Ecotour

Kyrgyzstan is a very picturesque country. Its unspoiled nature, the beautiful mountainous country site and the abundance of flowers will inspire you to record this in your drawings and paintings.

During this tour, you will stay in yurt camps located in different parts of the country. You will visit dry semi dessert areas around Lake Issyk-Kul at 1600 m as well as alpine meadows at higher altitude. In Jeti Ogus the yurt camp is located in the Flower Valley in a forest area.

Not only nature is interesting, but also the daily life of the nomads which you will experience during your stay in our yurt camps. It will invite you to record what you see and experience. You have to bring your own drawing and painting materials.

A Dutch teacher, educated at the school of arts, will accompany you. She will be glad to advise you and help you with your works. We do expect you to know the basics of painting or drawing though.

Beside drawing and painting, there is time left for hiking in the beautiful mountains, to swim in the lake and if you want, to ride on horseback or learn how to ride. In Bishkek you will stay in a small, new guesthouse in the centre of the city, elsewhere you will stay in yurt camps where a local host family.

Transportation will be done by minibus. An English-speaking interpreter will accompany you during the whole tour. She will help you to communicate with the locals and tell you about the traditions and habits of the nomads.

To enjoy this tour, you need to have a rather good physical condition, not expect luxury and enjoy drawing en painting.

Program:

Day 1	Departure.
Day 2	Arrival in Bishkek, sightseeing.
Day 3	Stay in Bishkek, visit museum, getting acquainted with Kyrgyz art.
Day 4	From Bishkek to yurt camp Tuura-Suu (2200 m). Visit Burana tower, remnant of a town on the silk road.
Day 5	Stay in Tuura-Suu. This yurt camp is situated in alpine meadows, not far from the small village with the same name.
Day 6	From Tuura-Suu to yurt camp Temir-Kanat, altitude of 2450m.
Day 7	Leisure day in Temir-Kanat. From this yurt camp you can hike or ride up into the mountains, to the glacier.
Day 8	Stay in Temir-Kanat.
Day 9	From Temir-Kanat to Jeti-Ögus, altitude of 2250 m. En route visit Bokonbaevo, centre of felt production. The yurt camp of Jeti Ögus is situated in the so-called Flower Valley, surrounded by pine trees.
Days 10-11	Leisure day in Jeti Ögus.
Day 12	From Jeti-Ögus to Ak-Say at Lake Issyk-Kul.
Day 13	Stay in Ak-Say. The yurt camp Ak-Say is situated at the end of a canyon at the lakeshore. It is a dry semi-desert area.
Day 14	From Ak-Say to Bishkek.
Day 15	Departure.

Because of unforeseen circumstances, it might be necessary to make small changes in the program. We ask for your understanding.

If you book with 4 persons or more, we offer a 5% discount.

In case there are less then 4 participants for this tour, you are requested to pay an additional 150 euro p.p. to make this tour individually or with a small group.

This year again we offer thematic and adventurous programs. These tours are exclusively organised by Ecotour and offer a good impression of our way of life. This year we offer several new thematic tours. In a thematic tour, the leading theme is a specific activity, like f.i. bird watching or a special aspect of our culture like felt making of festivals. New is a tour in which legends and tales are the central theme, a festival tour and a drawing and painting tour accompanied by a Dutch art teacher. In spring, when all fruit trees are blooming, we organise a blossom tour in the Talas region and around lake Issuk-Kol.

Some of our guests come to Kyrgyzstan again for these special tours with their friends or family members and every time discover new aspects of Kyrgyzstan

The Kyrgyz have not forgotten that for centuries the horse was the most precious animal in their nomadic lives. Even these days many families consider horses still very important this makes Kyrgyzstan supremely suitable for horse riding. Ecotour offers a great variety of adventures tours. On foot, horseback or by bicycle you can discover the mountains of Tian-Shan. There are programs for 2 or 3 weeks, some more difficult then the others. Our tours are not only for small groups but several tours can also be done individually.

As most of our yurt camps in the mountains are situated above 2000 m. weather can change a couple times a day. Therefore, even in summer it is a necessity to bring warm clothes and rain gear.

Our cooks have been trained to cope with different diets. Even if you need to have gluten free meals, this is possible at several of our tours.

Trekking and horse riding tours are the perfect way to see the ranges of Tian-Shan mountains and the life of the Kyrgyz.

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