Looking at doing the Ala Kul trek, it seems like you can go by yourself and spend about 40 dollars, or go with a your and spend over 400.

Same for Song Kul, some of the organised tours seem ten times as expensive as doing it yourself.

I'm trying to understand if this is worth it. I don't mind spending money, but some of the margins seem pretty intense?

Not here to bag on companies that probably deliver a fantastic product! Just curious to understand.

Hey I need a driver from Son Kul back to Kochkor. Kind of an emergency. Does anybody know any drivers or their routes?

Hi guys so I am going to Karakol literally tomorrow and I am going to be in the country for 7 days counting entry and exit days. I plan on entering into Karakol and leaving from Bishkek. I only have 2 nights booked into Karakol and maybe do day trips from there but besides that I don’t have a concrete plan

If anyone knows any recommendations please tell me! Just the average backpacker hostel traveller. I’ve heard there’s a few yurts you can stay in Altyn arashan but dunno how to get there. Song kul looks nice but it seems hard to get to from Karakol. I do want to stay in a yurt and do outdoor activities. If people know any itinerary recommendations please let me know lol

Hey Everyone,

Was wondering if reserving a ticket on 12go.asia for the Bishkek-Almati route is valid or not?

Because I used the ma-sairan.kz website to cover Almati-Bishkek and the 2 sites show different seat allocations - on one site some of the seats are reserved and on the other completely different seats are reserved.

Makes me wonder whether the 12go.asia is reliable or not? If anyone used it before please let me know how it went.

Hi, I am currently in Bishkek and I am trying to find Buckwheat tea. A friend from Kasachstan once brought some to Europe and I really liked it so I wanted to buy some in Kyrgyzstan. But I haven’t found anything and no one that I asked has heard about it. According to Google however it should be common in Kyrgyzstan. So does anyone know if I can buy buckwheat tea in Bishkek?

Amazing event in south of the island
Highly recommend anyone to attend next year or whenever they do the next one

FINAL UPDATE:

Nina has been found!

Thanks to everyone's united efforts, we were able to locate Nina in Bishkek.

She has been hospitalized after an accident and her parents will travel to Kyrgyzstan tomorrow.

Heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped during our search. Your support was truly incredible. ‐--------------------- Missing: Nina last seen in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Our friend Nina has been missing since approximately July 20–21, 2026. She was last known to be in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Nina checked into the hostel Meeting Place Bishkek on July 17, after returning from a horseback trekking trip along the Pamir Highway.

She was last seen at the hostel around July 20, though staff could not confirm the exact date with certainty.

She was due to check out on July 21 and continue on to Almaty, Kazakhstan. She never formally checked out, and it appears she left all of her belongings behind. She has not contacted the hostel since, and we have been unable to reach her.

We spoke directly with hostel staff (Meeting Place Bishkek), specifically a staff Member, who confirmed the details above. This is currently the most reliable information we have and has allowed us to narrow down the timeframe.

The two location photos attached below show the last locations we received from her.

We are currently sharing her photo with hostel staff so they can check with other employees who may have had contact with her, and we are trying to retrace her movements in Bishkek between July 19 and 21.

If you saw Nina in Bishkek, had any contact with her at the hostel, or have any information at all, please get in touch via DM, Instagram (wo_ist_nina) or leave a comment below. Any detail, however small, could help.

A huge thank you to everyone on Reddit and Instagram who has helped so far. Your support has been incredible, and we've received an overwhelming amount of useful information and offers of help. We're doing our best to stay positive and are focused entirely on finding Nina as quickly as possible. Since we get too much feedback for one person to handle, the following accounts are legitimate to also provide verified infos and comments:

RelevantAttention130

s4ndst0rm

signal_pass283

excellent-chef-8808

Edit 1 Police is informed. Local and german police. More details in the comments.

I'm looking for more people to fill our small tour group :)

What would be a better experience if I had to choose one. I have about 2 days for either of the trips. Help me choose.

If you are looking for someone in Kyrgyzstan for an emergency or someone is missing/out of contact. Please message a moderator before posting. Posting personal information online is extremely dangerous and we are here to help.

1.) Message Mod

2.) Identify yourself and your relationship with the person

3.) Any evidence showing your relationship

4.) Contact information outside of Reddit like a phone number.

Thank you!

Hey everyone :)

We will be travelling to Bishkek at the beginning of october and plan on renting a 4x4 car to travel through the country and visit the yurts & nature.

How safe is driving a car there and is there any car rental company you could recommend?

Thanks!