[Rohitthebest]

Breathtaking pictures and superb travelogue, saving this for today's lunch and dinner both. Awesome this looks but I have one curiosity. Why Kyrgyzstan? Although I am yet to read the full travelogue, if you have mentioned it in between, ignore my query .

[Kashi053]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Beautiful write up, photos, food, location, people and the best forum to post it in

Thanks Vinu. Wish you all the best and hoping to see your plan materialise soon.

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

Yours was a pretty long and sort of difficult hikes, considering stones, boulders, waters to be crossed. Am curious as to what sort of shoes did you guys use and how did they fare?

Thank you @Fuldagap.

The hikes were longer but they were not difficult ones. Five of us had waterproof hiking shoes (Adidas terrex/Salomon/Columbia). Mid ankle waterproof shoe is enough to cover these trails. Anyway you'll have to remove shoes while crossing bigger water stream.

Originally Posted by Rohitthebest

Why Kyrgyzstan? Although I am yet to read the full travelogue, if you have mentioned it in between, ignore my query .

Thank you Rohit.

We wanted something less crowded, free to camp anywhere, reasonable cost, safe to travel offbeat places. Did lot of research and finalised Kyrgyzstan.

[Highh5]

Frankly, I'm at a loss of words and still in awe of the pictures and travelogue. This looks like a dream vacation to me, and hats off to you for pulling off something like this. Can you share more details on what led to Kyrgyzstan as a destination and the other close options you guys considered?

[TIGORIAN]

Excellent travelogue. It truly motivates me towards my long pending Exploration of south east Asia.

[vijayols]

Awesome log.Could you help with the budget from flight tickets to visa.Also the best time to visit?

[Kashi053]

Originally Posted by Kashi053

Overall, we had amazing 17 days of vacation and our overall experience exceeded our expectations. Some of the pointers based on our experience/research.

• Use Yandex app for Taxi. Its well maintained and reasonably priced. Do not go with local taxi unless you know the cost beforehand.
  
• You can buy sim easily at Kazak or Kyrgz airport. Roughly costs 600 INR for 1 month data packs with around 30G data.
  
• Keep Euro or Dollar. Almost all cities will have currency conversion place and you will get good rates. You can even do small amount conversion at Airport itself.
  
• You can use MAPS.ME for all navigations. We even used downloaded maps.me to follow hiking trail. Works better than Google map.
  
• We used Iron Horse Nomads self drive from Bishkek. Cost was around 100 euro per day. We had good experience with them. They took around 450 euro as deposit and returned fully.
  
• You need IDP (International Driving Permit) to rent self drive cars.
  
• People are very welcoming and we felt safe throughout the country. If you are into offroading, adventure, hiking - highly recommend this country.
  
• Hot spring is a must try. Very well maintained and reasonably priced. We loved it.
  
• Kazakhstan do not need visa (within 14 days tourist visa) for Indians and Kyrgyzstan need eVisa and you need a invitation letter from travel agent. Visa cost was around 4500 INR.
  
• Immigration from Kazak - Kyrgz or vice versa is pretty easy and usually do not ask much questions/docs.
  
• June/July is the best time to visit especially if you are planning many hikes to Alpine lakes
  
• Strict speed limit of 90KM in highways and we paid the fine once when we were at 104KM.
  
• We used booking.com most of the time.
  

Missed to add below important point.

• Kel Suu is located in a border zone, due to the close proximity to China, so you'll need a special permit to visit. These can be arranged through travel agencies in Bishkek or Naryn

[Kashi053]

Originally Posted by Highh5

Can you share more details on what led to Kyrgyzstan as a destination and the other close options you guys considered?

We shortlisted below countries.

• Iceland
• Norway
• Croatia
• Georgia

Upon further research, due to higher expense, long flight, more commercialisation we picked Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Frankly speaking, Kyrgyzstan was not in the list when we initially planned. Later we decided to do thorough one country instead of rushing through the places hence dropped Kazakhstan.

Originally Posted by TIGORIAN

Excellent travelogue. It truly motivates me towards my long pending Exploration of south east Asia.

Thank you @tigorian.

Originally Posted by vijayols

Awesome log.Could you help with the budget from flight tickets to visa.Also the best time to visit?

Flight - 35K per person [Bangalore - Delhi - Almaty] round trip
Visa - ~5K
Car rent - 100 Euro/day
Stay - Usually 1000Rs per person in Hostel/Apartment.

Total expense - 1.2L per person for 17 days total.

Best time : June/July (Summer)

[MalnadMansha]

Hi Kashi. Excellent travelogue.

Were you able to find good and filling vegetarian meals everywhere, considering all of you were vegetarians?

Were you able to get adequate water at all camping sites? Were the trails well-marked? You didn't find the need to hire a guide anywhere?

[sup?]

This is quite amazing. I have myself been debating between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Having done Iceland/Norway/Austria/Swiss etc, there aren't too many places left in Europe with such natural beauty. Your travelogue will certainly accelerate my plans now.

[DasAuto1985]

Lovely travelogue! Refreshing to see a different country than the usual EU ones. Just curious, what made you to opt for Kyrgyzstan ?

[sunny13]

Originally Posted by Kashi053

Day 17 June 01 :


We went to Kok-tobe via Gondola Cableway. The charge was 1000 INR(5000 Tenge) per head. Takes around 20 minutes to reach the peak. The view of Almaty city from the peak is gorgeous.

Attachment 2615767

Attachment 2615768

Attachment 2615769

Attachment 2615770

Kazakhstan e-scooter. There are many vendors and we tried the Woosh one.

Attachment 2615771

Attachment 2615773

Walking trail is really good and we walked a lot on random streets.

Attachment 2615776


Attachment 2615775

There were many roadside nice restaurants in Almaty.

Attachment 2615774

Overall, we had amazing 17 days of vacation and our overall experience exceeded our expectations. Some of the pointers based on our experience/research.

• Use Yandex app for Taxi. Its well maintained and reasonably priced. Do not go with local taxi unless you know the cost beforehand.
  
• You can buy sim easily at Kazak or Kyrgz airport. Roughly costs 600 INR for 1 month data packs with around 30G data.
  
• Keep Euro or Dollar. Almost all cities will have currency conversion place and you will get good rates. You can even do small amount conversion at Airport itself.
  
• You can use MAPS.ME for all navigations. We even used downloaded maps.me to follow hiking trail. Works better than Google map.
  
• We used Iron Horse Nomads self drive from Bishkek. Cost was around 100 euro per day. We had good experience with them. They took around 450 euro as deposit and returned fully.
  
• You need IDP (International Driving Permit) to rent self drive cars.
  
• People are very welcoming and we felt safe throughout the country. If you are into offroading, adventure, hiking - highly recommend this country.
  
• Hot spring is a must try. Very well maintained and reasonably priced. We loved it.
  
• Kazakhstan do not need visa (within 14 days tourist visa) for Indians and Kyrgyzstan need eVisa and you need a invitation letter from travel agent. Visa cost was around 4500 INR.
  
• Immigration from Kazak - Kyrgz or vice versa is pretty easy and usually do not ask much questions/docs.
  
• June/July is the best time to visit especially if you are planning many hikes to Alpine lakes
  
• Strict speed limit of 90KM in highways and we paid the fine once when we were at 104KM.
  
• We used booking.com most of the time.
  

Wow! What an “Out of the world” trip! Lovely travelogue and breathtaking photos! I am sure you all must have had a lot of fun and with memories for a life time ! This is something which I would have wished to do! Only with the right spirited company and like minded folks all of this can all this happen. Hope to be able to do this sometime. A great reckoner to add to my Bucket list for sure ! 👌

[amol4184]

This is one of the rare travelogs I read up completely, all the photo captions included. I usually just glance at the photos. Thanks for the post.

I'm really curious now to visit this country. Must float the idea in our WhatsApp groups!

[Rev2Serenity]

Wow! Superb and unique travelogue with beautiful pictures. Hats off for your preparation and planning. Less travelled country and it's all the more difficult to plan.

[GTI]

Wow! That's a great travelogue, I had no idea Kyrgyzstan was so beautiful! Not to mention the 4x4s on your trip... I did not expect to see the VehiCross and the Express there!

It seems like a much more different experience than going to Europe or the Americas, thank you!

[nikhilarni]

Originally Posted by Kashi053

Overall, we had amazing 17 days of vacation and our overall experience exceeded our expectations.

Hi Kashi053,

Amazing travelogue. Loved the details and the pictures. Interesting choice of destination. What was the drive to select Kyrgyzstan as destination ?

Curious to know road conditions and infrastructure (in light of the Ukraine war ).

I was never able to plan or join friends on trips during my initial work life or engineering days. Something or the other always came up - last minute