Safety, health and altitude in Kyrgyzstan

Most of what goes wrong here is mechanical or meteorological: a pass closes, a river rises, or somebody goes from 800 m to 3,000 m in a day.

Altitude

Bishkek sits at 800 m, and a normal week takes you from there to a yurt at Song-Kul at 3,016 m, sometimes in one day over the Kalmak-Ashuu pass at 3,446 m. Ala-Kul is 3,560 m, Kel-Suu 3,514 m and the Lenin Peak base camp 3,600 m.

Above roughly 2,500 m many people feel it: headache, broken sleep, breathlessness on any slope. It settles if you climb slowly, drink plenty and take the first afternoon easy; an extra night lower down helps most. Worsening symptoms, especially confusion or an unsteady walk, mean descending at once. Ask your doctor before you travel.

Weather and mountain roads

Seasons here are about snow on passes, not town temperatures. The Ala-Kul trail is clear from early July to mid or late September; outside that the pass holds snow and the descent turns dangerous. Kalmak-Ashuu opens in late May and shuts with the first snow in mid-October. Fresh snow reaches 3,200 m in any summer month, so carry a shell and let the seasons decide your route.

Bishkek to Osh is 680 km and 12 hours over the Too-Ashuu and Ala-Bel passes, both above 3,000 m: open all year, slowed by snow from November to April, with avalanche risk on the Suusamyr stretch. Karakol to Altyn-Arashan is 30 km and three hours of broken rock.

• Four-wheel drive is needed for Song-Kul, Altyn-Arashan, Kel-Suu, Kazarman and Saimaluu-Tash.
• High clearance is enough for Tash-Rabat in dry weather.
• The Barskoon gorge road supplies a mine, so expect heavy trucks.
• Livestock on the road at dusk is normal; avoid night driving.

Several routes ford rivers rather than bridge them: into Kel-Suu the water can rise above the floor of the car. Meltwater peaks in the afternoon, so cross early and let the driver decide. Getting around covers the vehicles.

Water, sun, ticks and dogs

• Drink water that has been boiled, bottled or filtered; streams on the pastures run below large flocks, so treat them however clear they look.
• At a bazaar, food cooked in front of you beats food that has stood in the sun.
• Sunburn comes fast above 3,000 m and on snow, and the spring sun in the south is stronger than it feels.
• Ticks are active in grass and scrub in spring and early summer: cover your legs and check each evening.

Every summer pasture has working dogs guarding the flock, and they read an approaching walker as a threat: go wide around the yurts and the animals, keep a steady pace rather than running, and wait for the herders to call them back. Trails above Jyrgalan cross grazing.

Talk to a doctor or a travel clinic before departure about vaccinations, tick-borne illness and anything you take regularly, and carry insurance covering trekking, riding and evacuation at the altitudes on your route.

Border zones and permits

The Chinese and Tajik frontiers are lined with border zones where a permit is compulsory. Kel-Suu needs one for you and for your driver, and only the stamped paper original is accepted: copies are turned away. Allow two to three weeks.

• Also inside border zones: the Lenin Peak base camp, Tulpar-Kul, the Chatyr-Kul basin with its Torugart checkpoint, and the Karkyra valley beside Jyrgalan.
• No permit is needed for Tash-Rabat, Altyn-Arashan, Saimaluu-Tash or Batken district.
• Permits come from Bishkek, Naryn and tourism offices, never at the barrier.

Out of signal

There is no mobile coverage at Besh-Tash or Chatyr-Kul and none to rely on at Altyn-Arashan or Kel-Suu, so leave your route and expected return with your guesthouse. Permit lead times are why an itinerary here, including our tours, is fixed weeks ahead.