to enjoy the magnificent mountains covered with snow tops and slopes grown by blue and green pine trees. Then we continue our way along the northern shore of the lake to the town of Karakol. The night is spent in a guesthouse.

Today we will drive to Jeti Oguz gorge. It’s famous for its red rock formations that are called the Seven Bulls – Jeti Oguz. Also you will see Broken Heart Mountain. We will take as many photos there as you’d like and if you want it is possible to walk to the top of a mountain (20 minutes) to see a panoramic view of the gorge! There are yurts in the gorge and people can offer you Kumis to drink. It is a national drink that is made from fermented mare’s milk, and it is mildly alcoholic. After you excursion in the gorge you will drive back to Karakol, where you will visit the Dungan mosque . It was built in Chinese style without using a single metal nail. This will be followed by the visit of an old wooden Orthodox Church. Night is in the guesthouse.

Today we will drive to Bishkek city, breaking in Bokonbaeva village. Here you will visit one of the most interesting families in Kyrgyzstan – a family of Eagle Hunters! There are still some people in villages that continue this ancient way of hunting. They train eagles and hawks when they are young and every winter go with them to the mountains to hunt. You will be able to take photos while holding a live eagle! After this visit we will continue our way to Bishkek. Night is in a hotel.

Today we will visit Ala Archa gorge. It is a Natural Park. At the Soviet Time only V.I.P. people had permission to go for a walk here. The Ala Archa gorge is on a spur of the Tien Shan mountain range. It is just 45 km from Bishkek. You can have a short hiking tour to see a panoramic view of the gorge. Afterwards we return to Bishkek. Night is in a hotel.

In the morning is transfer to airport.