After breakfast at the shepherd's house, you saddle up for the day's main challenge: the climb to the Jalgyz Karagai Pass at 3,400 metres. The trail rises steadily through open alpine terrain, the views expanding with every hour. As you ride, the valleys below fill with herds of horses, sheep, and cattle — a scene that has not changed in centuries.
At the top of the pass, Song Kul appears below — a vast, still expanse of blue with no towns on its shore and nothing interrupting the horizon. The descent to the lakeshore takes you through active summer herding grounds. You arrive at the yurt camp in the early afternoon, with time to walk beside the water, rest, or simply watch the light change across the lake.
Dinner is served inside the yurt. Outside, as darkness falls, the Milky Way stretches from one mountain range to the other.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Accommodation: Yurt camp at Song Kul lake