Tour to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Adventures in two Stans of Central Asia

Breakfast. We leave Almaty to the Charyn Canyon (Charyn Canyon). The route from the city to the canyon is about 200 km long. Along the way, we will encounter many villages and villages, which were once German settlements. Most of the route runs along the Kuldzhinsky highway (A351 highway).

You can also make several sightseeing stops along the way, for example, at the Berkutchi Museum (located 160 km from Almaty). In the museum we will see Golden Eagles and the national breed of hunting dogs "Tazy" or "Kazakh Greyhound". After that, we will drive through the Kokpek gorge with a length of 11 km and get to the Syugatinsky valley. In total, we will have to cover 11 km along a dirt road and we will see the majestic Charyn Canyon (Charyn Canyon).

A short walk through the canyon and its surroundings. Let's have a picnic on Charyn. Then we drive through the village of "Kegen" and reach the checkpoint "Kegen" - this is the Kazakh-Kyrgyz border. Border control between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. After that, we cross the San Tash pass and arrive at a hill of stones called the Tamerlane Stones.

A short walk and the story "The Legend of Tamerlane". Now we are closer to our goal – to the administrative center of the Issyk-Kul region, the city of Karakol! After passing through the village of Tyup, we arrived at the last point. Check-in at the Amir Hotel, dinner and overnight.

Our route will run through the village of Jety-Oguz, the resort of Jety-Oguz of the same name, and the final point on the way will be the Kok-Zhaiyk tract, 39 km away. Unforgettable excursions to the Jety-Oguz gorge or the red rocks of the "Seven Bulls" made of sandstone and the "Broken Heart" await us. A great lunch in the yurt.

After that, an easy walk to the "Valley of Flowers" and return to the city of Karakol. In the city of Karakol, we will visit the Holy Trinity Orthodox Church, the Dungan mosque and the local bazaar. For dinner, we'll try traditional cuisine at a local cafe. Overnight at the Amir Hotel.

Breakfast. After that, we go on an excursion to the Przewalski Museum, which is on our way to Bulan-Sogota. The museum is located 12 km north of the city of Karakol, and we will visit the grave of Nikolai Przhevalsky, the monument, and the museum itself, in honor of the great traveler of the 19th Century. Further along the northern shore of Lake Issyk-kul, after 115 km we reach the village of Grigoryevka and turn towards the Grigoryevsky Gorge.

We will have great walks in the vicinity of the gorge, as well as visit the shepherds' yurts located in a clearing near the Chong-Aksu River. Next, we will go to Bulan-Sogota for accommodation at the Issyk-Kul Hotel (Aurora). We will have lunch at the restaurant on the territory of the Issyk-Kul hotel complex (Aurora). After lunch, we will leave for the city of Cholpon Ata, where we will visit the yacht club and organize a yacht trip on Lake Issyk-Kul. After a walk on Lake Issyk-Kul, we return to the Issyk-Kul (Aurora) hotel of the same name for dinner and overnight.

We have breakfast and drive towards the city of Cholpon Ata and attend an excursion with rock paintings under the city. After that, transfer from Cholpon-Ata to the village of Balykchi, from there we drive to the village of Tokmok and reach the Burana Tower. Sightseeing tour to the ancient city of the kingdom of the "Karakhanids". At the end, we arrive in Bishkek and check into the Alpinist Hotel. Sleepover.

We are going to have breakfast and move to the Ala Archa gorge. Enjoy a walking tour of the Ala Archa gorge before lunch. Upon returning to Bishkek, we have lunch at a cafe. In the afternoon, a city tour with visits to places such as the Russian Orthodox Church, built in 1945, Victory Square, the Frunze Museum and the Osh Bazaar. We have dinner and spend the night at the hotel.

We have breakfast and drive towards the checkpoint "Chaldavar" or checkpoint "Novovskresenovka" - 92 km away. Passage of the Kyrgyzstan–Kazakhstan border zone. Further from the checkpoint we drive through the village of "Merke" to the settlement of "Akyrtas" - 248 km on the way. In the ancient settlement "Akyrtas" we will have an excursion to the museum and a visit, directly, to the settlement itself. "Field lunch".

From the settlement "Akyrtas" we drive towards the city of Taraz, the road is only 50 km. Upon arrival in Taraz, we check into a hotel and begin a city tour. We will visit the mausoleum of Daut-Bek (13th century), as well as the local history museum of the city (the museum's collection includes more than 30,000 exhibits, the museum houses the only collection of stone statues in Kazakhstan (XV - X centuries). At the end of the day, we will visit the city bazaar, after which we will have dinner and an overnight stay at the hotel.

We have breakfast and leave the city of Taraz for the village of Aisha-Bibi. There we will visit the mausoleum of the same name "Aisha-Bibi", as well as "Babaji-Khatun" (11th-17th centuries). Then, through the village of Aksu, we reach the village of Sairam (it is 169 kilometers away). In the early Middle Ages (IX - XII centuries), the city of Ispijab was located on the site of Sairam, the center of the district of the same name, which was part of Transoxiana.

We are waiting for an excursion tour of the monuments of the village, visiting the mazar of the parents of the outstanding poet and religious mystic Khoja Akhmet Yassawi - Karashash ana (18th century), Ibrahim ata (13th - 19th centuries), Abdel Aziz Baba (15th - 19th centuries), Khoja Talig (13th - 19th centuries), Mirali Baba (late 19th - 20th centuries), the medieval minaret of Khizr (13th - 19th centuries). After the tour, we go to the city of Shymkent (Shymkent), upon arrival in the city of Shymkent (Shymkent), we have lunch at a restaurant in the city and drive to the village of Temirlan, where we visit the Haji Mukan Museum.

Next we go to the village of Ekpindi, where we will see the "Red Bridge", which was built in 1886. Next, from the village of Yekpindi, our path runs through the village of Tortkol and at lunch we arrive in the village of "Schaulder", where we have a delicious lunch and attend an excursion to the Otrar Museum, which will tell us the story of the excavations of the ancient settlement of the same name.

From the village of "Shaulder" we drive to the settlement of Otrar through the village of "Kogan". In the ancient settlement of Otrar, we will visit the excavations and see a medieval bathhouse, a residential area, a mosque and fortress walls. After Otrar, we will visit the Arstanbab Mausoleum. Next, we will visit the Arstanbab mosque and arrive in the city of Turkestan, where we will stay in a hotel, have dinner and spend the night.

We have breakfast and go on an excursion to the mausoleum of Ahmed Yasawi. We visit the historical museum of Azaret Sultan, the cultural and ethnographic center, the archaeological museum, the Darvaza Gate (XVIII - XIX centuries), the mausoleum of Yessimkhan (XVI century), the mausoleum of Rabiya Sultan Begim (late XV century), the khanaka mausoleum of Ahmed Yasawi (XII - XIV centuries), the mosque of Zhuma (1878), the Hilovat underground mosque (XII - XV centuries), the eastern baths (XVI - XVIII centuries), the Great Hilvet (XII century), Chillakhan (XIV century), the excavations of the Kultobe settlement (XIV century), the Aulie-Kumchik-ata hilvet (XII century).

Lunch at a local cafe. After lunch transfer: Turkestan – Shymkent - Zhibek Zholy checkpoint/Gyusht Kuprik" (Kazakh-Uzbek border and customs post) and finally arrival in the city of Tashkent.