Kyrgyzstan: Tian Shan Gorge Trek

• 15 days land only/16 days flight inclusive
• 8 days point-to-point walking with full porterage
• Altitude maximum 3,800m, average 2,730m
• 4 nights hotels, 8 nights full-service camping and 2 nights basic yurt camp (multi-share)
• All breakfasts, 12 lunches and 12 dinners included
• Optional single supplement (excludes yurt camps)
• 9 July 2023 led by Valerie Parkinson, Wanderlust World Guide Awards Winner 2021

All breakfasts, 12 lunches and 12 dinners are included. During the trek, breakfast will comprise of porridge or an alternative dish. The alternative will usually be one of the following: omelette with bacon/cheese, fried sausages, pancakes, scrambled eggs with sausage, boiled eggs. Lunch on trek will be a box lunch. There will be a buffet selection for you to fill your lunch box from each day. The type of foods available will be: bread, cakes, various types of sausage and cheese, pate, canned fish, boiled eggs, vegetables, fruits, dried fruits, as well as cookies and chocolate, plus a soft drink. Dinner during the trek will consist of salad, soup, a main dish and a dessert. Salads: funchoza (starch noodles), rice with crab sticks, eggs with fish, cabbage with carrot, Greek salad, beans with onion. Soups: minestrone, kesme (egg noodle), lentil, rice soup, pumpkin soup, fish soup or soup with dumplings. Main dish: kuurdak (meat stew), pilaf (rice cooked in broth), stew with spaghetti and cheese, dymlyama (potato and meat stew), stuffed pepper, lagman (noodles), beef stroganof with rice. For dessert a selection of sweets and biscuits are available.

Although Kyrgyzstan's overall climate is continental, there can be huge variations in temperature between seasons, different geographical locations and elevations. Summer can extend from May to September, but some mountain passes can remain blocked by snow until June. Snow persists in the high mountains year-round. For this reason, the trekking season in the Tian Shan is short - we only schedule departures in July and August when the temperatures are at their mildest. Kyrgyzstan gets surprisingly little rain and has over 300 days of sunshine a year. In summer, mornings are characteristically clear, but afternoons can sometimes be hazy with occasional rain. Even in summer, there can be occasional snowfalls above 3000m. At lower altitudes (around the tree line) summer temperatures usually range from 16-28°C (61-80°F) in July/August and it can feel very hot during the day. In the highlands, the temperatures in July/August range from 8-12°C (46-54°F). Night times will feel cold and at the higher camps temperatures may hover only a few degrees above freezing. Bishkek and the lowland areas around Lake Issyk-Kul will be hot in the day times and mild in the evenings.

This trek has been graded level 5 (Challenging) and involves 8 days point-to-point walking and 8 nights full-service camping. Please refer to our activity level guidelines. You should expect to be walking for between 5 and 8 hours each day and covering a distance of approximately 16-18 kilometres (10-11.2 miles) each day. Whilst you may be comfortable doing a daywalk of this nature, you should also consider the impact of doing this on consecutive days, which can take its toll. You should ideally have previous experience of multi-day point-to-point trekking. The route crosses numerous mountain passes as we cross from one gorge to the next. Two of the passes are at an altitude of 3800m, which is the maximum altitude reached on this trek. 3,600m is the highest sleeping altitude. Please refer to the 'Altitude Warning' within the Trip Notes for further information. The trail is undulating with considerable ascent and descent on some days, particularly when we cross Telety Pass (750m ascent and 1300m descent). The terrain in the Tian Shan is rugged and the region is remote - both factors add to the challenge - for this reason this trek is not recommend for novice walkers. If you are an experienced hiker with steady footwork and a good level of fitness who loves wild landscapes, then this spectacular trek should appeal There will be rocky sections of trail, descents on scree slopes, some narrow paths (not suitable for vertigo sufferers), trails with tree roots, and the possibility of snow cannot be entirely ruled out. This is a fully supported camping trek with full porterage (jeeps and porters) throughout; you need only carry your day pack. You may find our Fitness Training Guide a useful reference. Walking distances and hours are given as approximates only and will vary depending on the pace of your group.