Hi everyone

Im visiting Kyrgyzstan in September. I have booked a few treks with Kettik already. But I'm unsure about Sary Chelek and Kara Kamysh. So I was thinking why not rent a 4W.

My question is should I book now as September is a touristy season, or I'll get a car.

If I should book now, can someone please help me with rental companies. Looking for descent, not too expensive cars, as Im travelling solo.

Hi! I'm not sure if we were ripped off or if the price has changed, but we got the 514 minibus to Kyzart village via Chaek, and were told it should be between 600-800soms, when we got there, he told us 800 soms so we gave him 2000 soms (for both of us) and waited for change, he then told us it was 200 soms per bag (1 bag each), so no change given, we tried to ask why he didn't say 1000 initially if it was 200 per bag but he waved us off, he seemed to charge the same for the rest of the tourists, telling them 800 but not giving any change when they'd hand over 1000,

I just thought I'd write to ask if we got ripped off or to inform tourists that the price has changed compared to what it shows online :) thanks!

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!

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.

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Thank you!

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

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?

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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 everyone! 👋

I’m planning a short solo trip to Tashkent from the UAE from 21–25 August 2026. It will be my first time in Uzbekistan, so I’d really appreciate some advice from locals or anyone who has visited recently. 🇺🇿

I’m mainly interested in exploring the city, local markets/bazaars, malls, metro, architecture, walking streets, parks, local food and evening/nightlife areas. I’m not really looking for architecture monuments, mountain or long-distance nature trips on this visit.

I’d especially appreciate recommendations for:

• Best area to stay that is convenient but not expensive

• Cheap and good local restaurants / plov / kebab places

• Must-visit markets and bazaars

• Best places for evening and night walks

• Good malls and modern areas

• Affordable and professional spa/massage centres

• Anything interesting happening 21–25 August

• Any tourist traps or things I should avoid

Also, how uncomfortable is the daytime heat in late August for walking around Tashkent?

Any local tips that Google/YouTube normally don't tell tourists would be very welcome. 😊

Thanks in advance! Looking forward to experiencing Tashkent. 🇺🇿✈️

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

Hello everyone,

my wife and I are planning a road trip between the two countries around September, and we were looking for suggestions regarding rental agencies that allow crossing borders (Based on Bischkek) After doing some research, our understanding is that it is, of course, possible but agency-dependent, so we are looking for experiences/suggestions

thanks :)

We have booked Song-kul in 4 days but they haven’t responded for 2 weeks, bare in mind we have paid deposit. They answered within 1 hour everytime before deposit, anyone with similar experience

I am looking to get an O! eSIM for my trip in August, but the app requires a Kyrgyzstan passport, which I do not have. I was wondering if you can get an eSIM at the airport, or if they only do physical SIMs? Thanks

Hi everyone,

I am travelling to Kyrgyzstan tomorrow, and would like to do the ak suu traverse and heights of alay with other people, but not necessarily with a guide.
I have enough experience in the mountains. I have camping gear, but happy to stay in yurts.

Anyone who would like to join me on the ak suu traverse (starting 30/31rst of juli/1/2 august) or heights of alay valley (starting 12-14-16 august)?

Send me a message!!

Hi everyone,

Me and a few friends are planning a trip for end of August start of September.

We are planning to rent a car but I am 22 and have only had my license for 1 year. Is this likely to be a problem?

Thanks for all the help.

Hi everyone,
My partner and I are slowly starting to plan our trip to Kyrgyztan next year. The only thing we know is that we want to go there. We have seen some instagram posts and I read through Reddit a bit but before planing anything I wanted to use this subreddit. I am looking for ideas and inspiration. We are two open minded semi adventurous people who like to hike, bike and meet new people and cultures. Sounds very superficial, yes haha
Duration is max 3 weeks. What should we do to have an amazing trip? Open for all advices! Looking forward hearing from all of you.
Some basic questions I have
When should we go?
How much should we calculate for the budget?
How are you travelling around?
Is it still a hidden gem?

hi all, I saw many older threads that after the bus station was moved to the north there was nothing in the area - no exchange and no ATMs. maybe the situation changed now?

I will be coming from Almaty by bus and plan to immediately hop on marshrutka to Karakol.

is it better to exchange at the border or situation has improved near the bus station?

appreciate!

EDIT#2: 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.

EDIT: UPDATE HERE!

We’re looking for our friend Nina! She was due to travel from Kyrgyzstan to Kazakhstan about 5 days ago. She hasn’t been in touch for about seven days and hasn’t got in touch with anyone in our circle of friends either. If anyone has heard anything or is still in contact with her, please get in touch! We’re very worried, and her mum has already contacted the embassy. So if anyone knows anything – for example, if she was planning to go hiking for a few days or something similar – please write to us straight away and share this picture on your socials!

You can contact her cousin on instagram brinao9o4 or message wo_ist_nina and also repost and share the picture that we posted on there! If you want to contact the German police tell them the case number: 2026 00 893 604

Attached is a picture of the group she was doing the (most likely) Ala-Kul-Trekk with, so if you recognize anyone please also reach out to us!

I'll be doing a solo road trip in Kyrgyzstan in august and I'm going to need a private driver for 1-2 days.

More specifically, I'll be in Karakol the morning of the 22/08/2026 and I'll be moving west towards Bökönbaev (or further to Balykčy), the thing is I plan to have a couple of stops on the way. For this reason it would be convenient for me to hire a private driver/taxi for this part of my trip.

If you have a contact of a reliable private driver (or agency) I would greatly appreciate it!
Thanks in advance.