Trek the wild Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan

In this Kyrgyzstan hiking adventure, you will get the chance to discover the wild region of Tian Shan. From viewing glaciers and crossing white water rivers to bathing in natural hot springs this tour will be an unforgettable experience.



Even very few local Kyrgyz people know about this hiking route, which we have created in response to the growing popularity of trekking in the Tian Shan; albeit still very small in comparison to Nepal or Patagonia for example. Nevertheless, we prefer to have the mountains to ourselves, and this adventure provides you with the means of seeing one of the few areas of the world still unaltered by man.



The Kyrgyzstan trek ends in the well-known and unspeakably beautiful yurt camp of Altyn Arashan [‘Golden Spring’ in Kyrgyz], where you will experience spending the night in a cozy nomad’s yurt after bathing in the natural hot springs for which the valley is famous. Book today for this rare and completely unique adventure.



This adventure is the epitome of the road less travelled: Taking you into the very heart of nature, completely away from tourists, and with only a few local shepherds in yurts and their herds of free-roaming horses for company. We will hike across beautiful untouched valleys and high passes of the Tian Shan Mountains. There is also the great opportunity to ride horses through some of the beautiful valley pastures, to sleep in a yurt and bathe in the natural hot springs with a cold beer or two on our final night in the mountains. We fully believe in, and practice, Responsible Tourism, using hotels run by locals. We put time and effort into building our relationship with them to ensure you have a a great trip.

We choose hotels based on cleanliness, comfort, safety, proximity to our route (to avoid unnecessary extra travel), and a warm client welcome, as well as reliability in their service to us. Some hotels will be basic, and in modern buildings and or in towns. Wherever we can, we will choose smaller more characterful, individual hotels, but in areas where tourism is still developing, this may not be available.

This is adventure travel and on occasion the advertised services at a hotel , guest house or camp (eg wifi, or hot showers!) may not be functional on our arrival.

This tends to occur in the smaller, more remote hotels. Very rarely a hotel lets us down and we are required to find alternative suitable accommodation that might not be our first choice.

This accommodation on this adventure involves hotel stays, wild and Yurt camping. The list below gives information on our first choice of accommodation for this adventure. Where hotels and refuges are fully booked or unavailable, we will use an alternative of a similar standard, and equally well situated. We will provide you with an accurate list of accommodation, with contact information to leave with relatives, prior to departure on your adventure.



Bishkek (2 nights): 3* Navat Boutique Hotel or similar

Karakol (1 night): Green Yard (3*), 14 Novostroika Street, Karakol, 722360, Kyrgyzstan. Tel: +996 555 451515

Camping (5 nights): We wild camp in the heart of the mountains on this adventure, under the canvas of YellowWood 2 man tents. We have horses to carry all our camp equipment, and our guides will assist with setting up, but please be aware that camping facilities are basic. There are no toilet facilities - you need to find a suitable spot away from the group and waterways, use a trowel, and carry your own toilet paper, burning it after use. Washing is done in the stunning mountain rivers, which is totally exhilarating!

Yurt Camping (Day 8): A yurt is a large felt tent made from sheeps wool, which results in a warm, cosy and waterproof shelter. The centre of the yurt houses a metal wood burner with a chimney for all smoke to escape through the roof.

The yurts house either 2 or 4 simple but comfortable beds with plenty of extra blankets to pile onto your sleeping bag (please bring a winter season bag), should you feel chilly. If you are travelling with a group of friends then we are happy for friends to share a yurt (4 people), or YellowWood can arrange the rooming for solo travellers to share with others of the same gender.

Toilet facilities are shared and in a separate ‘hut’. There are taps and running water in the camp for washing. We use traditional nomadic yurt camps where electricity is available between 18:00 and 22:00 and there is no mobile signal. Please note that part of this adventure is to escape the ‘trappings’ of modern Western lifestyles.