Home / Tours / Two Nights at Song-Kul on Horseback - 4 Days
Two Nights at Song-Kul on Horseback - 4 Days
Most treks touch Song-Kul and turn back. This one stays two nights at the lake, in two different yurt camps. You ride from Kyzart via Kilemche and the Jalgyz-Karagai Pass, follow the shore to Kara-Kiya valley with a free afternoon to swim or rest, and leave over the Kara-Kiya Pass. Short riding days make it right for any level.
Why you'll love this tour
Good to know
- Accommodation: 1 night at shepherd's house, 2 nights at yurt
- Activities: horse riding - 4 days
- Departures from: Bishkek
- Best time to go: May to September
- Local certified English-speaking guide
- Private transport & airport transfers
- Small group or fully private
- 24/7 support team in Bishkek
What to pack
- Long trousers that won't chafe during long hours in the saddle
- Closed shoes or boots with a small heel that sit well in the stirrups
- Riding gloves to protect your hands on the reins
- A waterproof, windproof jacket and a warm layer for cold yurt evenings
- Sun protection: a hat or cap, sunglasses, and high-SPF sunscreen
Full packing list and arrival tips: Easy from abroad: visas, arrival and logistics
Before you go
- Visa: most Western and East-Asian passports enter visa-free for up to 30 days within any 60-day period (the rule changed at the end of 2025), so check your own nationality on evisa.e-gov.kg
- Money: the local currency is the Kyrgyz som; carry cash for villages and camps, as card payments mostly work only in towns
- Connectivity: mobile data is decent in towns, but there is usually no signal at high mountain yurt camps, so let people know you may be offline
- Altitude: camps sit around 2,500 to 3,900 metres, so take it easy on the first day and drink plenty of water
- Drinking water: stick to bottled or boiled water, and bring enough for stretches where none is available
Read before you go: Staying in a yurt: nomad culture & etiquette · Safety first: how we look after you in the mountains
Day-by-day itinerary
Tap any day to expand. Every itinerary can be tailored to your dates, pace and fitness.
We pick you up early from your hotel for the 4 to 5 hour drive south into Naryn Province, past the Orto-Tokoy reservoir.
In Kyzart village you meet your guides over lunch with a local family. Then you mount up and ride gently up the valley toward Kilemche at 2,500 meters, about 3 to 4 hours in the saddle.
The night is in a shepherd's house, a working highland home rather than a guesthouse. Dinner is served there.
After breakfast you take on the main climb of the trek, the Jalgyz-Karagai Pass at 3,400 meters. The trail goes up steadily through open alpine country, with herds grazing in the valleys below.
At the top, Song-Kul opens out in front of you, wide and still, with no towns on the shore. Riding time is about 3 hours, and you reach the first yurt camp by early afternoon.
Dinner is in the yurt. When it gets dark, the Milky Way spans the sky from one ridge to the other.
Today the lake is the whole point. You ride along the Song-Kul shore with water on one side and rolling hills on the other, for about 2 to 3 hours.
The second yurt camp sits in Kara-Kiya valley. A local nomad family serves lunch.
The afternoon is free. Swim if the day is warm, walk the pastures, help the families with their daily work or just sit by the water. Dinner and the night are in a yurt on the shore.
Get up early for mist on the lake and horses on the jailoo as the stars go out.
After breakfast you climb to the Kara-Kiya Pass at 3,400 meters. Look back for Song-Kul and ahead into the Jumgal valley. Then the trail drops steadily to Kyzart over 4 to 5 hours of riding.
Lunch waits at a guesthouse in Kyzart. Our driver then takes you the 4 to 5 hours back to your hotel in Bishkek.
Sights visited on this tour
Bishkek
Kyrgyzstan's leafy, Soviet-planned capital and the gateway to the mountains.
Song-Kul Lake
A high alpine lake ringed by summer yurt camps and grazing horses.
Kyzart
A quiet farming village and trailhead for the horse route to Song-Kul.Gallery
Common questions
It runs 4 days, starting and ending in Bishkek.
The season runs May to September. June to September brings the warmest days, and the high-pasture yurt camps are open.
It's relaxed-paced, with 4 days horse riding. Good general fitness is enough, and there is no technical climbing.
No. Our guides match each horse to your level and keep the first day gentle, so complete beginners ride this route every season.
A mix over the trip: 1 night at shepherd's house, 2 nights at yurt.
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