About us
A small operator, not an agency
We run the trips we sell. That's the whole difference.
Kyrgyzstan Expeditions Co. is a small private tour company based in Bishkek. We plan the routes on this site, provide the vehicle and the driver, and handle the arrangements at every stop along the way.
There are only three trips on this website, and that is deliberate. They are the routes we know best — the roads, the timings, the places worth stopping for and the ones worth skipping. Everything else we run is a variation on them, built around your dates rather than a departure calendar.
What "private" actually means here
Your trip is yours. There is no minimum group, no shared vehicle, no stranger's schedule to keep to. A solo traveller gets the same route as a group of four — it simply costs more per head, because the vehicle, the fuel and the driver's time don't get cheaper when there's one of you.
It also means the plan can move. If the light over Fairy Tale Canyon is worth another forty minutes, we stay another forty minutes. If you'd rather swap a second canyon for an afternoon by the lake, we swap it. We aim to be as flexible as possible, and if there is something you're interested in doing or seeing we will do our best to accommodate your request.
You take part rather than watch
The eagle hunting near Bokonbayevo is the clearest example. It happens out on open steppe rather than at a viewing point, and guests ride out, wear the glove and hold the bird themselves — the photographs on this site are of travellers doing exactly that, not of a demonstration they stood and watched. The horse riding, the yurt stays and the meals work the same way.
Some of it depends on the season and on who is around. Where something can't be guaranteed, the tour pages say "where available" rather than promising it, and we'll tell you before you book what is realistic for your dates.
How a trip comes together
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You tell us roughly what you want
Dates, how many of you, and anything you particularly care about — photography, riding, a slower pace, travelling with children. Rough dates are fine.
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We come back with a route and a price
Usually one of the three on this site, adjusted. Sometimes something different, if what you've described doesn't fit them. We'll say so if a shorter trip would serve you better than a longer one.
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We confirm the details in writing
Exactly what's included, where you're staying and which meals are covered — confirmed before anything is booked, so there are no surprises at the roadside.
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You turn up and we drive
We collect you in Bishkek. From there it's the route, adjusted as the week goes, with local cash and anything else sorted out on arrival.
Where we go
Everything runs out of Bishkek. The short trip stays in the Chuy valley and the mountains directly above the city — Ala-Archa and Burana Tower. The longer routes head east through Boom Gorge to Issyk-Kul, one of the largest alpine lakes in the world, and work around its shores: the red canyons at Kok Moinok and Skazka, the waterfalls at Barskoon, the Seven Bulls cliffs at Jeti Oguz, and the towns and pastures between them.
The seven-day route goes further, as far as Karakol and — when the road and the weather allow — up to Song-Kul or another high yurt camp, which is where the country stops looking like anywhere else.
The main season runs roughly April to October. Spring and autumn are quieter and better for photography; high summer is when the mountain passes and the lake are at their best. Some winter routes are possible on request — the frozen waterfalls are worth seeing.
Enquire
Tell us what you're after
Even if you're months off deciding. It costs nothing to ask, and we'd rather point you at the right trip than sell you the longest one.