Horse Trek to Kel Suu Lake

Sleeping in a traditional Kyrgyz yurt is a highlight for many travelers. One yurt usually sleeps 5-6 people and you will sleep on mats on the ground with blankets piled on top. Toilets are outside, so be sure to have a headlamp with you to navigate there at night.

Most of the meals on this tour are home-cooked and provided by a yurt camp, homestay or guesthouse. These traditional Kyrgyz meals usually include some sort of meat (often beef) served with potatoes, rice, or home-made noodles. Fresh bread rounds are also a must at every meal and you’ll often find homemade jams and traditional sour cream to go with this.

Yurt stays is able to cook vegetarian food. You should inform the company and guide in advance. In general, let us know if you have any specific preferences about food.

There are clean mountain springs along the trail where we can refill water bottles. You can take cleaning powders as well to clean river/spring waters. Yurt stays will provide boiled water if needed. Drink as much water as possible to avoid dehydration

The trail terrain has ups and downs and and has steep slopes with scree while getting over the Bogoshtu Pass on day three. And the trail on other days are flat. So, you will be asked to get off the horse and walk the pass. The walking will be about 30 minutes. Your guide will remind you. Some skilled riders can go over these difficult parts without getting off. 

You always have a guide and horsemen at this trek. Guides will provide you with all the necessary information and be with you to make sure everything is OK and safe. All the guides speak good English and little bit of Russian. They have at least three year’s guiding experience.

The best season for this trek is from July to mid September. It gets + 10 to 20 at night during the best season. We also run this trek even in early June and late September with some snow on the high passes. The weather changes frequently on the high passes and gets windy so make sure to keep your bellies and stomach warm while crossing the high passes not get cold to your stomach. If you do get a cold, then you will have digestion issues.

We ask all to leave all the unnecessary luggage in Bishkek or Naryn city at our office and take the items needed for trek. You can take two bags: small day backpack carried by you where you put your bottled water, wallet and other personals items and a bigger backpack carried by luggage horses where you can put your clothes, pants, sleeping bag and other items. The bigger backpacks carried by horse should weigh 10 to 15 kilos. Horses have special bags designed for the trek. Each horse carries about 60 to 70 kilos.

Some of the clients come from a low land countries. Sleeping at 2600 meters high might cause some headache issues. You should judge your health. Otherwise, the first and second nights are at 2500 meters. High altitude sickness usually happen above 3000 meter elevations. Third night is at 3000 meters, so your nights at 2000 meters on day 1 and 2 will get you used to this elevation. 

Yurtstays have blankets to cover up at night. However, having your own sleeping bag is handy. You can rent from us if you don’t have one.

Recommended packing list for the trek:

• Warm clothes and layers as it gets warm during the day, but can go below freezing at night and when it rains

• Good trekking shoes • Day pack to carry camera, water, sunscreen, etc.

• Sun protection as the sun is very strong at altitude: Sunglasses, sunscreen (SPF 30 or above), and a sun hat /cap

• Water and windproof jacket and pants. It gets especially windy on the mountain passes

• Walking sticks are recommended (we can provide them if you don’t have them)

• Medical kit for treating blisters, traveler’s diarrhea and other minor illnesses.

• Water purification tablets or drops if you want to clean the spring water

• Refillable water bottle • Lip balm: your lips get chapped very easily in the mountains

• Wet wipes and/or anti-bacterial gel to clean hands

• Hat and gloves to wear at night for warmth

• Head lamp to navigate campsite and yurt camps at night

• Warm sleeping bag (we provide you with this if you don’t have one). Yurts and homestays provide blankets.

It is located in the At-Bashi District of Naryn Province of southeastern Kyrgyzstan close to the Chinese border. The mountains surrounding the lake is part of the Kakshaal Mountains of the Tian Shan Range.

Weather changes frequently in May, June, and September. The best months with less rain are July and August. 

Well, there is no public transport.  You can arrange private transport either from Bishkek or Naryn city. Arranging from Naryn city can be cheaper than doing from Bishkek. You can reach Naryn city from Bishkek by shared taxi or public bus. 

If you are planning to drive your own car to Kel Suu Lake, then it is possible. You can drive up the yurt camp. It is about 8-9 hours drive from Bishkek to the yurt camp. Next day you can either take a short hike or ride a horse to the lake from the yurt camp. The hike is about 2 hours and horse trek is about 1 hour. We highly recommend not to drive to the foot of the lake since there is mud 1 km before the lake where usually self-drivers get stuck. Just enjoy doing it on foot or on horseback since the valley is scenic to do it. Also, know that the yurt camp have horses to rent and they offer a horseman, too, go go along with you.

It is about 185 km from the center of the city on the shore of the lake.

You drive on a paved road from Bishkek to Ak Muz village where unpaved gravel road starts all the way to the yurt camp. It is still possible to drive from yurt camp to the foot of the lake, 1 km before the lake, but not recommended since there is a mud on the way. The road is bumpy and rough. Good driving skills are required.

You will be stopped and checked for a border zone permit on the way by two military officials. You can issue your permit through local tourist offices in Naryn city or through Bishkek-based agencies in the capital. It is a Must Take Paper, so don’t ignore it.