Back to Central Asia: Travels Through Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan
This trip report covers my travels through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, two countries in Central Asia full of culture and amazing landscapes.
Going back to Central Asia
A year after my fantastic Uzbekistan trip, I had a strong longing to return to Central Asia.
This sentiment particularly resonates when it comes to Central Asia – a region that has long fascinated me and which, in my opinion, is one of the most unknown and underrated travel destinations on earth.
The entire region is not only rich in culture but also boasts some of the most stunning natural landscapes in the world.
With its sheer beauty, Central Asia holds immense tourism potential, although much of it remains untapped due to the region’s remote geographic location and relative obscurity among the masses.
A trip to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
On my first trip to Central Asia, I mostly focussed on the silk road cities of Uzbekistan such as Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva.
However, I also briefly ventured into Kazakhstan on that trip, crossing the border from the Uzbek capital of Tashkent to Shymkent.
This time around, I wanted to travel a bit more through Kazakhstan, and it seemed to make sense to combine it with a trip to neighbouring Kyrgyzstan.
I opted to travel in the month of June to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as it would be warm enough to enjoy the mountains and do some hiking, yet not too hot to make a visit to the cities and steppes unbearable.
Planning my trip
My plan was relatively simple – or at least it was on paper.
I would fly into Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest and most vibrant city, and then make a loop through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan until I finally arrive in the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek, from where I would fly back.
On my way, I would be able to see the Charyn Canyon in Kazakhstan, go hiking in the Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan, and visit Lake Issyk-Kul.
Although I would have loved to see more on my trip, this was the extent of my travels in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, as I only had limited time off from work and also required a couple of days for my roundabout journey to reach Central Asia from Europe.
Below, you’ll find a map outlining my travels through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
In the individual chapters of this trip report, I’ll provide detailed information about all the local transport options I took to travel around Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
It turned out to be a bit more challenging to plan than I expected, as traffic is scarce when you want to travel between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan via the remote Karkara border crossing.
However, in the end I managed to organise some transport and had an amazing road trip through this stunning border region.
Booking my flights
If you’re planning to fly from Europe to Central Asia, Turkish Airlines is typically the top choice, as the airline serves by far the most destinations in the region, with major cities like Almaty often having multiple flights per day.
Since I was still a few thousand miles short of renewing my Star Alliance gold status, which I have through Turkish Airlines’ own Miles&Smiles frequent flyer programme, it was only logical to search for a good flight deal with Turkish.
Given my specific needs, the best value for money would be to fly one way in business class and book the return in economy, as this would give me the required amount of frequent flyer miles without breaking the bank, as business class return tickets were way above my budget at €1,400.
Instead, I found a €440 one-way flight with Turkish Airlines from the Belarusian capital of Minsk to Almaty via Istanbul, which also made for a good excuse to revisit Belarus for a few days.
Without much thought, I booked the flight, leaving the positioning flight to Belarus and my ticket from Central Asia back to my hometown of Bucharest for a later time to worry about.
Arranging the flight back home was the easiest part, as once again Turkish Airlines offered a good deal, with a one-way economy class ticket from Bishkek to Bucharest costing €180.
For the one-way flight to Minsk that I still needed to book, I had initially set my sights on an economy class ticket with Air France via Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport, with the flight from Paris to Minsk being an intriguing codeshare operated by the Belarusian flag carrier Belavia.
Unfortunately, just before I was about to finally book the ticket, the flight jumped up significantly in price.
Unable to find any other affordable flights from Bucharest, I instead began to search for flights out of nearby airports in Romania and neighbouring countries, such as Chisinau, Sofia, and Budapest.
This did the trick, as I managed to find a cheap Turkish Airlines economy class ticket from the north-western Romanian city of Cluj-Napoca to Minsk for just €120 – a significantly better deal than the €400 Turkish dared to ask for a Bucharest-Minsk ticket.
It made for quite a roundabout route to get to Central Asia, involving a lot of flying with Turkish Airlines, but surprisingly enough it was actually cheaper than a simple roundtrip ticket from Bucharest to Almaty or Bishkek would have been!
The only thing left for me to book was my trip from Bucharest to Cluj – and this time I opted for a €40 TAROM flight above a Romanian night train, which I usually take on this route.
On a map, all the flights look like this:
Highlights
In this ‘Back to Central Asia: Travels Through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’ trip report, you can look forward to the following highlights:
– A couple of Turkish Airlines flight reviews, in both economy and business class.
– Hunting communist ghosts in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
– Exploring the leafy city of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest and most vibrant city.
– Visiting Charyn Canyon, Kazakhstan’s version of the Grand Canyon.
– Enjoying the fabulous scenery of the endless steppes of Kazakhstan and the soaring mountains of Kyrgyzstan.
– Horse riding and hiking in the Tian Shan Mountains.
– A beach holiday at 1,600 metres above sea level on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul.
You can find the individual chapters of this trip report in the index below.
Trip report index
This ‘Back to Central Asia: Travels Through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan’ trip report consists of the following chapters:
1. Review: TAROM Domestic Flight Bucharest to Cluj-Napoca
2. Cluj-Napoca: A Travel Guide to Transylvania’s Vibrant Capital
3. Turda Salt Mine and Gorge: An Easy Cluj-Napoca Day Trip
4. Cheile Turzii: Hiking Through the Impressive Turda Gorge
5. Review: Business Lounge Cluj-Napoca Airport
6. Review: Turkish Airlines Economy Class Cluj-Istanbul-Minsk
7. Minsk, Belarus: Chasing Soviet Ghosts in One of Europe’s Last Dictatorships
8. Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class Minsk-Istanbul-Almaty
9. A Visit to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s Vibrant Economic Capital
** rest of the chapters to follow soon **
Can hardly wait. I want to go with you!