Mountain Hikes in Central Asia

You'll attend the World Nomad Games 2026 in Cholpon-Ata by Issyk-Kul Lake, watching traditional sports like Kok-Boru polo, falconry, and wrestling in a big yurt city. The trip includes six days trekking through remote Jurgalan and Tyrgon Valleys with local guides, crossing glacial rivers and camping at elevations up to 3,671m where you'll see herds of horses roaming free. In Karakol you'll see the wooden mosque built without nails, and you can climb the 9th-century Burana Tower minaret, an old Silk Road marker.

You'll trek across the Jurgalan Pass at 3,500m and Tyrgon Pass in the Tian Shan Mountains, where glacial rivers cut through wide grassy valleys dotted with nomadic yurts. The route takes you up Bosuchuk Pass at 3,400m for sweeping views, then down to remote Ailanysh Lake where the water's clean enough to drink right from the source.

Check out the UNESCO-listed ruins at Merw and climb Suleiman Too mountain in Osh for great views over the Fergana Valley. Trek through Jety Öguz gorge to see the famous red rock formations and the broken heart formation, then hike to petroglyphs near Song Kul Lake. Cross the Kysil Art Pass at 4,336m.

This 18-day trek takes you through Kyrgyzstan's Tienshan mountains with challenging ascents including Telety Pass at 3,780m and Alakul Pass at 3,880m, suitable for ages 5+. Camp beside alpine Alakul Lake, trek through Karakol River Valley, then relax at Issyk Kul Lake after 8 days of tent trekking with porters carrying 12kg luggage.

Head through Kyrgyzstan's high-altitude landscapes to remote Son-Kul Lake at 3,000m, staying two nights in traditional nomadic yurts. Hike through Komorchek Gorge's sandstone cliffs, walk past Buddhist rock inscriptions near Tamga, and climb through alpine meadows to Kok-Jar Pass viewpoint overlooking the Terskey range, then check out Issyk-Kul Lake's shores.

Trek across the Inyltschek Glacier, the second largest non-polar glacier on earth, to see the annual eruption of Merzbacher Lake at 3500m between the northern and southern Inyltschek foothills. Two helicopter flights in Russian MI-8 helicopters take you over the 7010m marble pyramid of Khan Tengri and 7439m Pik Pobeda, the northernmost 7000m peak on earth. Camp at the Südinyltschek Base Camp at 4100m surrounded by snow-capped Tienshan peaks, with acclimatization days at Dikij Glacier and hikes across the Komsomolsky Glacier offering views of multicolored ice formations.