The country of Kyrgyzstan offers a bunch of interesting sites, adventurous activities and great places to spend time at. You may, however, not have enough time on your hands to see and experience everything.
Whether you are on a short trip to the country itself, stopping by on your route through Central Asia and regardless of your budgetary situation: we present you with a short and concise route for roughly 5 days in Kyrgyzstan!
Bishkek
As it is the case with many, many countries, the capital of Kyrgyzstan is always worthy of a visit. It’s a vibrant city with loads of cafés, bars, restaurants, historical sites and keeps you on the move throughout the day.
It is, of course, also the first place people come to when visiting Kyrgyzstan, due to it’s international airport. Bishkek is as good a place as any to start your short trip through the country and offers you the opportunity to meet fellow travelers who might join you for a portion of your exploration.
Tokmok/Burana
From Bishkek it is a nice and easy ride to the city of Tokmok. Near Tokmok you will find one of the best known historical sites of Kyrgyzstan, the tower of Burana.
While Tokmok itself is much smaller and more relaxed than Bishkek, it’s presence as border town to the neighbouring Kasachstan draws just enough folk to it, to help you fill your day with activities.
You have the opportunity to stay near Burana, in Tokmok or take the chance and stay with us in the nearby Kegeti mountains! Burana tower and the surrounding area will fill part of your day and afterwards you can either check out the local food scene in Tokmok, enjoy a drink at one of the albeit few bars. Or, fingers crossed, you jump into a marshrutka and join us at Toodo!
Issyk-Kul
From Tokmok it is between 2 and 3 hours to the second largest saline lake of the world! This depends on where you want to stay at the lake. Issyk-Kul translates to “warm lake” and is THE summer holiday destination for many kyrgyz people.
The northern shore is the one typically frequented and offers innumerable guest houses, hotels, bungalows and more to relax at; so take your pick!
It is a mesmerizing feeling to lay at a beach, looking out, thinking you are a an ocean shore and see snow-capped mountains in the far distance, shimmering in the heat. That is what Issyk-Kul offers you. Alongside it comes the opportunity to swim, eat and just enjoy a pure holiday.
Most commercial hosts have direct access to nice beach strips that sometimes offer opportunities like boat rides, banana boats, water sport activities or even paragliding!
Song-Kul
Going from Issyk-Kul, we have another lake, albeit in a totally different surrounding. Whereas Issyk-Kul rests at an elevation of roughly 1600m already, Song-Kul surpasses this with its elevation of more than 3000m! Therefor, temperatures rarely climb to 20° Celsius or above – even July boasts a median temperature of only 11°C! So make sure to pack warm clothes for this part of the trip.
The stop in between your stay at Issyk-Kul and Song-Kul itself will be Kochkor. It is the next big city nearby and it will take you between 1:30 and 3 hours to go there, again depending on where you stayed at Issyk-Kul.
You can then take a ride from Kochkor to the mountains and Song-Kul. If you plan to stay the night, make sure to order a pickup for the next day in advance, since there is no cell reception in the area.
At the lake you have the opportunity to sleep in a Yurth, go horse trekking, hiking and embrace the two things Kyrgyzstan can consider its core elements: water and mountains.
You can catch a ride back to Bishkek from Kochkor, which takes about 3h. Even if you next destination is a different central asian country, e.g. Kazakhstan, you will probably go to Bishkek first.
Final words
This is it for our short, concisive ideas on how to spend 5 days in Kyrgyzstan. If you need more info on one part or the other of the suggested trip, feel free to contact us!