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Cycling trip in Kyrgyzstan
Inspired by Silk Road Mountain Race that holds place every year in Kyrgyzstan
During the cycling tour in Kyrgyzstan, August 2024
Introduction
In 2024 our agency organized a bike trip (cycling trip) for 3 women from Switzerland and USA. This trip was planned and executed from scratch, after months of planning and studying the trails. In this article I will share how the process went and how we arranged a memorable 2-week bike trip in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Planning
I got contacted by clients who wanted to arrange a cycling trip in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan with full support - which means that there will be a driver with a support car with all supplies, food, tents, bags of the clients etc. Organizing this type of tour will make a great experience, where guests won't have to worry about arranging anything and just enjoy the cycling and magnificent landscapes of Kyrgyzstan.

I already had a couple of itineraries in mind, the ones that I did before, but the clients wanted to follow the route of the Silk Road Mountain Race, which happens in Kyrgyzstan every year. The main difference with SRMR is that the clients are not competing, not running a full distance (which is close to 2000 km on mountain roads!), and will have a driver with support car and a chef who will prepare meals for every day.

Clients made an itinerary on Komoot, I checked it, made some changes, discussed the options and we agreed on the route. I made a draft itinerary on Google Earth, sent them with a .kmz file and said upfront that I haven't been to some parts of the itinerary, so I need to go there and check before confirming the map. We agreed on what will be included in the tour and the price of it, and then there was a several months of waiting - I couldn't go check the trails before summer months, as the roads are covered in snow and will be accessible by car and by bike only closer to June.
Checking the route
I was finishing a tour in Bokonbaevo, south shore of Issyk Kul lake, and had several days free, which I decided to use to check the trails that I previously put on a map. Because having an itinerary in mind and on a map is great, but you are not sure if that plan is going to be feasible, so it was important to check it before sending there the clients.

For this tour I needed to arrange a guide - someone who is fluent in English, has experience in guiding in the mountains, is a good chef and knows how to work with guests from different countries. I knew a guy who fits all these criterias, contacted him and booked his services for the set dates. He is originally from Bokonbaevo, so when I was there, I thought that it was a great idea to go check the draft itinerary together with him, because it will be him who will accompany the guests, not me, so he needs to know all the trails (even though he was in most of the parts of the country, knew the roads, but still - there are some parts of the route that he needed to see himself and know the places where to set the camps).

Unfortunately, even though we agreed on this, he cancelled our expedition last-minute. A couple of days after, I was very happy that he did this, because there were heavy rains in the mountains, and it became quite dangerous driving there. So with his refusal to go, it saved us a lot of struggles. Which is good. But we needed to go to the expedition to check the places anyways. I got busy schedule in summer 2024, one tour after another, with almost no break days at all, so it became quite difficult to plan this trip. We postponed our expedition to an uncertain period of time.
Checking the route. Second attempt
The start time of the bike tour was coming. I still haven't gone there with that guy to check the route. Luckily, I could get some free days in a high touristic season, so I decided to go on this expedition this time for sure. I couldn't reach that guy anymore, he just disappeared without letting me know in advance, which brings me to a huge problem now - it is a high season, and there is no guide for this tour. Finding a good guide during summer months is a tricky question for a tour operator in Kyrgyzstan, because most of the experienced and good guides are already on tours and their schedule is planned months ahead.

Going on an expedition just by myself is absolutely unnecessary, because it won't be me who will be there, it will be a guide. So I urgently need to arrange someone who is able to cook, speaks good English, can put up tents and have good communications skills and at least a bit of experience in the mountains. Only then I can go on this expedition with this person.
Another question was to find a right type of vehicle for this bike trip. My initial idea was to arrange a famous UAZ Buhanka, which is a great SUV, can pass almost anywhere and is spacious. There were 2 downsides for Buhanka - all of the Buhankas that I knew didn't have the bike carrier. Clients will bring their bikes with them. Bikes cost a lot, and I need to be sure that the bikes won't be damaged during transportation, so a proper bike carrier is needed. Bike carriers are not properly suited for UAZ Buhanka, because of the structure of its roof.
Second downside is that Buhanka is great, but can break down at any moment. That was the main reason why I refused to find this car and started to search for other options. UAZ Buhanka is suitable for drivers that are mechanics, who can repair cars with a hammer and improvised means. My colleague and friend, whom I asked to rent this car from, told me that for this long itinerary that I have in mind, UAZ Buhanka won't be very suitable. It can be though, but risks are quite high. So these 2 reasons made me abandon my idea of renting Buhanka. This brings me to another question - what car then?
A common car for tourist trips in Kyrgyzstan is Toyota Sequoia or Toyota Land Cruiser. Amazing cars for off-road, quite spacious, but these cars are not suitable for my needs. Bike carrier can be arranged for them easily, either on the roof, or on a tow hitch.
Why they were not suitable, is because there are 3 clients with their bikes, bags, there should be several tents, one of them would be a big tent for cuisine, a supply of water and products, and bags of clients. Neither Toyota Land Cruiser nor Toyota Sequoia is not spacious enough for this. Aside from that, there will be at least 1 person as a guide. So 5 people - driver, guide, 3 guests, plus this amount of luggage is not going to fit in one car. Two cars? Great, but budget doesn't allow it. Having two cars with one extra driver will make the price go high to the stratosphere.

So there should be only one car, but spacious enough. I asked the same guy who gave me advice about UAZ Buhanka. He said that our mutual acquaintance might have something interesting - a short Mercedes Benz Sprinter van. Usually Sprinters are long and not suitable for proper off-road, but that guy, our mutual acquaintance, had a short version of it, which might be the best choice for the trip. I contacted him, and he said that he would help me, either with his own van, or arrange someone with a similar van, if his tour gets confirmed and he would need to send his van on this tour.
Later he told me that his van won't be available, but gave me several contacts of drivers who might be suitable for the job.

I contacted one guy from the list, we agreed to meet as soon as possible, and when I met him and talked to him, I understood that he might be able to accomplish the task. He suggested to go to the expedition on his car, to check if all the roads would be passable by his van. I accepted his offer, because it was reasonable. Initially I wanted to have as low costs as possible for this expedition - that meant to hire a local guy with a Lada Niva or similar SUV car that won't charge too much, and we could have as few days as possible, just gallop by all roads and see if there is no problems, decide on camping spots for each day, and that's all.

However, the guy with Mercedes van asked me a very reasonable question - even if all roads are passable for that SUV that I was thinking to use, will it passable for his car? It will be him and that Mercedes van that is going on a tour, not another car, so aside from checking all camping spots and road conditions, we also need to be sure that his car is good enough. That's why I accepted his offer, we agreed on price for his services for the tour and for the expedition, and set up the date of the start. At that moment I was not thinking much about the expenses and potential revenue from the trip, because the important part was to execute the plans properly, not only for the profit. Profit might come later, but for now - we need to be sure that everything goes smooth.

So the problem with the driver and the suitable van is solved. Judging by the size, his van is an ideal choice for our trip - it is spacious enough, has places for at least 5 people, plus all the luggage that is going to be there, at the same time maintaining the properties of an SUV for rough mountain roads and is not too long.
Now I need to decide on whom to arrange as a guide for this cycling trip. So I call my colleagues and friends, none of them is available, because it is very short notice. The guy whom I arranged several months in advance, abandoned his task with no explanation. There is no time to lose. I ask all my contacts if they have anyone who might be suitable, and finally, I meet a guy who might be a good candidate for the job. He didn't have an experience before, but I have a feeling that he will do his job good. And he did. But it is jumping to the future, let's return to the planning.

Great, now I have a driver with a suitable car, and a person who can be guide for the tour. The start date of expedition is set, and off we go!


Expedition
My plan was to see all paths in 3 days (for the trip that would take the guests around 11-12 days by bicycle). Road conditions didn't allow us to do so, and we ended up having 4 days. Going on that expedition was essential task, as it allowed me and my team to judge and decide on the final itinerary. The roads were good, the car did great, we could see most of the places that we needed to see and plan accordingly. Some trailds were removed from the final plan, some places added to fill the gaps. On Day 2 of the expedition we got stuck in a mud, and it took us several hours till we could go out of that swamp. I believe God helped us, we could pull the van out of the mud with the help of other 8 people - German cyclists that went on an unsupported cycling trip in Kyrgyzstan and were just by themselves. They saw us struggling with the car, joined us and helped us enourmously. Getting stuck at a place where there is no mobile reception, when the timing is tight, and where cars don't go much - is an adventure in itself, but again, thanks God, we met those wonderful people and could get out of this trouble. Once we pulled our van to the normal road, we thanked those great people with food products that we got with us and drank some tea together. If you are reading this text - thank you guys! (August 2024, Kyrgyzstan)
Being a guide means that you visit many places, but often these places are the same. You wonder at those places and enjoy them first time, second time, third time, 10th time. But later, it gets too familiar. You don't notice the beauty of the nature anymore, but focus on providing service the best you can. The joy of visiting different places gradually disappears, and now it is mostly the people who are on your tour that make the big difference. You can know many things, enjoy meaninigful conversations and know more about the world through these people.
However, in this expedition, I felt joy again. These were the places that are undiscovered mostly, not so many people go there as they are quite remote and roads are difficult. I could feel the pleasure of being there just by myself, wondering at breathtaking scenery of mountains, lakes, peaks and valleys. It was amazing. It was like a recharging for me, combined with the important task of discovering new itinerary for a bike trip.

Here are some highlights of our expedition, photos that I took during that exploration.
We were driving from early morning till 9-10 PM, in order to see as much as possible and cover the necessary distance, while making the marks on where to set the camps, which location should be used for taking water, where we would need to give a lift to the cyclists and other technical moments. Intense work, but rewarding, not only in working, but as I mentioned earlier, as a recharge. We arrived in Bishkek on the fourth day in the late afternoon, bought some medicaments in case of emergency, installed the bike carrier on the rooftop for 3 bikes, and went for the well-deserved rest.


Start of the tour
All is set. Guests arrive early in the morning - at 4 AM. I arranged an airport transfer with another car for the 3 women that came from Switzerland and USA. With the guide we went to the airport and met the guests with their bikes and drove to the guest house in Bishkek. By the time when the clients checked in, it was 6 AM. We can have several hours of sleep.

First day is a free day, the guests gathered their bikes, tested them, fixed some minor malfunction of the bikes after the flight, and had a relaxed day before the difficult mountain roads. That day I was preparing for another trip that was coming, where I needed to be a guide myself. The guide assigned to the tour helped the guests to navigate in the city and buy some parts of the bikes that were needed to fix minor breakages, and showed them around. In the evening we loaded all necessary equipment to the car, checked everything again, and that's it! The group is ready to go on the next day.

Food question
The guide whom I found for this trip could speak good English and could build the tents. However, he was no cook, and I needed to arrange someone (one extra person - now there are going to be 3 people as a local team) to be a chef for this bike trip in Kyrgyzstan.
Through my contacts I found a woman who lives at Issyk Kul lake, not far from our starting point of the trip, who was a good chef and did have experience in cooking in the mountains and in field conditions.
I contacted her, we agreed on the conditions, and the starting date. I delegated the task of buying all necessary food products to her, since she knows a right amount of products needed for 6 people for around 12 days in the mountains. Now food question is solved, we have a chef for our mountain bike tour, and everything is ready. She will meet the group on the next day - guests will spend one day at the shore of Issyk Kul lake, and on the next day the chef will join their group.

Tour itself
Guests asked me to keep the bike cases somewhere, because they didn't need them on a tour, and those bike cases take quite a lot of space. A guest house where they stayed didn't have enough place for that, for 12 days. So I decided to keep the cases at my house. On the way to Issyk Kul lake the group stopped at my house, we unloaded the cases, I double checked with the guide all the camping spots and the itinerary in general, made sure that all the points are visible on a map, and I wished them luck! Because now that is all I can do, preparations are made, now it all depends on the team and the weather conditions.

The weather forecast was not that much favorable for the beginning of the tour, so I was hoping that all goes as smooth as possible and believed in the team.

Next day I went on another tour myself. I knew when the group would have mobile reception, I used to call them whenever I got the chance to know if all goes smooth.

The tour went most of the time smoothly. There were some problems, such as the metal construction break of the big tent because of the strong wind. I replaced that tent as quickly as possible, while hiking in the mountains with a second group in Kazakhstan and while having only around 20-30 minutes before my mobile reception gets lost. Thanks to some luck and coordination of my team (members of the team both on a tour and in Bishkek), we could deliver a new tent to the cycling group on that same day in the night.

There were another problems that were solved during the trip on a run, so in the end of the day, I could say that the tour was successful. I met with the cycling group in Bishkek on the last day, talked to the guests, asked their feedback, and later arranged an airport transfer to them.

Conclusion
Organizing a new cycling route was an amazing experience. It opened new perspectives on how to develop my company, how to work in unusual conditions and how to be more creative. Thanks to our guests, we now have a new and elaborated itinerary, a ready team to deliver high quality cycling tours in Kyrgyzstan, all the equipment for camping and maximum comfort possible during this type of tours, and most importantly - a know-how, a deep experience on arranging bike trips on not so much discovered paths of Kyrgyzstan.
Planning started from November 2023, and the tour happened in August 2024, so more than half year of preparation and a good execution of the trip helped to gain more expertise and understanding on how to make the tours better for clients.
Thank you for reading!

If you are interested in organizing same or similar tour in Kyrgyzstan for 2025, please reach out to me, we can work it out!

If you are interested in visiting magnificent Kyrgyzstan by bike, but don't feel like participating in a race and would like to have a full supported tour with all comfort, write to me!

Contact form is below:
Contacts
Feel free to write and call me. I would be glad to receive a message from you!
+996 550 448 201
emirkjsk@gmail.com
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
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