Intrepid travellers go to Kyrgyzstan on a objective to find cultural experiences, adventurous activities and off-track areas – of which, there are many. Those in the understand have been travelling right here for years, while enjoying the tough landscapes and warm hospitality.
Still, Kyrgyzstan is a destination that few people have heard about as a travel destination, and even fewer have explored. When we were invited by USAID – BGI and discover Kyrgyzstan to return to our favourite “Stan” in the region, we jumped at the opportunity.
When we discovered out that we would be hiking on a path that had yet to be plotted, and that we would be the ones marking it for future travellers, we were ecstatic!
The village of Jyrgalan is an up-and-coming hotspot in the country. This pristine area is for those with an adventurous spirit and a like for the wilderness. With our bags packed, we set off from Athens to Bishkek and prepared ourselves for the upcoming journey with our friends, Jarryd & Alesha.
? NOTE: For any queries about Jyrgalan, the Keskenkija loop path or other experiences and activities in the area, please feel free to contact us with any questions. We will answer as soon as possible.
READ MORE: Trekking in Kyrgyzstan: A How-To guide For The Keskenkija path in Jyrgalan
Kyrgyzstan, you are a beauty!
Jyrgalan Village
Jyrgalan was everything we really hoped it would be, and more. With just 1,000 residents, it has a extremely welcoming feel to it. We passed by little houses made of wood, brick and cement, and numerous cows, chickens, horses and sheep roamed the dirt roads. women brought laundry in buckets down the street, while the guy herded their livestock from horseback.
There was one school, a cemetery and a mosque. surrounding the village were rolling eco-friendly hills on one side, and towering snowy peaks on the other. This was a appropriate mountain village!
Laundry day in the village of Jyrgalan
We shown up at our guesthouse, Alakol Eco-Center, which was built in 2014 by Emil and Gulmira. prior to the funding and support provided by the USAID – BGI Kyrgyz Project, the village of Jyrgalan could only sleep 15 tourists, and they all had to find to this guesthouse.
As of October, 2016, there are now a overall of 5 guesthouses in Jyrgalan, and 64 beds! lodging is available year-round.
The Alakol Eco center – our yurt is at the extremely back, the kitchen area is at the front and the picture is taken from the recently renovated rooms
We were greeted with smiling faces at the Alakol Eco-Center and were shown to our room, which was recently renovated and had a personal bathroom. We then noticed that there was a yurt increased up on a wooden platform. since the four of us (Jazza, Alesha, Nick & I) like yurts, we asked if we could sleep there instead.
What better method to begin our two-week trip together than having a sleepover on Day #1?
The inside of the yurt we opted to sleep in at the guesthouse in Jyrgalan
How to get to Jyrgalan
First of all, if you’re browsing on GoogleMaps.com, it’s not actually where it states it is! They spelled it Jergalan and put it in the wrong location. Click the link above or view the map below to see the genuine location.
If you’re browsing on Maps.me, it’s spelled Dzhergalan. If you checked out the topographical maps, it’s spelled Jyrgalan. Confusing, I know.
The village of Jyrgalan is found approximately 47 kilometers northeast of the city of Karakol.
To get to Jyrgalan from Karakol, you just get on a marshrutka (mini bus) from the primary bus station. These run 4 times a day and the cost is around $1 per person. The journey takes approximately 45 minutes. If you’re unsure of exactly how to catch the bus to Jyrgalan, speak to the DMO in Karakol, which is found next to Fat cat cafe at 22, Gagarin Street. They can also assist you arrange any tours in Jyrgalan from this office.
The Trekking Plan
The family, personnel and travellers all satisfied in the round kitchen area and enjoyed a great homemade meal together – the food was delicious! But, before we could move the celebration to our yurt for some after dinner cognac and guitar playing from Emil the guesthouse owner, we needed to have a satisfying with our trekking team and the regional guides to plan our path for the next day.
We weren’t the only crew planning an adventure from Emil’s guest house. There were a few other travellers who had guides and plans as well, but Jazza, Alesha, Nick & I complied with our group of equine guides and mountain professionals to a little space near the kitchen. gathering around the topographicalmap, we discussed the path and the plan for the trip that we were to embark on the complying with morning.
The plan was for us to trip to Echkili Tash, taking 4 days and around 70 kilometers. But, we had just got word that there was still four meters of snow on the second pass that we would have to cross at around 3,200m. If we were able to make it over, we weren’t sure what the 3rd pass would have in store for us, and at 3,800m, going in blind wouldn’t have been the smartest decision.
There was also the chance that if it snowed anymore during the trek, we could be stuck between two high passes.
Discussing the weather condition and devising a new trekking plan
Within a few minutes, the talks turned from English to Russian and more pointing at the map and consulting with the regional mountain expert ensued. I looked at Nick and whispered “I feel anxious about this”. It was the night before we were supposed set off on what would already be a difficult trek, and now there was the possibility of being stranded on a mountain in the snow.
As if reading my mind, the trekking guide and the equine guide abandoned the preliminary plan, choosing it wasn’t risk-free enough. They came up with a new path – actually right then and there! Talk about spontaneity.
Azamat (our equine guide) has spent his entire life in the mountains and since he was a child he has been hunting and checking out the peaks around Jyrgalan. He understood of an area that may produce a fantastic trip – but there were still many factors that all of us were uncertain of.
Was there a bridge to cross the rushing river? exactly how high was the water right now? Was one of the passes covered in snow? exactly exactly how many kilometers was this route? Was it doable in three days?
We decided that we’d cross those bridges (both actually and figuratively) as they came.
READ MORE: Trekking to Ala-Kul and Altyn Arashan Without a Guide
Day #1
(NOTE: all of us completed this trip in 3 days, but having done so, it has now been decided that it should be performed in 4 – 5 days. Click right here to see the how-to article, which explains the 4 and 5 day options.)
The complying with morning we awoke to a buzz at the guesthouse. everyone was up and getting prepared to set off on different journeys around the village. Some were going horseback riding to a close-by lake, others were on an overnight trip to a waterfall, and the four of us with our guides and crew were setting off into the unknown.
Everyone setting off on their respective adventures around Jyrgalan!
Together with Begayim (trekking guide & GPS tracker), Azamat (local equine guide and mountain expert), Ruslan (local equine guide), Anvar (chef), Kyle (American working on the USAID project) and Jarryd & Alesha (from NOMADasaurus), we set off on foot into the mountains.
We had three dogs and four horses with us – two were ridden by Azamat and Ruslan and two were utilized as pack horses to carry our tents and food. The rest of the gear, including our clothing, water and personal possessions were brought by us on our backs.
The sun was shining, the sky was blue and we were all excited to be pioneering this trip for future travellers to Jyrgalan.
The scenery was perfect. We hiked together with a rushing river before heading up a grassy mountain and past our very first shepherd camp. during the summertime months, many Kyrgyz people online in the mountains in yurts, while herding their livestock with eco-friendly pastures.
Nick and Bagayim setting off from Jyrgalan – instantly the scenery was stunning!
Just before our lunch break, we satisfied up with a guy named Danik in the Eki chat area who has a new yurt available for tourists to stay in. You can either do a day trip right here from Jyrgalan and have lunch with the family for 450 som ($6.50), or you can choose to spend the night.
Us with Danik and his young son…and dog!
Continuing along the beautiful valley, we stopped for lunch before dealing with the Jyrgalan Pass (Ak Kiya as it’s understood by the locals) at 3,332m. The ascent as much as the pass wasn’t excessively difficult, but the nasty blister that had developed on my heel wasn’t making it any easier. Unfortunately, our views were obscured as the mountains were shrouded in clouds by this point. There was still a decent amount of snow on the pass, making for a quite ominous looking view!
Descending down from the pass, we shown up at another incredible lookout point, before continuing to the valley floor below.
A gorgeous, but ominous looking view
We were hiking and painting rocks with bright red arrows to mark this path. Anvar was mainly on painting duty, although all of us did our part. After one more (small) river crossing, with some marshy grassland and over one more hill, we finally shown up at our very first camp of the trek.
Marking the method for future travellers and trekking guides in Jyrgalan
The horses were unloaded and unsaddled, the kitchen area camping tent was erected and Azamat & Ruslan started a bonfire. all of us set up our own tents and gear on the most level ground we could find, before assisting out with the dinner prep.
All of us huddled in the “kitchen” and enjoyed a traditional meal of kurduk (beef with potatoes, onions and spices), and a fresh salad. The conversation was great and so was the food.
When we asked what the plan for the next day was, Azamat and Begayim stated they weren’t sure because they didn’t understand if the river and the pass were crossable. We’d have to see exactly how high the water was in the morning, and speak to a shepherd in the jailoo the next day…
READ MORE: The ultimate guide to Backpacking Kyrgyzstan
Day #2
We slept like the dead and awoke to a sunny morning and semolina porridge for breakfast. breaking camp, we wandered along a beautiful path with stones and boulders dotting the eco-friendly field, before eventually making it to the Tup River – the river we weren’t sure if we would be able to cross.
On the opposite side of the Tup River we spotted Azamat and Ruslan with their horses. This was a great sign. Eyeing up the river, the seven of us who weren’t on horseback understood there was no method we could cross it on foot – it was as well aggressive and deep.
Nick crossing the Tup River on horseback – while vlogging!
The horses came back to get us and we crossed the river in shifts on horseback, with Ruslan and Azamat’s dogs sticking by their owners and swimming across each time.
Once we were all safely across, we continued on along the rich valley floor which was covered in in a blanket of buttercups and dandelions. This part of the day was extremely flat and easy, which was a great thing as we had rather a bit of incline ahead of us.
Sitting among the buttercups and dandelions
Banking right, we made our method up the mountainside on a equine trail, leaving the meadow behind. We now discovered ourselves surrounded by gorgeous pine trees. finding a stream high up on the mountain face, we filled up our bottles with clear, clean water before making our final ascent to around 3,000m where the pine trees provided method to a flat plateau.
Through the pine trees we go
This is where Azamat’s buddy and shepherd, Bata, was camping out for the summertime with his family and livestock. The setting of their house was absolutely breathtaking, and we were fortunate enough to be invited to eat some lunch and share their company! seeing as we were the very first travellers to ever take this route, we understood that this encounter was completely authentic and not put on for tourists.
Lagman soup was freshly made in a pot and served to us in bit bowls – this was the fuel we needed to continue on, and dominate the upcoming mountain pass, the pass which Bata stated was possible to tackle.
Some of the very best laghman soup!
We trekked by a picturesque, multi-coloured canyon before hiking together with a mountain deal with to a little resting spot. From here, we trudged upwards, over a bit bit of snow and to the top of a 3,380m pass! The ascent was difficult, but when we shown up at the top of the pass, we were rewarded with the ultimate 360° view.