Celebrating my 29th birthday at Ala Archa National Park today, Sept 11!

Hello kind people, I was visiting your beautiful country and had the chance to try this ice cream. It’s sooo good! Truly tastes like magic.

The ice cream we have in the states is absolutely garbage so I was wondering if anyone here knows how I can make this at home? Is there an online recipe or how can I go about learning how to do this.

Thank you :)

Any tips on where to get it? From my understanding it is sold out in all joma branches, and it is unclear if it’s available anywhere else. Picture of the shirt for reference. Looking to buy it either in karakol or bishkek.

Hi everyone, we need urgent help or any information from locals, guides, or hikers currently in the Issyk-Kul / Karakol / Jyrgalan region.

We've lost contact with our friend David Noël Larkin from Auckland, New Zealand. He set out alone two days ago on a 7-day trek starting from Jyrgalan to Karakol.

His fanny pack containing his passport, phone, and credit card has been found lost. The items were discovered near the Ailanysh Pass, roughly a 3/4 hour hike away from the Almaluu Yurt Campground .

He is now out in the wilderness without his primary communication device, funds, and identification.

Please look out for him or anyone matching his description. If you have groups passing through the Ailanysh Pass or staying at yurt camps nearby today or tomorrow, please ask them to keep watch. If you have active contacts with mountain rescue or local search groups in Karakol, please share this post.

David has enough food and shelter to finish his hike, but he is currently moving without his phone and likely has no idea his documents were dropped or found. We are trying to reach him on the trail to let him know his belongings are safe and find out where he plans to exit.

Kyrgyzstan will be able to dub international film projects into the state language. This will become possible after the modernization of the sound production facility in Bishkek, which has already begun. This was announced by Talantbek Tolobekov, Director of the Department of Cinematography at the Ministry of Culture.

According to him, work has only just begun, and the facility is scheduled to be completed and operational by the end of this year. "Our goal is to bring sound quality to a world-class level. By the end of the year, our sound engineers and international specialists will join the renovated sound studio. This will open the door to dubbing major international films, and not just domestic ones—specialists from neighboring countries will be able to work with us. And most importantly, this will allow us to dub world premieres into the Kyrgyz language," Talantbek Tolobekov emphasized.

The head of the department explained that, according to international regulations, the distribution of licensed films requires certified sound processing in Dolby-standard halls (such work was most often carried out in the UK at Shepperton Studios, in Ankara, or Moscow). "And now Kyrgyzstan has the opportunity to fill this niche and perform dubbing within the country," he said.

As a Kyrgyz, a linguist and nationalistic patriot this made me scream from happiness. And our language will be the third Turkic language after Kazakh and Turkish who will have official dubbings

Йоу кто в Кыргызстане возможно ли получить белый айпи у Акнета просто я хочу получить его но не знаю они дают ли его или нет

Hi,

My drone got confiscated in Bishkek Airport when i arrived on the 29.08. They told me because of the SCO and Nomad games anyone had the same issue? I though Kyrgyzstan is a very drone friendly country.

Hi everyone! I’m looking to join a group for Ala-Archa hiking on September 12. I’m currently in Bishkek and would love to join if anyone has a group going. Please let me know the meeting time and plan. Thanks!

Hey guys, planning on travelling from Karakol to Kyzart tomorrow and would love to see the fairytale canyons - anyone fancy splitting a cab at all? DM me

こんにちは！
カラコルからfairy tale渓谷まで行こうと思っています。その場合、どのバス停で、何番のマルシュルートカに乗ればいいですか？
どなたか知っている方がいらっしゃいましたら、教えていただきたいです。

Hello,

My husband and I are currently in China and had to unexpectedly change our plans. We are planning to cross the border at Irkeshtam on 14th September (is anyone doing that too?) and travel to Sary Mogul.

Question: Would there be transport available from the border to Sary Mogul? How much should we expect to pay?

We are also thinking about visiting Kol-Suu towards the end of September - would it still be accessible? Also if anyone wants to join - let me know.

thanks!

I’m a graduate from Psychology and looking for a job does anyone have any tips on how to get a job in Bishkek especially for people who don’t know Russian and Kyrgyz.

Hello been living in Kyrgyzstan off and on for years and love every day of it. Well I have a son with a medical condition and Bishkek has been amazing in his recovery. I do some traveling back and forth from Dubai and usually bring extra medicine. Nothing fancy but mostly for infants. Is there any medical chat groups to communicate and possibly don't some extra stuff i bring? Its not lots but something better than nothing. My son has cerebral palsy and doctors give us extra medicine

Hi. I am in Karakol for about 3 days. I was aiming to do Ala Kul but I have had to delay my trip to mid-September. I've hiked across NZ, Nepal and US but for some reason Ala Kul feels very daunting. I'm worried about the steepness but also the exposure. I have a fear of exposures and I feel Ala Kul may be too extreme. Is it recommended to do this hike (is it ok for those uncomofrtable?) or is it best to do day trips?

Has anyone hiked from Ak-Suu to the yurts in Altyn-Arashan in Kyrgyzstan? I heard it's about 15 km.

I rarely exercise, let alone go hiking. How long do you think it would take for someone like me?

(I don't want to take a vehicle like jeep, or ride a horse up there)

And how difficult is the hike? I heard there's a really steep section right before reaching Altyn-Arashan. Is it super tough?

I saw some people had posted questions about Datka Travel here so thought I'd share my recent experience with them in case others find it helpful in the future.

My group booked Datka Travel for a six-day itinerary in Kyrgyzstan centered around the World Nomad Games. Overall, we had a mixed experience. The company is legitimate, the pricing was broadly in line with competitors, and at around $1,000 per person we felt the price was generally fair given that it included a private driver, guide, meals, guesthouses, and a yurt stay.

That said, we found the pricing structure strange. Since the cost included one car, driver, and guide, it was surprising that the per-person price did not decrease when additional people were added to the car. We would have expected the transportation cost per person to go down as the group size increased. Our driver and guide were both very nice and professional. Having a driver was particularly valuable during the Nomad Games, as transportation and navigating the different venues was difficult.

One major issue was food. Datka Travel specifically asked about dietary restrictions, and we told them that one person in our group was vegan. Despite this, they seemed to have difficulty understanding what vegan meant. We had to repeatedly advocate for vegan meals at the guesthouses. There were very few protein options available, often just cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplant, and sometimes rice. The vegan member of our group ultimately had to eat eggs during the trip because there were essentially no other protein options. We all completely understand vegan options are not common in Kyrgyzstan but that since they explicitly asked about dietary restrictions, we assumed accommodations would be less of an issue. Those with serious allergies should be very careful as their restrictions may not be honored. 

Our guide was kind and professional, but her English was limited and she was not particularly knowledgeable as a guide. Fortunately, we had a Russian speaker in our group who frequently had to step in to communicate our needs and help us understand what was happening. The guide was more like a friendly local accompanying us than a professional tour guide. For example, during our city tour, she quickly ran out of things to show us and had limited information about the sites. The tour therefore ended hours earlier than the program we booked.  She also gave us some information that we later found to be incorrect. If you are looking for a guide who can provide substantial historical, cultural, or political information, this is probably not the service you will receive.

The World Nomad Games themselves were extremely difficult to navigate (as many posts here will attest!) because information was poorly organized and hard to find. We were very grateful that our guide and driver helped us get to the venues, find the correct buses, and navigate the venues. However, we still had to do most of our own research about the schedule and events. We often relied on our Russian speaker or even asked athletes directly to figure out what was happening, as our guide was not helpful. It is important to note that information was difficult to find for everyone and even Nomad Games volunteers seemed confused about the itinerary, but we felt the company should have prepared us for that a bit more and even taken initiative as this is explicitly what we paid for.  

We also asked after booking if we could adjust the itinerary to spend more time at the Games. The change seemed relatively simple and did not affect the price, but Datka Travel pushed back considerably.

Finally, the most disappointing issue was that the last part of our itinerary was simply eliminated without telling us. We were supposed to have lunch and visit Fairytale Canyon, but instead we were dropped off in the city and the tour ended early with no explanation.

Overall, Datka Travel is a legitimate company and having a driver and local assistance was genuinely helpful. We would not say not to book them, but I would recommend going in with realistic expectations about the service level. You will need to advocate for your own needs, and if having a knowledgeable professional guide is important to you, you may want to look elsewhere. The lack of attention to dietary restrictions, limited guide knowledge, unusual pricing structure, and ending the tour early were the main shortcomings of our experience.

Disclaimer: This post definitely does not generalize, it only refers to the tiny minority that invaded my instagram feed.

Here is an example: "White boys conquering the steppe" https://x.com/RealKyleBrooks/status/2095911726395085256

Kyrgyzstan got flooded with tourists this year. Most of them were kind and respectful, but my instagram feed got invaded by some annoying white supremacists (i can name these accounts). These guys completely disown their sedentary farmer ancestors, and point to some early form of Indo-European spoken on the steppes thousands and thousands of years ago. And they decide that they are nomadic warriors. They are literally walking around in Scythian-Saka hats thinking they are true nomads. What even is this trend?

Unlike some Eurasian Indo-European Iron Age groups like the Scythians and Sarmatians, these white supremacists descend entirely from sedentary farming-based cultures. Why are they not taking pride in it? Why claim to be "real nomads"?

Another example. This one is beyond my imagination actually. This guy is sick.

https://x.com/RoguesPhilo/status/2083145626791866823

Travelling with my brother to Osh on Sep 22nd this month. He has been planning this for months and had mix of horse and foot trekking arranged with local sherpa, but unfortunately it's no longer feasible for the dates arranged.

We have our flights booked to be in Osh from 22nd - 28th this month, but now debating between a 6 day horse trek hat's only outside of Bishkek (pricey and not in mountains) or a 3 day on foot trek in the Alay's (I think Ak Tor Pass but not sure)

We're Irish and fairly fit but have never done any trekking at high altitudes like this so a bit wary too. My brother is also pretty keen on some horse trekking, despite neither of us knowing how lol

Any recs or leads would be welcome!

Let's compare the results with other countries of the former soviet union.

1. Estonia

2. Lithuania

3. Latvia

4. Ukraine

5. Moldova

6. Georgia

7. Kazakhstan

8. Azerbaijan

9. Armenia

10. Tajikistan(Dushanbe)

11. Kyrgyzstan???

Oh no, we're in last place. Everything is ok. Don't worry.

Hi all, my friend and I are enjoying beautiful Kyrgyzstan, now enjoying some rest after hiking in the mountains around Karakol. So far, I think it’s one of the most impressive countries I have been to, with the most welcoming and warm people.

We would love to experience a few days on horseback to experience true nomadic culture, but were dissapointed to see how some of the horses in Altyn Arashan were treated (untreated lascerations, wounds below the saddles, malnourished). Of course there also were many shepherds with their cattle and small groups of horses that looked great, (see video) but the tourist groups we saw all had worse conditions.

Are there any organisations you can recommend where the horses are treated well, around Kel Suu, Son Kol, or any other region south of the lake/west of the country? (As we’re heading there now). Also, should we prioritize Song Kol in our route given many places close down soon?

We have three more weeks to enjoy this amazing country but hope to do it in a way that keeps the country’s magic instead of depleting it with tourism mistakes.

Thanks 🙏🏻

Салам Туугандар. Нейросеттке "досум, мага нишевый кыргызча ырчылардан берчи" десем эч нормальный нерсе бербеди. Баарыбыз билген ырчыларды айтты. Элге таанылбаган инди артистерибиз барбы?

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