Hello! This is Koko from ASHU TRAVEL.
Thank you for reading our blog.
I usually work in Mongolia, but this time I visited Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan for the first time!
To be honest, since they’re “-stan” countries, I had this vague idea that they might be scary and wondered if I’d be OK. Honestly, I was about 70% anxious.
I’d like to share with you what I did and what I felt there.
On the night of Day 1, I arrived at Almaty Airport in Kazakhstan!
The flight was from Incheon to Almaty, but I heard less Korean on board than I expected…
I also heard a bit of Japanese here and there. Not much, though…
After arriving at the airport, I exchanged money.
They accepted Japanese yen, which was great. (Later, at the Kyrgyz border, they didn’t accept yen, so US dollars are a must.)
I met up with our driver, Aibek, and headed to the guest house.
Even though it was nighttime, they had dinner ready for me, which made me happy. (Along with a Kazakh beer…)
It was dumpling soup. Mongolia has a similar dish, but compared with that, this one had a herby aroma that really whetted my appetite.
That night I stayed in a yurt at the guest house!
It’s spacious, colorful and fun just to look at! And the ceiling is high, so it doesn’t feel cramped at all!
As I was thinking it must be hard to build one…
I remembered that the time difference between Japan and Kazakhstan is 4 hours, and suddenly sleepiness hit me.
Good night…
Breakfast on Day 2
They served porridge.
It was sweet.
It reminded me of khao niao mamuang, the Thai mango sticky rice.
It later made it onto my list of favorite foods. The sweetness and flavor changed with every place I had it, which was nice too.
I took a walk nearby and looked around the neighborhood.
“This looks like a Russian building…”
“Maybe this person is on their way to work…”
There were also people out for a morning walk.
It was a calm place, and I had a really nice morning.
After I got a bit of work done, the driver arrived.
Now, off to the Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan border!
It’s about a 3-hour drive.
A photo I snapped along the way turned out kind of emotional, so I’m sharing it here.
When I said I needed the restroom, the driver stopped at a rest area along the way.
I think the restroom cost about 30 yen.
As expected, it’s better to exchange money before you go.
I also thought it’s better to have small change.
There was something like a little shop nearby. The ice cream looked delicious! (I didn’t have any, though.)
Local supermarkets are fun in any country!
The scenery was amazing! To think they built a road in a place like this…
That’s what I was thinking, but no matter how many minutes passed, the scenery didn’t change… and before I knew it, I was asleep.
When they told me, “We’re almost there!”, we really did arrive soon after.
“OK, this is the border. Take care!”
As I headed toward the border, there were lots of backpackers…!!!
They seemed to come from all over—Europe, Asia and many other places.
I followed everyone to the border…
I passed through border control without any problems.
I had written down where I was staying, but they didn’t ask me anything.
Still, it’s a good idea to have that information ready just in case!
After crossing the border, I first went to find a restroom and exchange money.
The restroom here also charged a fee, so first, to the currency exchange…
They don’t accept Japanese yen here!!!
US dollars are a must!!!!
“Where are you from?”
“Yaponiya!”
“Konnichiwa!”
Having conversations like that made me really want to be able to speak the local language.
Russian is hard, but it made me want to work even harder on my Mongolian.
And in the middle of all this, I met Nuriya, our Japanese-speaking guide and the head of the company!
Above all, her thoughtfulness is wonderful.
“Welcome to Kyrgyzstan!”
“How’s the weather for you?”
“Aren’t you tired?”
Nuriya is so kind. Within three seconds of meeting her, I felt at ease.
Now we’re heading to Bishkek.
T-t-traffic jams…
Nuriya said it many times on the way:
“Kyrgyz people are all so impatient.” There were quite a few moments that made me feel that.
That said, the traffic in Bishkek is apparently happening (just this year?) because several road construction projects overlapped.
After a light meal, we headed to Ashu Guest House for the day.
From here it’s about 3 hours, I think.
Ashu Guest House, which I’d only ever seen in photos. I was so excited to finally go.
We arrived around 9:30 p.m.
Thank you for driving for so long.
After thanking the driver, we headed to the restaurant because I wanted to eat.
Every dish was so lovely it made me wonder, “Why is everything so photogenic?”
It’s like Japanese nikujaga (meat and potato stew). The meat was incredibly tender and delicious.
And the potatoes were sweet. It was delicious.
There was also a lamb dish.
I’ve forgotten its name, but I feel like I’ve eaten a lifetime’s worth of lamb abroad.
And above all, the vegetables are so richly colored!
The cucumbers and tomatoes are so sweet that I end up eating loads.
It seems many of the guest house’s guests come from Russia and Europe.
It would be fun to make international friends here…
I’d like to someday…
Thinking about that, and since I was going on a horse riding trip with a tent stay the next day, I didn’t stay up too late. Good night.
Breakfast was from 8:00.
When I sat down, there was a colorful…!!!
This photo is just the beginning.
Fruit, bread, cheese, jam… porridge…
My favorite was the egg quiche.
What a happy way to start the day.
After that, I met the horseman.
We drove to where he was.
Along the way there were fields, trees, rivers…
I could feel that this scenery exists because water is so plentiful here.
Hello, horseman!
My luggage…! On my horse?!?!?!
We strap it on! What a surprise. And how convenient.
It looks like this.
I put on my half chaps and helmet, and off we went.
There’s no cell signal.
And it’s a 2-day, 1-night horse trip with a horseman I share no common language with. I’d downloaded only Google Translate.
About 2 hours after we started riding, a hut suddenly appeared.
It seemed we’d have lunch here.
Peeking inside the hut, I saw a simple bed…!
It seems someone sleeps here. I tried asking with the translation app, but conversation was hard!!!
Boiled eggs, sausages, bread and yogurt that the horseman brought for us.
And since there’s a river nearby, tea time with its water.
What an elegant lunch.
After eating, we took a short break. You can walk down to the river or even nap in the sun.
Since there’s no such thing as cell signal, I didn’t even feel like looking at my phone.
I couldn’t believe how easily I let it go…
Cell signal really has a hold on us.
How much we’re tied to our phone signal…
Honestly, there’s nothing that feels as good as having no signal… (And then, the next evening, I was scared at how desperately I was looking for a signal…)
After about an hour, we set off.
In the mountains… amazing, amazing.
If you space out, you’ll get hit by tree branches.
That’s the kind of mountain it is.
Sometimes dodging, sometimes ducking, sometimes stepping over logs…
My first big adventure like this!
Coming out of the mountains, the view was absolutely incredible.
All I can say is “amazing.”
You can’t get there by car, and you can’t make it on foot either.
I was moved by the scenery you can only see on horseback, together with a horse. I wonder what the horse thinks…
As we kept doing this…
Suddenly, today’s goal, Kol-Kogul Lake, appeared…!
When I asked the horseman, “Is that it?!”, he said, “Yes, yes!”
“We’re almost there!”
But my excitement didn’t last long.
We headed into the mountains in the opposite direction from the lake.
It seemed the goal was still some way off…
Maybe about an hour?
We made it!
It’s the first time I’ve felt such a sense of achievement from one day of riding.
But there was little time to bask in that sense of achievement:
we pitched the tent and gathered firewood. There’s a lot to do.
And that part was so much fun.
“So this is what living in nature means,” I thought.
And the horseman was incredibly skillful.
I couldn’t understand anything he said, so we had a wordless conversation—one made only of gestures.
We boiled water, made tea,
washed and cut vegetables… He cut potatoes without a cutting board. Amazing.
It was the first time I’d ever worked together with someone in such silence.
*A guide always accompanies you on your tour, so there’s no need to worry!
At night, we gathered wood, made a campfire, drank vodka from a plastic bottle, enjoyed a quiet, cozy time, and then slept in the tent we had pitched ourselves.
I thought it would get cold, so I wore too many layers—and ended up too hot to sleep…
It probably dropped below 15°C, but I’d brought midwinter clothes, so I was invincible!
Waking up
I don’t know what time I got up in the morning, but I woke up, so I got up.
I washed my face with river water.
Breakfast was cucumbers, tomatoes and bread with honey and berry jam.
After breakfast, we packed up the tent and got ready to ride.
Before leaving, I took photos with the lake in the background, took photos with the horseman too, and we headed back the way we came!
The way back feels easier than the way there.
After all, you know the route.
When you know when it’ll end, you feel more positive too.
And after passing through tree after tree after tree, an absolutely stunning view suddenly appeared.
This truly can’t be captured in photos.
I was standing at the top of a mountain,
a few kilometers away there was another huge mountain,
when I looked back there was the lake,
and in another direction there were countless trees.
Even when I tried to take photos, I just couldn’t capture it nicely.
This is something you can only understand by going.
It was the most amazing nature I’ve ever seen.
And the path we were on. There is a path.
What made this trail? It was made by horses passing through.
Cars can’t get through. Neither can motorbikes. Only horses.
Thinking that this trail must have formed over many long years, I wondered what the first person to discover Kol-Kogul Lake long ago must have thought.
It must have been an incredible discovery…
While I was thinking about that, the horseman stopped.
He said something like, “The path gets steep from here, so be careful.”
I don’t understand Kyrgyz or Russian at all, but that’s probably what he meant.
Yes, it was a bit steep.
But as long as I trusted my horse, it was fine.
This was riding that required even more trust in the horse than in Mongolia.
In the middle of all that, we reached the goal, and a car came to pick us up.
This time it was a shortened 1-night tent stay, but it was 2 days in which I felt so many things.
After dinner, I realized that, of all things, there was a total lunar eclipse that day.
Around 2:30 in Japan means… 23:30 in Kyrgyzstan! How lucky.
It was visible.
Watching the moon wax and wane, you can feel the Earth’s rotation.
Ashu Guest House has lights, so it’s not great for stargazing, but the moon was clearly visible!
The next day, toward the town of Karakol
We set off by car.
For lunch, we bought bread from a cake shop said to be the most delicious in Kyrgyzstan.
You can’t go wrong.
The sandwich, packed with vegetables and chicken, was delicious.
And the purpose of this day was
to go and meet a Kyrgyz shaman.
That said, I had never met a shaman before.
It was my first time.
Honestly, I was nervous.
What should I talk about? Would we even talk at all?
More than anything, it seemed my nervousness came across to the shaman too.
Even so, the shaman made hours of time for us, and I’m grateful for such a precious experience.
To see a ritual, a great deal of preparation is required, and we need to prepare as well.
Along with these new discoveries, at the end the shaman kindly posed for a commemorative photo with a smile.
And just like that, it was already 18:30.
We headed to that night’s guest house.
Apparently, trout farming is popular in Kyrgyzstan’s rivers.
It seems they export it to Russia.
Once I heard that, I had to try it!!!
Tonight’s dinner was trout… something. It was delicious! Topped with caviar…
Breakfast was lavish too.
Or rather, it was so colorful that it was fun just to look at.
And today’s goal was… to meet herders living in Kyrgyzstan…!
And this led to many more stories…
It turned into a day of experiencing the kindness of Kyrgyz people.
The nomad homestay, a popular tour in Mongolia too: a homestay with a nomadic family.
You can help with work involving the livestock. Precisely because there’s no guide, you can experience real nomadic life (you can also add a guide).
We heard there are still people like that in Kyrgyzstan, so we went looking for them.
We knew roughly where they were.
Roughly. Yes, roughly.
From the spot where we thought, “It must be around here,” we asked and asked and asked people who might know.
“Where is so-and-so’s place?”
“Somewhere over there.”
We kept repeating this.
But when we went “over there,” there was no one around anymore.
When we went back a little, we met someone on horseback.
“We’re looking for so-and-so.”
“Oh, that’s me.”
Found him!
“My house is over there, so go on ahead.”
“I’ll come later!”
Later, he showed us to his home.
They served us bread and tea, and we gave them vodka we’d brought from Japan.
We decided to drink the vodka together.
Before drinking, they gave thanks for our meeting and prayed for us to get home safely.
I want to visit this family again.
No—I will definitely go back to see them.
That’s how this time made me feel.
As for facilities, for now there’s a pit toilet,
but a flush toilet, shower and bedrooms are currently under construction.
By the time you visit, it will be more comfortable.
I’m looking forward to it!
After that, off to Barskoon Waterfall!
Hiking… it’s a hike!
When I asked other tourists how long they’d walked, they said about an hour.
Hm? One way? Round trip??? Will I be OK… I was so worried.
But it was fine. It seems there are various trails.
After walking about 20 minutes, a huge waterfall! The water was clear and very cold!
It was the perfect clean water for my slightly sweaty body!
From there, we set off for Bishkek!
It took about 6 hours.
Thank you to our driver!!
The next day, we headed to Talas to meet a manaschi.
What is a manaschi…?
A person who passes on the story of Manas.
And who is Manas…?
Manas is a legendary hero who embodies the independence and unity of the Kyrgyz people.
His story is still passed down today through an oral epic.
He is the one who united 40 tribes into one and brought the Kyrgyz people together.
I wanted to meet that manaschi. With that wish, we drove about 4 to 5 hours to get there.
We didn’t know whether we’d be able to meet. But we went anyway.
Since starting this job, I’ve come to feel even more strongly how precious and important encounters with people are.
This time was no exception.
The manaschi we wanted to meet was a very, very busy person who was working as the manager of a building.
So I thought we might not be able to meet, but it turned out we could see him the next day.
He told us so many things.
And it really moved me deeply.
It was completely different from any of my trips so far.
I can’t quite put it into words, but it was a moment when I felt how powerful the feeling of caring about something can become.
Grateful for a wonderful encounter, we headed back to Bishkek.
I think I’ll sleep well tonight.
The next day: I really did sleep well.
Today was a school visit.
We went to a local elementary school.
As expected, it was completely different from schools in Japan and very interesting.
We observed classes for 2nd to 4th graders.
It seemed they also have Japanese classes. The vice principal was fluent in Japanese, too.
I forgot to ask why Japanese is part of the curriculum…
But honestly, it makes me happy that they teach Japanese.
Thinking it would be interesting to do something like a school exchange, I chatted a little with the children in their Japanese, was soothed by their smiles, and left the school.
Whenever I travel, I always visit the local market.
I love them because you get a sense of what the country is like.
We went to Osh Bazaar in Bishkek.
Honey was being sold everywhere.
We were told there was a recommended honey shop, so they took us there…
I tried lots of samples and bought a lot.
Kyrgyzstan is famous for its white honey. Apparently, stirring the honey a lot makes it allergy-free.
After that, we kept exploring the market.
Along the way, we met some children who were begging.
One child was in a wheelchair, and the older brother was pushing it.
They were probably getting money from tourists to pay for the child’s medical treatment.
In situations like this, I end up doing nothing. Or rather, I can’t do anything.
I think it’s better to treat them to a meal or give them food or drinks rather than money.
But even so, I’ve never actually done anything.
And that time, too, I did nothing.
The children followed us for a long time.
The shopkeepers seemed to be telling them, “That’s enough, go on now,” but the children didn’t give up.
The average monthly income in Kyrgyzstan seems to be about ¥70,000.
Considering the cost of living, I thought life must be hard.
I remembered the children at the elementary school we had just visited.
I thought about what I could do to make people smile.
I realized that while it’s hard to achieve something on my own, I can still think about it.
I want to make sure I never forget that child’s eyes in that moment.
And so, my time in Kyrgyzstan was drawing to a close.
The next day, we entered Kazakhstan.
I’d heard the immigration check was strict, but I got in without having to say anything at all!
Our stay in Kazakhstan was only about 24 hours.
I had to go wherever I could and enjoy it!
By this point, I wasn’t worried about safety at all anymore.
Even so, I always took precautions against crime!
My precautions were:
• Don’t put things in your pockets.
• Carry your bag with valuables in front of you.
• And don’t walk while looking at your phone.
That’s about it.
By taxi to the biggest market in Almaty, Kazakhstan!
There weren’t many typical souvenirs for sale…
But that’s another good thing about the country.
When a place becomes too touristy, it loses its true character, after all.
All in all, my favorite souvenir from this trip to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan was
string cheese. (Maybe it’s smoked salted cheese…?)
It’s probably sold everywhere, but it goes really well with drinks.
And it’s cheap! They sell it in Mongolia too!
When you go, be sure to pick some up at a supermarket!
(Be careful—if you eat too much, you’ll be puffy the next day.)
And that night’s dinner was at a Ukrainian restaurant nearby.
There were Ukrainian people working there too.
I wanted to chat in English, but my English just wouldn’t come out, so I gave up…
It was a moment that made me painfully aware of how important language is…
The food was delicious!
And so, my trip drew to a close.
Summary
My first visit to Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.
To be honest, before going I was full of anxiety: “Will I be OK…?”
But as I actually interacted with the local people and gave myself over to the vast nature, I realized those worries had quickly disappeared.
The warmth of the taxi drivers, the trails through magnificent mountains I traveled with horses, meeting nomads and children, and the moments when hearts connected even without a shared language—every one of them became an irreplaceable experience.
It made me realize once again that “travel is about encounters and learning.”
What I felt through this trip was the importance of embracing “differences” instead of fearing them. Even when cultures and languages differ, smiles and kindness are a common language. I was able to discover the richness of the world that opens up from there.
In particular, I can’t forget the smiles of those two nomads we visited unannounced.
I think I’ll go back to Kyrgyzstan again to see the two of them and their smiles.
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