politique

I’ve been to over 50 countries, but this lesser-visited Central Asian gem was one of my favorites

September 25, 20240
We landed in the capital city of Bishkek in the early morning hours.

Collab Media/Shutterstock

Things were quiet when we landed in the capital city of Bishkek in the early-morning hours. This surprised me because in other Asian cities I’d traveled to, like Seoul and Bangkok, there always seemed to be people out on the streets.

Although our hotel was far from the city center, we did get to do some exploring later in the day.

As we wandered around Bishkek, we noticed the streets were wide, the sidewalks were clean, and trees offered shade from the summer heat. Buses rolled past us, with commuters heading home from work.

We popped into a Thai restaurant, where the owner took our order in English. While most of the population speaks Kyrgyz or Russian, we could still communicate with almost everyone in Bishkek with a little help from Google Translate.

When we traveled to the more remote areas of Kyrgyzstan, we felt like we were in a different country.
Most of the accommodations we stayed at in Kyrgyzstan were yurt camps.

Alex Schnee

Many of the accommodations we stayed at in Kyrgyzstan were yurt camps, located in remote areas far away from towns and cities.

Usually run by a nomadic family summering their livestock of cows and horses, most yurts had beds, rug flooring, and even a small stove to keep us warm during the cold nights in the mountains.

Each had decorations inside, like tassels and carpets, reflecting the family’s personal style.

Different yurts served different purposes. Some were for sleeping, while others were for a communal dinner we shared with other guests.

The food was delicious — if you love meat.
We hiked 40 miles over four days.

Alex Schnee

After almost 10 days of road-tripping, Jessie and I headed into the mountains, where we hiked 40 miles over four days.

The 14,000-foot elevation hit us hard. Both of us struggled to breathe, and my feet felt like they had 200-pound weights attached to them.

However, the surrounding landscape was well worth the difficulty of the trail. Almost completely untouched by people, mountains were everywhere we looked.

After adjusting to the altitude, we were able to appreciate what a beautiful area of the world we were in.

I’ve been fortunate enough to hike to the Everest Base Camp in Nepal and camp out in the Sahara desert in Morocco, but Kyrgyzstan was a trip I will never forget.

While the photogenic mountain scenery was worth the flight alone, getting the opportunity to experience a slice of the Kyrgyz people’s nomadic lifestyle is something I will remember forever.