Guide to hiking the 3 day Ala Kul Lake hike! WITHOUT A GUIDE

Probably the most famous lake and hike in all of Kyrgyzstan. To get here, it sure can be tough, but well worth it in the end. 🏠 Where to stay? Karakol is the second biggest city in Kyrgyzstan, and is the best base of the Ala Kul Hike. 🥾 The Hike It can easily be done in 3 days Day 1: Karakol National Park to Sirota Camp Distance: 14km with 905m elevation gain Difficulty: Easy to moderate. To get to the starting point, you can either get a Matshruka (which will drop you off 2 hour walk away from the “broken bridge”) or organise a taxi (2000soms) to take you all the way to the broken bridge. Walking along Karakol Valley is so beautiful, straight out of the stock photos! The last hour is probably the toughest, where the majority of elevation gain is here. Day 2: Sirota Camp to Atlyn Arshan Distance: 19km with 1125m elevation gain Difficulty: Hard to moderate hard. Start your day early after eating breakfast for the initial 3km incline to the Lake. You will be walking along the waterfall so you can fill up your waterbottle along the way. Once you reach the lake and for a few photo ops, continue along the side of the mountain until Ala Kul pass. This is the highest point of elevation you will reach at 3920m. Oxygen does definitely get a bit thin up there. Once you pass the Ala Kul pass, that is where the real fun begins. 1000m descend over 1km, very very steep slope to come down. We recommend hiking poles! And taking it slow after the steep slope, it is quite a nice but very long walk down the Atlyn Arshan river valley to Atlyn Arshan. Day 3: Atlyn Arshan to Ak Suy Distance: 19km with 182m incline Difficulty: easy to moderate After 2 days of hiking and the the beautiful sights already seen, day 3 was a bit of a drag. Although the sites were just as beautiful, it was a long slow 19km down to the bus stop. 🏕️ Tent or Yurt Camp? There was a lot of people that did both. But due to the steep incline and decline and elevation, why not just go as light as possible! 🦮 Do I need a guide? No! This is one of the most popular hikes in Kyrgyzstan , and you’ll definitely see people along the way. Download offline maps.me and follow the trail. Although it is not exactly “marked” the path will take you to the right place. 🏕️ Sirota Camp Camp at 3300m, was more on the expensive side. I would advise you to book in town at one of the tour agencies. Different tour agencies will have connections of the different tents - all 4000 soms pp. Will be shared yurts and sleeping on the floor - but enough bedding to keep you warm. Includes simple breakfast and dinner. But you’ll definitely make a few friends at the campfire. 🏕️ Atlyn Arashan There are a few yurt camps around the area, so. I would say no need to prebook. We rocked up and got a private room for 1800 soms pp + 700 soms for dinner. Included breakfast and natural hot spring. #kyrgyzstan #karakol #alakullake #alakul #travelguide #traveldiaries