Almaty to Karakol or Bishkek to Karakol?

[kota]

Hi fun loving people!

I am travelling with a friend this August for 2 weeks in Kyrgyztan, then onto Uzbeki for an another week.
unfortunately we decided not to hike around Osh (Alay mountains, Sary chekek etc..) this time since we won't have enough time.
My question is following, a simple but a issue as this leads to our flight booking!
- Is it worth starting our trip from Almaty, and go visit and hike big almaty lake and charyn canyon, then down directly to Karakol to start the "standard" route of around issykul late, song kul.
- or is it better to land directly in bishkek, then marshrutka to Karakol to follow the standard itinerary?

referencial info : flight tickets to Almaty or Bishkek (i am flying from Paris) cost the same.

Thanks a bunch for your help!
cheers to travel lovers

If you want to join us, you also can contact us we are mid 30's international backgraound 2 girls (who don't live their original countries, and have traveled more than 40 countries in the past

[Julia]

Hi.

What do you mean by "standard" route around Issyk Kul and Son Kul and Karakol?))
I'm not sure if there is one standard route there. There are different options, some very short for a couple of days, others do that in a couple of weeks. Some people hike and camp, others just drive there by cars.

I mean what exactly are you going to do and visit in Kyrgyzstan?
You mentioned you have two weeks for the country. It's not much.
If you include Almaty and surroundings (Big Almaty lake, Charyn Canyon, route from the canyon to Karakol), it will take additional 3-4 days.
I think it worth it but if you have enough time for the rest of your trip. Will you have to shorten time in Kyrgyzstan if you include Almaty region? Or you can just add up additional days and prolong your trip?
Will you visit other similar lakes and canyons in Kyrgyzstan?

[kota]

Hi Julia, sorry that i was not clear.
Anyway, thank you for taking time to reply!
Cheers!

[Julia]

I hope you decided the best option for you, including Almaty region or not.

Just curious about itineraries travellers choose.
If you feel like sharing places you'll visit and activities to do.

[liambourke]

Hi, did you travel to Almaty in the end? If yes, how did you get to Karakol? Thanks

[steven]

Note that you can find a lot of info at https://caravanistan.com/border-crossin ... n-tupkensu