Kyrgyz Republic Valley view, Altyn-Arashan

The hike starting north of Karakol up to the Altyn-Arashan campsite leads through dense forest along the Glacier River and offers plenty of beautiful views of the valley, which is densely populated with conifers. The place is somewhat reminiscent of the landscapes of Canada.

Always have your camera here with a lens like the 24-70mm ready to hand. For example, you can attach the camera to a clip in your rucksack. You will thank him for it because you will often find the motivation to take a picture quickly.

You can start your route directly from Karakol national park entrance up towards Karakol Gorge and further to Karakol peak. The way up to the gorge is around 14km with an ascent of around 650m. If you want to go to the glacier near the Karakol peak you need to hike around 17km more with an elevation of around 850m.

You can start the hike to Altyn-Arashan a little further north from Karakol and complete the first stage towards Altyn-Arashan before crossing the pass to Ala-Kol Lake on the second day and going down to Karakol gorge.

As an alternative you can start the way up to Karakol gorge, than to the Ala-Kul Pass on day two and on the third one down to Altyn-Arashan. From there the last stage brings you down near Karakol.

Due to the rapidly changing weather, you should have the right hiking/mountaineering equipment with you. On the hike itself, you can rent yurts to spend the night in the respective camps. You can also buy food there. There are also sources of drinking water that you can use free of charge.

Depending on the weather, the hike can be very challenging. You may encounter very muddy, steep paths, river crossings through suddenly raging rivers without bridge crossings (sometimes destroyed) or steep gravel paths up to the pass that are slippery due to rain. Be sure to take hiking poles with you!