Easy Week: Song-Kul & Issyk-Kul - 7 Days

The whole day belongs to the lake and the life around it. You can ride out along the smooth shoreline and into the surrounding hills, call on a nomad family in their yurt, and try a bowl of kymys, the tangy fermented mare's milk that is a staple up here.

As the light fades, dinner is served at the camp and the sky fills with stars. Few places feel as far from the rest of the world as this one.

Leaving Song-Kul behind, we descend the famous 33 Parrots Pass, a dizzying series of switchbacks, and pause for a short walk to the Kajyrty Waterfall. The road then crosses the Kum-Bel and Dolon passes, with a hearty lagman lunch along the way.

In the afternoon we reach the Ak-Say Canyons on the southern shore of Issyk-Kul, their red walls rising sharply from the dry hills. The night is spent at a guesthouse in Bokonbaev Village.

The day opens with an eagle hunter showing how his bird is trained and flown, then a walk through the Fairy-Tale Canyons and their oddly sculpted rock. Lunch is hosted by Lyubov Danichkina, a well-known alpinist, at her home in Tamga Village.

From there we visit the Barskoon Waterfalls and the red ridges of Jety-Oguz before reaching Karakol. An evening stroll through the old town leads into dinner.

This morning we trade the road for a rugged Soviet UAZ truck and bounce up a rough track that follows a clear river through thick pine forest. The climb is bumpy but the scenery only gets better the higher you go.

Altyn-Arashan opens out into a wide alpine valley beneath Peak Palatka, which tops out above 5000 m. The afternoon is yours to soak in the hot springs, walk the meadows, or simply take in the view before dinner and a night in the mountains.

After a slow morning in Altyn-Arashan, the UAZ carries you back down the valley to Karakol for lunch. The worst of the track is behind you and the rest of the day is on smooth road.

We follow the north shore of Issyk-Kul past the resort towns of Cholpon-Ata and Balykchy, then turn into the green valley of Chong-Kemin National Park. The evening is for resting at the guesthouse.

We leave Chong-Kemin for the capital, with a last stop at the Burana Tower on the way. After lunch in Bishkek, a guided walk takes in Ala-Too Square and the busy aisles of Osh Bazaar, a good spot for last souvenirs.

The tour closes in the city, with time to look back on the mountains, lakes and pastures of the week behind you.