Tours to Kyrgyzstan from Almaty: prices from 313,000 ₸

екі күн қалаға жүре тұрып аллергия болып қалдым, оның есесіне аймақтың табиғаты шынымен жұмсартады. чолпон-атада құм жоқ, көлде су тұнық дейді, бірақ мен басыммен жүрген жоқпын, виза үшін ұшындағы эфаг қайықтарына шолғып қайттым

first was nodding off, thinking why did I even get myself into this — my brother called and asked me to go with him to Bishkek for some vague business of his with car documents, though personally I think he could've just gone to a consulate but he dug his heels in saying he absolutely needed a local notary... in the end we wrapped the whole thing up in a day and without even stressing about it, just walked around the city between those samsa joints, a cap bazaar and this little moment — a seller was teaching me how to greet properly in Kazakh and I blurted out that we're actually from Almaty and he laughed so warmly; came back happy and with this feeling that Kyrgyzstan it's a vibe, my brother sorted out all his stuff and I finally figured out why everyone raves about the air there

Salary was delayed by two weeks — so I just up and bolted from Almaty to Bishkek, wanted some different air and cheap coffee, work be damned // so I went alone, no plans at all, just a bus ticket and that's it. I took barely enough money, which is why I walked into this travel agency — the first one by the bus station, and they threw me some local contacts for three thousand tenge, and it turned out even handier than googling it myself — in the end I'm satisfied, but without wow, the capital still isn't about a "cool" trip making me regret anything, though on the way back the driver almost slept through the border

Took a tour to Issyk-Kul in December, and it was... strange. Almost no people there in winter, all hotels closed, but the wild cold air and mountains really get under your skin, even through a down jacket. What I remember most is staring at the frozen lake from the pier while wind and snow lashed at my face, feeling like you're the only person on the whole planet. The guides only took us to viewpoints, because most excursions don't run under the snow, but that minimum was enough for me. Everything was organized calmly, without any hiccups, only flaw was the lack of decent tea at lunch in the cafe, but for that evening you'd forgive anything

Went there to sort out inheritance after my aunt, the documents were already ready, but I kept putting it off, and then cheap tickets showed up at the last moment, so I combined business with pleasure and stayed for a few days to stare at the mountains in the distance — that's the vibe of Bishkek, seems like a regular city, but you turn your head and the snowy peaks feel like they're right above you, even in the center. locals on the buses helped me out, their Russian is fine, and at the bazaar I bought myself a real handwoven wool shawl, the color exactly like in the instagram photo, though I was afraid they'd rip me off, but then I spent the whole way home touching it and being happy, big mountains without touristy junk and that raw contrast between concrete panel buildings and yurts on the way in — came back calm, sorted the issue in a couple of days and already miss the tandyr flatbreads I had for breakfast

Visa and ticket processing took one day, the manager coordinated everything quickly and clearly. The trip itself to Cholpon-Ata turned out chaotic, but in a good way: the weather was rainy, but that even helped — fewer crowds at the towers. But at the bazaar I bought a dombra for funny money and now I spent the whole evening strumming it in the room. From food I remember beshbarmak, which we ate with our hands right on the open veranda, fat ran down our fingers — that was a real buzz. Since we rented a car ourselves, we booked excursions on the spot, and it turned out much cheaper than at the tour operator. Came back fully unloaded, despit all the inconveniences with the road to the mountains.

went to Issyk-Kul through their agency, overall fine, but expected a bit more. the lake is huge, I scooped up full handfuls of water – ice cold, although October turned out sunny and we even got roped into swimming (three minutes and I jumped out like I was scalded))). the food at the hotel was so-so, but the view from the balcony opened right onto the mountains, I sat there the whole evening with tea and just stared at the snow going dark on the peaks. I booked the tour on a whim, so I didn't get too upset when the transfer was delayed by an hour – at least I finished my book, hadn't gotten around to it in ages. and overall nature there is fire, and if you don't nitpick the little things I came back happy with it

Animals on the streets, mountains right above the city — that's something else. Although the trip itself was short, I'm very satisfied, we managed everything, and the Kazakh tour to Kyrgyzstan was worth it.

We were handling the inheritance after my father, needed a fresh translation of documents and a notary in Bishkek — went there because it's the closest from Almaty and the manager, an acquaintance lied that he's a neighbor, actually he works at the same agency, handled everything in two days; found a local office, old papers in Russian got processed faster than I expected, he even went to Osh bazaar for gifts, by the way prices there are like ours five years ago. came back satisfied, everything got resolved without any hassle and he even managed to try that beshbarmak with lagman everyone praises — tasty but very greasy for me, though the tea with kurt washed it down decently.

bought a tour to Kyrgyzstan through a local agency and didnt even expect everything to go so smoothly, spent only three days in Bishkek but managed to get to the Osh bazaar which is of course a whole separate world with those stalls and smells of spices and went to the mountains too, the gorge is just wow. the driver turned out to be talkative although I didnt understand half of it but thats even a plus, roads are so-so but the views made up for everything, overall a five and I recommend it.

Just got back from Cholpon-Ata last night and still under the impression, though the weather gave us a bit of a hard time — two days of wind, literally blowing us off our feet. The manager picked a route for us so well that we caught all the most beautiful views during sunny hours, and that smoothed over any caprices of the sky. Organization was clear, the bus was clean and the AC worked, so the minor flaw of the wind I even recall with a smile.

The trip turned out spontaneous, I was looking for something in Asia, took a tour to Cholpon-Ata almost without looking at the photos. The road from the border, of course, was something else — potholes, the bus shook plenty, but the driver turned out calm. They met us on the spot fine, checked us in quickly (room with a view of "Ruh Ordo", by the way, walking there really takes 10 minutes, no lie). Issyk-Kul at the end of April — I haven't seen sky that blue in a long time, straight goosebumps, though I didn't go swimming, a cold breeze was blowing. What stuck with me most wasn't the complex with towers itself, but the old park nearby — there are stones with petroglyphs, you lie there, touch them and realize people left these a thousand years ago, damn, creep and awe. Prices at local cafes bit a little, shashlik and flatbreads fresh off the fire for 800 soms — tolerable for meat like that. Really our small group messed up with the roads about three times, thinking we turned the wrong way, but either the map lied or the signal was good — in the end we still got there. Flew back already with that almost Mongolian steppe emptiness in my head and a firm decision to get into cycling — there's plenty to look at and the roads are ideal for it, and it wouldn't hurt to shake off some winter weight at training)).

Went to Kyrgyzstan to sort out inherited shares, those shares won’t find themselves in three places behind Issyk-Kul. Found an agency in Astana that takes on such stuff, oh, we really struggled with document translations, but the employee with Kazakh and Russian sorted everything right on the spot with local authorities in Karakol, a miracle not a person. Came back satisfied and with a feeling that the mountains saw my paperwork nightmare..

A trip to Issyk-Kul in December is a whole vibe on its own, sure the snow was piled up to the windows of the guesthouse, but no one bothers you, silence and the mountains are really powerful, the manager at the agency straight up found us a warm option with a fireplace, that was a lifesaver after the horse rides. Before leaving I forgot my DSLR in the transfer car, already said goodbye to the flash drive with the photos, the drivers got their act together and brought it back right to the airport an hour later on our own flight, after that you can forgive the frozen toilet in the room and those endless dogs barking under the window at night, but the relaxation was honest, flew back with a feelng of being rebooted.

Riding in a proper jeep, no regrets that I took exactly this tour and not a regular bus. how many stones there are, I can hardly believe that grandma and grandpa in their times walked all this on foot. Along the road the manager just happened to tell us where to stop for a viewpoint to look at the valley, and that was really fire, not «snap a pic and move on» like in other places. on the way back we got shaken up good, I understood it was a dirt road of course but I thought it would be a bit softer... at the same time the views of Issyk-Kul from above were worth that tarmacked rattling of the spine. Local food at the exit killed it — the most honest manti of the whole trip, no tourist price tags or anything. A solid day trip, if you don't expect from the organizers a service level of a luxury car, and the mountains themselves take away all the five-starriness.

Жұбайымның мерейтойын атап өтпекпін, әрі өзіме де қазақстандық жазықтан кейін тауға барғым келгені көп болған. Алматы мен Бішкектің арасында ұзақ таңдадық, бірақ ақырында әріптесім кеңес берген агенттік арқылы Ыстықкөлге тур алдық (ол өткен жылы сонда болған, со да ұнаған сияқты). Оңтүстік жағалауға келдік, сонда бірінші көзге түскен — су, ол шынымен лазурлы, мұндайды фотосуреттен де күтпегенмін, қазан айында шомылуға әрине маусым емес, бірақ көріністер соған тұрарлық еді. Биіктен көлге панорама ашылатын сол алаңқайға шығу — бұл бәлкім басты әсер, жүрек қатты соғып, өзіміздің қаншалықты кішкентай екенімізді түсінесің. Тек көңілді сәл бүлдірген — жол: кей жері қираған трасса мен микроавтобуста бізді лақтыра берді, тілімді тістей жаздадым, бірақ жүргізуші шұңқырларды айналып өтпекші болды. Жүргізуші жалпы жергілікті жігіт екен, бәріне апарды, тіпті айналадағы ең дәмді бешбармақ дайындайтын бір орынды көрсетті, әйелім екеуміз аузымызды жалап қалдық. Разый болып қайттық, базардағы кейбір жабысқақ туристер мінездерімен бір-екі рет кернеді, бірақ бәрі жақсы шешілді, жанжалсыз. Уақыт көбірек болғанын қалар едім, аптасына екі, төрт күн емес, бірақ бұған да рахмет — эмоция тасып тұр (п)

Poehala v Bishkek kak raz potomu chto nado bylo reshit odin vopros s dokumentami dlya firmy, a tut nikto tolkom ne vzyalsya. Okazalos chto bystree sezdit samoy i zaodno posmotret gorod, etakiy rabochiy trip s bonusom. Dazhe ne dumala chto budet nastolko interesno, koloritneyshiy gorod, lyudi privetlivye, hotya s russkim tam byvaet napryazhenno, no obyasnyalis normalno. Tot samyy menedzher v agenstve podskazal normalnyy otel i gostinitsu v tsentre, chtoby ya ne tratila vremya na metaniya, za chto emu spasibo. Vopros s bumagami reshilsya za dva dnya, chemu ya dazhe udivilas, dumala provozitsya dolshe. Poka zhdala podpis, uspela shodit na mestnyy bazar, nakupila pryanostey i chesnoka kakogo-to marinovannogo, vkus neobychnyy no obaldennyy, paltsy do sih por v kurkume)) A vecherom tak vyshlo chto sidela v parke i slushala kak startsy na lavochkah obsuzhdali chto-to na svoem yazyke, i pochemu-to stalo tak spokoyno. Vernulas domoy polnostyu dovolnaya, zakryla vse rabochie hvosty i privezla otlichnoe nastroenie.

Had to swap my license for an international one after moving, some acquaintances recommended a local agency, and I figured why bother doing it myself when I could just trust them. They put together the whole document pack in one day, picked up the finished result exactly when they said, no stress and no hiccups — that's the main thing. Then it suddenly turned out they've got tours to the neighbours, I let them talk me into it and ended up at Issyk-Kul, even though I was only planning on running around offices. The lake is genuinely mindblowing in scale, I touched the water and the rocks with my own hands, the experience totally blew past every expectation I had from dry bureacracy. The transfer and accommodation were arranged pretty well, so there's no reason at all to go anywhere else now.

Vzyal tut u nih tur v Kyrgyzstan, v Cholpon-Atu, potomu chto hotel prosto svalit na paru dney, a eto byl edinstvennyy variant s vyletom v pyatnitsu vecherom, chtoby ne otprashivatsya s raboty. Doroga zanyala kuchu vremeni, no zato samo mesto okazalos priyatnym — pogulyal po naberezhnoy, potrogal kamni na plyazhe, oni holodnye dazhe dnem i kakie-to skolzkie, i nadyshalsya vozduhom, u nas tak ne pahnet. Normalno sezdil by esche raz, hotya gotovit v kafeshkah u nih lyubyat slishkom zhirno, no eto uzhe moi pridirki, organizatsiya sama po sebe chetkaya, za takie dengi voobsche ne greh.