Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
COMMUNITY-BASED¨TOURISM
One of the great appeals of Kyrgyztan is the relative ease with which one can organise
hometays, yurttays, local guides and horses thanks to several Kyrgyz grassroots
organisations. The mot widespread network is CBT (p246) whose mot active sub-
branches efectively double as tourit oices - notably in Arslanbob, Karakol and Naryn.
You can often approach CBT providers independently, but typically this won't get you a
discount. That's arguably a good thing as the CBT network is a valuable resource and is
worth funding. Nonetheless, several smaller CBT-like outits do compete in some towns.
Hometay prices vary slightly between regions and according to the 'edelweiss' rank-
ing (the CBT version of a tar rating), but the typical range is 450som to 700som per
day for bed and breakfat plus 250som per additional meal. Depending on the quality
and availability of local retaurants, it is often cheaper to eat out. Horse hire is usually
around 700som per day and guides range from 600som to 1400som per day - some-
times you'll need to pay for the guide's food and lodging on top of their daily rate.
The
CBT Guidebook
(200som printed, free to download from www.cbtkyrgyztan.kg)
is a little dated but lits each oice's services, a description of local trips and useful, if
very schematic, town maps.
Jalal-Abad (from 2500som), Batken (3200som)
and Isfana (3500som). Each route crosses high
mountains and can be glorious on a clear day.
Fierce competition on the Osh routings means
that fares can sometimes be discounted as low
as 1400som even a day or two before departure.
Airlines
Aeroflot
(Map p234;
%
62 00 71; www.aeroflot.
ru; Erkindik 64/1) To/from or via Moscow daily.
Air Astana
(
%
airport desk 90 69 06; www.
airastana.com) To (or via) Almaty and Astana.
good-value connections include Tbilisi, Bang-
kok and various Siberian cities but triple check
that your routing doesn't include an internal
Astana-Almaty leg unless you have a Kaza-
khstan visa. Free Bishkek-Cholpan Ata trans-
fers available in summer.
Air Bishkek
(Map p234;
%
29 82 13; airbishkek.
kg; Manas 95) Flies Bishkek-Osh (daily) and
Bishkek-Isfana (Tue, Fri, Sun). Has weekly con-
nections to Ürümqi (China) and Seoul-Incheon
(Korea) plus links to half a dozen Russian cities
from both Bishkek and Osh.
Air Company Kyrgyzstan
(AC Kyrgyzstan;
Map p234;
%
31 30 03; www.air.kg; Manas 12a)
Twice weekly flights to Tashkent and Ürümqi,
several Russian destinations plus domestic
hops to Jalal-Abad and Osh.
Avia Traffic
(Map p240;
%
54 47 88; www.
aero.kg; Panfilov 26) Daily to Osh, thrice weekly
to Batken and twice weekly to Dushanbe (Tue,
Thu, 7500som), plus connections to various
Russian cities including Moscow, Novosibirsk,
St Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk and Kazan.
China Southern Airlines
(Map p234;
%
66 46
68; www.csair.com/en/; Chuy 128/3) To/from
or via Ürümqi, Xinjiang four times weekly.
FlyDubai
(Map p234;
%
31 90 00; www.fly
dubai.com; Kerimbekova 13) Dubai's budget
airline.
Pegasus
(www.flypgs.com) Big network of
budget flights via İstanbul's 'other' airport,
SAW.
S7
(Map p234;
%
90 69 06; Bokonbayevo 76/2)
Four weekly flights to/via Novosibirsk.
Sky Bishkek
(Map p234;
%
62 09 74; www.
skybishkek.kg; Moskva 121) One-plane (Saab
340) airline with six weekly hops to Osh and
three to Batken.
Tajik Air
(www.tajikair.tj) To/from Dushanbe
twice weekly.
Turkish Airlines
(Map p234;
%
301600; www.
turkishairlines.com; Soviet 136) To/from Ulaan-
baator (Mongolia), as well as İstanbul daily with
global connections.
Ukraine International Airlines
(
%
24hr call
centre +38-044 581 5050; www.flyuia.com)
To/from Kiev with good-value European con-
nections.
Ural Airlines
(www.uralairlines.ru/en/) Weekly
to Yekaterinburg and Moscow.
Uzbekistan Airways
(Map p234;
%
61 03
64; www.uzairways.com; Kiev 107) Flies to
Tashkent (US$176) four days a week.
BUS & SHARED TAXI
There are two main bus stations. The sprawling
Western Bus Station
(Zapadny Avtovozkal,
Avtobeket; Map p234;
%
34 46 96, 65 65 75;
Jibek-Jolu prospektesi;
g
7, 113, 114) handles
most long-distance services, notably Karakol
and the Issyk-Köl towns, Naryn via Kochkor,
Chayek, Talas and Almaty. Hold your breath -
this place is thoroughly confusing even for
locals. The main Soviet-era building in the
middle is almost entirely redundant, except
