Kyrgyzstan Travel: From Torugart Pass via Issykköl to Bishkek

In view of all the Swiss mountain summer experiences, the processing of the last part of our big journeys – the stage through Central Asia – is currently being neglected. In terms of reporting, I am currently still stuck in Kashgar in the Chinese region of Xinjiang. After the very impressive train journey along the Chinese Silk Road, we spent the last month of our journey in Central Asia. In this blog post, I’ll take you on our five-day road trip through Kyrgyzstan. This leads us from the Sino-Kyrgyz border at the Torugart Pass to the capital Bishkek. In German, several official names circulate for the “Switzerland of Central Asia” (as the Kyrgyz proudly tell us as a greeting); Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Republic or Kyrgyzstan. When I asked which country name she preferred in German, our German tour guide Kanyshai said “Kyrgyzstan”. And that’s why I’ve stayed true to this way of writing here as well.

Day 1: Over the Torugart Pass to Kyrgyzstan

To get from Kashgar to Kyrgyzstan, there are two options; via Torugart Pass in the direction of Bishkek or via the Irkeshtam Pass in the direction of Osh. If you are travelling over the Torugart Pass, you must arrange a confirmed private transport between the border crossing at the Torugart Pass and Kashgar in advance – otherwise the border crossing is not possible. In the case of the Irkeshtam Pass, this pick-up is not mandatory (as of 2018), so this border crossing is preferred by cyclists, among others, despite the more arduous route. As we have already reported in our Silk Road blog post, we were always on the road in China/Central Asia with a tour guide – and where necessary, with a driver. Our Chinese and Kyrgyz agencies organized the border crossing in such a way that we would be driven by the Chinese driver to the border gate on the Torugart Pass and the Kyrgyz driver would be waiting for us there. At first glance, this sounds comprehensible and not complicated – but it wasn’t quite that easy. If you want to travel to Kyrgyzstan via the Torugart Pass, you have to pay attention to other details in addition to the prescribed organized transport. On weekends and public holidays, the border crossing is closed. On weekdays, the border opens between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., closing at noon (at 12:30 p.m.) for about two hours. When organizing the pick-up dates, it should also be noted that there is a two-hour time difference between Kyrgyzstan and Kashgar (if you go according to the official Beijing time and not Urumqi time). The tricky part about crossing the border is that the Chinese customs building, where the exit formalities are taken care of, is a good two-hour drive from the Torugart Pass. Since it doesn’t open until 10:00 a.m. and the gate on the Torugart Pass closes again at 12:30 p.m. for the lunch break, it often happens that people get stuck at the top of the pass and have to wait for the end of the lunch break of the Chinese border guards. To make matters worse, on the way from Kashgar to the Kyrgyz border, you have to go through several military checkpoints with identity checks. For this reason, we left early on the day of the border crossing in the direction of the Torugart Pass and made good progress to the village with the customs building. Before we were allowed into the customs building, we had to deregister at the police station. Actually, one would think that this is just a pro forma check – after all, we are leaving the country. But you were wrong. For a total of 30 minutes, two officers meticulously looked through our passports, wanted to know what we were working for and whether we were married (it’s not like I had to fill out a visa application for China, where I gave all these facts). In the end, they had to copy our passport and visa and we were finally released for the customs building. That’s where the next ridiculousness came – we both had to unpack our laptops, boot them up, and then an officer “searched” our computer (i.e., he looked at the photos I had stored on the desktop). Shortly before 11 o’clock we finally received the exit stamp and were allowed to continue our journey towards the top of the pass. “Will we make it across the border before noon?” Yes! And it did so with exactly two minutes “late” before the border guards went on their lunch break. On the Kyrgyz side Driver Rustam and tour guide Kanyshai from Novinomad were waiting for us, who accompanied us from here to Almaty in Kazakhstan. The Kyrgyz border post followed after a few minutes and the entry into Kyrgyzstan was a matter of a few minutes. And funny detail: the Kyrgyz border guards greeted us with a handshake. Emotionally, I was not yet fully ready to get involved in the impressions of Kyrgyzstan on this day of travel – the gauntlet from Kashgar to the “Gate to Freedom” on the Torugart Pass dominates the impressions of this day. It is about 180 kilometres to our destination for the day, Naryn. Including a detour to the well-preserved caravanserai of Tash Rabat, we are on the road for a good three hours. The “stone inn” from the 15th century provided shelter for the caravans that followed the Silk Road from Kashgar over the Torugart Pass to Naryn. We spend the night in Naryn in a small guesthouse called Gostevoy Dom Baktygul

Day 2: Culture and tradition in Kochkor

The second day of the trip takes us from Naryn via Kochkor to the second largest mountain lake in the world. It is a wonderfully clear day and on the drive from Naryn to Kochkor we are accompanied not only by a magnificent mountain scenery, but also by the everyday life of the nomadic families. Everywhere on the roadside, the national drink of Kyrgyzstan – Kumys (fermented mare’s milk) – is offered for sale.

In Kochkor we stop at the cooperative felt company Altyn-Kol. Here, women from the region sell their traditional felt products and offer various workshops. A project that was supported by Helvetas, among others, and creates earning opportunities for women. For a good 1.5 hours, two women show us how the traditional shyrdaks are made from the freshly shorn wool, which make yurts livable after their completion.

Day 3: Yurt life at Yssyk Kul (Issyk Kul)

In no other Central Asian country is nomadic life as present as in Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, it is a good idea to spend the night in a traditional yurt at least once. Our overnight camp is located directly on the south bank of the crystal-clear Yssykköl. In addition to us, only one individual French-speaking Swiss traveler is a guest in the small, sympathetic yurt camp (Yurt Camp Tosor) on this day. Kyrgyzstan primarily attracts trekking tourists and it is still too early for that at the end of May / beginning of June. The peak tourist season is concentrated in the months of July/August. If you have a little more time, you should continue your journey from Tosor to Karakol and take at least one mountain tour in Tianshan there. This must be a fantastically beautiful area and I have decided to return here once in midsummer for a trekking.

In addition to the overnight stay in the yurt camp, the detour to the Skazka Canyon (also known as “Fairy Tale Canyon”) is a highlight of our 5-day trip through Kyrgyzstan. Bizarre sandstone formations await you here.

Day 4: On horseback through the Tschong-Kemin Valley

While the contrast between the almost endless blue plateau and barren – partly desert-like – mountain landscapes at Yssykköl is particularly impressive, we get a completely different impression of Kyrgyzstan on our fourth day of travel. With its lush green hills and interspersed villages, the Tschong-Kemin Valley appears to be a pure idyll and reminds me a little of my home in the Gürbetal. We also stay here in a sympathetic homestay called Kemin Guesthouse. Right after our arrival, the young host (who speaks very good English) takes us on a horseback ride to a viewpoint high above the village. Unfortunately, the weather is not optimal on this day and we are confronted with a rather foggy panoramic view. Nevertheless – an exit has been on my wish list since Patagonia and where would it fit better than in a country where there are more horses than people.

Day 5: Soviet feeling in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan

Our 5-day road trip from the Torugart Pass to Bishkek is of course only a short taste of a country that I like from the beginning and that I would definitely like to get to know better at a later date. On the way from the Chon-Kemin Valley to the capital Bishkek, we make a stop at the Burana Tower not far from the city of Tokmok. The tower is considered one of the oldest buildings of its kind in Central Asia and, like the old caravanserai in Tash Rabat, is one of the historical witnesses of the Silk Road. We venture into the dark interior of the tower and feel our way up the narrow stairs to the viewing platform – a little adventure.

The subsequent walk through the streets of Bishkek is the pure contrast to the previous drive through the lovely cultural landscape. Imposing Soviet buildings remind us that Kyrgyzstan was part of the USSR until 1991. The Russian influence can still be felt today – Kyrgyzstan officially has two state languages; Kyrgyz and Russian. We walk from Victory Square via the main square “Ala Too Square” to the large Osh Market in the west of the city center. Bishkek is certainly not the city where you have to calculate a lot of sightseeing time – but our budget of four hours was a bit tight to really get an overall picture of the capital of Kyrgyzstan. We spend the night just outside the city center at the Futuro Hotel Bishkek, which is recommended if centrality is not a priority. After five days in Kyrgyzstan, the next border crossing is on the agenda: the one to Kazakhstan.

Note: This leg of the journey was supported by Globotrain as well as their local partner NoviNomad. All opinions and impressions are, as always, ours.