7-DAY KYRGYZSTAN EXTENSION

Day 1 – Dushanbe to Almaty

Four Stans down, one to go. You should know by now that travelling the Old Silk Road isn’t exactly a walk in the proverbial park. Border bureaucracy, long trips through desolate mountain ranges and desert – but you’re an expert by this point. So it shouldn’t come as too much of a shock to hear that getting to Kyrgyzstan starts with a flight… to Kazakhstan.

Yep, today you hop on the daily connection from Dushanbe to Almaty. Rekindle your love affair with the city’s gold-glimmering onion domes and Soviet sculpture work, then get some rest at the hotel. Your journey to Kyrgyzstan begins, for real, in the morning.

Accommodation: TBA
Included: Dinner

Day 2 – Into Kyrgyzstan by way of some spectacular scenery

There’s good news and bad news this morning. Bad first? You have 400 kilometres to cover today, taking about eight hours, on routes no train can travel. The good news? We promise to punctuate your trip with some seriously outrageous scenery.

It comes at the midway point in the journey, where you’ll step out to survey the colossal Charyn Canyon. It’s where the Kazakh Steppe does its best impression of the Wild West. Channel your inner Clint Eastwood or Calamity Jane as you walk a two-hour path through the hoodoos and ridges of the gorge, or skip the walk altogether with a taxi to the final lookout point.

By afternoon, you’ll cross from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan at the soaring Kegen Pass, some 2,500 metres above sea level. Wonder at the remoteness of the steppe and the snow-mantled mountain backdrop as you perform a border crossing ritual you’re surely used to – form filling and walking across the border line. Later, push on to Karakol to celebrate your arrival with flatbreads, shashliks and more at a local Kyrgyz kitchen.

Accommodation: TBA
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 3 – Karakol

Today is Karakol’s turn to strut its stuff. Founded as a Russian military outpost in 1889, it still has the whiff of a real frontier town. The Cossacks may now be gone but you’ll feel their ghosts at the exquisite Holy Trinity Cathedral; its creaking window frames and golden onion domes hearkening back more than 130 years. Your guide will also reveal the Dungan Mosque, where you’ll be wowed by a kaleidoscope of colours and a distinctly Buddhist style of architecture, a testimony to Karakol’s place at a confluence of cultures.

After lunch, get ready to crank up the relaxation gauges. It’s time to hit the Ak-Suu Gorge, home to glittering hot springs. You’ve earned this one after that whopping 400km border run yesterday, so sit, soak, unwind and steam yourself to a backdrop of the pine-speckled Tian Shan.

Refreshed? Good, because your services are required in the kitchen of a local Uighur family at dinnertime. You’ll be making the noodles for the traditional Lagman noodle stew. No pressure, but they’re the main component of the dish, along with spices, bell peppers, and tomato paste.

Accommodation: TBA
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

The Yurts of Kyrgyzstan

Yurts are the traditional dwellings of the Kazakh and Kyrgyz peoples. They’ve been used across Central Asia – from the Mongolian plains to the foothills of the Tian Shan – for centuries and are a central part of life in the Stans. In Kyrgyzstan, they’re made by crafting an intricate dome of intersecting birch sticks that are felt clad.  Building one that can weather the elements of the steppe is no easy feat. It takes knowledge that has passed down through generations and, often, a broad skillset from across the whole community. For many Kyrgyz, the yurt transcends its role as a living space – it’s a symbol of the universe and the family unit, and a place for important rituals and gatherings.

Day 4 – Southern shores of Issyk-Kul and canyons

We hope those hot springs are still working their magic because today will be a canyon-walking, lakeside odyssey as you’ve never had before. Your route points west along the southern shores of Issyk-Kul, the 11th largest lake in the world. You’ll find it hard to peel away from the views – see the snowy Tian Shan ranges looming all around, and the sky-blue waters shimmering between the dusty banks.

The drive is four hours because it’s punctuated with side adventures in the valleys and gorges that carve into the Terskey Alatoo mountains. Take an easy hike for an hour in the Jeti-Oguz Valley, where your guide will spin tales of the strange rock formations and their strange names: “The Broken Heart”, the “Seven Bulls.” Ponder the curious monument to Yuri Gagarin amid the remote Barskoon Valley, where waterfalls tumble from the peaks.

Then it’s off to the yurt camp. This evening you sleep under felt and wood, the silence of the high-altitude valley reigning all around, but only after the folk singing has stopped, of course!

Accommodation: TBA
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 5 – Meet the eagle hunter

Today you’ll do something you probably never thought you would… learn the ancient art of eagle hunting on the steppe under the guidance of an expert Kyrgyz falconer. Talk about adding unique skills to your repertoire! Your tutor awaits in the mountain-shrouded village of Bokonbaevo, where they’ll reveal the age-old secrets of eagle training and offer a demonstration of their unique hunting technique.

Inner nomad fully channelled, you’ll push on westwards to Kochkor village to stay in a local guesthouse. Feel how cut off this part of the world is as you wander the sleepy streets of Kochkor before dinner with the crew.

Accommodation: TBA
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 6 – The crafts of Kochkor before heading to Bishkek

Wake for breakfast in your guesthouse and then head out to learn why Kochkor has become one of the bastions of traditional Kyrgyz crafting. Perhaps you’ve noticed the abundance of elaborately-patterned and brightly-coloured felt carpets throughout your time in Kyrgyzstan? Well, it’s time to discover how they’re made.

There’s nowhere better for that than Altyn Kol, an NGO founded by 200 women weavers to protect their ancient heritage and defend the rights of small-scale producers. Your morning is a whirlwind of whirring looms and needles going up and down. You’ll see first-hand the work that goes into making a shyrdak felt carpet and even try your hand at creating your own.

The onward drive to Bishkek is another long hauler but we’ve got a surprise for you along the way – how does the only remaining structure from the onetime capital of the Karakhanid empire sound? Cap that off with a guided tour of Bishkek itself before a final dinner with the group; one last chance to reminisce about nights spent in yurts and your days as an eagle hunter on the steppe.

Accommodation: TBA
Included: Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Day 7 – Farewell

It’s finally time to bid khayr khosh! (farewell) – to your fellow MagRailers. Grab one last breakfast together, hug it out, swap details so you can plan that all-important Kyrgyzstan trip reunion, then head to the airport to hitch your ride home.

Accommodation: TBA
Included: Breakfast