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2-Days in Song-Kul Lake as Nomad horseback riding and Yurt stay
ABOUT TOUR
Song-Kol lake is the second largest lake in the country after Issyk-Kul and it’s hard to start describing just how beautiful this lake is. The azure color of the water attracts not only tourists, but also locals. Son-Kul is surrounded by green meadows, where flocks of sheep and horses graze in summer. Shepherds bring cattle here for the entire summer period, and they themselves live in specially installed yurts. Such pastures where people can live for months are called jailoos. In the cold season, yurts are rolled up.
Song kul lake is surrounded by the Tien Shan mountains and high altitude summer pastures. It’s a spectacular location and the best way to explore the area is doing horseback riding. It is definitely one of the best places in Kyrgyzstan for horseback riding.
The sunsets at Song kul lake are incredible and definetly worth the somewhat cold experience. Once the sun is gone, temperatures go down quickly. Dress warmly and bring a torch and then enjoy the colours in the sky change.
At night it is also worth getting out of your yurt to see the stars. There is almost zero light pollution at Song kul lake and being at a high altitude makes the stars even more bright. On a clear night it is almost as if you can touch them and you can easily see the Milky Way.
What to expect
In the morning you’ll be picked up from a hotel to start your exciting tour. We’ll head towards Burana Tower to the small town of Tokmok (80km from Bishkek). Your guide will show you the mausoleums and other buildings discovered by archaeologists during excavations, you will have a chance to climb to the top of the ancient tower, where there is a beautiful view of the Chui valley and the Tien-Shan mountains open. Visit the small museum, which presents various archaeological artifacts, as well as an open-air museum, which contains ancient gravestones, rock drawings, and other interesting historical objects found on the territory of our country.
The Boom gorge is the connecting link between Chui valley and Song Kol lake. In the gorge flows one of the largest rivers of Tien-Shan – Chu. The river broke this large and picturesque gorge among the mountains. It will be our stop for the snacks and tea at one of the restaurants. National puff cakes with soar cream and tea boiled in russian samovar with unique taste.
Orto Tokyo reservoir is another picturesque place we will stop where you can enjoy the panoramic view to the first build reservoir surrounded by great dry mountains of Naryn region. This place is the only where you can witness camels in Kyrgyzstan because of the weather conditions.
After 2-3 hours driving we will finally start ascending to Song-Kol lake. The surrounding view changes color and texture all the time: from stony dunes to green hills. Here you can meet peacefully grazing mountain yaks - majestic animals that amaze with their power. Also in the vast meadows of the pass the mountain edelweiss grows. These beautiful flowers have become a real symbol of the mountains; lyrical works are dedicated to them. From the highest point, you can see the surrounding mountain peaks and the valley, from where the ascent began. There is an opportunity to estimate the scale of the done path and is breathtaking. Further, the road leads to descent, and hiking down is greatly accelerated. Very little remains until the meeting with the Son-Kul Lake. The journey through the Kalmak-Ashuu Pass is an exciting adventure.
Around 5 PM we will finally arrive at our yurt camp in Song-Kol lake. Check in to our yurts, have some rest after long drive. Have free time before dinner, and as soon as it gets dark we will make a fire and enjoy the lake and stars.
After breakfast, we start exploring Song-Kol lake bit deeper. For a long time the lake has been a meeting place for the different tribes in the area and around the shoreline you will find ancient burial mounds and stone monuments. Kyrgyz people believe the lake is sacred and many come to pray(meditate).
We will start by horse back riding to the mountains and see a small nice waterfall there. The main thing is not the waterfall itself, but the stunning nature on the way to it. The way is quite long, you will have time to have a rest and take beautiful pictures of nature. Further, we will ride up to the hill on our way back to the yurt camp to see the amazing panorama of Song-Kol lake and witness stone drawings.
Around 12 PM we wil start our way back to Bishkek. On our way we will drive through one of the most spectacular roads in Kyrgyzstan leads to the Terkey Torpok Pass(also known as 33 parrots), which is over 3000m high and whose more than 30 serpentines.
We will make stop at Kochkor village to have some lunch with Kyrgyz family or local restaurant and move on.
Arrival in the capital city. Have dinner in nice restaurant in Bishkek. After you'll be dropped off at your hotel (not included). This is the end of our intense but awesome tour, thank you very much!
What is included?
TOUR PRICES
500 USD
Private tour for one person
300 USD
Group of 2 people
250 USD
Group of 3-4 people
BY REQUEST
Group of 5 and more people