June-July

Please, kindly be aware that lifetime of all flowers is changeable, depends on season of the year, precise place and the altitude!

Kyrgyzstan is a huge godsend for any amateur botanic who will find rare and endemic plants here. During several hours you will come through half desert and steppe foothills into mountain forests and open woodland, on the sub-alpine and alpine meadows and even to the kingdom of eternal snow and glaciers.Biodiversity concentration is very high in Kyrgyzstan. There are more than 18 kinds of higher plants and 9 kinds of mushrooms per each thousand of square kilometers. This measure is ones – twice higher than all over the world. Moreover concentration of endemics here is very high. About 200 plant species are only found in Kyrgyzstan.

 

There are 22 species of wild tulips here, 8 of them are very rare and listed in the Red Book. The rivers and lakes shores are decorated with the bright berries of sea-buckthorn. More than 30 desert-candles (Eremuruses) will amaze your impression, as well as dozens of other beautiful flowers and plants…

Duration: 8 days/7 nights
Route: Bishkek-Cholpon-Ata-Karakol-Cholpon-Ata-Almaty

Day 1: Bishkek – Cholpon-Ata

AM Arrival in Bishkek. Arrival and meeting with JS tour escort guide. Transfer to Issyk Kul lake. On the way SS of:

• Ak-Beshim ruins-Despite its relatively modern origin, Tokmak stands in the middle of the Chui valley, which was a prize sought by many medieval conquerors. The ruins of Ak-Beshim, the capital of the Western Turkic Khaganate, are situated 8 km southwest from Tokmok. The Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai is considered to be born in this area, as was Yusuf Has Hajib Balasaguni, author of the Kutadgu Bilig.
• Burana Tower- it was the site of an older settlement; the tower’s minaret is one of the oldest of the kind in Central Asia. The minaret was built in the 11^th  century and was originally 45 m hight.

PM Lunch on the rout. Arrival and acc at hotel. Sightseeing  of

• Cholpon Ata Rock Paintings museum

Dinner with fish menu.
Accommodation in the hotel.

Day 2: Cholpon-Ata — Karakol

AM Breakfast. SS of

• Cruising on Issyk Kul-lake

PM Lunch at local restaurant. SS of:

• Chon Ak-Suu gorge (330 km.) -The Chon Ak Suu gorge is also known as Grigorievka — which is the name of the village on the main road at the foot of the valley. The slopes are covered with dense fir groves and littered with waterfalls. There are glacials lakes, and spectacular views of peaks and glaciers on the various trails over the mountains to Almaty, as well as a trail to Chin Kemin.: to watch the following blossoming plants.

Plants to see:

Dictamnus angustifolius Dracocephalum bipinnatum Saussurea sordida Crepis sibirica Juniperus sabina Rosa laxa Aconitum soongaricum Aconitum leucostomum Solidago dahurica Marrubium anisodon Sedum albertii Dianthus kuschakewicziDianthus superbus

Alfredia nivea Alfredia acantholepis Epilobium angustifolium Epilobium latifolium Myricaria bracteata Nepeta pannonica Cirsium arvense Lagochilus platyacanthus Phlomis oreophila Ligularia spp. Vicia tenuifolia Erigeron spp. Hieracium spp. Etc.

Transfer to Karakol. Dinner and accommodation in the hotel.

Day 3: Karakol – Jety-Oguz Gorge – Karakol

AM Breakfast.

• Jety-Oguz gorge — Located 40 km away from Karakol. A beautiful mountain to describe best with the legends of professional guide. Jety-Oguz is a great place for hiking or to start trekking to Altyn-Arashan. It impresses travelers with colorful rocks, woods, flowers, rushing river and yurts.

In firry forest and alpine grasslands of the Jety Oguz gorge you may find the following flowers:

Goodyera repens Minuartia biflora Silene graminifolia Pyrola rotundifolia Vicia tenuifolia Cerastium arvense Ligularia alpigena Juniperus pseudosabina Primula turkestanica Hieracium aurantiacum Sedum ewersii Cortusa brotheri Ranunculus natans Pedicularis rhinanthoides Viola biflora

Saxifraga sibirica Alposelinum albomarginatumDracocephalum imberbe Aulacospermum simplex Saxifraga hirculus Primula algida Atragene sibirica Aegopodium apestre Stachiopsis lamiflora Lonicera hispida Cystopteris  fragilis Polygonum viviparum Angelica brevicaulis Geranium rectum Plantago arachnoidea Etc.

• Visit Kyrgyz Yurt settlement where you will drink tea and taste kymyz-traditional natural health-giving drink made of horse milk.

PM Lunch at Yurt.

• Kyrgyz horse riding games- In the past, national games and competitions were the favorite entertainment in the land of Kyrgyz people. Every holiday was accompanied with them. The majority of the rural population in the country even today chooses a semi-nomadic way of life. Almost everyone is able to ride a horse, and numerous types of horse games that developed over the course of time give a fine opportunity for them to show their riding skills and fast reactions.
• Eagle hunting show-hunting with eagle is an ancient tradition that dates back to Mongol conquest of Central Asia around the 12^th -13^th  centuries, when a fine eagle cost the same price as a good horse and both lent prestige to the owner.

Return back to Karakol.
Dinner in the Dungan family.
O/n at hotel.

Day 4: Karakol – Karkara valley

AM Breakfast. Sightseeing of:

• Sunday Market (Animal Market)
• Museum of Przhevalskiy (includes the Russian Adventure Museum). The Memorial Museum of the great Russian traveler and scientist Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, located 12 km from Karakol, on the shore of Issyk-Kul lake. It includes beautiful monument, traveler’s grave, chapel and indoor museum that contains a number of documents, deeds and diplomas of Przhevalsky, a collection of stuffed birds and animals and personal belongings of the scientist.
• The Dungan Mosque- One of the most beautiful Karakol’s pieces of architecture. It was built by local dungans, without a single nail in 1911, and took 4 years of work by Chinese architect and 30 artisans. The mosque was closed by the Bolsheviks and remained so from 1933 to 1943, and  since then it became a place of worship again. For the Mosque was built by Dungans, it serves to all Muslims of Karakol despite their ethnic background. The building impresses with an amount of perfect wood carving. Be patient and you find some items of Chinese mythology in the patterns.
• Orthodox Church- A fine wooden cathedral was completed in 1895. But the Bolsheviks closed it in the 1930s, destroyed its five onion-domes and turned it into a public club. Serious reconstruction only began in 1961, proceeding at a snail’s paces as available money and materials permit. Services are being held again, since its formal deconsecrating in 1991. Listen for its chimes on Sunday morning.

PM Lunch at the local restaurant.
Transfer to Karkara Valley.
Dinner and o/n at tent.

Day 5: Karkara valley – Cholpon-Ata

AM Breakfast. SS of:

•  Karkara valley- is the most beautiful valley in the world. It is a unique place with the picturesque mountains, peaks, fresh air & pure water of Karkara River. The valley of Karkara River streaming down northwards from the Central Tian-Shan is an age-old summer pasture for herds from both sides of what’s now the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan border. The river forms the border for some 40 km before heading north to join the Kegen River, beyond which it becomes the Charyn. In its lower reaches the Karkara valley is up to 40 km wide, a broad green expanse filled with wildflowers and grazing herds in summer.
• Hiking tour around Karkara

PM Lunch at local restaurant. Transfer to Cholpon Ata.  Dinner and accommodation in the hotel.

Day 6: Cholpon-Ata — Almaty
AM Breakfast Transfer to Almaty. Crossing the border.
PM Lunch en route. Dinner and accommodation in the hotel.

Day 7: Almaty – Charyn Canyon — Almaty (120+120 km)
AM Breakfast. Full day Sightseeing of:

• Charyn Canyon.

PM. Picnic lunch. Transfer back to Almaty.

Dinner and accommodation in the hotel.

Day 8: Almaty – Flight
AM Breakfast. Transfer to the airport for flight