Dear guest,

you are invited to visit Kyrgyzstan!

We are Elmira and Samira, two Kyrgyz sisters who are in charge of Ecotour, a company for ecological tourism. We chose the name "Ecotour" because our activities are based on the principles of ecological, community based tourism.

Ecotour organizes travel for individuals, small groups and families (with children). For the 2010 season we have prepared thematic cultural programs and active adventurous tours, all of which are very interesting and unique.

In our basic program you can create the itinerary yourself. For both the basic program and the individual tours you can start on the date of your choice. You will find suitable and interesting suggestions for a holiday on this website.

New in 2010.
-A tour of two weeks in spring when all (fruit) trees around Lake Issyk-Kul and in Talas valley are blooming;
-A drawing and painting tour of two weeks. A Dutch professional teacher will accompany you and help you with your artistic activities;
-A tour of three weeks in which you will visit different festivals throughout the country;
- Legends and folk stories will be told and the places where those stories originated will be visit in a three weeks tour through a large part of the country;
-A two weeks tour in which you will do a mild trekking of three days, combined with day walks from yurt camp to yurt camp;
-A two weeks budget tour.

Of course it is still possible to participate in the great variety of tours we developed in earlier years.

Experience the nomadic life and culture of the Kyrgyz by visiting our yurt camps, situated in the summer pastures of the Tien Shan. Explore the Celestial Mountains by hiking, by bicycle or on horseback and enjoy the unspoiled nature and, above all, the famous hospitality of the Kyrgyz people.

We offer affordable and friendly accommodation and good breakfast in a newly built guest house in Bishkek - the capital of Kyrgyzstan.

We hope to awake your interest in Kyrgyzstan and the tours organized by the Ecotour team. One day, we will meet each other in our country. We are looking forward to seeing you.

In an oasis of Central Asia

Deserts and steppes are characteristic for the nature of Central Asia. The mountain chains of the Tien-Shan with Issyk-Kul lake in its heart seem to be an oasis in the middle of this arid region. Issyk-Kul lake (180 km long and 60 km wide, max. depth 668 m) is the second largest high mountain lake in the world. The lake is at 1,600 m above sea level and is surrounded by mountain ranges of an altitude up to 7,439 m. A combination of extreme depth, thermal activity and mild salinity means the lake never freezes.

Coming from the lakeshore you can see many different landscapes within a 4-hour car-ride: deserts, semi-deserts, steppes, mountain meadows and forests, sub alpine and alpine meadows, snowdrifts and glaciers. They are inhabited by many species threatened by extinction, of which the snow leopard, the Marco Polo sheep and the ibisbill are the best known.

...old nomadic culture has survived

The traditional culture of the Kyrgyz people has survived throughout time. In summer some of them go into the mountains with their yurts and their livestock in order to exploit the lush summer pastures where they live in harmony with nature - in seclusion from civilisation - as they did thousands of years ago. The Kyrgyz are very hospitable people to whom time is not important.

You can find Ecotour at the following fairs in the Netherlands:

- Fiets- en wandelbeurs in the Rai in Amsterdam 27-28 of February 2010 (hall 10 stand G.35)

-Lentiade in Leerdam 19-21 of March  2010

-Pure  Pinksterfair, at De Nijensteen ( IJsseldijk 1, Veessen near Epe-Heerde) 24 of May 2010