2D1N moderate hike to a hot spring town 🇰🇬♨️

Finally getting to one of the highlights of our Central Asia trip to Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan: A 2D1N unforgettable adventure to a hot spring town in Kyrgyzstan!! Altyn Arashan, meaning "Golden Spa", is famous for its natural hot springs amidst stunning scenery. It is accessible only by a moderate hike or rugged vehicle, great for enjoying the peace and quiet of the mountains.

Here’s more information about the hike in detail:

1️⃣ General details

🚘 The journey begins at Ak Suu Forestry, about a 20-minute drive from the town of Karakol

🕙 The entire trail is about 14km long, and will take around 4-6h to complete

⛰️ Altitude at the start: 1810m | Altitude at the end: 2435m

2️⃣ About the trail

🥾 The trail starts gently, moving through dense forest and alongside the rushing Ak-Suu River. As we hiked higher, the forest cleared, and we were greeted by breathtaking views of valleys.

🥪 About halfway through the trail, there will be a spot with some wooden tables and benches for a lunch stop. We brought along some sandwiches, snacks and fruits from the supermarket in Karakol

🥵 The path can be challenging in places, with steep ascents and rocky sections. As we were sharing the path with vehicles, we also had to occasionally make way for them to pass.

🛖 As we neared Altyn Arashan, the landscape opened up into wide meadows where we saw horses grazing and multiple yurts/wooden huts. We also got our first glimpse of the snow capped Palatka peak!

3️⃣ Altyn Arashan

🏡 Our accommodations for the night was at Guest House Elza. They have two main buildings, as well as a couple of yurts. There is also a hot spring which you can reserve to use.

🛌 We liked our room! It was basic, kept us sufficiently warm, and had a great view of the surroundings. Do note there’s no power sockets or wifi though, but we were already warned by our guide before.

🚽 Most importantly, they had a functional and clean toilet bowl for our use :’) Do note there are no showers available, only a small sink for face washing. One of my friends brought along dry shampoo, which was much appreciated.

♨️ The hot spring was in a small shed near the river. Nothing spectacular, but it was well needed after our long hike!

🍻 There were some small minimarts when we were there! The one at our guesthouse wasn’t open, but we crossed the river to another accommodations’ mart to get some snacks and ice cold beer. We laid out a picnic mat that we brought along and enjoyed a little picnic with the sound of the river and the wind in the trees~

🍴Our dinner and breakfast was provided by our guesthouse. It was homely and delicious!

🌌 At night, we braved the cold and saw a sky full of stars!! This was truly amazing, especially since it’s quite remote where we were.

4️⃣ Alternative options

🚌 If you're not up for the hike, you can take a 4x4 vehicle to Altyn Arashan that would take about 1-1.5h, and this is available both ways. We opted to take the vehicle on the way down so we could save some time to check out other attractions in Karakol. It was a superrrr bumpy ride and we spent the entire hour clinging on and balancing on our seats 😅

This was definitely a very memorable experience! Honestly kind of liked that we were forced to disconnect, enjoying each other’s company and immersing Kyrgyzstan's natural beauty.

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🍙 Overview of my Kyrgyzstan trip

🍙 Overview of my Kazakhstan trip

🍙 Kazakhstan: Shymbulak

🍙 Also check out my overview of the Japan Alps!

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#kyrgyzstan #lemon8travel #lemon8recommendations #TravelGuide