Hidden gems

[Harriet]

Hi all - I'm planning on visiting Kyrgyzstan in July/August 2021 and wanted to ask what people thought were some of the country's best-hidden gems and/or most under-rated places? I'm mostly interested in hiking/horseriding, and while I've done a fair bit of research myself, a lot of what I have found seems to be on the relatively well-trodden path (Ala-Kol, etc.) I'll be spending the first half of my trip solo and relying on public transit, however, some of my friends are then going to join me with a rental 4x4, so the world is really our oyster.

So, if you have any insider advice or ideas on lesser-known hiking/horseriding trails, driving routes etc. then I would love to hear them!

[mazeno]

hidden gems are hidden and gems unless set popular to the public
then they become resorts
not gems

[Harriet]

Hi Mazeno - I understand what you're saying and perhaps I shouldn't have used that expression. I'm essentially looking to learn from people's experience on the lesser-trodden path and see whether there some under-rated places/regions that I haven't considered that I could research further. Thanks!

[mazeno]

it is not about the expression
it is about putting heart, energy, time, money into finding, discovering hidden gems
i have spend months on reading books (and not just lonely planet guides or so), checking maps, browsing the sources
i have driven many thousands kilometers crossing the central asia steps and mountains
sometimes very stressing, even dangerous
sometimes very boring and tiring
often by pinching and deny myself many conveniences
so
why should i tell the internet-world about places which costed me a lot (and i don't mind the money, here) and see how they change for a full-of-tourist-cheap-disneyland
i have been doing this for years
now i see many of the gems are just disneylands
so i changed a bit

i see more and more clients of travel companies are checking the caravanistan (not only) for easy and free info
and less and less real travellers and tramps

'give me a track' is very popular, now
but
if something is really worth a lot for you, you shouldn't release it on public for free
some are so worth that shouldn't even for money

[steven]

Hi Harriet,

try the Jalalabad to Song Kol / Naryn route and combine it with the route to Eki Naryn and then the Tosor Pass to Issyk Kul. That's not too difficult driving but it will fully satisfy your criteria. You won't find many tourists there.

For hiking and horse riding, basically, everywhere outside of Alakol and Song Kol is fine, really, and even there, if you just take a different route than the standard one you find on all the blogs, you will quickly find yourself very alone. I talked a little bit about different destinations here: https://caravanistan.com/kyrgyzstan/thi ... stinations

Try for instance the Jiptik Pass trek. You won't meet more than a dozen trekkers and the landscape is world-class.

If you are looking for an operator for horse riding, I recommend Bakyt - https://caravanistan.com/tour_operator/samuel/ They are always really into getting tourists (and tourist dollars) to new places that see few people, and they do very good tours.