Off the Beaten Path
Central Asia
Nomadic yurt camps, Silk Road mountain passes, almost no other tourists.
The Forgotten Atlas — Field Report
Nomadic yurt camps, Silk Road mountain passes, almost no other tourists.
Kyrgyzstan is 94% mountains. The Tian Shan range — the Celestial Mountains — covers almost the entire country, with peaks over 7,000 metres, glacial lakes of extraordinary colour, and mountain passes that the Silk Road caravans crossed for a thousand years. The country is sparsely populated, overwhelmingly rural, and almost entirely lacking in the tourist infrastructure that makes travel easy and interchangeable. This is the thing that makes it extraordinary. You are genuinely off the map here in a way that is increasingly rare.
Kyrgyzstan gave me back something I thought travel had taken from me — genuine surprise. I did not know what was around each corner. I still do not know how to fully describe what I saw.
The Forgotten Atlas
Kyrgyzstan has a nomadic pastoral tradition that is still partially alive. The felt yurt is still the symbol of the country — it appears on the national flag. In summer, Kyrgyz herding families move their animals to high pastures (jailoo) and live in yurt camps at altitudes of 3,000-4,000 metres. Staying in one of these camps — community-based tourism has developed significantly over the past decade — is one of the most genuine cultural experiences available in Central Asia. You eat what they eat, sleep where they sleep, and spend evenings with a family who have been doing this for centuries.
Issyk-Kul is a high-altitude lake — the second largest mountain lake in the world after Titicaca — so large it has its own climate and does not freeze in winter despite the altitude. The Ala-Archa canyon outside Bishkek is accessible for a day hike from the capital. The Song-Kul lake in the central mountains is at 3,016 metres and surrounded by summer yurt camps. The Torugart Pass on the Chinese border is one of the great mountain crossings on Earth. The Pamir Highway begins in the south.
Fly to Bishkek. Spend one night. Then get into the mountains as quickly as possible. Hire a driver-guide for the mountain regions.
The high-altitude lake. The northern shore is developed; the southern shore is barely touched. The colours in the mountains above the lake are extraordinary.
A high mountain lake at 3,016 metres. No permanent settlement. Summer yurt camps of herding families. The most atmospheric place in Kyrgyzstan.
The capital. A Soviet planned city with excellent cafés, a lively bazaar, and good restaurants. Useful as a base but not the reason to come.
The main city in the east. The base for trekking in the Tian Shan. The weekly animal market here is one of the great Central Asian bazaars.
The best Kyrgyz food in the capital. Lagman (hand-pulled noodles), beshbarmak (boiled meat with noodles), and the best manti (dumplings) in the city.
The food in community yurt camps — fresh bread, fermented mare's milk (kumis), boiled mutton — is the reason to stay in them. Simple, nourishing, and unlike anything else.
The Dungan people, Chinese Muslims who fled to Central Asia in the 19th century, have a cuisine that blends Chinese and Central Asian cooking in extraordinary ways. Find a Dungan restaurant in Karakol.
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