Talas to Song-Kul Backroads - 7 Days

This morning we drive up through a wooded gorge into the national park to reach the alpine Besh-Tash Lake, a quiet pool held high among the peaks. After taking it in we return to Talas for lunch.

The afternoon road runs over the Ala-Bel Pass and down through the Chychkan Gorge toward the Toktogul Reservoir. You spend the night at a homestay in Kara-Suu Village, the water spread out below.

Today the route leaves the highway behind for dirt tracks winding through remote country and small traditional villages. We stop for a picnic by the Toluk River before climbing the Kyrk-Kyz Pass at 3400 m, where the mountains open out in every direction.

By evening we drop to Kyzyl-Oi, a village set between steep slopes on the banks of the Koko-Meren River. A walk through its lanes leads into dinner.

We follow the Koko-Meren River toward Song-Kul, stopping for tea and a short walk at Ak-Kol Lake. Lunch is in Ming-Kush, once a closed uranium town, where the stories of its Soviet past still linger.

The last stretch climbs the Tuz-Ashuu Pass at 3300 m and delivers you to Song-Kul, the great high-mountain lake. You settle into a yurt on the pasture for the night.

From early morning you live the day at the herders' pace. There is milking the mares, gathering dried dung for the fire, moving the sheep and milking the cows, then a hand in cooking lunch and the small chores that keep a yurt running.

There is no fixed schedule, only the rhythm of the camp. If you like, a short ride out across the pasture can fill the afternoon before another night under the stars.

We trace the lakeshore and then climb the Terskey-Torpu Pass at 3300 m, its tight serpentine bends zig-zagging up the mountainside. A rest and lunch stop in Naryn breaks the drive.

The day ends at Tash-Bashat Village and a cosy hotel. An evening walk through the village or up into the hills leads to a bonfire under a wide, starry sky.

The final day heads toward Issyk-Kul through quiet villages, climbing the Dolon Pass at 3030 m for one last sweep of mountain views. In Kochkor we call on a Dungan family and watch them prepare lagman, their signature dish.

After a brief stop at the lake near Balykchy, we drive on to Bishkek, with the option of a last wander through Osh Bazaar before the tour ends.