Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
but once you've found her, Ainoura at Shep-
herds' Life is helpful and well organised.
Kochkor to Suusamyr
With little vehicular traffic but a reasonably
good graded surface (but no asphalt west of
Chayek), the Kochkor-Suusamyr road offers
a handy summer route for overland cyclists
to connect Kochkor/Song-Köl with Osh
and southern Kyrgyzstan, without having
to backtrack through Bishkek. The route is
possible by vehicle, but the minimal public
transport becomes entirely non-existent on
the most appealing section, between Chayek
and Kyzyl-Oi, for which painfully slow hitch-
hiking or a chartered taxi would be required.
Adventurous trekkers could use this route
to access treks to/from Bishkek's southern
fringes over the Kyrgyz Ala-Too via the Soku-
luk (3775m), Ala-Archa (3898m) or Alame-
din (4032m) passes.
8
Getting¨There¨&¨Away
Many a
marshrutka
passes through Kochkor,
mostly Bishkek-Naryn and Bishkek-Chayek
services, plus at least one Bishkek-Ming Kush
minibus. So it's easy to arrive from Bishkek
but, as the majority tend to be full on arrival,
it is relatively tough to board here. The only
Kochkor-speciic services leave the bus station
for Bishkek at 9.30am and 3pm, though a 2pm
Naryn service is planned for 2014. Buy tickets
(150som) one day ahead if possible. Shared
taxis leave from various points opposite the
bazaar:
¨
¨
Bishkek
(250som, 3½ hours)
¨
¨
Balykchy
(100som, 40 minutes) For Issyk-Köl
¨
¨
Naryn
(250som, three hours)
¨
¨
Chayek
(250som, two hours) Mostly late
morning.
Jailoo
(p277) and
CBT
(p277) can help you
organise rides to Song-Köl.
JUMGAL & KYZART
If you want to reach Song-Köl on foot with
minimum expense, walking from Jumgal
or Kyzart is the logical choice. By using the
Tuz-Ashu Pass it is quite feasible to reach
Song-Köl's north shore in one day. Or you
could walk (for four hours or so) to Klem-
che, stay there in a family yurt and continue
the next day to the lake. Both villages have
community tourism representatives offering
homestays, each of whom can usually (but
not always) arrange guides and horses for
next day departure should you prefer to be
guided or to take one of the less frequented
passes (Kara-Kyya, Uzbek-Ashu).
Jumgal
(Dostuklu) is a slightly scrappy
village but is handily located right on the
main Kochkor-Chayek road around Km67
(about 17km west of the attractive pastures
of the Kyzart pass). In a faintly signed house,
right beside the main road at the western
end of the village, is the homestay of Shep-
herd's Life coordinator
Stalbek¨Kaparbek-
ov
(
%
077-309 8018; Jetigenov Akun 16; homestay
450som, guide per day 600-700som)
.
Kyzart
(Jang-Arykh) is off the main road:
turn south on an unpaved road beside the
graveyard at Km71.3, then turn east by
the mosque and continue 1km to find the
homestays of travel-fixers
Avas¨Tynaibe-
kov
(
%
077-730 3059; Kurman-Ata 16, Kyzart)
and
English-speaking
Talgart¨ Abdyrazakov
(
%
077-911 6360; Kurman-Ata 25, Kyzart)
.
8
Getting¨Around
Dial-a-cab rides generally cost 50som within city
limits with
Kochkor Taxi
(
%
077-231 1511, 077-
114 0530) and other irms.
Around Kochkor
Köl-Ükök Кол
-
Укок
The beautiful 'Treasure Chest' mountain
lake above Tes-Tör
jailoo
usually has a cou-
ple of yurtstays in July and August (bed/
breakfast/dinner 350/100/200som, booked
through Jailoo (p277) from which a couple
of hours' hike brings you to Köl-Tör glacial
lake.
The trip to Köl-Ükök (3042m) is often
sold as a horse trek but, if you can handle
the 1km gain in altitude, the route is rela-
tively straightforward to follow as an un-
guided hike. The starting point is Isakaev
(formerly Bolshevik) village, turning right
after the bridge.
To Isakaev from Kochkor private/shared
taxis cost 60/20som; they leave from beside
the traffic lights in Kochkor (at the intersec-
tion of Ömurov and Orozbakova). If you pay
150som the taxi should continue 5km fur-
ther to Küpke, the 'winter barns' where the
road peters out. Simply continue up the val-
ley along the obvious trail from there.
Allow around six hours for the 17km hike
up to the lake, somewhat less for the return.
CHAYEK ЧАЕК
As the biggest village in the valley, unre-
markable Chayek is the only spot you're like-
ly to find a sit-down lunch between Kochkor
