A landlocked massif where the Tian Shan and Pamir-Alay ranges swallow nearly the whole country, Kyrgyzstan is the realm of jailoo summer pastures, glacial rivers and semi-nomadic herders who still move with the seasons. Bishkek keeps its wide Soviet boulevards, while Karakol and Osh anchor the east and the fertile Fergana fringe. Between alpine canyons, hot springs and turquoise lakes, this is some of Central Asia's most accessible high-mountain trekking, all shared eagle…
This is where the World Nomad Games were born in 2014 — eagle hunting, horseback wrestling and kok-boru in front of the yurts of Lake Issyk-Kul.
Issyk-Kul, the world's second-largest mountain lake, never freezes despite sitting at 1,600 m — its name means “warm lake”.
You sleep in a yurt at Song-Kul, with no electricity: a power bank is essential. An eSIM helps: offline maps before the mountains, marshrutkas and pass weather.