Central Asia "Stans" Road Trip

Kok-Tobe Hill is a small hill on the side of Almaty with a small theme park. We rode a roler-coaster for 2 EUR. There is nice view over the city and the mountains which surrounds it.

At the end it was a good choice. Even though the process of renting was a bit funny, it worked out well at the end. All the communication with the rental company was through WhatsApp. They didn't want any deposit which we though was a good sign that it's not a complete scam. On the day of our car rental we met with them in a car wash, apparently that's how they operate. We signed a standard contract, left a deposit, paid for the rental and left. Car was great, around 40,000km on the clock.

Charyn Canyon is a national park couple of hours from Almaty. It felt a bit like a small version of Grand Canyon. It's an easy visit. You pay small entrance fee at the entrance, can visit the visitor's center and then hike down the canyon to the river. It's around 2 km with small descent down and then back again. You can take a shuttle "bus" with a small fee. Cash only.

On the way to our stay near Kolsay lakes we stoped at Black Canyon. It's directly on the road there, no entrance fee, you can check the canyon from viewing platform so even no need to walk too far. It's a nice stop for photos or refreshments.

We wanted to hike to the second Kolsay lake which proved to be quite a challenge. It's essentially half-day trek. You park on a large parking lot near the first Kolsay lake. Parking was free and no entrance was paid even at the lake. If you want to hike to the second lake as we did, stay on the right side of the first lake as the left side was closed - even though there was supposed to be a trail as well. If you don't want to hike to the second lake, you can stay at the first one, rent a boat or just chill there. Anyway, we hiked to the second one which proved to be quite challenging as we though we would be faster. We managed to get there, had a 10 mins break and then head back to the first lake because you need to leave the car in time. The border crossing between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan closes at 5pm, so depending if you plan to grab a lunch on the way there or stop for anything, you ideally want to leave between 1-2pm from the Kolsay lakes. So I recommend starting early in the morning. It's a very beautiful hike though

We wanted to visit Ala Kul lake because pictures we saw on the internet were just incredible. The issue is that normally it's a 3 day trek to get there. What we found out though is that there are couple of local companies which can take you part of the trip with a proper 4x4 drive. We found this company https://www.karakolguide.com/alakul_karakol_oneday.html which we contacted which did exactly that. They picked us early in the morning in Karakol, we boarded this old 4x4 van and headed out. The journey took maybe 2 hours, the road was really off-road. Sometimes driving through a river, huge holes, so definitely not something to try with your own car. Anyway, they drove us all the way to the start of a climb to the lake. From there it's 1,100m of ascend. You start at 2,500m above sea level and end up at 3,600 so the altitude is definitely a factor. Being fit is highly recommended since this is like 4-5th day of the trip and first day of such an altitude. So your body is not used to that yet. Anyway, take it slow, bring lot of food and water and then it's definitely doable. Once you are by the lake you can rest a bit and if you still have some energy, you can climb a bit further by the trail for even better photos of the lake and glaciers behind. After that, you hike back down to the valley, you can get a tea/snacks at the camp in the valley. You hop on the car and by 6 you are back at your car in Karakol.

After we left Song Kol we started our long ride to the border of Tajikistan for the best hiking of the whole trip. Anyway, after Song Kol we accidentally drove what Google calls "The Best Scenic Road in Kyrgyzstan". It's stretch of road between Jangy-Talap and Kazarman villages which goes through mountains. The road is ok, you will mostly meet bikers and barely any bikes. There is nothing there for tens and tens of kilometers so make sure you have enough gas. We were caught by surprise by the views and the beauty along the way. Google Maps are not wrong. Hard to judge as we didn't see the whole country but certainly the road is one of the best we drove on in Kyrgyzstan. And I am not talking about the pavement as there is none :-D

This is just incredible hike. It's around half day trip, not difficult distance or climbing wise but the altitude is the difficult part. But it's all worth it when you climb all the way to the Traveller's Pass. The view from there is unbelievably beautiful. You are standing there, watching the 6000-7000m peaks around you, glaciers, it's incredible.

Sulaiman Mountain is Unesco site. In my opinion, it's only worth visiting because you are driving literally next to it. It's not too exciting. The museum is ok, the best is probably view from the mountain. But since you are already in Osh, I would stop by there.