Exploring Bishkek From Son-Kul, we journeyed 4 hours back to Kyrgyzstan’s capital in a marshrutka ($7/total) for two additional nights. Bishkek, which has a population of 1 million and is rapidly growing, has some architectural and pleasant leafy green similarities to Almaty, though overall not quite as desirable, in our opinion. One popular explanation for the name “Bishkek” refers to…
Day One: Song Kul Lake Walk & Yurt Camp From Kochkor, we planned our independent-ish journey to Song Kul, a 29-kilometer long, freshwater lake ringed by nothing but rolling mountains and surrounded by miles and miles of high, open pastureland…grazing nirvana for the many cows and horses we would meet along the way. Fortunately, the livestock, like the nomadic people, live…
From Karakol to Kochkor From Karakol, we journeyed five hours back west to the town of Kochkor, where we would stay for two nights before beginning our journey to Song Kul. To get there, we passed through some stunning terrain, parts of it reminiscent of the American Southwest, while other bits were indistinguishable to any beautiful place we’ve been before.…
Day 1: Karakol to Bulak Say Yurt Camp 15.6 kilometers, 6 hours, Elevation Gain: 970 meters, or 3,182 feet. It has been more than two years since we’ve done our last overnight trek in Ecuador, and after concluding one of the most epic and rewarding hikes yet in the Tien Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan, we keep asking ourselves why are…
From Almaty to Karakol From Almaty, it was time to traverse to our next location in our ‘Stan a Plan, which would be a two-day, 12.5-hour journey to Karakol, pausing overnight in Kyrgyzstan’s capital of Bishkek. Yes, to go east, of course, you gotta go west first. Oh yes, we are indeed moving again… To leave Almaty, we traveled to the…
In Summary... Admittedly, we found that our time in Almaty, Kazakhstan was simply way too brief. In fact, based on how livable, enjoyable and walkable this city is, it seems very likely to sprout as a nomad hub in upcoming years. So, we’re putting it on our growing list of places we’d like to visit again for a month, which we’re…
From barren steppe and deserts, to slicing canyons, to turquoise lakes encompassed by carpets of evergreens, traversing the terrain in southeast Kazakhstan can feel like rolling from the American Southwest to the Pacific Northwest in a matter of moments. Yes, there is SO much to do in and around Almaty for nature lovers. However, since we’re limited on time, we…
From Istanbul to Kazakhstan We Go In 2022, this trip was on the books. But we reluctantly canceled at last minute due to…well, a “foot” problem…Regardless, it happened for a reason, not only because of everything I learned during six months of healing that year, but because we got to explore Türkiye during a very economically beneficial time….which is definitely not…
