Southern Kyrgyzstan
Culture Tour

Arrival in Osh. Transfer to Ethno House or Sun Rise hotel. Rest. Lunch.
City tour around Osh. Visiting Sulaiman Too mountain, the house of Babur – a son of Great Timur, Oriental bazaar. Accommodation in hotel.

(Altitudes during the day – 800 m in Osh)
(Meals B/L/D)

Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to Jalal-Abad. On the way, visit minarets of the Great Timur in Uzgen. Meet with local farmer’s family who is growing rice and do the cleaning of rice. Lunch.

Arrival in Jalal-Abad. Introduction of Bio Cotton Service NGO at the regional office of Helvetas in Jalal-Abad. Transfer to villages where the BIO-cotton project has farmers. It is about 40-50 km from Jala-Abad. Meeting with farmers. Dinner at the CBT guesthouse with BIO Cotton farmers. Accommodation in the CBT family guesthouses.

(Accommodation: 2-3 people in each family. You will experience local style of life in the families, who do not have touristic class quality accommodation facilities, but they have been taught how to welcome and serve the tourists in their houses with what they have. Tourists stay with farmer’s families in one or two villages.)

(Altitudes during the day – 800 m in Osh and in the end of day – about 800 m in Jalal-Abad)
(Meals B/L/D)

Breakfast. Volunteer work of tour participants together with local selected farmers. Fieldwork in the first half of the day. During the free time, participants, together with the farmers, can visit local school and watch our educational system in the villages, far away from main cities. In one of the days, you can also visit Arslanbob walnut forest, for light hiking there. Alternatively, you can teach your local family how to cook traditional dishes in your country (at that period of time when you have the trip, there is enough fruits and vegetables in the villages to prepare some dishes with local ingredients: potatoes, rice, meat and other vegetables). Families will be interesting to share the experience with clients.

Meal will be organized by local farmers, every day. Overnight stay in the houses of selected farmers. 

(Altitudes during the day – about 800 m in Jalal-Abad region)
(Meal B/L/D)

Breakfast. Transfer to Kyzyl – Oi. It is long day transfer. Upon arrival to Kyzyl-OI, dinner and accommodation in CBT family. CBT is a Kyrgyz-Swiss project – community-based tourism, that trained the local people to provide accommodation for tourists. The association’s objective is to improve living conditions in remote mountain regions by developing a sustainable and wholesome ecotourism model that utilizes local natural and recreational resources.  Located in the capital Bishkek, KCBTA is an umbrella association uniting 15 diverse destination communities (“CBT groups”). The CBT association was registered on January 3, 2003 with support from Helvetas Kyrgyzstan Programme’s Community Based Tourism Support Project (CBT SP) with operations throughout the country. 

Dinner with the family.  Accommodation by 4-5 people in one family guesthouse. Level of accommodation is very simple; the rooms are cozy and clean.

(Altitudes during the day – about 800 m in Jalal-Abad region, 1800 m in Kyzyl –Oi)

(Meal B/L/D)

Breakfast. Transfer to Kochkor village. Visiting woman group who is producing traditional nomad’s carpets from the felt, which call “Shiyrdak’” and “Ala Kiiz”. This coorepative is called Altyn – Kol.  In the spring of 1998, more than 200 women formed Altyn Kol,  NGO with the aim of generating income by producing and selling felt carpets and defending the interests of private felt carpet producers. Soon, other producers became interested. Despite the success, each shyrdak produced by Altyn Kol remains a unique thing. It is designed and prepared individually, using the indigenous knowledge Kyrgyz of patterns, symbols, colouring and sewing techniques. When making a shyrdak, the women act together, keeping carpet production as a social and economic role in their lives.  Dinner. Overnight stay in the family guesthouse. During the dinner, the family will tell you about their long term experience in tourism.

(Altitudes above sea level during the day: beginning of day – 1800 m in Kyzyl – Oi, end of the day – 1750m in Kochkor village)

(Meal B/L/D)

Breakfast. Optionally, in Kochkor participate in 2 hours cultural show Kyrgyz-Kochu. Local shepherds will show, so called spectacle of moving nomads from one place on summer pasture to another. It will be shown with process of yurt setuping, local songs and music. Transfer to Chon – Kemin Nature Park. Upon arrival in Chon – Kemin accommodation in the local farmer guesthouse. Have light hike to the panorama view of the village, optionally it is possible to rent horses and do horse riding. Before dinner you will watch the process of bread baking cooking class. You will experience how to cook national bread, called – Boorsok. During the dinner the farmer will tell you the story of this business and how he started his career of being oriented to touristic services. Overnight in Kemin guesthouse.

(Altitudes during the day – 1750 m in Kochkor, end of day is 1800m in Chon – Kemin)

(Meal B/L/D)

Breakfast. Morning free time to explore the village and local life style. Later continue trip to Bishkek. On the way, we will stop not far from Tokmok town (60 km) and have excursion to Burana Tower, a place on the Great Silk Road, dated to 11th century. Upon arrival to Bishkek, check-in to the hotel. City tour with visiting of central Ala – Too square, Parliamentary Building, Oak Park, Victory Square and Oriental Bazaar. Dinner. Optionally, Folklore show, during the dinner. Overnight in the hotel.

(Altitudes during the day – 1800 m in Chon – Kemin and in the end of day is 800m in Bishkek)

(Meal B/L/D)

AM. Breakfast. Transfer to airport to catch the flight back.