Itinerary for Almaty-Karakol-Kochkor-Osh-Tashkent-Bishkek

[smlby17]

Hi everybody,

we're just trying to adjust the last details of our roundtrip through Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan and I'd be grateful to have some advice on the plans (feasible or not) and I have some questions to some tricky parts of our journey:

• 17th - 18th August: Arriving in Almaty, getting to know the city and surroundings
• 19th - 20th August: Almaty - Charyn Canyon - Karakol
• 21st - 22nd August: Exploring south shore of Issyk-Kul (Tamga, Barskoon Valley) up to Kochkor
• 23rd - 25th August: Kochkor – Song-Kol – Jalal-Abad/Osh
  What would be the best way to get from Kochkor to Jalal-Abad/Osh if we dont want to go Bishkek first? I already thought about rideshare with people from this forum... Would there be also Mashrutkas or shared taxis going this way?
• 26th August: Osh – Andijan – Kokand – Tashkent (taking the train that is described in the travel options for Uzbekistan on caravanistan)
• 27th August: Taking the night train to Bukhara, day in Bukhara and then travelling to Samarkand
• 28th - 29th August: Samarkand, maybe return to Tashkent
• 30th August: Train back to Bishkek
  As the train is not bookable online: Does anybody have experience whether it will be fully booked if not booked early? Otherwise we would by a train ticket on the 26th...
• 31st August - 02nd September: Bishkek, on 2nd September bus/shared taxi to Cholpon-Ata for the opening ceremony of the World Nomad Games
• 3rd September: Back to Bishkek to take a flight to Almaty in the evening (8 p.m.)
  Is there a possibility to somehow get faster/easier (I know, I'm asking too much) to Almaty from Cholpon-Ata? It seems so frustrating, the direct way would be only 150 km but as I understood there is no transport and no borderpost for the way over the mountains. I'm just trying to work out how we could spend more time at the World Nomad Games but also to arrive in the afternoon on the 4th in Almaty to have some wiggle room if things go wrong...
• 4th September: Day in Almaty for souvenirs etc., flight back early in the morning on 5th September

Any help or advice is much appreciated, thank you!

Jan

[steven]

Hi Jan,

sorry for the late reply, this one slipped through the cracks. I think it's a good plan, here some answers to your questions:

Kochkor to Osh - you either need to go over Song Kul or via Kazarman. There is no public transport so you'll need to hitchhike or hire a taxi driver. Best to do it in 2-3 days as it's a long way and a very beautiful one either route.

Train to Bishkek: Always best to buy it in advance if you already know your dates.

The quickest way from Cholpon-Ata to Almaty is by flight, not sure if they will still be operating on your dates. Otherwise fly from Bishkek to Almaty. Otherwise, by car it will indeed take around 8-10h.